Internal & hormonal
Kidney Disease (CKD)
Understanding kidney disease, the treatments you control, and managing it over time.
6 stages · 28 guides from PetsLikeMine
Who can help near you
- Your vet1 kind
- Specialists2 kinds
- Comfort care2 kinds
Listed by distance from you. Nobody pays to be listed.
Understanding the diagnosis
Stage 1 · 7 guides from PetsLikeMine
Chronic Kidney Disease in Cats: What Every Owner Needs to KnowA diagnosis of chronic kidney disease is not the end of your cat's good life. That is the single most important thing to say, before any of the detail, because the word…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Chronic Kidney Disease in Dogs: The Owner's Complete GuideGo looking for information after your dog is diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, or after a vet mentions "borderline kidney values," and you'll hit something…11 min read · on PetsLikeMine Understanding IRIS Staging: What Your Pet's Stage Actually MeansYour vet has used a word that sounds clinical and a little frightening: your dog or cat is at "stage 2", or "stage 3", kidney disease. It is natural to hear that as a…13 min read · on PetsLikeMine
The treatments you control
Stage 2 · 6 guides from PetsLikeMine
The Renal Diet: The Single Most Important Treatment You ControlOf everything in the kidney-disease toolkit, the prescription renal diet has the best evidence for extending your pet's good-quality life. And it is the one big lever…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Phosphate Binders: When the Renal Diet Isn't EnoughPhosphate is the number the whole renal diet is quietly chasing, as our guide to that diet explains. Controlling it is one of the few things genuinely shown to change…9 min read · on PetsLikeMine High Blood Pressure and Kidney Disease: The Silent RiskHigh blood pressure travels alongside kidney disease far more often than most owners realise, and it is dangerous for one particular, unsettling reason: it is silent…8 min read · on PetsLikeMine
Daily management
Stage 3 · 5 guides from PetsLikeMine
Getting a Cat to Eat the Renal Diet: The Owner's Battle PlanGetting a cat onto a prescribed kidney diet is one of the genuinely hard parts of managing kidney disease, and almost every owner struggles with it. If your cat has…11 min read · on PetsLikeMine Subcutaneous Fluids at Home: A Complete Beginner's GuideA needle, at home, given by me? Is that cruel? Could I actually do it? When a vet first suggests giving fluids under the skin at home, most owners feel some mix of alarm…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Keeping Your Pet Hydrated: A Water Strategy for Kidney DiseaseHere is a quiet paradox at the heart of kidney disease: a pet can be drinking more than ever and still be running closer to dehydration than a healthy animal. That is…8 min read · on PetsLikeMine
Complications and advanced options
Stage 4 · 4 guides from PetsLikeMine
Concurrent Conditions: When Kidney Disease Doesn't Travel AloneOlder bodies rarely have just one thing wrong with them, and kidneys are no exception. By the time a cat or dog is old enough to develop chronic kidney disease, they are…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Acute-on-Chronic: Recognising and Responding to a Kidney CrisisChronic kidney disease is usually a slow story, a gentle drift measured in months and years, and most days with a kidney patient are quiet ones. But it can flare hard…9 min read · on PetsLikeMine Advanced Kidney Treatments: Dialysis, Transplant and What's on the HorizonMost owners of a pet with kidney disease eventually ask the same hopeful questions. Is there a transplant? A dialysis machine, like people have? A new drug just around…8 min read · on PetsLikeMine
All 4 guides in this stage
Working with your vet
Stage 5 · 3 guides from PetsLikeMine
The CKD Monitoring Schedule: What to Check and How Often, by StageA pet with kidney disease gets called back to the vet a lot, and then called back again, with a regularity that can start to feel like a lot. Plenty of owners quietly…9 min read · on PetsLikeMine What CKD Care Actually Costs in the UK: An Honest BreakdownMoney is part of the picture with kidney disease, a real and often heavy part, and almost nobody talks about it openly. Owners are left to discover the costs piecemeal…10 min read · on PetsLikeMine Getting the Most From Your Vet Appointments With a Kidney PatientManaging a pet with kidney disease is a partnership, and a slightly unusual one, because you and your vet each hold half of what is needed. You are the expert on your…8 min read · on PetsLikeMine
The long view
Stage 6 · 3 guides from PetsLikeMine
Living Well With Kidney Disease: Pets Who Thrive for YearsThe word "kidney disease" lands like a countdown for most owners. It sounds final, the mind leaps to the worst, and a frightened search online rarely helps. So here is…8 min read · on PetsLikeMine When Kidney Disease Progresses: Late-Stage Care and ComfortThere comes a point in kidney disease where the condition you have managed so well for so long starts to ask more of you both. What follows is straightforward and…8 min read · on PetsLikeMine Quality of Life and Saying Goodbye: The Honest ConversationThis is the hardest article in our kidney guide, and there is no way to make the subject easy, so I will simply be gentle with it, and with you. Owners come to this…11 min read · on PetsLikeMine
Find care near you
Your kidney disease (ckd) care team
These are the practitioners this condition can call for, from your everyday vet to specialists and therapists. Enter your postcode to see who's near you at each step.
- Your vet (primary care)
Internal-medicine specialist ·Referral hospital
Home & hospice end-of-life vet ·Mobile vet (home visits)
Understand the condition
Clinical background on vetcanon, the ConciergeVet reference library. Vetcanon is published by Concierge Vet LTD, which also operates PetCare Atlas.
With PetsLikeMine
Read the whole journey on PetsLikeMine
Every kidney disease (ckd) guide, in order, sits in its own space on PetsLikeMine, written by owners and vets who have been through it. We show the first few here and link to the rest.
Read every kidney disease (ckd) guide