Common Canine Health Problems

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     Your dog is your best friend, and because of that you want to be sure that your dog spends many years to come with you. To make sure that that happens you need to be sure that you take very careful care of your dog's health. The truth is that just as humans face typical health problems so can dogs. In fact, these diseases can be quite similar to those that human beings face so do not be alarmed if you hear the words arthritis, diabetes, or depression coming out of your veterinarian's mouth.

The tough thing about caring for your dog is that when they are not feeling well you may not know what to do. Your dogs behavior may significantly change and you may not know why. Additionally, it can be very tough to not be able to communicate properly with your dog to let him know that everything is going to be okay. What you need to do in these instances is to really dig out the facts of your dogs condition. You want to take careful notes as to the symptoms that your best friend is displaying. Be sure that you have these documented so that you can communicate them to your veterinarian.

Once you have the symptoms documented you will want to visit your pets veterinarian. Do not be alarmed by the symptoms until you discuss them with your vet. Honestly, sometimes symptoms can appear very scary, but may only indicate a slight problem. However, you do not know until you ask so it is best to go to the expert.

For example, if you start to notice something odd about your pets skin you may be worried that it could be some sort of cancer or serious infection when in fact it may just be allergies. Again though, without consulting an expert you will never know.

When it comes to typical health problems there are several different treatments that your vet may prescribe. One of the most common changes that vet's give pet owners is to adjust their dog's diet. This may mean that you need to change the dog food that you are feeding them. However, more often than not some of the changes that you will be asked to make is to eliminate all "people food" from your pets diet.

Another common treatment is to increase your dog's physical fitness level. Many dogs are out of shape and this can lead to the stiffening of joints, and general respiratory problems. When you are working toward increasing your dog's physical fitness level you want to start slowly and gradually increase from there. That is the way that you can be sure that you do not overly tax your dog.

Of course your dog may also be given medication to treat some of the more common health problems. This is not a bad thing, but you will want to watch your dog to see how they react to the medication. Be on the lookout for progress and any unexpected side effects. By doing this you can ensure that you will be properly treating your dogs ailments.