At the age of 3, Tara was the first cat in France to have received a kidney transplant. This cute story begins in May 2019: Tara suffers from end-stage kidney disease and the feline, only 3 years old, is at the end of his life. It was then that the veterinarians of the Pierre-Dorées clinic (near Lyon) had an idea: to perform a kidney transplant on the animal, in collaboration with doctors from the urology and transplant surgery department. of the Edouard Herriot hospital (in Lyon).
“There are a lot of animals with renal failure. But in general, these are older cats for which the transplant would not make sense. Tara was an interesting case because she is a 3 year old animal” a explained the veterinarian Julien Edet, to our colleagues from 20 minutes.
Transplantation is possible since, in Tara’s family, there is another young cat: Sushi. “As for humans, a workup was done to make sure that this potential donor had no particular disease and that he was compatible” added the veterinarian. Good news: Sushi kidney is compatible.
Kidney transplant in a cat: a first in France
On May 31, 2019, Sébastien Crouzet and Ricardo Codas Duarte, two specialist doctors from the Edouard Herriot hospital volunteered at the veterinary clinic to perform the surgery: “cats have very small kidneys, equivalent to those of ‘a six month old baby with very tight vascular connections,’ they explained. Despite the difficulties, the operation is going well.
Three weeks later, Tara and Sushi are doing well – even though Tara will now have to take immunosuppressive therapy on a daily basis.
It should be noted that, if this veterinary operation was a first in France, kidney transplantation on cats is commonly performed in the United States: American experts also believe that this operation makes it possible to extend the life expectancy of the animal. from 28 to 30 months. Cost of the intervention: 5,000 euros.
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