One of the most common health problems from which dogs suffer is osethoarthritis, especially as they get older. Arthritis is typically treated with a combination of drugs and therapy, which are designed to help relieve the pain more than cure the disease.
Normally when we read about asthma in relation to dogs, it’s an article about the effects of different breeds of dog on human asthma. What many people don’t realise is that, although it’s far rarer, asthma does also occur in dogs.
Helping your dog overcome depression doesn’t take much. To start with, try taking him on more walks, play with him more at home and give him more freedom. Read the rest of this entry »
Bare with me here; I’m not the kind of dog owner who gives his pet an entire wing of the house and hooks him up with Sky+, but I would like to draw your attention to an under-appreciated condition that affects dogs just as it affects human beings. Read the rest of this entry »
As we mentioned last time, Andrew Lloyd Webber is auditioning dogs for his West End musical production of The Wizard of Oz. As fascinating as dog actors are, I wonder if you dogs lovers and dog owners know just how good your canine companions are at acting in order to train you to treat them in certain ways… Read the rest of this entry »
Vomiting can be caused by a wide range of problems, which is why it’s always best to take your dog into the vet if you’re concerned. There, they will run a variety of tests to ascertain exactly what is causing your dog to be sick. Read the rest of this entry »
Your dog’s paws are more sensitive than you may give them credit for and you should bare this in mind when taking them outside. If the weather is particularly hot or cold, consider walking your dog on grassier areas, where the ground won’t be as prone to extremes of heat. Certainly avoid tarmac in hot weather and, if possible, steer clear or paths that have been de-iced, salted or gritted in cold weather. These surfaces will chafe your dog’s paws, making them very sore and drying out the pads, causing them to crack. In snowy weather, do try to reduce the amount of time your dog spends with his feet buried! It should also go without saying that you should ensure all ice and snow are removed from your dog’s feet when you get home, especially if there have long hair, which can trap snow and ice.
The same caution should be taken when exercising your dog. Just as joggers suffer knee and ankle injuries from frequent running on concrete, it doesn’t do your dog any good to go racing around on these solid surfaces all the time. Use parks and fields instead, as a far safer and nicer area to play with your pet. There’s also much less of a chance for him to slice his paw on some broken glass or sharp piece of concrete when you’re in a field.
With a bit of care and attention, you can drastically reduce the number of injuries and discomforts your dog suffers due to his poor paws.
Just like some humans have sensitive hands, some dogs have sensitive paws. The difference is we don’t go walking around on our bare hands, on hot paths, icy pavements and rocky earth! They may well have evolved to walk around ‘barefoot’, but that evolution certainly didn’t involve concrete and tarmac! That said, it’s often working game dogs that are at particular risk from damaging their paws; from all the racing through fields, woods and undergrowth, across thorns, rocks and litter. If you own a working dog, you’ll know what I mean from the price of their pet insurance!
The point I’m making today is that it’s wise to consider your dog’s paws and make sure you help protect them from the ravages of life. Simply being attentive and thoughtful will avoid lots of problems; when out walking your dog, watch out for glass, rocks and thorns – try to avoid anything that may injure your pet. If he does manage to cut his paw, remove anything lodged in the wound and wash it with antiseptic soap. To this extent, it is wise to inspect your dogs paws daily, to ensure there is no damage. Cutting his nails regularly is also important, to avoid them getting caught on anything. Torn nails can be particularly nasty, so be certain to keep your dog’s nails well-trimmed.
Next time: considering where and when to walk your dog.
When you see a human vomit, I think it’s safe to say you’re rarely too concerned. When your dog vomits, however, it can feel like he must be moments from death! We’re here to tell you to not to panic; a vomiting dog isn’t necessarily a big deal. What you need to do is take note of how many times your dog vomits – this will give a good indication as to whether these is cause for concern. You should also take notice of what the vomit looks like, as this will be very helpful to the vet, if you do end up taking your dog in.
If your dog vomits once or even twice, there’s usually no cause for major concern. He could have simply eaten something that disagreed with him! If he is vomiting blood, however, this is definitely a reason to take him to the vet. The blood won’t necessarily be obvious either; although it may sometimes be bright red, as you’d expect, other times it will be very dark and lumpy – so pay attention!
Naturally, if your dog continues to vomit multiple times, you should take him to the vet. This should be fairly obvious! The same goes if your dog can’t eat or drink without bringing it back up again – take him in!
Although there’s not always a reason to be concerned, always err on the side of caution!
Although it may seem like your dog has a fairly easy life, canines have just as many problems with blood pressure as we humans! Alright, so perhaps that’s not stricly true, but our lifestyles are so horrifically unnatural that we probably bring it upon ourselves. You don’t see Alsations sitting in Starbucks at 05:30, knocking back triple espressos to hit deadlines!
You probably won’t have experienced a dog blood pressure check in any of your pet’s annual standard checkups unless your pet has suffered from some kind of heart or kidney failure. This is because, although ‘normal’ readings for dog blood pressure are about 160-180/100, it is actually very hard to make accurate judgements, due to the wide range of breeds with different normal pressures. When readings are taken, they are done so using one of two methods; the cuff (like we get), or the use of doppler technology. In the latter method, the dog’s hair actually has to be shaven – another reason it’s not commonplace.
If high blood pressure is diagnosed, treatment normally consists of medication, just like in humans. Some owners prefer to take a more ‘naturalistic’ approach (despite the fact that medicines are made from natural sources) and feed their pets a variety of ingredients to help; Calcium fluoride, Kalium phosphate and Hawthorne, for example.
