Pyelonephritis is bacterial infection of the renal pelvis and kidney tissue, usually from bacteria that have climbed up from the bladder. It matters because it can cause acute kidney injury or push a dog with chronic kidney disease into a crisis, yet most affected dogs do not look like they have a kidney infection. For the NAVLE, the questions turn on recognising it in a vague, azotemic patient, collecting the right sample and choosing a drug that reaches kidney tissue.
Key facts
Pyelonephritis at a glance- Species: dog (cats get it too, with some differences in drug choice).
- System: urinary, upper urinary tract (renal pelvis and parenchyma).
- Cause: ascending bacterial infection in most cases; Escherichia coli is the most common isolate.
- Classic presentation: an older, often female dog with another disease, now lethargic and inappetent, with new or worse azotemia, dilute urine, bacteriuria and a mildly dilated renal pelvis. Fever and back pain are the exception.
- Diagnosis is usually presumptive: positive cystocentesis culture plus compatible clinical, laboratory and imaging findings.
- Treatment: culture-guided antimicrobials for 10-14 days, plus fluids and correction of the predisposing problem.
- Not a reportable disease.
What's inside
12 sections in the full guide- Key facts
- How the NAVLE tests this
- Cause and pathophysiology
- Clinical signs
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Treatment and management
- Prevention, control and public health
- Prognosis
- Quick review
- Test yourself
- References
The full guide also has 4 tables, 2 figures, 3 self-test questions and 8 references, available to NAVLE members.
Read the full study guide
The full guide is part of every NAVLE plan, with diagnosis and treatment tables, figures, a quick review and self-test questions. Start a free trial to try the question bank, or log in if you are already a member.