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Is it normal for dog kidney failure to progress so rapidly?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Cairn Terrier | Male | unneutered | 13 years and 7 months old | 14.8 lbs

Hi there my little dog started off being sick for 2 days, then regurgitating water for 2days , after that he was extremely lethargic & refused to eat, he was drinking normally & still peeing, sadly i had to euthanize him which has broken my heart, his blood urea levels were off the chart, he had iv fluid flush & took 25 mins for the levels to rise again when bloods checked again,vet said it was renal failure, also found a cyst on the kidney but is it normsl for all this to happen within a week.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner

Published on June 4th, 2018

I'm so very sorry to hear about your loss of Bobo. Unfortunately, it is very common for renal failure to progress very quickly. Our bloodwork tests do not become abnormal until at least 75% of the kidneys are affected, so by the time a dog is sick from renal failure, their kidneys have been damaged for quite a while. We normally do not know what caused the damage and are unable to determine the damage until it is too late. So, unfortunately, there isn't any treatment for us to do except give IV fluids and often dogs do not respond to that. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss of Bobo. I hope that was helpful and answered your question.

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    Answered By Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH

    Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner

    Published on June 4th, 2018

    Most commonly we will see water intake and urination increase with chronic renal failure, but sometimes they compensate well and we don't see any abnormalities until their body just can't compensate anymore. Another possibility is that Bobo had acute renal failure. There are a number of causes of acute renal failure including infections like Leptospirosis ( https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951453 ) and toxicities such as antifreeze. If something caused acute renal failure, then he would have been normal before. I know you are trying to process your loss of Bobo, so I hope that makes sense and was helpful.

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Most commonly we will see water intake and urination increase with chronic renal failure, but sometimes they compensate well and we don't see any abnormalities until their body just can't compensate anymore. Another possibility is that Bobo had acute renal failure. There are a number of causes of acute renal failure including infections like Leptospirosis ( https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951453 ) and toxicities such as antifreeze. If something caused acute renal failure, then he would have been normal before. I know you are trying to process your loss of Bobo, so I hope that makes sense and was helpful.
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