Renal failure in a dog: symptoms, stages, treatment and prognosis

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Each person is responsible for those whom he has tamed. Therefore, if you have a pet, then you need to not only enjoy its existence, stroke it and caress it, play with it and do other things that bring you pleasure. You also need to take care of your pet, because he is not able to do it himself. Especially when it comes to he alth - absolutely everything is in your hands. Many people ask the question: “What can go wrong?” And the answer to this question can be short and clear - almost everything. Animals can suffer from a wide variety of diseases, and your task is to prevent their occurrence or cure if the disease has already manifested itself. This article will address one of the most well-known problems - kidney failure in dogs. This disease is quite common, and the saddest thing is that most often it manifests itself due tocarelessness of the owners. So if you want to save your pet from suffering, you should know absolutely everything about what constitutes kidney failure in a dog.

What is this?

Renal failure in dogs is a disease that most often develops closer to old age. What does she represent? Throughout a dog's life, its kidneys function at full capacity to filter out all the harmful substances that enter the body. Under such a load, a gradual wear of the internal organ occurs, and the cells begin to fail. Accordingly, they cannot perform their functions, as a result of which toxins penetrate the body, spread through it, slowly killing the dog. Kidney failure is diagnosed when the number of dead cells exceeds half. It is then that the corresponding symptoms begin to be felt. Why so late? Kidney failure in a dog has one feature that you should definitely be aware of if you do not want to allow your pet to have this disease.

Cell work

Like any other disease, kidney failure develops gradually. It does not come suddenly, at one moment, so you should think about how to prevent it. However, this is not easy to do. The point is precisely in the feature that was discussed above - it is precisely because of it that it cannot be determined with the naked eye.renal failure in dogs. The stages of the development of the disease imperceptibly pass from one to another, since the kidney cells that remain after death take on the functions of those that can no longer perform them. Accordingly, they simply redistribute the load as long as they can do it without harm to the body. When do he alth problems start to show up? Just after fifty percent of the cells fail, as was said earlier. That is why you need to pay special attention to diseases such as kidney failure in dogs. You can learn the symptoms and treatment of this disease from this article.

Stages of disease

It is necessary to briefly talk about the issue that has already been raised above. What are the stages of a disease like kidney failure in dogs? Symptoms and treatment are different for each of them, so it is important to know at what stage the disease is. So, the first is the initial one, which is almost imperceptible. You will have to try hard to notice it, as your pet will not show any obvious symptoms. The clinical stage will be described in this article in as much detail as possible, since it is on it that all the main symptoms become noticeable, and it is also for it that almost all courses of treatment are prescribed. As for the final stage, in no case should you allow it to occur. The fact is that it occurs when more than seventy percent of kidney cells are destroyed, after whichthe organ is almost impossible to restore, and your dog will have a disappointing future. However, it is precisely to ensure that you do not allow the onset of the final stage that this article exists, which will provide you with all the necessary information.

Symptoms

You have to learn absolutely everything about a disease such as kidney failure in dogs: treatment, prognosis, and most importantly, the symptoms by which you can determine that something is wrong with your pet. So, the main and most important of them is the strong thirst experienced by the dog. She may drink huge amounts of water, and will try to find it throughout the house and beyond. But this symptom is not the only one - you should also look out for increased urination, decreased appetite and subsequent weight loss in animals, as well as signs of loss of strength, such as lethargy, constant fatigue, lack of mobility. Thus, if your cheerful and joyful pet suddenly refuses to eat and get up from one place, and all he wants is water, then you have a serious problem that you should definitely contact your veterinarian. Simply put, this is kidney failure in dogs. It makes no sense to predict the course of the disease right away - this pathology is not a sentence for the animal. You need to see a doctor to find out at what stage the disease is, and after that you can already find out the course of treatment, and forecasts and recommendations for further care of the animal.

Emergency Symptoms

Of course, I don’t want to talk about this - I would like to hope that all dog owners will be attentive enough to their pets to notice the first manifestations of the disease in time. But still it is worth knowing also about what symptoms this disease has not in the first, but in the last stages. Critical acute renal failure in dogs is already manifested by much more unpleasant symptoms. Firstly, in a dog's mouth, numerous ulcers may begin to appear on the mucous membrane - the result of exposure to toxins in the body. Secondly, the dog may begin to lose balance on level ground, and may also experience convulsions and severe shaking. And thirdly, the dog may begin to vomit, in which it will be possible to notice the remnants of undigested food. Also, this vomiting will be accompanied by foam from the mouth. Naturally, you should not bring your pet to such a critical state, you should not joke with such a disease as kidney failure. You already know the symptoms of this disease, but there is one more thing that you should pay attention to, and if you do everything right, you may never see any signs of the disease.

Lab tests

If you have even the slightest suspicion that your dog is developing kidney failure, you should definitely visit the vet and run some lab tests. The point is that efficiencyKidney function can be easily checked with a blood test for urea and creatinine. As mentioned above, it is impossible to identify the disease in the initial stages, since living cells distribute the functions of the dead among themselves, so the level of urea and creatinine in the blood will be normal. And it is this norm that you should constantly check. It is normal for a dog to have one to two milligrams of creatinine and 10 to 25 milligrams of urea per hundred milliliters of blood.

What indicators should be of concern?

Always focus on the upper threshold - if the indicators start to approach it, then you already have reasons to worry. Why try so hard and strain? The bottom line is that, as with most diseases, the sooner kidney failure is diagnosed, the easier it will be to treat and the better the prognosis for the dog.

Cure disease

It's time to talk about the most important point regarding such a disease as kidney failure in dogs - treatment. There is only one solution here, and, fortunately, it is quite effective. Your pet will need infusion detoxification therapy. What does it mean? This means that a special solution will be introduced into the body in the form of a liquid, which will cleanse the body of your dog from those toxins that the gradually failing kidneys let through. This therapy will attack the disease from all directions at once.

How does therapy work?

First, shequenches the pet's thirst, secondly, it relieves the animal's body of toxins, and thirdly, it reduces the load on the kidneys, which are already working at the limit of their capabilities. Accordingly, depending on the severity of the disease, this therapy will have its own frequency. If the disease was diagnosed already at the clinical stage, then therapy sessions will need to be carried out daily, but if it was detected at a critical stage, then sessions will have to be carried out more often. So the sooner you can spot your pet's problem, the less problems you and he will have. In addition to fluid therapy, some medications may also be prescribed that can alleviate the course of the disease and contribute to the effectiveness of treatment.

Further therapy

And, of course, chronic renal failure in dogs is a disease that will not go anywhere, since the cells of this internal organ are not restored. You can only normalize the state of the body and then maintain it in working condition on your own. To do this, you will either need to visit the veterinarian periodically for intravenous therapy, or, if the disease was not at a critical stage, this therapy can be administered subcutaneously at home. One way or another, you need to constantly consult with your veterinarian to determine the effectiveness of the treatment and the frequency of further sessions.

Food

Well, the last thing to focus on is nutrition. When the worst is behind you, you will need to think about what to dofarther. How to keep your pet in good condition? To do this, you will need to think over his diet in as much detail as possible. Fortunately, a wide variety of dietary pet foods are now available in the public domain, and among them you can find special options designed for dogs with kidney failure.

What to feed the dog?

One of the clearest examples is Hills Prescription Diet Canine, which is available in two varieties. One of them is designed for dogs that suffer from kidney failure, while the other is designed for those animals that suffer from a severe stage of this disease. How is this food different from regular food? It has a completely different composition, which contains much less protein, phosphorus and sodium, that is, those elements that put a greater burden on the kidneys and can contribute to the accumulation of toxins in the body. Instead, these foods have more soluble fiber and vitamins, as well as omega-3 fatty acids. Depending on how much the disease has affected the animal's body, the diet can be either permanent, that is, lasting until the end of the pet's life, or temporary. Food for dogs with kidney failure is something you should pay special attention to, do not try to save money on it. If the doctor tells you to buy special medical food, it is better to spend money on it.

Herbal treatment

Many dog owners believe that they can cope with the disease on their own, looking for information that it can be influenced by certainmedicinal herbs such as dandelion, nettle, or alfalfa, so they decide they don't need specialist help. However, this is a very big mistake - it is impossible to argue with the fact that such herbs, with the right approach, can be of great help in the fight against the disease, but it is impossible to cure kidney failure exclusively with them. So do not torture your animal with attempts at home treatment - always consult a specialist.