Kidney transplantation is available for cats with end-stage chronic kidney disease at specialist centers, raising important ethical and welfare considerations.
Feline kidney transplantation sits at the frontier of veterinary medicine, where the welfare considerations are layered and complex. The recipient cat with end-stage kidney disease faces a poor prognosis and significant suffering from uremia. Transplantation offers a potential extension of good-quality life, but requires major surgery, a lengthy recovery, and lifelong medication with its own side effects. The donor cat undergoes surgical removal of one kidney, a procedure that carries risks and imposes a welfare cost on a healthy animal. Ethical transplant programs mitigate donor welfare concerns through permanent adoption requirements, ensuring ongoing care accountability. The decision to pursue transplantation requires honest assessment of whether the potential quality of extended life justifies the burdens on both animals.