Kidney disease in Dogs

Kidney or Renal disease in dogs is a very destructive and a depressing disease. This is usually present in older dogs as it is considered that due to aging they loose their immunity and carrying such diseases comes with aging. However, at the present, even young and adolescent dogs are falling prey to it. It is considered to be a hazardous disease as it is irreparable and is generally considered to be fatal. There are some types of kidney diseases like chronic kidney failure, acute kidney failure, kidney failure because of lyme disease, etc.

Symptoms/ Signs of Kidney Disease

1) Signs during initial period comprise of excessive drinking of water, urinating repeatedly, and the urine appears to be adulterated with slight color and odor.

2) Also, as and when the disease starts growing faster the dogs show signs like lethargy, weight loss, vomiting, anorexia and weak muscles.

3) Another symptom is that there are certain breeds of dogs more vulnerable to this disease than others. The signs of it can be visible as early from a few days after they are born. However, these puppies can appear to grow into normal healthy dogs but might be affected by the disease.

4) The dogs usually do not show any symptoms of kidney disease till such time comes that only 25% of their kidney is functioning

5) Yet another symptom to look out for is that if a dog is below 2 years of age and shows prominent signs of blood urea nitrogen, then he should be immediately taken for a check-up.

Treatment/ Vaccination of Kidney Disease

1) One way of treating an ailing dog is to put him on a low protein and low phosphorus diet like Hills K/D. The low level of protein acts as a booster for the dog and is an essential factor that might help in adding a few years to the dogs life.
2) Along with the diet Epogen may be given to cure chronic kidney malfunctioning.

3) Yet another way to treat the dogs is by giving them fluid therapy.