Can you tell me about kidney failure? Hello Emma!As an aspiring vet student I find your site very informative and a lot of the 'Ask Emma' section supports my time spent consulting with my local vet.
I'm currently looking into kidney failure and I wondered if you could give me a few brief pointers i.e. symptoms, causes etc.
Many congratulations on a fantastic site - keep up the good work! Thanks,
C. Robinson
Charlotte Robinson Thanks so much for your kind comments, it’s good to know you are getting something from the site. The main symptoms of kidney failure are excessive drinking and urinating. This is because the kidneys become less and less efficient at concentrating urine and so the animal drinks more to compensate for the extra urine output. The kidneys also have a major role in removing toxins from the blood and when they fail these levels can build up very quickly. This accounts for the other signs of kidney failure such as inappetance, nausea, sore gums and depression. There are many causes such as a genetic disease in animals such as Persians and all cats are prone to chronic renal failure in general in old age. We see it less commonly in dogs but it is still something we need to consider. It can also be caused by various drugs and also some poisons. I hope this helps and good luck for the future.
Emma
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