NOW that summer's over, I hope everyone was able to make the most of it, although it really was not a good one weather-wise – hopefully you managed to find some sunshine somewhere.

I have said before that certain conditions seem to appear in clusters at veterinary practices.

At Dunedin Vets, we had a run of dogs with kidney problems.

Kidney or renal disease is far less common in dogs than cats and I have chatted about kidney disease in the older cat on many previous occasions. Kidney disease in dogs is a serious condition and the outlook is also very variable.

The kidneys play a very important function in the body. They remove toxic materials from the blood to excrete in urine. They stop the body losing too much water and help keep a good balance of hydration. They also help control blood pressure and acid levels in the blood. Anything which stops the kidneys carrying out these functions is kidney disease. This can progress to the kidneys stopping working, which is kidney failure.

We have two forms of kidney disease: acute and chronic. In acute disease, the symptoms are sudden and often severe. The chronic form tends to be a gradual onset deterioration of the kidneys, but it can start suddenly. There is not cure for chronic kidney disease but it can be controlled to some extent.

Dogs can develop kidney disease for a number of reasons. Probably age has the greatest effect on renal function. Some breeds of dog are more prone to developing kidney disease. This is more likely to occur when they are younger and may have a genetic predisposition, such as Boxer dogs.

Sometimes the kidneys can be affected by other disease conditions, such as dental disease, where infection can spread from the gums to the kidneys. The kidneys can of course be affected by cancer and toxins encountered by the dog.

The symptoms of kidney disease are many and varied, and depend on the speed of onset and whether acute or chronic. Generally, an increase in thirst and urination is noted. Your dog may start to urinate in the house as they are unable to control the quantity of urine produced. They may have vomiting and diarrhoea with weight loss and loss of appetite. They may become dull and weak, and be pale and develop ulcers in the mouth. They may even become blind and develop weak bones.

Your vet may suspect kidney disease from the signs your dog is showing, but they will likely want to take urine and blood samples to confirm what the problem is. It actually takes quite a degree of kidney damage before it will show on a blood test. Your vet may also want to do ultrasound scans or x-rays, or check their blood pressure, which can be high in renal disease.

As I say, we seem to get runs of certain conditions. We have seen young dogs with chronic renal failure, probably due to congenital kidney disease. We have also seen older dogs with apparently acute renal disease, where the problem has been either a tumour of the kidney or kidney stones. All of these cases are very difficult to treat and the prognosis is extremely poor.

Recently, Caroline Scott, a very good and longstanding client of Dunedin Vets, came to the Tranent surgery with her lovely Lakeland terrier dog Millie.

Millie had been out of sorts for a couple of days and was known to have been on the beach, scavenging around some seashells. On examination, Millie was duller than usual, had a tender abdomen but no abnormal temperature.

As there was the suspicion that Millie may have eaten shells or something else on the beach, I decided to x-ray her abdomen. There was no sign of a foreign body but some things do not show on x-rays. As she was so dull, I decided to take a blood sample and I treated Millie with medication to stop her vomiting.

Now when I got the results of the blood test, I was really shocked and surprised. All of the substances we look for in the blood were extremely high; in fact, some were so high that they were off the scale.

I had to break it to Caroline that Millie’s kidney results were so bad that she was unlikely to survive. I could not explain what had happened to result in these high levels, but suspected some sort of toxin. Millie was too old for a congenital condition and no tumour nor stones had been seen on the x-ray. Millie had actually improved a little and was no longer been vomiting.

We both sat with tears in our eyes discussing that Millie would probably not survive. We decided to try, though, as Millie was showing signs that she was not giving in and Caroline was willing to try to save her beloved dog.

I prescribed a drug to try to help the kidney function and a special low-protein and low-phosphorous diet, which has less waste products for the kidneys to eliminate from the body.

These low-protein diets can be quite unappealing to dogs with renal problems, but Millie loved it. I encouraged Caroline to ensure Millie had a range of bowls to drink from, to ensure she did not become dehydrated.

I called Caroline after a few days and she reported that Millie was much brighter and more like her old self. I could hardly believe this and could only hope for a miracle.

After a few weeks, I decided to check Millie’s blood sample again and I could scarcely believe it that her renal levels were normal. Millie really was back to her old self. She was eating and drinking normally, and was very lively, even wanting to go for walks on the beach again.

Millie continues to be her happy, lively self, with normally functioning kidneys.

I have never seen a dog recover from having renal blood parameters as high as Millie’s. I really am amazed and Caroline is so pleased to have her wee companion back when we were all fearing the worst.

Miracles do happen.