In PKD, an affected dog develops several bilateral kidney cysts of different sizes, which cause structural kidney damage. The disease leads to chronic renal failure in adulthood. Clinical signs of chronic renal failure include excessive drinking and frequent urination.

Medical and dietary treatment is directed at managing the renal disease.

There are many responsibilities to consider when breeding dogs. Regardless of test results it is important that your dog is in good general health and that you are in a position to care for the puppies if new responsible owners are not found. For first time or novice breeders, advice can be found at most kennel club websites.

This disease is autosomal dominant meaning that one copy of the mutation is needed for disease signs to occur. Use of dogs with one or two copies of the disease mutation is not recommended, as there is a risk that the resulting litter will contain affected puppies. For example if a dog with one copy of the PKD mutation is bred with a clear dog with no copies of the PKD mutation, about half of the puppies will have one copy and half will have no copies of the PKD mutation. Please note: It is possible that disease signs similar to the ones caused by the PKD mutation could develop due to a different genetic or clinical cause.