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Dogs with kidney insufficiency have a heightened need to drink.
Is your dog drinking more than normal or does it need to vomit? Then the problem could lie in its kidneys. Read here how the vet can help your dog and what you need to know about renal insufficiency in dogs.
Survival chances vary depending on the cause and form of renal insufficiency. Whilst the acute form is generally curable, there is no cure for the chronic form. The disease can be fatal if total kidney failure occurs.
Renal insufficiency can be sudden (acute) or long-term (chronic). Since the kidneys can no longer remove toxins contained in the blood (e.g. urea), they accumulate in the blood. This is also known as uraemia. The disease mostly progresses in several stages, in which the following symptoms emerge:
If your dog is showing signs of renal insufficiency, you shouldn’t wait long to see a vet. They can use the following diagnostic measures to find the underlying cause for complaint:
The vet may ask you to collect your dog’s urine. If this isn’t possible, they can collect urine with the help of a catheter or an ultrasound-assisted needle (cystocentesis). The urine is then analysed for its specific gravity (dog < 1,025) and the concentration of protein, glucose and inflammatory cells. The urine can also be bacteriologically examined.
Since the kidneys determine blood pressure, this increases due to renal insufficiency. A blood sample helps to measure the level of urinary substances (metabolites in the blood) like urea or creatinine in the blood. If their concentration in the blood increases, renal insufficiency must be assumed.
The kidneys can be visualised by means of an ultrasound examination. This is how we recognise structural causes like tumours or injuries.
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Since renal insufficiency can result from many different causes, a thorough diagnosis must take place before every treatment. This must then be targeted with medication or, if necessary, surgery.
Along with cause-specific treatment, symptoms can also be alleviated with the help of supportive measures. In order to do so, vets prescribe the following steps:
During the entire treatment, it is important to regularly monitor the dog’s blood pressure. Further blood success can also help to check if the treatment is successful.
If the kidneys are so severely damaged that they can no longer perform tasks alone, kidney replacement therapy (dialysis) must be carried out. This involves the blood being filtered in an external device and then added back to the bloodstream.
The prognosis of renal insufficiency depends greatly on the underlying disease. It is generally more favourable with acute renal insufficiency, whilst chronic renal insufficiency is unfortunately not curable. If you follow the vet’s instructions and feed your dog with special kidney food, you can improve its quality of life and potentially its life expectancy.
You can also find suitable dog food for a kidney diet in the zooplus online store.
If a dog is suffering from renal insufficiency, its kidneys do not work as they usually do. Normally they ensure an even balance of fluids and electrolytes and regulate the blood pressure. In addition, they detoxify the blood and filter urinary excreted substances, which are then released into the urine. If these functions are disturbed, the body can be damaged in many ways due to the complex tasks involved.
The causes of renal insufficiency are divided into pre-renal (before the kidney), renal (inside the kidney) and post-renal (after the kidney) causes:
With acute renal insufficiency (also acute kidney injury, AKI), the kidneys suddenly receive less blood flow. It occurs within a few hours to days. If the cause is quickly identified and treated, complete recovery is possible.
With chronic kidney disease (CKD), the renal corpuscle (glomeruli) in the functional units (nephrons) of the renal tissue suffers long-term damage. It isn’t always possible for vets to identify the exact cause.
Since the renal corpuscles cannot regenerate, chronic renal insufficiency is not curable. The dog’s condition often worsens over the course of the disease.
At the Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen I was extensively trained as a veterinarian and was able to gain experience in various fields such as small animal, large animal and exotic animal medicine as well as pharmacology, pathology and food hygiene. Since then, I have been working not only as a veterinary author, but also on my scientifically driven dissertation. My goal is to better protect animals from pathogenic bacterial organisms in the future. Besides my veterinary knowledge, I also share my own experiences as a happy dog owner and can thus understand and enlighten fears and problems as well as other important questions about animal health.
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