Introduction
The kidneys are critically important to the overall health of a dog. It’s well-known that kidneys are responsible for filtering waste out of the system, but they also regulate blood pressure and the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus production and produce a hormone that helps to stimulate the production of red blood cells. So it’s obvious that any type of kidney disease is a major issue.
The kidneys filter waste out of the body through urine. It does this with the help of thousands of tiny tubes called nephrons. The volume of nephrons is crucial to the kidney’s health, because when one malfunctions, the others can pick up the slack. If enough of these nephrons become damaged, or if the damage occurs so quickly that the others don’t have time to rally, then the result is kidney failure.
Types of Kidney Failure
There are two types of kidney failure. Chronic kidney failure is a gradual process that can occur over a period of months or even years. This often affects older dogs and is one of the leading causes of death among dogs. Though the process is irreversible, there are ways to treat the disease in order to maintain a good quality of life for the afflicted dog.
The other type of kidney failure, known as acute failure, comes when the kidneys stop functioning all at once. This is often caused when a kidney is attacked by an infection. Other possible reasons for kidney failure could be a dog that ingests something poisonous, or complications caused by a certain type of medication.
Blood and urine tests the primary diagnostic measures used to determine kidney failure. One obvious symptom that a pet-owner should be aware of is a dog that drinks unusually large amounts of water. Kidney disease could be the cause of that, as the dog is trying to get back the internal fluid that is being lost due to the failing kidneys producing urine that is too dilute.