Yorkster, don't beat yourself up. The kind of kidney disease cats are prone to has no treatment. All that you can do is hope to slow the progression, but even then sometimes your best efforts are for naught. Also, even advanced kidney disease can have no symptoms until the end, and most routine chemistries will come up normal until the disease is advanced. Although I have only about 35% of my kidney function, all but two of my tests still show normal, and one of those is only given when kidney disease is already suspected or known - it is not part of a routine physical. Abnormal chemistries generally don't start coming up until function is down to about 10-20%, and that's also when dialysis starts. I've known of several people who found out they had kidney disease and started dialysis all on the same day. Add to that the added difficulty of your cat not being able to tell you that she's thirsty or has an upset tummy, and it's no wonder you didn't know sooner.

I'm lucky in that they have discovered a class of drugs that can slow and sometimes even stop the progression, but unfortunately for every other kidney patient, people and animal, it is only effective in type 1 diabetics. Even in people, there is not a whole lot that can be done.

I hope this eases your guilt, because it is not warranted.