Eventually, depending on the individual cat the monitoring may be done every 2-3 months. It is vital that the blood tests are drawn just before the next dose of cyclosporine to get an accurate assessment of the drug levels. Immunosuppressive Drug Dosing. The antirejection drugs are given either once or twice a day. See the section on Immunosuppressive Therapy for more detailed information.
Rejection needs to be rapidly identified to prevent loss of the kidney.
Rejection is often first noticed as a general malaise, loss of appetite and loss of vigor in the recipient. The recipient should be immediately tested for serum creatinine levels and blood cyclosporine trough levels. A high creatinine combined with a low cyclosporine is considered de facto evidence of rejection. Occasionally a kidney biopsy may be needed to confirm the diagnosis. Serum creatinines will usually drop within 24 hours if rejection was present.