Hi all,

I have a 14 month old male Rough Collie who today was diagnosed with Kidney failure by the vet. At the moment we don't know how badly his kidneys are. The vet has him on a drip just now and should find something out in the next 48 hours. Has anyone ever come across this in a dog this young? I spoke to the owners of the mother and father and there is no history of it in the family. Anyone any ideas?

Has the vet done any other tests to see what may have caused this ?  I would of thought that this was very young.  I hope that he pulls through OK and you gt to the bottom of it.  Sorry I can't help.

The vet says he thinks he was born with it but as you will know vets only tell you so much so i am looking to find out as much as i can about it and if he had much chance of surviving and living a normal life.

In cats, there is a genetic kidney disorder called PKD -Polycystic Kidney Disease. I just did a quick Google search and it seems dogs can get this too although there is VERY little info on it. It was only discovered in certain breeds of cats (mainly Persians) at the end of the 90's, and as some can be affected but be healthy for years it wasn't really understood to start with that kittens are born with it when an affected parent is bred. It causes cysts of the kidney (which with age grows larger, so reduces the kidney function more and more), which can be seen on an ultrasound scan -although to detect tiny cysts in young cats you need very specialist equipment (extra sensitive scanners) and specially trained vets. Not sure if this is anything it possibly could be?  I don't know of any other kidney disorders that animals can be BORN with.

I myself had a dog that developed kidney failure aged 4, but in his case it was always believed something had happened to him to damage his kidneys.

Not sure if any of this is any help at all, sorry. I wish your dog the very best and hope you get to keep him as long as only possible.

Marianne

He had to be put down on Thursday but thanks for the replies.

sorry to hear your sad news,but i lnow fcr at 13 months had kidney failure too,only in the pass 8 weeks,

So sorry to hear your sad news. How tragic.

Ever since I lost Buster the Rasta Cat in May, I have been checking up on as many people who have had kittens from me, to find out how they are, because PKD worries me now.   I knew nothing about it until about 1999, but was reassured that because he had had no instances of cystitis, there was nothing to be worried about.

I may get another stud cat, and breeding queen, later, once we decide whether we are going to move and when, but now I'll be making sure that I buy kittens from PKD tested parents.

Margot

Ever since I lost Buster the Rasta Cat in May, I have been checking up on as many people who have had kittens from me, to find out how they are, because PKD worries me now.   I knew nothing about it until about 1999, but was reassured that because he had had no instances of cystitis, there was nothing to be worried about.

Hi Margot
What breed do you have? I've been through it as well, when I got my breeding cats tested after 15 years of breeding I had basically 50/50 pos/neg. Of my 5 stud boys I only ended up with one that could be used, then I hed some bad luck and two of my negative girls died of other reasons, and most of the others have refused my one negative boy for whatever reason -he's not very forceful so won't push the issue. Had a big problem buying in a new boy as a) so many people still stick their head in the sand and don't bother testing!, b) so many charge absolutely outrageous prices -by that I mean well over £1000. Have found a male kitten now from tested parents, so just got to wait for him to grow up. :) At least the good news now is that with the DNA test now being available NOBODY should be able to have an excuse for not testing anymore as all it will involve now is a visit to the normal vet. I wish the GCCF would print test results on the reg certs like the KC does!!

A friend of mine set up a website to promote breeders that test. http://www.2b3ofpkd.co.uk

Heard of a Chihuahua (in the US) the other day who is diagnosed with PKD so it obviously does exist in dogs too.....

Lost 2 of my positive queens just 2 weeks ago -one aged 1, to other 2. :( How I wish I'd been able to have the cats tested earlier than I did.

Marianne (Persians & Exotics)

I am SO sorry you lost him. :( My dog with kidney problems died as well, didn't want to mention that earlier...

Marianne