The top 10 signs your dog may be sick (and what you can do about it)

Posted: September 2, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Animal Health | Leave a comment

The top 10 signs your dog may be sick (and what you can do about it)

Posted October 21, 2011 in Dog Health
 Overview

As is the case with people, a dog’s health changes with age. Unfortunately, our pets age much faster than we do.

Symptoms
Regardless of your dog’s age, you play a key role in helping her combat illness and remain as healthy as possible. Remember, your dog cannot describe symptoms to you, but she can show you signs of disease. Awareness of the signs of the most common diseases is one way to help reduce your pet’s risk of being affected by them. It’s a little scary to consider that 10% of pets that appear healthy to their owners and their veterinarians during annual checkups have underlying diseases.1

The top 10 signs that your dog may be ill are:

  1. Bad breath or drooling
  2. Excessive drinking or urination
  3. Appetite change associated with weight loss or gain
  4. Change in activity level (e.g., lack of interest in doing things they once did)
  5. Stiffness or difficulty in rising or climbing stairs
  6. Sleeping more than normal, or other behavior or attitude changes
  7. Coughing, sneezing, excessive panting, or labored breathing
  8. Dry or itchy skin, sores, lumps, or shaking of the head
  9. Frequent digestive upsets or change in bowel movements
  10. Dry, red, or cloudy eyes

If your best friend shows symptoms of being ill, you should contact your veterinarian immediately.

Unfortunately, you may not always recognize that your dog is sick. Often, even the most well-intentioned dog owners attribute the subtle signs of disease to aging.

Diagnosis/Treatment
Because signs of disease are not always obvious, your veterinarian may recommend preventive care testing as part of your dog’s annual exam.

Preventive care testing often includes the following:

  • Chemistry tests to evaluate kidney, liver, and pancreatic function, as well as sugar levels
  • Antibody tests to identify if your pet has been exposed to tick-borne or other infectious diseases
  • A complete blood count to rule out blood-related conditions
  • Electrolyte tests to ensure your dog isn’t dehydrated or suffering from an electrolyte imbalance
  • Urine tests to screen for urinary tract infection and other disease and to evaluate the ability of the kidneys to concentrate urine
  • A thyroid test to determine if the thyroid gland is producing too little thyroid hormone
  • An ECG to screen for an abnormal heart rhythm, which may indicate underlying heart disease

Additional tests may be added on an individual basis. Your veterinarian will recommend the right course for your best friend.

Prevention
Preventive care screening not only helps to detect disease in its earlier stages, when it is most likely to respond to treatment, it also can help you avoid significant medical expense and risk to your dog’s health if an illness goes undetected. In addition, by establishing your pet’s normal baseline laboratory values during health, your veterinarian—and you—can more easily see when something is wrong with your pet. Annual screening is the best preventive medicine!

For more information about preventive testing, contact your veterinarian—your best resource for information about the health and well-being of your pet.

Potty Training Your Dog and How to Handle Accidents in The House

Posted: September 2, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Animal Behavior | Leave a comment

Five things to do when your dog . . . has an “accident” in the house.

There’s probably not a canine companion on earth who hasn’t had at least one accident in the house; it’s inevitable no matter how careful your management. Ideally the accidents are few, but what do you do when they do happen? It may depend on the circumstances, but here are five things that are appropriate in most cases when a previously well-housetrained dog goes potty in the house.

1) If you discover your dog in flagrante, cheerfully interrupt him with an “Oops! Outside!” and hustle him out to his legal potty spot. Do not punish him. If you do, you’ll just teach him to pick a more secluded spot next time where you’re less likely to catch him in the act.

Use an enzyme-based cleaner on every “spot” your dog has made, whether it’s on carpet or floors. The enzymes break down the smelly agents in urine and feces, so your dog won’t get a whiff of his past mistake and be inspired to go again.

2) Thoroughly clean any soiled spots with an enzymatic product designed to clean up animal waste. Use a black light to find untreated spots. Do not use ammonia-based products to clean! Urine contains ammonia and the ammonia in the cleaning products may actually inspire your dog to urinate on the spot where the ammonia-based product was used.

3) Take your dog out more frequently so he has more opportunity to do it right; every hour on the hour (during the day), at first, for young pups or older dogs who need remedial housetraining, then gradually lengthen the time between bathroom breaks.

Go out with him; don’t just send him out to the yard on his own. When he goes potty where he is supposed to, calmly praise him as he’s going (you don’t want to interrupt him!), then mark the desired behavior with a “Yes!” or other verbal marker when he’s finished, and give him a tasty treat.

Keep a potty journal, so you know when his last accident was and to keep track of his housetraining progress. When he’s gone a week with no accidents, increase the time between bathroom breaks by 30 minutes.

Don’t just put your dog outside to go potty; you won’t know whether or not he went! Accompany him outside, praise him while he does his business, and when he’s done, “mark” the behavior with a click or “Yes!” and give him a treat.

4) Give him periods of house freedom when you know he’s empty, but confine him to a crate or other small area (exercise pen) when you can’t supervise, or when you have to leave him alone for an extended period (or overnight). Be sure he doesn’t tank up on water just before bed. Don’t crate him longer than he can hold it; if you have to be gone for a long time, have a friend, family member, or pet-sitter take him out for a potty break.

5) Make sure there are no medical issues that might be interfering with his ability to “hold it.” If he has several lapses in housetraining, make an appointment for a thorough health examination with your vet. Diarrhea almost guarantees accidents, and things like urinary tract infections, and kidney and bladder stones will also cause housesoiling.

By the way, I don’t consider a dog reliably housetrained until he’s at least a year old. My own Bonnie was more than two years old before she could be trusted for long periods in the house.

One last thing: That old rolled up newspaper? You can use it to smack yourself in the head every time your dog has an accident, for allowing your management program to slip. If it’s not caused by a medical problem, an indoor potty incident is always a management lapse. Urine “marking” – a different behavior from housesoiling – is another story, and one for a future column.