recovery from acute renal failure?

Hi,

Last Thursday, after he had been vomiting for five days, they finally did bloodwork on Henry, who is 6 years old, and discovered he was in acute renal failure. He was admitted to the hospital and given intensive IV treatment. By Saturday afternoon, his BUN and phosphorous levels had (miraculously) dropped to normal. I am thrilled, but I'm now worried about the potential for lasting kidney damage. They still can't determine the reason for the kidney "insult." We go back Friday to recheck his levels, but I want to make sure he's doing OK this week. He's not vomiting, but since I brought him home yesterday, he's been very lethargic and sleeping constantly, which is very unlike him. I would have thought, after being in a cage and sleeping for four days, getting IV fluids constantly, that he'd be full of energy when he got home. Should I be concerned?

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

The only way to monitor kidney disease is by utilizing blood work and urinalysis.  Any insult to the kidneys will require time for the body to repair the insult.  Since the insult to the kidneys has not been identified the problem may be ongoing.  You may have to take your dog to a referral hospital where he could be evaluated by a kidney or internal medicine specialist to get at the root of the problem.  If this is not possible, continue to monitor kidney blood and urine values.  Hopefully the acute disease will not become chronic kidney disease.