Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a hormone secreted by the parathyroid glands, which regulates calcium levels in the blood. PTH is secreted in response to low blood calcium levels (hypocalcaemia). An increase in calcium concentration above the normal value inhibits PTH production (negative feedback). PTH stimulates mobilisation of calcium and phosphate from bone tissue, resulting in bone resorption...

A scale indicating how acidic or basic a water-based solution is, for instance blood.

A “bear-like” gait. Cats walking with a plantigrade gait don’t walk on their paw tips, but with their metatarsal bones and hocks (ankles) on the ground. Typically occurs in
cats with diabetes.

Excessive thirst due to illness, leading to excessive production of urine (polyuria).

Excessive production of urine, potentially due to kidney failure.

Measure of the incidence of disease in a population. It is a measure of the proportion of a given population affected by a disease in a given time period.

The initial urine entering the nephron due to filtration of the blood at renal corpuscles. It is not yet concentrated and does not contain any proteins.

A group of local tissue compounds with hormone-like effects. A large variety of prostaglandins exist with very different effects. Series 1 prostaglandins are strongly anti-inflammatory and reduce blood clotting. Series 2 prostaglandins have the exact opposite effect: they amplify and cause inflammation, increase pain perception and blood clotting. Series 3 prostaglandins, on the other hand, tend...

Increased protein in urine, leading to loss of protein. Normally, only a very small amount of protein is excreted in the urine. In chronic kidney disease, the amount lost may increase. High blood pressure damages blood vessels in the nephrons making them more permeable and causing more protein to pass into the urine. To compound this, the fact that the kidneys are damaged means they have less...

Loss of kidney function, which may be sudden (acute) or gradual (chronic), as in chronic kidney disease. Loss of kidney function leads to a reduced filtration capacity (glomerular filtration rate) and, thus, an inability to sufficiently filter out urinary substances such as uraemic toxins. Renal failure can lead to raised blood urea (uraemia) and its associated symptoms.