Diseases of the urinary apparatus in dogs include: congenital anomalies; infectious diseases; intestinal nephritis; non-infectious diseases; renal blockage; metabolic illnesses; renal neoplasia; urolithiasis, etc.



Factors that can influence the appearance of renal diseases in dogs include: -age – the chances for renal blockage to occur grow with age in dogs, and they double once the animals reach the age of 10 - 15; -race – renal afflictions are more common in certain races of dogs, which can predispose the animal to the occurrence of renal dysfunction. These races include: Cocker Spaniel, Lhasa Apso, Samoyede and Doberman Pinscher.;



-the environment – certain common chemical in the environment (phenol based disinfectants, thawing agents, led based paint) and also certain types of medicine are toxic for the kidneys; -the diet – a careful examination of the amounts of phosphorus and protein in the food can slow the progression of renal illnesses in dogs who have already been diagnosed with renal problems.

Stages of renal disease: -normal renal function – when some of the nephrons are lost but their function is covered by the remaining nephrons, and there are no clinical signs of disease; -renal insufficiency (primary stage of disease) – the animal is not able to sufficiently concentrate the urine and thirst is higher than usual; -early renal blockage – toxic metabolites (residual substances) are accumulated in the body because the kidneys cannot eliminate them in an efficient manner, thus determining the occurrence of some of the earliest symptoms of kidney disease in dogs; -advanced renal blockage –there are obvious signs of disease, reaching all the way to collapse and death.

Common diseases of the uro-genital apparatus and earliest symptoms of kidney disease in dogs:

Urolithiasis - Urolithiasis or urinary calculosis is a common illness in dogs. Causes: in dogs, urine is a hypertonic solution, due to the various crystalloids, the uric acid for example, which is difficult to dissolve. Signs of the disease: there is a clear differentiation between the symptoms depending on the location of the calculi. Thus, still renal calculi do not produce any symptom of disease. The rugous and mobile calculi can damage the renal basin, producing various infections; calculi located on urethras can produce colic (dramatic abdominal pain); calculi in the urinary bladder can produce hemorrhagic cystitis.

Calculi located in the urethra can partially or completely obdurate the urethra, causing the dog to lose urine, in the first case, or not to urinate at all, in the second case. Urethral calculi in the male dog, which stop at the base of the penian bone are extracted by the doctor, in the veterinarian clinic, through a surgical procedure.



Urolithiasis and bladder calculi - Several factors contribute to the formation of sand and stones in the urinary apparatus. The growth in salt concentration in the urine determines the depositing of the calculi, layer upon layer, on a renal level or in the urinary bladder. Normally, the urine of dogs and cats is slightly acid. On the other hand, most salts are poorly soluble in alkaline solutions, which is why, the more alkaline the urine becomes, the more will the animal in question be prone to developing some form of sand or uroliths. A series of bacteria decompose the urea from the urine into ammonia, a compound that renders the urine alkaline.