Acute on chronic kidney disease in dogs: Etiology, clinical and clinicopathologic findings, prognostic markers, and survival

Background Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute exacerbation of CKD (ACKD) are common in dogs. Objective To characterize the etiology, clinical and laboratory findings, and short‐ and long‐term prognosis of dogs with ACKD. Animals One hundred dogs with ACKD. Methods Medical records of dogs diagnosed with ACKD admitted to a veterinary teaching hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Results The most common clinical signs included anorexia (84%), lethargy (77%), vomiting (55%) and diarrhea (37%). Presumptive etiology included inflammatory causes (30%), pyelonephritis (15%), ischemic causes (7%), other (3%), or unknown (45%). Median hospitalization time was 5 days (range, 2‐29 days) and was significantly longer in survivors (6 days; range, 2‐29 days) compared with nonsurvivors (4 days; range, 2‐20 days; P