Early Warning Signs of Illness in Dogs

A dog’s natural instinct is to act happy and healthy even when they are sick. It is an instinct that is thousands of years old and was used as a survival tactic to not appear weak to predators. Because of this, you will need to keep a close on your dog to be able to detect signs of serious illness early on.

There are some basic indicators that you should be aware of to look for in your dog. For instance, keep an eye on the way your dog looks, acts, eats and drinks. Even a ten percent difference in body weight can indicate a serious problem. Sometimes dogs are prone to skipping a meal or two, but if it foes on for any longer than two days, you need to contact your vet. Likewise, if your dog is not normally begging for food, and you see her stealing food from your table or garbage, it may be a sign of illness.

If your dog suddenly drinks a noticeably larger amount of water, it could be the sign of diabetes or kidney disease. You may not always see her drinking more water, but if she needs to go outside a lot more often and has more of a sense of urgency; it could be a warning sign. The same goes if she is having accidents in the house.

When a dog is healthy, their coat is thick and shiny. If your dog’s coat suddenly has a dull appearance or has rough balding patches, something could be wrong. It may be something like a flea problem, but could also be another kind of skin problem.

A dog that becomes lethargic is sometimes hard to spot, it may happen slowly and over time, but if your normally hyper dog is becoming moody and tired and doesn’t bring you toys to play with, it could be a sign of a serious problem. If it continues, you need to contact your vet.

Vomiting is not as big of deal with dogs as it is with humans. Dogs can make themselves throw up if something they ate is not settling. But if your dog continues to vomit and appears that they are in pain, you need to call the vet immediately.

Our dogs are part of our families, they cannot talk to us to tell us they are sick, they rely on us to help watch out for them.