Approximately how many nephrons are in each feline kidney?

Prepare for the VetSkill Level 3 Diploma VN03 - Principles of Veterinary Nursing Care 1 Test. Review essential topics with flashcards and multiple choice questions, complete with hints and detailed explanations. Ensure your success with focused study sessions!

Multiple Choice

Approximately how many nephrons are in each feline kidney?

Explanation:
Feline kidneys contain roughly two hundred thousand nephrons each. Nephrons are the functional units that filter blood and form urine, and in cats the number per kidney is in the hundreds of thousands, not millions. This reflects the cat’s smaller kidney size compared to humans, where each kidney has about a million nephrons. So the about 200,000 figure is the standard teaching. The other numbers are off: 20,000 would imply a much reduced filtering capacity, 2,000,000 is closer to human counts, and 400,000 is a possible upper bound but less commonly cited for cats.

Feline kidneys contain roughly two hundred thousand nephrons each. Nephrons are the functional units that filter blood and form urine, and in cats the number per kidney is in the hundreds of thousands, not millions. This reflects the cat’s smaller kidney size compared to humans, where each kidney has about a million nephrons. So the about 200,000 figure is the standard teaching. The other numbers are off: 20,000 would imply a much reduced filtering capacity, 2,000,000 is closer to human counts, and 400,000 is a possible upper bound but less commonly cited for cats.

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