Tuesday

The Basics of Dog Diseases that You Need to Know

There are a few very serious and potentially fatal diseases that can attack your canine friend that you should be aware of. Although these diseases are typically rare and can be prevented by vaccinations, you should know the importance of knowing about them.

Canine cough, distemper, canine hepatitis, cornavirus, leptospirosis, parvovirus and rabies are the unlucky seven diseases that can become fatal in dogs. Canine cough is a respiratory infection that can be contracted if a lot of dogs are in a small area together, such as a kennel. The disease causes inflammation in the trachea, bronchi and larynx. This disease exhibits itself in ways of a runny nose and severe cough. It is treated by antibiotics and rest.

Coronavirus is spread through stools in dogs and is usually is not fatal. If your dog vomits, seems depressed or has diarrhea they could be infected. Your vet will replenish your dog’s fluids and administer medicine. The best way to prevent this disease is to get your dog vaccinated.

Distemper is the number one disease that kills dogs. It is highly contagious and spread through the air and direct contact. If you dog is healthy and strong, they can usually exhibit only mild symptoms. If your dog’s immune system is not strong enough to fight it off, the disease can attack the entire body and allow other bacteria and germs to enter, which then can cause secondary infections.

From days three to fifteen of being exposed, your dog can develop a runny nose and eyes, fever, lack of appetite and is tired. There are also warning signs such as diarrhea, dry cough and blisters on the abdomen area. The second stage is very serious. This stage involves your dog shaking her head, slobbering, having seizures and falling down.

Canine hepatitis is a viral disease and is spread by direct contact. In milder cases, the symptoms last only a day or two and consist of a runny nose and mild fever. This is most alarming for puppies who are two weeks to six weeks old. They can suffer a more serious version and go into shock. The more common version occurs in puppies a few weeks older and causes fever, swollen lymph nodes and tonsils and lack of energy. Dogs who have a healthy immune system can recover quickly; put in severe cases the disease attacks the blood vessel walls and causes bleeding from your dog’s rectum, nose and mouth.

Letpospirosis is a bacterial disease. It is passed through the urine in dogs. Early signs of the disease are fever, loss of appetite, being tired and depression. If the disease progresses, it will cause sores in the mouth and dark coating on the tongue. Hospitalization is needed with this disease and strong antibiotics are used. Because this disease can be passed on to humans, the dog needs to be handled very carefully.

Parvovirus is a very contagious disease and passed on through an infection in the dog’s fur, paws, saliva and stool. Puppies that are younger than five months old are likely to die. It can take on two forms; the first is most common and causes severe diarrhea, while the second is rarer and causes damage to the heart muscles. Parvovirus is a hard disease to get rid of because it can live for a long time in the environment.

Rabies causes fear in almost anyone. The virus enters the system through an open would and can infect and kill any animal, humans included. There are two forms rabies can take. The first is described as being furious, and the other as paralytic. Paralytic is usually the final stage, which usually ends in death. The furious stage can last for days and cause restless, vicious, nervous and excitable behaviors in your dog. Her breathing will be heavy and fast and she will be foaming at the mouth. It is very important to keep your dog up to date on their rabies vaccinations.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think this is the bestest article you wrote about dog diseases because it is very helpful to people who have dogs.