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FUS is caused by recurrent renal calculi and crystals in the urine; no one is really sure what causes CRF, though as another poster stated, with better nutrition and veterinary care, cats live longer now and are more likely to die from CRF.
The best way to prevent FUS in male (and female cats; females get it too but it less likely to kill them) is to feed them a high-quality diet that is loaded with high-quality protein from meat (not meat meal, by-products, or ground yellow corn) and food that is supplemented with DL-methionine, an amino acid that occurs only in meat which helps cats maintain proper urinary pH. Methionine supplements can be obtained from a vet, and they can be added to the cat's food. I use Nutro Natural Complete Kitten (even though all the cats here are adults); Royal Canin's Sensible Choice Chicken and Rice (Adult or Kitten formula) and Nutro Natural Complete Adult are other foods that meet *my* *personal* requirements for not sucking.
As with humans, there doesn't seem to be any way to prevent kidney disease in cats; high blood pressure and diabetes do occur in felines but nowhere near as often as they do in humans, where they are the top two contributors to kidney failure (the third being "we dunno'). Not every cat who makes it to senior kittyhood will develop kidney disease, and for many who do, it has become a manageable chronic illness. In addition to subQ fluids, Phosamax, Maalox, Clinicare, B12 supplementation and other drugs and supplements (which are not that big a deal to get into the cat - many can be added to the Ringer's used for the subQ) can make the cat with CRF very comfortable - comfortable enough to play and otherwise enjoy life! I'm not an advocate of any procedure that merely prolongs death, but am one of any that extends meaningful life, and I've seen many cats really enjoy life, even though they were in CRF.
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