hereditary renal failure in this breed?

[frontierrots]

The newest Whole Dog Journal has an article called "when to say no to low protein" In a box at the bottom of the article's first page it says "Breeds at increased risk. Hereditary renal failure has been documented in the Basenji, beagle, bull terrier, cairn terrier, chow, cocker spaniel, doberman pinscher, german shepherd, lhasa apso, miniature schnauzer, norweigan elkhound, Rottweiler, samoyed, chinese sharpei, shih tzu, soft coated wheaten terrier and standard poodle. Because these breeds may be at higher risk for kidney disease, it is important when purchasing puppies to ask for proof that the breeding stock has been screened for renal disease....."


Ok so I've heard of maybe a handful of Rottweilers in 20 years with renal failure. Mostly dogs that have had reactions to meds, poisoned dogs, infection or similar. I don't know of any one who screens for renal disease in Rottweilers, prebreeding. I don't even know what you would do... Blood panel????

Anyone else have a comment??

[Judi W]

I don't know how the Rottweiler got added to that list, but it is not a disorder common in the breed. It certainly could be that there are some cases with familial disorders, but that does not make it a breed thing.

[flyballmom]

When Charleigh first got sick, and I took her to the ER vet, the first thing he asked was if she could have been poisoned, then stated that Rottweilers have a high incidence of having hypoplastic kidneys. So...if one kidney is too small to provide much function and the other fails, or if both are too small, then yes, that could lead to renal failure. He did say it could be hereditary, but the info I found on the net didn't necessarily support that.

And yeah....a blood panel would show existing renal failure, or pre-renal failure. An ultrasound would be needed to show malformed organs.