Kidney Disease in Pets: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment

<p>This week on Doctor Molly Says, it&#39;s just me, and we&#39;re finally tackling a topic so many of you have been asking me about for a long time: kidney disease!</p><p><br></p><p>We start with kidney disease 101: what your dog or cat&#39;s kidneys are actually doing back there (hint: way more than you&#39;d think), and why these little bean-shaped organs are so vital to basically every system in the body.</p><p><br></p><p>Then we get into the two big categories: acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease. For acute kidney injury, I&#39;m walking you through all the surprising culprits; lilies, antifreeze, grapes and raisins, NSAIDs like ibuprofen, too much vitamin D, certain mushrooms, dehydration, heat stroke, anesthesia risk, heart disease, urinary obstructions, and one I get on my soapbox about: leptospirosis. I really want more of you to understand what &quot;lepto&quot; is and why vaccinating for it matters, especially if your dog has ever had unexplained kidney failure.</p><p><br></p><p>Then we dig into chronic kidney disease: why it&#39;s so common in cats, why symptoms can be sneaky and subtle until it&#39;s fairly advanced, and all the bloodwork markers your vet is actually looking at (creatinine, BUN, SDMA, phosphorus, potassium, urine specific gravity, and protein) when they tell you your pet&#39;s kidney values. I also break down IRIS staging, which helps guide how often we monitor and treat.</p><p><br></p><p>Finally, we talk treatment because while we can&#39;t &quot;cure&quot; chronic kidney disease, there is SO much we can do to slow it down and keep pets feeling good for a long time: prescription kidney diets (and why they&#39;re not the internet villain people think they are), hydration strategies, subcutaneous fluids, blood pressure management, and more.</p><p><br></p><p>If you&#39;ve ever gotten &quot;the kidney talk&quot; from your vet and left confused, or you just want to understand your pet&#39;s aging kidneys a little better, this episode is for you.</p><p><br></p><p>LOVE YOU GUYS 💛</p><p><br></p><p>Timestamps:</p><p>00:00:00 Welcome back + We&#39;re finally talking kidney disease!</p><p>00:05:02 Acute kidney injury: toxins that cause it (lilies, antifreeze, grapes &amp; more)</p><p>00:10:15 Leptospirosis: the soapbox on vaccination &amp; missed diagnoses</p><p>00:15:17 From acute injury to chronic kidney disease</p><p>00:20:21 Decoding kidney bloodwork: creatinine, BUN &amp; SDMA</p><p>00:25:14 Kidney disease in cats</p><p>00:30:15 IRIS staging: how vets grade kidney disease</p><p>00:35:12 How do we treat kidney disease</p><p>00:40:00 Thanks for listening!!!</p><p><br></p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------</p><p><br></p><p>Listen to the pod on YouTube/Spotify/Apple:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@drmollysayspod">https://www.youtube.com/@drmollysayspod</a> </p><p><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7xmKqrXGPJXpsbDbtCMgfe?si=17148ddc74604cb1">https://open.spotify.com/show/7xmKqrXGPJXpsbDbtCMgfe?si=17148ddc74604cb1</a> </p><p><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-molly-says-podcast/id1800302028">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dr-molly-says-podcast/id1800302028</a></p><p><br></p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------</p><p><br></p><p>Follow Dr. Molly:</p><p>Instagram | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/drmollysays/">https://www.instagram.com/drmollysays</a></p><p>TikTok | <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@drmollysays">https://www.tiktok.com/@drmollysays</a></p><p><br></p><p>Follow the podcast:</p><p>Instagram | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/drmollysayspod/">https://www.instagram.com/drmollysayspod/</a></p><p>TikTok | <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@drmollysayspod">https://www.tiktok.com/@drmollysayspod</a></p><p><br></p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------</p>