IRIS-Stage 4 CKD in a Dog: Diagnostic Approaches and Staging of Chronic Kidney Disease: A Case Study

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a devastating disease of the kidneys that often arise from unresolved acute injury. As a chronic disease, CKD is challenging to diagnose, thus it needs a good combination of a comprehensive understanding of the kidney’s anatomy and physiology and thorough planning for a framework of diagnostic tools to be utilized. This study is intended to provide the diagnostic planning used to determine CKD in an approximately 5-year-old intact male dog that was brought to My Vets Animal Clinic for a check-up visit. On presentation, the dog was emaciated, mildly dehydrated, halitotic, and infested with ticks. A complete blood count (CBC) indicated a normocytic, normochromic, non-regenerative anemia, and lymphopenia. The blood chemistry panel indicated azotemia, elevated symmetric dimethylarginine (SDMA), hypocalcemia, and hyperphosphatemia. Elevated SDMA level (64 μg/dL, reference value: 0-14 μg/dL) and hypercreatinemia (5.9 mg/dL, reference value: 0.5-1.8 mg/dL) indicated impaired glomerular filtration. Physical and clinical pathological findings signified the presence of CKD in this dog, with a stage-4 severity based on International Renal Interest Society (IRIS) CKD staging criteria. The prognosis of this case was highly guarded, and the dog eventually passed away on the sixth day of hospitalization. In a case with an uncertain outcome, accuracy in both diagnosis and staging of CKD in dogs will aid the therapy regimen planning, which may improve the patient’s conditions.