Dog Health Insurance

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!

Arthritis in dogs is fairly similar to arthritis in humans and can be caused by an injury or disease. Unlike humans, however, dogs can develop arthritis as soon as a few weeks after sustaining an injury! To this extent, arthritis is exceptionally common in dogs, yet frequently goes untreated. In fact, although an estimated 20% of dogs suffer from arthritis, only 10% receive any form of treatment! Given how painful the condition is, it is important that pet owners make sure they do everything they can do if they suspect their dog is suffering.

Although care is readily available for dogs with arthritis, there is no cure for the disease. When it comes to treatments, the majority are designed to help deal with the painful inflammations, slow the progress of the disease and help the dog stay as comfortable as possible. Drugs are also often prescribed to help the dog’s stomach from the side effects of strong anti-inflammatory medicines. Aspirin, however, is not usually prescribed as it can further break down the already fragile cartilage in the joints.

Steroids are also sometimes prescribed, also as a way to reduce inflammation. However, high doses can cause further damage to the cartilage in the dog’s joints so, like aspirin, doses are carefully monitored. As we mentioned last month, there are specialised beds available for dogs with arthritis. It is well worth investing in one of these beds to help your dog stay as comfortable as possible when living with this painful condition.

Just like in humans, a dog cough can have a wide range of causes, some more serious than others. Although often a symptom of a minor problem like an irritation of the trachea, dog coughs can also be caused by health problems as severe as heart disease and tuberculosis – making is vital that you get your pet checked out by a vet as quickly as possible. However, taking note of when your dog is coughing will be a great help to your vet when it comes to diagnosing the cause of the cough.

Here are some examples of how this may help your vet:

Coughing when excited can indicate irritation (or sometimes collapse) of part of the respiratory system, whereas coughing when outdoors can be an indication of a lung infection, especially if your dog is likely to have inhaled grass etc.

Coughing when drinking is associated with an irritation of the trachea, known as Kennel Cough; this is the most common cause of laryngitis in dogs. Coughing during eating, on the other hand, can be caused by a disease of the larynx or oesophagus.

Coughing during the night or while resting is sometimes an indication of cardiopulmonary problems (problems with the heart or lungs), though can also be related to tracheal issues as well. These can more serious than the aforementioned causes and should be dealt with immediately.

Having mentioned that chocolate can be deadly to dogs; I thought I’d bring you some facts and figures relating to the problem. My reasoning is as follows; on the one hand you need to know how to look after you dog, but on the other hand I don’t want you maxing-out your dog insurance because you’ve lost a Malteaser. Comprende?

The simple fact of the matter is that chocolate contains theobromine, an alkaloid that is toxic to dogs when consumed in sufficient quantities. Toxic quantities are considered to be around 100-150mg of theobromine per kilogram of body weight. However, studies report problems at as little as 20mg/kg – so it’s better to not give you dog any chocolate at all! However, because different types of chocolate contain different amounts of theobromine; the danger to dogs depends on the type of chocolate. Hopefully the following guide will help, but please remember it is just a guide!

In short; lethal levels of toxicity can occur in a medium-sized dog (of around 50lbs, or 22.7kgs) after eating around 50oz (1417g) of milk chocolate, 16.6oz (471g) of dark chocolate, 5.6 oz (159g) of baker’s chocolate or a mere 2.5oz (71g) of cocoa powder. Health problems will start to arise at much lower theobromine levels however; after just 10oz (283g) of milk chocolate, 3.3oz (94g) of dark chocolate, 1.1oz (31g) baker’s chocolate or 0.5oz (14g) of cocoa powder!

White chocolate contains so little theobromine that a dog would have to eat over 12 times its own body weight before suffering from poisoning. I still wouldn’t recommend giving it to your dog though – find a proper dog treat!

Depending on the breed of your dog, fleas can cause reactions ranging from mind irritation and itching to severe allergies, resulting in more serious health issues. In cases of extreme flea infestation, some dogs actually die from anaemia! Although this kind of infestation is a rare occurrence, almost all dogs will get fleas at some point; treatment is very straight forward and can be done at home. Symptoms of fleas include scratching and scabs, as well as seeing the actual fleas themselves. Furthermore, if your dog has tapeworms, the chances are that it has fleas as well, as fleas act as vectors for tapeworms.

There are various flea-treatment products available; some kill the adult fleas, others kill the larvae and others the eggs. For this reason, a combination of products is normally the most effective way forward, as fleas reproduce very quickly indeed! Remember that clearing your dog of fleas will not put an end of the problem; you must also kill all the fleas in the area and immediate environment, otherwise your pet will simply be re-infested before long! Make sure you thoroughly clean out your dog’s bedding weekly and disinfect all washable surfaces.

think it’s fair to say that, as Christmas approaches, we all accept we’re likely to put on some weight. However, the difference that Christmas dinner and a few nights of drinking makes to us is minimal compared to the impact that sharing the celebrations with your dog can have on his health.

It should go without saying that food designed for humans simply isn’t fit for dogs and that feeding your dog bits of Christmas dinner can actually be very bad for your pet – no matter how much he enjoys it at the time! I don’t wish to sound morbid, but salmon bleenies can literally kill your dog; as can onion, grapes and too much chocolate. Whatever you do, don’t offer your dog an after dinner mint as a festive treat! Also, no matter how much you choose to celebrate, never give your pet alcohol or caffeine – both are very bad for dogs and he’ll probably be having a great time already.

Also, no matter how well you know your dog nutrition, make sure you fill guests in on the rules as well. There are few more dangerous things for a dog than a boozed-up uncle at Christmas time – I advise a strict “Don’t Feed The Dog ANYTHING!” policy. Anybody who breaks that one simple rule can fund the dog insurance for the next year!

After our recent post about calculating your pet’s daily calorific requirement by working out his resting energy requirement, then applying it to a table of variables; we received a number of queries from maths-shy owners who weren’t confident enough to put our collection of facts and figures to use. Here at the Dog Health blog, we understand information is useless unless you understand how to use it, so here’s some clarification.

Let’s suppose you own a very active, 20 kg Border Collie and you want to use our strategy to make sure you’re feeding him the right amount of food. First, you should work out his resting energy requirement, or RER. To do this, multiply his body weight (20kg) by 30 and then add 70:

RER = (body weight x 30) + 70
= (20 x 30) + 70
= (600) + 70
= 670 calories

Easy! Now, look at the table in RER post. Although he is not doing lots of work (like he would on a farm), if your dog is very active and spends lots of time running around outside on walks, chasing balls and fetching sticks – you’re probably going to need to feed him a bit more. The table says the amount of calories an adult dog doing light amounts of work needs is 2.0 x his RER. His RER was 670 calories, so you need to multiple that by 2.0.

Daily calorific requirement = RER x 20
= 670 x 2.0
= 1340 calories

Simple! Your dog needs about 1340 calories every day to keep him healthy and happy! Of course, every dog is unique – if he starts getting a bit fat or thin, change his diet a bit to compensate! Hopefully this has helped