Australian Mist screening is mostly a urine story, and it starts earlier than most owners expect: 1 sample at 12 months, then a kidney panel at every annual visit from age 5. The 3 priorities are chronic kidney disease (CKD), lower urinary tract disease and gum disease, in that order of cost. A realistic budget is 300 to 600 dollars in year 1, then 180 to 380 dollars a year, which is 2,160 to 4,320 yuan and 1,300 to 2,740 yuan at 7.2.
Start with 1 urine sample at 12 months
Ask for specific gravity, pH, sediment and a protein dipstick on 1 sample; a cystocentesis gives the cleanest sediment, a free catch at home is acceptable if it reaches the clinic inside 2 hours or goes in the fridge. Cost is 30 to 60 dollars (220 to 430 yuan). What you are recording is the concentrating ability: 1.050 and up says the kidney can still save water, while 1.020 to 1.030 on 3 samples over 12 months is the finding that changes the schedule, not a diagnosis. Repeat yearly to age 4, then twice a year.
Kidney: 3 numbers over 3 visits
No single test catches CKD early, so use 3 together: SDMA (normal under 14 micrograms per decilitre), creatinine (many labs print an upper limit near 2.0 to 2.4 mg/dL, and a value that stays above 1.6 mg/dL on 2 samples 4 weeks apart is the usual starting point for staging), and urine specific gravity. Add a urine protein to creatinine ratio (UPC) once a year, where under 0.2 is normal, 0.2 to 0.4 is a grey zone rechecked in 4 weeks, and 0.4 and above is proteinuria needing a plan, plus a systolic blood pressure with 160 mmHg as the ceiling. Panel cost is 60 to 120 dollars (430 to 860 yuan), pressure 25 to 50 dollars (180 to 360 yuan). Start at age 5, or at 3 if the cat is thin with a poor coat, and keep every printout in 1 folder: 3 numbers read as a trend, 1 number read as a guess.
Bladder: count the clumps, not the days
Lower urinary tract disease is the emergency in this plan, and the sex of the cat sets the risk: a male with a narrow urethra can block, and a blocked cat is dead in 24 to 48 hours without treatment. Watch the litter, not the calendar. Three clumps a day to 6 bigger ones, urine outside the box, or 4 trips to the box in 10 minutes with nothing produced are all findings. At the clinic, expect a urinalysis with pH and crystals (normal urine runs about 5.5 to 7.5, and both struvite and calcium oxalate stones occur), plus an X-ray or ultrasound at 120 to 300 dollars (860 to 2,160 yuan) if a stone is suspected. Water is the cheapest lever: 45 ml per kg per day, so 225 ml for a 5 kg cat, and wet food at 70 to 80 percent moisture does more than any supplement. Prescription urinary diets and antispasmodic or analgesic drugs are vet decisions, by vet prescription only.
Teeth: a 6 month look, a dental X-ray at 2
Gum disease is the most common finding at any adult cat's annual visit, and it is visible without sedation for the first 2 stages. Lift the lip every 6 months and score the gum line 0 to 4: 0 is a thin pink line, 1 is redness at the margin, 2 is redness plus 1 mm of swelling, 3 bleeds when touched, 4 is ulceration or recession. Brushing is the only home measure with a real effect, 3 times a week at minimum, daily if the cat tolerates it, with a soft brush and enzymatic paste. From age 2, ask for full mouth dental X-rays under anaesthetic every 12 to 24 months (400 to 900 dollars, 2,880 to 6,480 yuan including scaling), because 2 problems hide above the gum: resorptive lesions and bone loss between the roots. A tooth that is loose, fractured or painful is an extraction decision, not a brushing problem.
Echo and DNA: what is worth paying for
One echo at 12 months (220 to 450 dollars, 1,580 to 3,240 yuan) gives a heart baseline to compare against later, and it is the same 20 minute study described in the Tonkinese plan, where wall thickness under 5.0 mm is normal, 5.0 to 5.9 mm means a recheck in 6 months and 6.0 mm or more needs a plan inside the week. Repeat every 24 months while normal. On DNA: no variant has been validated for this breed, so a panel is a question for the lab, not a result to act on, and the money is better spent on the urine trend. If the cat's background is unrecorded, the breed quiz takes 5 minutes and may save a whole panel.
4 signals you can check at home
Clumps: count them for 3 days and write the number down, since 6 large clumps is a different cat from 3 small ones. Water: measure with a jug, with 225 ml a day as the line for a 5 kg cat. Weight: monthly, because a 5 percent drop in 8 weeks is the earliest sign of CKD and vanishes under a dense coat. Breath: smell the mouth weekly; ammonia and metal are gum and kidney smells, while sweetness needs a glucose test the same week.
Call within these hours
| What you see | Call within | Why the clock is short |
|---|---|---|
| Straining in the box, no urine for 8 to 12 hours | 0 to 4 hours | a blocked male dies in 24 to 48 hours |
| Vomiting 3 times in 24 hours with no food taken | 12 hours | dehydration on top of failing kidneys |
| Drinking over 100 ml per kg a day | 24 to 48 hours | sugar, kidney or thyroid, all measurable |
| Gum bleeding when eating, dropping food | 48 to 72 hours | pain or a resorptive lesion |
| Sudden blindness, bumping into furniture | 0 to 6 hours | blood pressure spike or retinal bleed |
What it costs, in 2 currencies
| Item | When | USD | CNY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urinalysis with gravity and sediment | 12 months, then yearly to 4, twice a year after | 30 to 60 | 220 to 430 |
| SDMA, chemistry, UPC | from 5 years, yearly | 60 to 120 | 430 to 860 |
| Systolic blood pressure | from 5 years, yearly | 25 to 50 | 180 to 360 |
| Echo | 12 months, then every 24 months | 220 to 450 | 1,580 to 3,240 |
| Dental X-ray plus scaling | from 2 years, every 12 to 24 months | 400 to 900 | 2,880 to 6,480 |
Yuan figures hold 1 dollar at 7.2 so the 2 columns stay comparable.
5 steps for this month
- Book the 12 month urine sample and ask for specific gravity in writing.
- Count litter clumps for 3 days and note the daily number.
- Weigh the cat and start a monthly line; 5 percent in 8 weeks is the flag.
- Lift the lip, score both sides 0 to 4, and start brushing 3 times a week.
- Measure water intake with a jug for 3 days against the 225 ml line.
None of this diagnoses. CKD needs 2 sets of numbers, a bladder stone needs imaging, and gum disease needs a probe and a radiograph. Be honest about the evidence: this is a numerically small breed and breed-specific published figures are thin, so the calendar below is built from ordinary feline preventive care and from what is known about kidney and bladder disease in cats generally.
Terms mentioned in this article
Frequently asked
At what age should kidney bloodwork start?
Five years for a cat in good body condition, and three years for a thin cat with a dull coat. Before that, yearly urine with specific gravity from 12 months is the cheap part of the same job, because a kidney that has stopped concentrating shows up there years before creatinine leaves the reference range.
How do I know if my cat is blocked?
Count litter clumps and time the box visits. A male who goes in 4 times in 10 minutes and produces nothing, or nothing at all for 8 to 12 hours, needs a clinic within 4 hours. A blockage kills in 24 to 48 hours, and waiting for a morning appointment is the common mistake.
Is a dental cleaning every year necessary?
Not every year for every cat. From age 2, full mouth dental X-rays under anaesthetic every 12 to 24 months are the usual interval, and the X-ray is the point rather than the polish, because resorptive lesions and bone loss between roots are invisible from outside.