The Dogs are absolutely amazing creatures but when you bring home one you are bound to take the responsibility of his/her wellness. From the very first the programme of preventing disease should start.
Digestive upset, diarrhoea and gastric are common ailments. Switching to cow milk shouldn’t be sudden. You should never neglect the vomiting, diarrhoea of your pet as that may lead to serious dehydration. The puppy should stay protected from cold or damp. The long-haired breeds should be combed and kept clean and dry. However frequent bathing of long hair may result your puppy to catch cold.
You should never bring the little puppy to the contact with other dogs till he has been gone through all the immunization programs. As pups the dogs chew on anything that comes in their way and sometimes you come in their way so he chews on you also but if the bite is bleeding you should not neglect it as that may cause rabies infections. You should wash the wound with running water within 20 minutes after the cut. That may decrease the chances of rabies infections.
Some diseases can spread from your pet to you. Those are,
(i) Rabies, (ii) Leptospirosis, (iii) Herpes Virus, (iv) Roundworm infection, (v) Tapeworm infection, (vi) Ring worm, (vii) Toxoplasmosis, (viii) Scabies, (ix) Allergy and dandruff
So it is necessary that you stay informed about the diseases and stay safe and keep your pup safer.
Rabies
Symptoms:
At stage 1, a dog may behave to affectionate or to placid towards his owner. Some may hide in corner; he may start hallucinating or become restless. He may show tendency to lick different objects. But it is hard to notice it at this stage.
At stage 2, at this stage paralysis in hind area can be a notable sign. In this stage he may not bite but his saliva becomes infective. The dog won’t be able to close his mouth followed to constant flow of saliva. He may look dull and depressed and slightly change in his bark due to the spreading paralysis in vocal cord. After showing these symptoms he may last only 4-5 days if not treated.
At stage 3, the dog becomes unusually violent and extremely alert. The initial salivation may diminish now and he may still have his food and drink water but it may show uncontrollable urge to chew abnormal objects. He may start chasing objects violently which may followed by broken teeth and bleeding gums but he will feel less pain.
The last stage is death after paralysis and weakness but I guess the 3rd stage is enough for people to understand the symptoms. When these symptoms are seen he should be rushed to hospital without any delay.
Prevention:
- Vaccinate your dog and cat
- Keep your dog under supervision. Watch out for dog bites.
- Do not touch wild animal or stray dogs.
- Contact the animal control department if you find any stray animal behaving strangely.
Canine Distemper
This is a highly contagious disease and the biggest threat to dog population in the world. Normally pups are affected by this virus. If a dog does not die with this disease he suffers permanent health disorder like blindness, deafness, losing the sense of smelling or worst partial or entire paralysis.
Symptoms:
The disease may be picked from infected dogs but the symptoms appear after 4-10 days. At first, loss of appetite, restlessness, watery eyes and nose which become thick discharge with vomiting, fever, diarrhoea and black stool. In later stages the virus attacks the nervous system resulting partial or entire paralysis.
The infected dog should be isolated right away and taken proper care. He should be consulted to a doctor.
After the treatment and recovery burn any dog blankets, beds or his eating bowl or anything that was in contact with the dog during the first stages of the disease. If the dog dies, make sure you don’t bring a puppy home until at least a month is passed and after that if you bring one get him properly immunized.
Apart from these dogs can suffer from –
Bronchitis: if you catch him coughing excessively often accompanied by phlegm check if the cough is caused by something in his throat if not, take doctor’s advice immediately.
Eczema: this is inflammation of the skin. It is not contagious and normally caused for disorders. If the dog becomes anxious and bites its skin, resulting it to be a red bare wound then it must be the symptom of Eczema. It should be treated right away.
Apart from these there are other deadly diseases like Canine hepatitis, Canine parvovirus etc.DiseasesSave the Dogs!