Cures4Cats Extended: New Hope for Cats With Chronic Kidney Disease

There is good news for cats and the people who love them: EveryCat Health Foundation has extended its 2026 Cures4Cats campaign, giving cat lovers additional time to contribute to research into one of the most important health problems facing older cats, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD).

Cures4Cats has a special history. Dr. Vicki Thayer launched the campaign in 2017 while serving in leadership at what was then the Winn Feline Foundation, (now EveryCat Health Foundation). The concept was to shine a bright light on one feline health problem at a time and encourage the cat-loving public to support studies, and the precise focus has also attracted researchers. This effort of a focused campaign worked for feline infectious peritonitis (now treatable but previously fatal) and perhaps the most common cause of death of adult cats, feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (which there is now a treatment for non-clinical HCM).

The current campaign focuses on CKD, a disease that affects a remarkable proportion of older cats. And that means a remarkable proportion of cats since there are today more senior cats than ever before. The 2026 Cures4Cats campaign is raising money specifically to advance research into feline kidney disease, with EveryCat extending the campaign through October 4. (Of course, contributions are really accepted anytime).

The timing makes sense because there has been substantial progress in understanding feline CKD—but also recognition of how much remains unknown.

Progress Treating CKD

There are many new projects supported by EveryCat that could eventually change how veterinarians detect and manage CKD.

One particularly promising direction is earlier diagnosis. A 2024 EveryCat grant of nearly $50,000 is supporting researchers in Australia who are looking for biomarkers that may identify kidney damage before conventional tests reveal significant loss of kidney function.

Another $50,000 EveryCat grant, awarded in 2025, is investigating extracellular vesicles and non-coding RNA as possible early indicators of CKD. Researchers hope these molecular signals eventually could provide veterinarians with a much earlier warning that kidney disease is developing.

This work builds on years of investment. EveryCat has funded research into metabolomics, microRNA, urinary biomarkers, nutrition and other aspects of feline kidney disease. For example, a 2021 EveryCat-funded study examined metabolites, microRNA and advanced glycation products in cats with CKD, looking for potential diagnostic and treatment targets.

There have also been practical gains. A recent study involving apparently healthy cats found that poorly concentrated urine was associated with an increased risk of subsequently developing CKD. That reinforces the importance of routine urinalysis, particularly as cats age.

And just prior to the pandemic, EveryCat brought two major pet food companies, Purina and Mars together. That’s the first time, as far as anyone knows that two behemoths of cat food pooled their talents and sought external help. Unfortunately, the pandemic ended that promising effort.

Still, according to the 2024 review of what’s new in feline CKD that although several promising discoveries have attracted attention, there is still no definitive treatment that reverses damage done by CKD.

That is precisely why Cures4Cats matters. The goal is to fund the basic and applied science that can lead to earlier diagnosis, better treatment and, ultimately, prevention or reversal.

Dr. Thayer’s original idea—focus attention and funding on a single feline health challenge—is still paying dividends. For cats with kidney disease, the research supported by EveryCat is helping move the field forward one discovery at a time.

And extending Cures4Cats gives researchers another opportunity to laser-focus on progress toward better ways to diagnose, treat and – who knows – ultimately prevent feline kidney disease.