Chronic kidney disease affects a significant proportion of older dogs and requires careful welfare management to maintain quality of life as the condition progresses.
Chronic kidney disease in dogs causes welfare compromise through a combination of symptoms including nausea, reduced appetite, lethargy, and in advanced stages, uraemia causing vomiting, altered mentation, and distress. Early detection through routine screening enables earlier dietary intervention that slows progression and extends good-quality life. Management requires a multimodal approach covering diet, hydration support, phosphate binding, blood pressure management, and nausea control. Regular quality of life assessment helps owners recognise when symptom burden is outweighing good days and make compassionate end-of-life decisions before severe suffering occurs. Palliative care for CKD dogs is an important and growing area of veterinary welfare medicine.