Friday, March 2, 2012

Typical Dog Illnesses: Look After Your Pet

By Regina T. Roby


Dogs are fantastic pets and as conscientious owners, it's our burden to supply them with proper care to maintain happy and healthy lives. Regular care and feeding is a good place to begin, but there are several other techniques that can go a long way in protecting your dog from perhaps severe or life-threatening disorders. Additionally, it's critically important for pet owners to make an attempt to grasp and recognize frequent dog illnesses in order to catch small issues before they balloon into possibly severe conditions. Consequently, let's examine several different ways you can protect your dog from frequent conditions.

Immunizations: An Important Starting Point

Immunization may be the easiest step you can take to avoid a range of serious and common disorders from affecting your dog. Though mother's milk will protect puppies from many possible problems, puppies can be immunized as soon as 4-6 weeks. The probability of many conditions can be substantially reduced, if not eradicated through the use of initial immunization and then required booster shots. A few of these conditions include: Distemper, which is an exceptionally infectious, airborne virus which can lead to nervous twitching, paralysis and death. Canine Hepatitis (Adebivirus) is an infectious viral disease that impacts the liver, kidney and blood vessels which is often not treatable. Parvo is a canine virus that can be really painful for your dog and has varying rates of successful treatment. Obviously, you should do your best to steer clear of conditions such as these and many others with the use of immunization.

Tracking Behavior:Looking for Changes

You're around your dog more than most, so it's important to track your dog's conduct to detect changes in his or her conduct. Thankfully, this is pretty easy and doesn't demand a great deal of effort. First, identify your pet's general energy level. Is he lively naturally or does he tend to exhibit a lower energy level? Second, observe your dog's sleep schedule? Does he typically take naps throughout the day or has he adjusted to your sleeping timetable? Finally, understand other behaviors common to your dog. Does he usually exhibit behaviors like panting, flatulence or pacing to and fro? Although there are many other kinds of behaviors, these usually suggest probable illnesses.

Eating Habits: A Good Indication

While dogs' eating habits may differ considerably depending on breed, activity level and other factors, they can frequently be employed to detect probable health problems. Since we as owners must feed our dogs on a daily basis, dietary habits are a simple clue to help us identify problems. For example, a rapid boost in hunger or thirst could signify a number of different problems such as a hormonal imbalance, kidney disease or various other issues. Furthermore, the way in which your dog reacts to different kinds of foods will help you identify various kinds of sensitivities. Clearly, behaviors like failing to eat the food supplied or even vomiting is a strong sign that there may be a problem.

Up Close & Personal with Your Dog's Business

Every dog owner must handle it, so while you're scooping poop it's a good idea to take a close look for warning signs of a prospective health problem. While some will find this horrible, this is possibly among the best ways to decode the health of your pet. To begin with, the characteristics of your pet's waste are the first thing that should be considered. Size, shape and condition can provide indications that something could be wrong. Next, the inclusion of foreign bodies like items that you're pet has eaten, or even worms are a good sign that something is not right. Frequently, these are good first steps to spot possible problems with your pet's diet or health.

Taking good care of your pet is part of the responsibility of being a pet owner. Make use of tips to recognize small annoyances before they turn into big problems.




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