What Is Dog Kidney Failure? Symptoms and Treatment

1 Overview

What Is Dog Kidney Failure?

Dog kidney failure is a clinical syndrome characterized by decreased kidney function, with features of latency, destructiveness, and high mortality. Clinically it is divided into prerenal, renal, and postrenal.

Prerenal failure includes acute renal ischemia, reduced glomerular perfusion, and decreased glomerular filtration rate, caused by reduced or relatively insufficient cardiac output from shock, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular diseases;

Renal failure includes kidney injury and poisoning, mainly from accidentally ingesting nephrotoxic drugs or substances such as aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, biological toxins, and heavy metals during daily care;

Postrenal failure is commonly seen in ureteral obstruction, mainly caused by stones, tumors, sulfonamide and uric acid crystal blockage of the ureter. Some parasitic diseases, such as leptospirosis, can also cause kidney failure. In clinical diagnosis and treatment, kidney failure is characterized by dehydration, oliguria or anuria, metabolic acidosis, azotemia, heart failure, anemia, and water, electrolyte, and acid-base metabolism disorders.

Symptoms of Dog Kidney Failure

The dog refuses food, vomits, has severe diarrhea, weak and flaccid hind limbs, pale mouth color, yellowed mucous membranes, fatigue, emaciation, rough coat, and pain on abdominal palpation.

Treatment of Dog Kidney Failure

Kidney failure is an irreversible pathological process.

Fluid therapy is the most effective means of treating this disease, aimed at correcting acid-base and electrolyte disorders, controlling dehydration, providing the nutrients the animal needs, and maintaining kidney metabolic function. A mixture of 0.9% saline and an energy compound given by intravenous injection is commonly used. This method applies to dogs with urine or polyuria. For anuria or oliguria cases, the diuretic furosemide can be used, and it can also prevent hyperkalemia.

Dog liver disease, acute pancreatitis, and kidney failure are closely linked; usually liver disease leads to secondary acute pancreatitis, eventually resulting in kidney failure. Most kidney failure cases cause uremia and are difficult to cure completely, but can be actively prevented, with emphasis on daily care-management: provide the dog a hygienic environment, feed sufficient clean drinking water and nutritionally balanced food, and prevent bacterial infection, urinary obstruction, and toxin ingestion.