On the 7th of April I will be running the 10k for my cat Kevin. Kevin was the most loving cat in the world, he loved being around people and he had the biggest personality. He sadly passed away in July being only 4 years old.

Kevin was completely fine up until about 5 days before he passed away and he deteriorated rapidly. We took him to the vets and they explained that he had kidney failure. It is likely that Kevin had chronic kidney disease for a while before he deteriorated. The only symptoms Kevin had before he deteriorated was polydipsia (drinking excessively) and polyuria (urinating excessively). It is my aim to raise awareness for kidney disease in cats as 1 in 3 cats will develop this during their lifetime. Even though it is more likely to affect cats over 10 years old it can still affect young cats, like Kevin. Some symptoms to look out for include increased thirst and urination, reduced appetite, gradual weight loss, lethargy, vomiting, dehydration and sores in mouth. Chronic kidney disease can be managed to slow progression as long as it is found before there is too much damage.

The charity I am running for is the Foundation For Feline Renal Research. They work to raise public awareness, and to raise funds to support pertinent humane research being performed by licensed veterinarians. Any donations would be greatly appreciated to help in trying to find a cure for this horrible disease.

I only recently started running and I am yet to run over 6k so this will be such a challenge for me but knowing that I am running this for Kevin is going to motivate me to push myself and keep going.