My dog has kidney disease. Is it serious? What diet and treatment?

I'm so sorry to hear of your dog's diagnosis of kidney disease at such a young age! If they haven't been run already, I would suggest additional testing to look for other underlying causes of kidney disease that are potentially treatable - urinalysis, urine culture, leptospirosis PCR (if in your area), ultrasound, etc. I would also recommend a urine protein:creatinine ratio, and a blood pressure measurement. If it's truly primary kidney disease, there are pet food companies that make kidney-specific diets that are low in protein and phosphorus (these are the two main ingredients to limit with kidney disease) - Royal Canin makes a Renal diet, Hill's makes k/d, Purina makes NF. Talk to your veterinarian about starting a kidney diet now while he's feeling good. As far as activities, he can do every activity that he enjoys!

I'm sorry to hear that Caramel is not feeling well. The paperwork showing "female" instead of male is a typo somewhere. Nothing that was run in those tests determine's the dog's sex, so I suspect that was entered wrong at the lab. His kidney values are a bit high, but they aren't crazy high. If a urinalysis was not performed, talk to your vet about running a urinalysis as well, as this will help determine whether those values being high may be in part due to whether or not he is dehydrated (typically the "USG" or "urine specific gravity" is what we are looking for to help interpret this). You may also want to talk to your vet about an abdominal ultrasound (sonogram of the belly); having images of the kidneys and bladder as well as the rest of the abdominal organs (liver, pancreas, GI tract, spleen, adrenal glands) can be helpful in terms of what the most likely cause of his clinical signs are. Another consideration since he is "hardly able to get up" would be a painful condition that's making him not want to move; ask your vet if he seems painful anywhere. To summarize, here is what I recommend you do. Take him to your vet and ask about a urinalysis. Ask your vet if he seems painful anywhere (belly, back, neck, joints). Ask if your vet thinks he needs IV fluids. Ask about an abdominal ultrasound. Best of luck with him, I hope he feels better soon. Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. I am sorry to hear that Lio is suffering from liver and kidney disease at such a young age. The most helpful treatment Lio could receive right now would be IV fluids for hydration. This will also help diurese him to flush out any potential toxins from his blood. With his age I would be concerned that the cause is a toxicity from him eating something possibly. Denamarin is a good liver supplemw t and getting him to eat a critical care formula food such as Hills A/D is good. If an abdominal ultrasound has not yet been performed, I would consider having that done for more information. I hope this helps and that Lio improves soon. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available via consultation if needed.

Hello. With a creatinine of 1.7, Chica is classified in early Stage 2 chronic kidney disease according to the International Renal Interest Society ( https://www.iris.com ). We really need more information to proceed with any treatment recommendations. Your veterinarian needs to obtain an SDMA value, a urine protein creatinine (UPC ) ratio & obtain a good blood pressure measurement. If the SDMA, UPC ratio are in the normal range & blood pressures are fine, then I would not recommend making changes to her diet. It would not hurt to start a kidney diet, like one made by Hill's, Royal Canin or Purina, but do not worry about fat levels ( unless Chica is obese ) & low protein ( especially if there is no protein in the urine ). We do not want to restrict protein too early in the disease because we do not want these patients to start losing weight from loss of protein. Once you have all the information, it will be much easier to follow Chica's condition & recommend dietary & other therapeutic remedies. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Poor girl. Depending on how much protein was found in the urine and her urine protein ratio, as well as clinical symptoms, a biopsy may not be needed. In addition, biopsies are indicated when there is detectable abnormal looking organs. So if the kidneys look abnormal on ultrasound, then a biopsy can be done to definitively diagnose the kidney condition. However, in some cases a biopsy isn't needed if it is obvious what the condition is. I would recommend starting with the ultrasound and also I would then consult with another vet who can go over all her lab findings and come up with a game plan for Dotty. If you wish you can also get all her medical records and then request a consultation with one of the experts here to go over her case more in detail. I hope that your pet Dotty has some improvement with her values soon. Best wishes and take care.

This is best to discuss during a one-on-one consultation; however, the blood work results reveal that your pet has a high white blood cell count (indicates infection or inflammation), mild anemia (low red blood cells), a UTI with a low specific gravity (concentrating ability of the kidneys which should be rechecked once UTI resolved, as well as protein in the urine which should be rechecked after resolution of UTI. as well as high BUN, CREA, which suggests kidney damage or kidney failure. Because of the concurrent UTI, it is best to resolve the UTI with anti-biotics, perhaps consider a SDMA test (specific kidney disease test) to confirm suspected kidney disease/insufficiency, and then rechk Urinalysis in 2 weeks. I am not sure why your pet is on Lasix, unless there is also underlying heart diseasee, which could have caused the erroneous reading of low specific gravity on the test. If there is more to discuss, then pleasea don't hesitate to request a private consultation for this, because this is a complicated case that needs to be on a more personal level in order to get full clarity on the recommendations above. Best wishes and take care.

According to the kidney council (IRIS) he is a stage 2. You need more information however. You need a urinalysis to tell you the concentration of the urine and also a protein level. You also need a blood pressure check. These are sub-stages of the renal disease. I would discuss these tests with your vet, get Dalsong on a renal diet and any medications for the protein or blood pressure. You should also check the Phosphorus level to see if he needs medications to lower that. I would then recheck everything in 2-3 months to see how things are changing. Good luck and kisses to Dalsong!