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Is Your Dog Healthy

28 16:18:12

Signs of health problems

 

General changes:

 

- Prostration, dejection => Possible causes:  pain, fever.

 - Agitation, aggressiveness => Possible causes: pain, nervous system disease.

- Extended altered consciousness => Possible causes: disease of the nervous system, poisoning, metabolic diseases such as diabetes (the dog may be in a coma if it reacts to any painful stimuli such as pinching. In case of depression, it will react to loud noises and pinching and then go back to sleep).

 - Syncope => Possible causes: temporary deprivation of oxygen (circulatory disorders).

 - Convulsive crises => Possible causes: disease of the nervous system, intoxication (generally of short duration and that repeats itself a few days or weeks later. Call a vet if the seizures repeat themselves).

 

Digestive disorders:

 

- Vomiting => Possible causes: disease of the stomach, poisoning, systemic disease: liver, kidney, etc… (Isolated vomiting is not a reason for concern. However, frequent or prolonged vomiting and vomiting accompanied by other signs such as fever, depression or weight loss are).

 - Diarrhea => Possible causes: bowel disease, poisoning, systemic disease: liver, kidney, etc… (The diarrhea should disappear within 24 hours if the dog is on a diet. Otherwise, you should check with a vet because it may have ingested a foreign body or have kidney disease or liver problems).

 - Constipation => Possible causes: mechanical problems – hard stool, neurological or muscular disease. (The frequency of bowel movements varies greatly from one pet to another. However, the normal average is one to two bowel movements a day. You should worry if you notice a change in your dog’s habits or if its stools are hemorrhagic. Prolonged constipation is always a reason for concern.)

 

Urinary abnormalities:

 

- Painful and laborious urination => Possible causes: bladder disease, urethra disease (Cystitis or bladder inflammation are not the only possibilities. Calculi or tumors can also cause such symptoms).

- Lack of urination => Possible causes: urinary obstruction, renal failure (the lack of urination (anuria) is always serious and the dog also shows other signs of illness).

- Red urine => Possible causes: urinary, genetic or hemorrhagic disease (the urine contains blood. A red color indicates a local cause: urinary or genital disease. It may also indicate a bleeding disorder).

- Dark, orange, red urine => Possible causes: piroplasmosis, anemia, intoxication, muscle pain, liver disease.

 

Genital anomalies:

 

- Genital flow => Possible causes: heating period, genital infection (A mucosal blood flow should not worry you if the bitch is in the heat period. However, this may indicate a genital disease outside the heat period. In males, the production of a purulent fluid indicates an infection of the sheath: balanoposthitis).

 

Respiratory abnormalities:

 

- Cough => Possible causes: lung or heart disease (check if a cough lasts or occurs occasionally even if the dog does not seem affected).

- Sore throat => Possible causes: lung disease, severe anemia, intrathoracic lesion (Breathing difficulties are more or less spectacular. The dog may be panting, agitated or anxious. It takes a special position – it lies on its stomach and contracts the muscles in its neck. The respiratory movements are altered, amplified or attenuated. In severe cases, the mucous membranes appear gray or blue).

- Nasal discharge, sneezing => Possible causes: disease of the nasal cavities.

 

Eye problems:

 

- Red eyes, closed eyes => Possible causes: disease of the eye (a red eye indicates an inflammation of the periphery of the eye – the vessels are visible).

 - Watery eyes => Possible causes: eye disease, nervous system disease – facial nerve injury (the tear production can be abundant in case of an eye inflammation).

- Loss of transparency, changes in color and appearance => Possible causes: disease of the eye – cornea, lens or retina (The vision is not affected if the lesion is small. The causes are many, so the structural disorder can be identified upon eye examination).

- Loss of vision, blindness => Possible causes: eye disease, nervous system disease (the eye often has a slightly different appearance and the loss of vision can go unnoticed. However, the pupil will be dilated).

 

 Problems of the skin and coat:

 

- Loss of hair, itching, scabs, dandruff, nodules, ulcerations, redness => Possible causes: skin disease caused by infections, parasites, fungi, allergies, genetic, traumatic, behavioral changes, endocrine disease, immune disease (The appearance of the lesions and their location indicate the origin of the disease. Foul skin lesions are dotted with signs of infection or seborrhea: oily skin).

- Mass under the skin => Possible causes: abscesses, cysts, benign or malignant tumors (lumps or deformities that develop in the body should be examined by a veterinarian).

Visit a local vet or check the symptoms online to learn about how to treat your dog.