The Exotic Pet Care Blog

In the wild, dog gorge themselves when any kind of food is available and then live off that nourishment for several days. This dog food sits in the stomach, where not much digestion takes place, and is passed into the intestines a little at a time. In domestic dogs, this behavior can lead to obesity. Some pet dogs, especially small breeds, are very fussy about what they eat.

Guidelines For Feeding Dogs

1. Provide prepared foods from a reputable manufacturer..

2. Don’t offer spoiled or stale food to your dog.

3. A bowl of fresh water should always be available.

4. Never feed a dog cat food. It is too high in protein.

5. Always serve your dog’s food at room temperature.

6. Dispose of any canned or moist food left uneaten.

7. Discard left-over dry food at the end of each day.

8. Keep an eye on your dog’s weight. Don’t allow to get obese.

9. Never feed your dog brittle bones, for example from chicken.

10. Consult a vet for advice if your dog refuses to eat for 24 hours, since this may indicate illness.

Some species of toads secrete a toxic substance on their skin. This passes into the mouth of any dog that picks up the toad to play with it. Certain types of longhaired caterpillar can also produce similar irritants.

Treating Poisoning

itchiness, redness, and swelling can be reduced by bathing the mouth with cold water. A water spray is ideal for flushing out the mouth but do not let the dog swallow any water.

Contact  a vet if the dog swallow any water. Contact a vet if the dog is in discomfort; it may need antihistaminics to reduce swelling.

Tick borne diseases in dogs are to be given much significance in these days because of the two reasons namely the increased frequency of occurrences and the increased worries had by both the dog and the owner because of the tick borne disease of dogs.

Babesiosis is one of the tick borne diseases in dogs. Brown dog tick is the main tick causing problem in these dogs.

The affected animals have often the bloody colored urination and the examination of the blood smear help to diagnose this problem.

In the veterinary clinical pathology laboratory, the tick borne diseases in dogs may be found out easily. In case of acute disease, the symptoms may be more evident.

If no therapy is initiated, then the dog affected may succumbed to death. However, there are cases that enter into the sub clinical cases also.

These sub clinical cases may not reveal the typical signs but the dullness may be pronounced in them.

In some instances, these cases may have an entry into the chronic phase. In chronic phase of this disease, the affected dogs may have vomiting, enlargement of spleen, intermittent Fever etc.

During the year 2003, among the tick borne diseases in dogs, it is the ehrlichiosis that has gained significance and is caused by brown dog ticks.

Unlike the deer ticks that cause the lyme disease, the incidence of infestation with the brown dog ticks is more and most of the times, about ten to twenty per cent of the blood smears examined in microscope reveal often this kind of protozoan problems.

Rickettsia organisms and neorickettsia organisms lead to the diseases since they are caused by ticks in dogs.

Among these tick borne diseases in dogs, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is one of the important diseases caused by rickettsia organisms. Hence, tick borne diseases should not be viewed in a casual manner and they need immediate attention.

Periodontal disease in dogs is gaining more significance in the current periods because of the variable feeding habits maintained among various breeds of dogs. Periodontal disease in dogs is to be treated immediately for a speedy recovery.

First you need to understand on what is the periodontal disease in dogs? This means the diseases present in some or more of the dental structures in the mouth region.

Often the cementum, alveolar bone, periodontal ligament and gingival tissues are affected. It is to be understood that more than eighty per cent of the dogs that have crossed four years of age.

However, the term periodontal disease associates with the periodontitis and the swelling of the mucosa has to be tackled by the right kind of drugs.

Vitamin C is always given to the affected dogs if the animals especially revealing the symptom like the presence of ulcers in the gum.

Yeah… Vitamins also have a good role in the healing effects of the periodontal problems associated with the mucous membranes.

Generally the bacterial organisms like streptococci or actinomyces organisms gain an entry into the small damage found on clean teeth.

These bacterial organisms get multiplied in few days and finally there may be occurrence of many plaques. In these plaques, subsequently there may be occurrence of many anaerobic motile rods and spirochetes that complicate the clinical problem.

Periodontal disease in dogs needs therapy with non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs for reduction of swelling.

Further, the dogs with these problems need to be provided with soft food materials only. Care is to be given in order to provide the fiber material in an adequate manner to keep the satisfactory bowel movements.

Application of reverse bevel flap and gingivectomy may be the useful therapy in this periodontal disease in dogs. Yeah… Periodontal disease in dogs has to be attended with application of antiseptic like chlorhexidine solution for prevention of this problem.

Pug diseases are to be more significance like in any other dog breed. Yeah. If the protection is given in right time against the pug diseases, then these dogs will be more healthy.

The alert pug may become depressed and dull in case of diseases. Yeah. This is true. The animal may either have reduced movements or anorexia.

In kennel cough, the respiration becomes difficult. This is seen in pug kennels and shelters. The animals become more dull in appearance.

When the pug has fever due to some bacterial diseases like Escherichia coli organisms, the affected pugs may have dehydration and fever in addition to diarrhea.

In case of viral diseases like rabies, one has to be aware of the clinical symptoms. The pug might have been bitten earlier by some stray dog or a bandicoot.

The affected animals have symptom like vacant look, biting of chains or other nearby persons.

Similarly, every disease has its unique symptoms. In infectious canine hepatitis, the animal becomes dull and may not eat properly.

Tick infestation may lead to the protozoa based diseases in pug. Itching pugs have to be checked for presence of problems due to mites or fungus.

Fungal diseases may lead to an intense degree of itching. Lyme disease affected pugs reveal dullness, joint pain etc. Pug diseases are to be taken care of immediately.

In case of leptospirosis, the affected pugs may have icterus and fever. There may be reduced movements of the dog in addition to the bloody urine.

When the pug passes red colored urine,  suspect for the acute nephritis. Some times, the injury to the penile urethra also may lead such red colored urination.

If the pug starts to present symptom of dysuria, then suspect for the presence of acute nephritis especially in case of adult male pug dogs. Pug diseases are to be checked periodically. Pug diseases need instant therapy.

Labrador diseases are to be taken care of at the initial stage itself in order to have a complete recovery. Yeah. This is true. Labrador diseases need to be given more significance by the owners or the breeders.

If the Labrador reveals constipation, surgical neutering may be carried out because these dogs are more prone for the development of prostate cancer.

Hence, the adult male dogs may be subjected to the surgical neutering because this leads to the shrinkage of prostate.

If the dogs of this breed are affected by disease like   parvo viral disease, the affected ones reveal foul smelling diarrhea.

More over, the dogs may be dull and depressed. Dehydration may be present to a greater degree and the animal may encounter the death if it is not treated with fluids.

Hip dysplasia is another problem to which the Labrador is more prone for. However, you can check up thoroughly only after the achievement of age of two years.

Adult male dogs are highly prone for the development of renal diseases like any other breed. They become common among Labrador diseases.

Some times, red colored urine may occur. However, rule out the urinary bladder diseases also among Labrador diseases.

Canine distemper is another viral disease that is to be taken care of in case of Labradors. The affected animals may often reveal the pulmonary form of this disease.

There may be difficulty in breathing and twitching of few muscles in the fore head may be noticed often, in this viral disease.

In case of rabies, vacant look and the history of biting by stray dogs in earlier days might be present. However vaccination against this protects the Labradors.

Progressive retinal atrophy is an inherited disease among many breeds including Labrador. Diseases like this have to be taken care of properly. Labrador diseases are to be studied in detail before starting to own these breeds of dogs.

Parvo dog disease affects the dogs of any breeds and more commonly notice in case of the younger dogs. In United States of America, this Parvo dog disease is seen affecting many dogs with serious problems.

From the year 1980, this viral strain has got mutated to different forms and the currently encountered strain causing the Parvo dog disease is CPV-2B.

The symptoms of Parvo dog disease are occurrence of bloody diarrhea and anorexia, in addition to the dullness and the dehydration. Yeah. The affected dogs may reveal the severe degree of dehydration frequently.

The dehydration may be examined by lifting the skin and again leaving it to its original position.

If the skin is still in elevated position, it indicates the presence of dehydration. The diarrhea is a characteristic feature in the animals affected and often there is reddish appearance and also foul smell.

The affected animals have to be examined for the presence of anemic status. Often, there may be a life threatening anemia. Hence, blood transfusion may be thought of in many cases.

Though many dogs become highly ill due to this viral disease, particularly the breeds like Doberman Pinschers, Pit Bull Terriers etc. may reveal clinical symptoms to a very severe degree.

The treatment for parvo viral infections is associated with the administration of broad spectrum of antibiotics in order to reduce the secondary bacterial infections that are probably expected to occur along with this viral enteritis.

The vaccine for parvo virus is given at eight, twelve and sixteen weeks of age and the immunity given by the vaccine helps to provide a good degree of protection.

For Parvo dog disease, metaclopromide like drugs may be given for reducing the spasms of gastrointestinal tract. In Parvo dog disease, you have to rule out the parasitic infection side by side. Most of the times, you may have concurrent infection in dogs.

Autoimmune disease in dogs is the problem that needs a specialized technique and method to diagnose. Wondering? Autoimmune disease in dogs is something more different from the most of the commonly occurring diseases.

Autoimmune disease in dogs is the one that occurs due to the production of antibody against the own cells in the body.

For example, the dewormers, environmental allergens, pollen grains in the air etc. may lead to the occurrence of autoimmune diseases.

Certain autoimmune disease in dogs is similar to that occurring in human beings. Yeah… For example, the dogs may get affected by the autoimmune state of degenerative myelopathy.

In this condition the symptoms occurring in dogs are more or less similar to the ones that occur in case of human beings.

In the affected species, there may be progressive lameness and limb paralysis. Dog breeds like German shepherds, Old English Sheep dogs and Boxers are more susceptible to these kinds of diseases.

Thyroid disease especially the hypothyroidism affect the selected dog breeds due to the derangement in the immunity levels.

Even anemia, arthritis and seizures are said to be the autoimmune diseases in dogs. There are multiple reasons for the occurrence of these diseases in dogs.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy is one of the autoimmune disease in dogs and is difficult to treat in general. Dehydration is to be taken care of immediately to avoid the death in the affected animals. Pemphigus disorders, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura etc. are the other diseases in this regard.

Myasthenia gravis, lupus, autoimmune hemolytic anemia etc. also can be quoted as the ones that are similar to those diseases occurring in man. Integrationist approach with corticosteroid therapy, change in the daily activity patterns etc. can be said to be the remedies that can be done in tackling the autoimmune disease in dogs. The autoimmune disease in dogs may be treated with change in diet for dogs also.