You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Serum creatine kinase concentrations are significantly higher in anorectic cats and fall in response to nutritional support.

Creatine kinase (CK), also called creatine phosphokinase (CPK), occurs as 3 isoenzymes in muscle (mainly skeletal and cardiac) and brain tissue. It has a short half-life and serum concentrations are increased following muscle injury. Cats are obligate carnivores which can not totally down-regulate their protease-enzyme systems, so under conditions of starvation or anorexia, they will breakdown their own body proteins to provide energy. This leads to loss of lean body mass and increased circulating CK concentrations.

Cats with an illness are frequently inappetent or anorexic, and catabolic weight loss is a common problem. In humans and cats it has been shown that serum creatine kinase(CK) concentrations are increased in malnutrition, and that they decrease in response to nutritional support.

In one study the median CK in anorectic cats was 2529.0 U/L compared to a median of 175.0 U/L in a control group. Circulating  CK concentrations were significantly lower in cats 48 hours after nutritional support (feeding through a nasoesophageal tube), and eventually returned to normal.

Creatine kinase may be a useful indicator of poor nutritional status in cats, and could be used as a marker of improvement in cats receiving nutritional support. 

Last updated : January 2016