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Dog Health

Dog Health Care

Dogs are a popular choice for companionship where humans are concerned.



Human families love their dogs and care for them as they would care for a child or a family member. Due to this affection for the animal, pet health care concerns are often given a greater interest than any other animal species. Being a pet owner, you should be aware of some common dog health care problems so that timely measures can be provided to your pet. Dogs are susceptible to both internal and external parasites. Fleas, mites, ticks and lice are some of the common parasites that may attach themselves to your pet's body and rob them of their nutrition.



The presence of such parasites can be detected if your dog's scratching itself too much. Some external parasites damage the coat and the skin of the dog and can cause serious diseases.

Dog Health Issues


Internal parasites are a little more difficult to detect. If your pet starts to show sudden weight loss or signs of malaise, get it checked for internal parasites like heartworms, hookworms, tapeworms and roundworms. These parasites can cause anemia and other serious problems. If not dealt with immediately, these can even prove fatal.



A regular de-worming routine scheduled after discussion with the vet can help prevent the growth of internal parasites. Dog Anemia treatment includes certain foods and nutrients which provide required nutrients that help prevent the onset of anemia.

Dog Skin Diseases


Many of the external parasites can cause skin damage like mange. Dog health symptoms for skin diseases include foul odor, loss of hair, inflammation and redness of skin and itching. Skin diseases in dogs are usually caused due to mites. If your dog is infected with mites, it is best to keep it isolated because these mites are transferable to both humans and other animals. All these diseases are specific to canine species and care should be taken to prevent your dog from contracting them. There was a time when these diseases were fatal for dogs. Today however, due to medical advancement, there are pet vaccinations available for all these diseases and prevention is usually taken care of. Apart from these, there are diseases like rabies. It is one of the most dangerous and life threatening diseases. In most countries, it is mandatory for dog owners to get their dogs vaccinated for rabies. The animals who suffer from this disease show severe deterioration of the brain and behave in a bizarre manner. They become aggressive and can transmit the disease to humans too, through their bites or simply fluid exchange as when licking. In its advanced stages, rabies causes the limbs to become paralyzed and death soon follows, caused usually due to a respiratory arrest. If dogs' health symptoms point to rabies, they are usually put to sleep.

A lot of dog health care questions are addressed by ongoing research. Their treatment is often similar to that of humans and most of the medications used are also similar. Just like the old people, the health of senior dogs is also of concern. Dogs have a life span of about 12-14 years and nearing their ninth or tenth year, their health begins to fail. Dog blindness is a common health problem suffered by old dogs. Their mental faculties also weaken, along with their scent and hearing powers.

 
  Submitted on December 15, 2010  
 
 
 

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