Cause
Most cases of chronic renal failure are idiopathic, or have no specific cause beyond the normal aging process of the dog. In some cases, the following conditions are known to cause chronic renal failure: hereditary and congenital renal disease; nephrotoxins, or kidney toxins; hypercalcemia, or high blood calcium; glomerulonephritis, or inflammation of the internal structures of the kidney; pyelonephritis, or kidney infection; polycystic kidney disease; nephroliths, or kidney stones; chronic urinary obstruction; certain medications; and lymphoma, a kind of cancer.