Canine Kidney Disease

The kidneys are organs which maintain the balance of certain chemicals in your dog’s blood while filtering out the body’s wastes as urine. The also help regulate blood pressure, the production of calcium and phosphorus metabolism, and produce a hormone that stimulates red-blood-cell production. As you can see, a malfunctioning kidney can cause many problems.

Failing kidneys can’t adequately clear the blood of certain toxins. As a result, when the kidneys fail, there is an abnormally high levels of waste products. Other blood components normally regulated by the kidneys - such as phosphorus, calcium, sodium, potassium, and chloride - may also rise or fall abnormally. Failing kidneys may also produce extremely dilute urine or urine that contains too much protein. Healthy kidneys produce concentrated urine that is relatively protein-free.

To determine the prognosis of kidney disease, blood and urine tests are performed frequently during treatment to evaluate how well the kidneys are responding. It’s a good sign if test results swing back toward normal within the first 48 to 72 hours of therapy.

Initial test results can be remarkably similar for both forms of kidney failure. The diagnostic challenge is to determine whether the dog has acute or chronic kidney failure. Making the distinction between chronic and acute failure is crucial because the prognosis and duration of treatment for the two types of kidney disease are different (although some treatment procedures may be similar).

Acute kidney failure occurs so suddenly surviving nephrons don’t have time to compensate. This abrupt failure can occur if the kidney is damaged by an infection, or harmful substances such as antifreeze and rat poison; or certain medications, including some antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs.

Many cases of bacterial kidney diseases can be successfully treated. Leptospira is one bacterium that can cause acute renal failure. Other bacteria can also cause kidney infections, invading the urinary tract, the bladder or prostate for example, and ascending up to the kidneys. With proper diagnosis and treatment these infections can be treated effectively with antibiotics and, in most cases, result in complete recovery.

Ingesting as little as a teaspoon of ethyleneglycol-based antifreeze, which forms crystals inside the dog’s nephrons and shuts down kidney function is usually fatal. This product has a sweet taste which attracts pets to drink it. As is rat poison. If a dog eats rat poison it will cause damage within the kidneys.

Chronic kidney failure, CIN, is the most common form of kidney disease in dogs and among the most common causes of death in older dogs. Unfortunately, chronic disease progresses over a period of years and often goes unnoticed by even the most vigilant owners. When signs finally appear, the disease is often well-advanced. But, with proper treatment and monitoring, some dogs with chronic kidney failure live comfortably for years after diagnosis.

Dogs with the chronic disease, CIN, tend to produce large amounts of dilute urine. Consequently, dogs with chronic renal failure drink lots of water to maintain the right volume of internal fluids.

We highly recommend to talk to your veterinarian to develop a proper nutrition plan that will lessen the problems. Your animal needs proper diet and you have to make sure a dog with CIN always has access to fresh water. To encourage the dog to drink and eat, maintain a steady, stress-free daily routine. (Stressed-out dogs often stop drinking and eating, further jeopardizing kidney function.) Above all, keep a watchful eye. Report any changes in your dog’s eating, drinking, and elimination habits to your veterinarian.

With kidney disease, your dog becomes less alert, loses its appetite, and may vomit. Take your dog to your veterinarian if it shows any of the following signs that sometimes (but not always) point to kidney disease:

Chronic Failure
Increased thirst and urine volume, weight loss, weakness and exercise intolerance, tendency to bleed or bruise easily, signs of pain when you touch the animal in the kidney area.

Acute Failure
Dehydration (To test for this, gently pull the skin away from your dog’s middle. If the skin does not immediately spring back, the dog may be dehydrated.)Stiff-legged gait and arched back (a sign of painful kidneys), little or no urine production. Your animal will experience pain when touched in the kidney area or lifted up.

Please be aware of, that kidney disease is also common in cats! I lost one of my cats with 8 months to acute kidney failure. Though very unusual in young cats, it can happen. The cat did not have any access to any harmful substances, the kidneys just shut down - overnight.

If your animal is starting to drink much more than usual, or even licks at faucets, pay attention! It is almost impossible to determine the urine output when several cats use the same litterbox.