Treatment of Canine Proteinuric Kidney Disease

IRIS Consensus Recommendations for Treatment of Canine Proteinuric Kidney Disease

At its 2011 meeting in Denver, the IRIS Board approved the formation of a study group to develop a consensus report entitled "Best Clinical Practices for Proteinuric Kidney Disease in Dogs". Two Board members, David Polzin and Larry Cowgill, serve as the co-Chairs of this group. The aim of the project was to utilize currently available evidence and group consensus to develop a series of clinically applicable recommendations for diagnosis and management of these patients.

To cover the wide array of patient presentations, geographic variance and means available following focused topics were developed:

  1. Diagnostic Investigation of Dogs with Suspected Glomerular Disease,
  2. Standard Therapy of Dogs with Suspected Glomerular Disease,
  3. Immunosuppressive Treatment of Dogs with Glomerular Disease Based on Established Pathology,
  4. Immunosuppressive Treatment of Dogs with Proteinuric Kidney Diseases Absent Histopathologic Diagnosis,
  5. Immunosuppressive Treatment of Dogs with Suspected Glomerular Disease and Serologic Evidence of A Possible Causative Agent.

Further details on this project are available in the IRIS Newsletter. This work is published as a supplement to the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine and is available online. The Board hopes this project will serve as a model for the development of future recommendations in nephrology, as well as other fields in veterinary medicine. The development of this report, and its inclusion as a journal supplement, were graciously supported by Novartis Animal Health, acquired by and now supported by Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Company.