Stage 4 kidney disease in dogs involves severe toxin buildup (uremia), causing significant lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, severe weight loss, loss of appetite, dehydration, and bad breath with mouth sores; other signs can include anemia, pale gums, poor coat, and potential seizures or vision loss due to high blood pressure.
Prognosis is associated with severity of disease. Studies have shown shorter median survival times in dogs with higher IRIS stages. Median survival time for IRIS Stage 1 dogs was over 400 days, Stage 2 ranged from 200 to 400 days, Stage 3 ranged from 110 to 200 days, and Stage 4 ranged from 14 to 80 days.
If your dog is in pain constantly, stops eating and drinking, or experiences incontinence due to complete kidney failure, you may need to consider putting your dog to sleep.
End-stage kidney failure in dogs causes toxin accumulation, leading to vomiting yellow bile, loss of appetite, and dehydration. Symptoms include lethargy, weakness, and oral ulcers. Treatment focuses on palliative care: providing fluids to ease dehydration, anti-nausea medications, and pain relief.
The life expectancy for individuals with stage 4 kidney disease can vary widely and is influenced by age, overall health, treatment choices, and access to medical care. With appropriate management and treatment, many people can live with stage 4 CKD for several years.
Even dogs that have severe kidney failure may respond favorably to treatment and resume a normal quality of life after treatment.
We found that participants with progressive CKD spent a median of 7.9 years in stage 3a, 5 years in stage 3b, 4.2 years in stage 4, and <1 year in stage 5.
While end-stage kidney disease is not necessarily painful, it can make affected dogs feel pretty icky. Your veterinarian will work with you to tailor a specific treatment plan to allow your dog to feel well for as long as possible.
Patients may experience a wide variety of symptoms as kidney failure progresses. These include fatigue, drowsiness, decrease in urination or inability to urinate, dry skin, itchy skin, headache, weight loss, nausea, bone pain, skin and nail changes and easy bruising.
Unfortunately, kidney failure can be painful for dogs due to the impact of the kidneys no longer filtering toxins out of their body.
Sudden kidney failure can progress from mild symptoms to life-threatening within days or even hours. Dogs with acute kidney failure often show dramatic symptoms like persistent vomiting, complete refusal to eat or drink, and severe low energy. Without quick medical help, this condition can be fatal.
How to tell if a dog is in pain: Nine warning signs
Dogs with kidney disease should avoid eating processed meats, organ meats, nuts, beans, lentils, most dairy products, bread, and sardines. Chicken is safe for dogs with kidney disease. White rice is also safe for dogs with kidney disease.
Dogs with kidney failure often drink more water than usual and may need to urinate more frequently. This occurs because the kidneys are no longer effectively filtering waste, leading to excess water loss.
The Link Between Bad Breath and Kidney Failure
One of the waste products that can build up is urea. Excessive urea (called uremia) can cause the dog's breath to smell like ammonia, urine or even “fishy” when they exhale.
An appropriate diet is vital in managing kidney disease. A diet specially formulated or tailored for kidney disease (such as those low in protein, phosphorus, calcium and sodium but high in omega 3 fatty acids) can help your dog.
As people get closer to dying, they may sleep more, become drowsy or be difficult to wake. They may fall asleep while talking. A person may slowly lose consciousness in the days or hours before death.
Symptoms of kidney failure may include: Itchy skin or rashes (pruritis) Muscle cramps. Nausea or vomiting.
A growing body of literature has shown that pain is the most common symptom for patients with ESRD impacting virtually every aspect of HRQOL and is the 1 symptom of greatest concern at the end of life. Their chronic pain is typically moderate to severe and is undertreated.
Lethargy/Difficulty Walking
As kidney disease progresses in your dog, they can become very lethargic and prefer to sleep much of the day.
Changes in Urination
On the other hand, dogs with severe acute renal disease often produce less urine than normal and as the condition progresses, may ultimately produce none at all. Their kidneys have completely shut down.
Initial diagnostic tests usually range between $200 and $750, whereas long-term management of chronic kidney failure can cost between $100 and $500 per month, depending on the prescribed medications and how often IV fluid therapy is required. Pro Tip: Every dog owner should consider pet insurance.
There is no cure for kidney failure, but with treatment it is possible to live a long, fulfilling life. Having kidney failure is not a death sentence. People with kidney failure live active lives and continue to do the things they love.
Heart disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure or diabetes can make kidney disease get worse faster. So it is important that your doctor keeps an eye both on how your kidneys are working and your overall health.
In the last weeks and days of kidney failure, signs that death is near include: Little or no urine output. Decreased blood pressure. Decreased body temperature.