Articles with kidney failure

Veterinary Kidney Dialysis: Can Hemodialysis Help Your Dog?

When your dog’s kidneys fail to do their job, dialysis can step in to remove toxins accumulated in the blood. In veterinary medicine, hemodialysis is used to buy time for dogs with acute kidney failure. Time is what a dog with acute kidney injury needs. Things that can cause injury to the kidneys include: over-the-counter medications medication overdose toxins (e.g.…

by Jana Rade

Kidney Failure in Dogs: What Happens In The Dog’s Body When The Kidneys Fail To Function Properly?

Last time, I talked about (and hopefully clarified) some of the confusing terminology associated with diseases affecting the canine kidney. I touched upon the basics of both acute kidney failure (or acute kidney injury, and chronic kidney failure. Today, I’d like to go over what all this means for the dogs in our lives. In other words, what happens to…

by Dr. Jennifer Coates, DVM

Dangers of Cheap Tick/Flea Preventives? What Caused Blitzen’s Kidney Failure?

Acute kidney failure is different from kidney disease. Even though chronic kidney issues can remain under the radar until 75 of kidney function is lost, it is a gradual process. Further, the new kidney function test, SDMA, can detect kidney disease well in advance. Acute kidney failure happens fast. It can be a matter of days or even hours. Potential…

by Jana Rade

Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer by day, dog health advocate, dog writer, member of the Dog Writers Association of America, and an award-winning author in my spare time. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Endless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care into my own hands. I learned the hard way that simply seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to finally get a diagnosis for her initial issue. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to use 20 years of hard-earned experience to save others from the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way, as I did.

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