Archive for the ‘Dog Health’ Category

Dog heartworm is a common disease among canines in the United States. Discovered in 1856, the worms mainly live in your dog’s heart and major blood vessels.

The worms, especially on worst cases, seriously impair the heart’s operations. Worse, they could also clog your dog’s blood vessels. These infections result to body weight losses, chronic cough, dropsy, breath shortness, chronic heart failure, vision disturbances, and ultimately, death.

Since the symptoms of heartworm disease vary among dogs, it would be best that a veterinarian check your dog to evaluate a final analysis. Most dogs show visible symptoms only when the disease has reached the point where it would be almost improbable to be cured by treatment. To help you see early symptoms and to hopefully save your dog, look out for these signs:

- Dogs that have been quite active usually tend to be tired easily.

- Dogs that would have been otherwise healthy usually gasp for breath.

- Coughing of your dog has suddenly become a common occurrence.

- Dogs bred for hunting could no longer keep up with rapid chases and usually fall from exhaustion.

- In some rare instances, the dog experiences convulsions, jaundice, and problems in the vision.

- Before it dies, the dog experiences emaciation. often precedes death.

Who gets infected by the heartworm infection?

Previously, it was thought that only dogs that were long-haired were more resistant to heartworms because of the high difficulty of mosquitoes (which bring the worms) to penetrate through the dogs’ hair. Since then, it has been proven that this was not true. Mosquitoes even have a hard time penetrating through short-haired dogs. Actually, mosquitoes feed on the abdominal region of the dog. That is why both long-haired and short-haired dogs are susceptible to an infection, since both types have little hair on this region. Some mosquitoes also feed on the muzzle area or the ears where the dog’s hair is quite matted down.

Can heartworm infection be treated?

Heartworm infection can be treated through chemical therapy if diagnosed early. Most of the chemical treatments kill the worms over some period of time. Killing all the worms in one swoop is no better: If all the heartworms were killed in just one treatment, the dead bodies would deposit in the lungs and kill the dog.

Remember also that the chemicals used in treating the worms are also as dangerous to your dog as the worms. That is why treating the disease using chemical therapy should be used with utmost care and should be handled by a veterinarian.

There also cases when surgery is needed. In most cases, this could be a feasible option. Consult with the veterinarian if surgical correction or any other method that can cure the infection.

There are also drugs that cold prevent your dog from getting heartworms. These drugs attack the parasite in its early stages and stop the worms from being full-blown adults later. This doesn’t mean that your dog would be free from infection. This only means that dogs can still get infected during the season of mosquitoes and yet remain unscathed of heartworms.

Preventative medication using drugs, on the other hand, can cause serious complications if your dog has already heartworm infections in a higher level. That is why the use of drugs should be under the supervision of veterinarians. Taking drugs are also combined with regular blood texts. This has shown to be quite effective in saving many dogs with heartworm infection.

In order for your dog to avoid heartworm infection, protect your pet from mosquito bites especially if there is a high mosquito population in your area or if it is mosquito season. You might want to screen the sleeping quarters of your dogs to avoid repeated bites. Repellent sprays can also be used, but these only have limited effects.

You might also want to consult your vet fro preventive medication. In addition, you might want regular blood tests on your dog to assess early symptoms of infection. This is quite tricky, especially that the symptoms of heartworm infection could not be seen immediately.

In short, your pet dog which looked healthy may be having early symptoms of heartworm infection. It would be best that you checked. There’s nothing wrong in doing that, especially if that is for your pet dog.

Most dogs have that “dog smell” to them, especially when the come in out of the rain. However, some dogs tend to stink more than others. This can be due to variety of reasons, some of which may require a veterinarian’s attention. Here are some of the causes of dog odors and the best treatments to combat these odor problems.

Some dogs like to roll in the dirt… and any other smelly item that may be near by. If your dog is prone to doing this then regular brushing, grooming and bathing will help to keep your dog smelling clean and fresh.

Getting sprayed by a skunk is one smell we humans recognize immediately and tomato juice is the most common remedy. However, in order for it to work properly, you need to allow the juice to sit on the dog’s fur for at least 15 to 20 minutes before rinsing. It is the acid in the tomatoes that cuts the smell. Another very popular solution that dog owners swear by is to mix 1 quart 3% Hydrogen Peroxide, 1/4 cup Baking Soda, and 2 tablespoons dish detergent in a large bowl (do not use a sealed container as this mixture will explode). You must use this immediately while it is still foaming as it is the oxygen in the bubbling mixture that removes the skunk odor. Be careful not to get either solution in your pet’s eyes.

Certain dog breeds tend to have naturally oily coats. Unfortunately, the extra oil on the dog’s skin can become rancid and cause bad odors. In this case, your canine needs to be regularly groomed and bathed to remove this excess oil; otherwise it can develop into irritating skin conditions. Bacterial skin diseases are another common problem within some breeds. Using a good anti-bacterial shampoo specifically formulated for dogs is your best solution. If the skin condition does not clear up within a reasonable amount of time or if it appears to worsen, be sure to take your dog to the vet.

Dogs with droopy ears tend to develop ear infections quite frequently, although any dog breed can end up with this painful condition. If your dog smells bad even with regular grooming, take the time to check its ears. Look for redness and irritation. You will also notice that your dog will also shake its head often and probably try to scratch to relieve the itchiness. There are several ear infection solutions on the market that can help alleviate this problem.

One last thing that can also lead to dog odor is impacted or infected anal glands. These sacs, located in the 3 and 9 o’clock positions, are filled with a fluid that is normally released when a dog has a bowel movement. If you look carefully, you will see that your dog’s anal area has become somewhat swollen and the “back end” smells really bad. Take your dog immediately to a veterinarian to have these glands expressed. Be aware that once your dog has had this problem it tends to reoccur, so keep an eye on this. If necessary, you can have the anal glands surgically removed.