Dog Health
Allergies can be horrible. If you suffer from hay fever, then every spring time when the pollen count is high, you suddenly find yourself a mess. Your eyes are red and scratchy, your nose is always runny, and you feel like somebody has poured sandpaper down your throat. It can be unbearable at times. However, there are some basic things you can do to relieve your symptoms, things you’ll learn in this very article.
There are two basic kinds of allergies you can get. One kind is from pollen, which comes from plants. This is usually worse in the spring, but can be felt throughout the year. Another kind of allergies are from animals, specifically dogs and cats that are kept as pets.
When you react to an allergy, it’s your body doing it’s best to protect you. The small particles, either pollen or dry skin from pets gets into your sinus. Then your body produces histamine, a chemical that fights off the invaders. It’s actually the production of histamine that creates all the problems.
Anti-histamine medication, or medicine that stops the production of histamine is the most common form of over the counter allergy medication. These work pretty good, as they reduce the histamine your body makes, and consequently the symptoms. However, their are some side effects to take into consideration, such as increased blood pressure.
In general, the healthier your nervous system is, the more robust your tolerance for these small particles will be. You will find yourself having less of a reaction. In order to increase your immune system, make sure to get plenty of sleep, and take your vitamins.
It’s also believed that some foods can increase your allergic reactions. Foods such as gluten, dairy products and other processed foods can increase your sensitivity to allergy causing elements. This is not to be confused that cause allergic reactions by themselves, such as peanuts and such.
Once you get your allergy problem solved, you can enjoy life to the fullest. Especially people with pets, you can get back to fully enjoying that additional member of the family.
Apr 09, 2011 | | Dog Health
Whether you decide on a dog, cat, rodent or reptile, you can find rescue groups or breeders who will work with you to find the perfect pet. Take your time and think about the kind of animal you want. After you have decided, take the time to make a list of everything you need to make sure your new family member is comfortable and happy. If you have questions about your new animal, check out the people at the local pet supply store.
Bedding is any material used for sleeping on or nesting in. For example, hamsters need material they can shred to feel at home. A puppy will need a bed they can call their own. It does not have to be extravagant, but something that keeps them warm and comfortable.
The food you need for different types of pets is as varied as the pets themselves. Your pet will be in an area controlled by you, and they will not be in their natural habitat for hunting. Because you control their diets, you must make sure you have appropriate food. It must be nourishing, have plenty of vitamins, and resemble their natural food choices.
Exercise is important for humans and their pets as well. It is a great time to bond and work on training. Get a sturdy collar and leash for dogs. Small animals, like mice or hamsters, will have the most fun running on a wheel. They are die-hard runners and will play well into the night.
Healthy animals tend to keep themselves clean. Out of their natural habitat, they may need some human help to stay looking good. Bathing and brushing are a treat for your pet if you make it a game.
Bored children get in to trouble. The same goes for bored puppies or kittens. Training not only improves their social skills and keeps your home safer, it keeps their minds active and they are less likely to be destructive. Teaching a pet what toys are okay to play with and what things are not okay takes simple training.
Toys are great fun for humans and pets alike. Choose durable toys for high-energy dogs. Soft toys are easily shredded. Cats love dangling things, or toys that they have to work hard to get. They have a very high prey drive. When selecting chewable toys for dogs, like bones, select products that are the right size for your pet. You can even get breath freshening bones that help to clean dog teeth.
Keep dangerous objects out of the way when you bring home a new pet. They do not know what they are supposed to chew and what they should not chew. Pet-proofing your home not only protects your new family member from harm, but it protects your home from harm, too. When visiting the pet supply store, it is fun to take your pet with you to select toys.
Mar 31, 2011 | | Dog Health
Aging has its plus points, like having more experience, having family and often having fewer financial concerns, but it also brings other problems with it as well, usually health worries. One of the health concerns that older individuals worry about is their eyesight.
Most individuals like to remain independent, but blindness makes you to be dependent, particularly if you go blind when you are older. At least while you are younger, you have a long time to learn how to deal with it.
There are several ways that you can lose your sight while you become older but one that effects 10% of those over 65 and 30% of those over 75 years is macular degeneration. It is often referred to as age-related macular degeneration, ARMD or just AMD because it tends to affect those people who are over 50 years of age.
However, macular degeneration only affects the centre 2.1% of your field of vision, so it is very rare for ARMD to become the cause of complete blindness. The difficulty is that that 2.1%, centre field of vision is highly important for recognizing people and for reading.
So what can you do about it, if you get ARMD? One choice would be to buy a guide dog, a ‘blind dog’, as they say in the UK or a ‘seeing eye dog’ as they say in America. A guide dog will help prevent you from bumping into things, which you might well do if you lose your central field of vision.
Most registered blind people are not totally blind. Some are worse off than others but sufferers of ARMD normally retain 97.9% of their field of vision, which is the peripheral vision. A guide dog would cover the rest for you.
Guide dogs are taught as puppies so they will stay with their blind friends for seven or eight years or more This allows the dog and the owner to build up a wonderful rapport, as all individuals do with their dogs. However, the rapport of a blind person with a guide dog though is extra-special. The dog knows that it is being depended upon for its master’ welfare.
If you choose to go down the road of procuring a guide dog, the best place to begin is your national association for the blind, the address of which you can find either at your physician’s, in Yellow Pages or on the Net. Some countries’ organizations will charge you for providing a guide dog and others will subsidize your acquiring a guide dog and its training.
It would be a good idea to order a guide dog as soon as you are diagnosed with a disease that threatens your eyesight because that will give you more time to get to know and select a puppy as your future companion.
If you are lucky and your physician saves your sight, you have lost nothing and you have gained a wonderful, intelligent friend, but if the worst comes to the worst, you will have an invaluable, seeing, protective, wonderful, intelligent friend. You cannot lose.
Mar 31, 2011 | | Dog Health
Pets like people, can develop reactions and intolerance’s to a number of stimuli. It is not uncommon, for pets to develop allergies to the foodstuffs contained within their diet. Such reactions can develop over a period of time, or quite suddenly, leading to poor health and vitality. The following information discuss’s the use of hypoallergenic dog food.
Pets, like human beings, can develop allergies to chemicals, pollutants and foodstuffs. Typically, when a pet has developed an allergy, particular symptoms will ensue, such as vomiting, diarrhea, itching, ear infections and lethargy. Lethargy, is generally characterized by vets as a sluggishness or laziness. Most pet owners would immediately notice if their pet had become lethargic, they would be unwilling to play, or go for exercise, and would tend to sleep more frequently.
Often, when a pet has developed an allergy to certain foodstuffs, they may vomit frequently and have diarrhea. These reactions can then lead to dehydration. In other words, their body has been unable to retain necessary levels of water and essential salts. This in turn, will lead to lethargy.
Many commercial dog foods contain wheat, white rice, dairy, meat by products, chemicals, additives and colors. A pet could develop an intolerance to any of these ingredients, including meat products. Sometimes, an animal can suddenly develop a reaction to foods they have been eating for many years. Or, have developed an allergy to food that has been recently introduced.
Eliminating the ingredient from the pets diet will rely on finding which ingredient is causing the problem. All natural, organic pet foods offer pure ingredients, which have been prepared conforming to a strict set of guidelines. Pets that are not completely intolerant to meats may benefit from this diet as they often include oats, venison and lamb. Moreover, they are completely corn free.
Vegetarian pet foods will have a number of hypoallergenic ingredients, however, they will be free from all grains, including wheats, glutton and meat products. Some pets are allergic to certain types of carbohydrates, as an alternative, some formulas will use certain types of starches to combat this problem.
Finding the correct diet for a pet will involve replacing the problem food item, with an ingredient that the pet can tolerate. Once this process has begun, vomiting and diarrhea will end. The pet will then benefit from all the valuable nutrients and vitamins in their new diet. No longer dehydrated, the animal will show increased energy levels and renewed vitality, ending lethargy and sleepiness.
A pet can become lethargic because of intolerance to foods they have been eating. Hypoallergenic dog food can offer an alternative diet for pets. A number of these foods are available to pet owners depending on the foods their pet is allergic to.
Mar 21, 2011 | | Dog Health
Jogging with a canine can be quite a gratifying experience. Dogs make excellent companions when running for a variety of factors. Mainly, they don’t complain and will usually let you win if you decide to race. Dogs tend to be just happy to be out jogging and the constant tail wagging reminds us that people are supposed to enjoy it. They make excellent partners for pacing and some breeds actually provide extra safety and security to the runner.
There are some safety considerations you should pay attention to, for both your own safety and that of you four legged companion. Above all your dog, much like his running master, should stay hydrated. This is particularly essential for dogs because they don’t perspire and they cool themselves with their tongues. Precisely the reason you see tired dogs hanging their tongues from there mouth.
You will also need to pay attention to the weather. Especially hot temps may be fine for some breeds while catastrophic for others. You will need to do a little breed research to determine if your animal can tolerate the climate you are running in. In the summer the pavement can get extremely hot and your dog doesn’t wear running shoes so be mindful of the pads on their feet and watch for blisters.
Instruction and behavior training play very important roles in the basic safety of both you as well as your pet when going for a run. Should you dog isn’t trained to react on a leash and observe basic instructions you may both be set for an incredibly bad encounter. Work with your dog on knowing that running time isn’t play time. They also need to regard other runners along with other dogs that could be out at the same time. Having a dog attempt to dart across the road to catch a squirrel for dinner can be dangerous for both the dog and the runner, not to mention the squirrel.
Dogs naturally enjoy running. For most breeds, running is in their DNA. However that doesn’t preclude you from paying attention to the environment and working with you dog on developing good habits.
Mar 20, 2011 | | Dog Health
Fleas and other parasites should always be given the highest priority by dog owners. Flea bite allergy in dogs is all too common and causes worry to many dog owners every year, especially in the summer, although all year round if your dog lives indoors with central heating. This is because flea bites often produce allergic reactions in the area bitten by the fleas, which is very often on the back just above the tail. In these cases, the affected area becomes red and bald due to the dog’s continuous scratching of itself.
Heavy flea infestations can cause severe dermatitis in dogs, because the dog will scratch and scratch the area until he bleeds and can also introduce infection. If the flea bites cause an allergic reaction or even dermatitis in your dog, he/she really ought to be taken to the veterinary doctor as soon as possible, because usually, the dog will be experiencing extreme discomfort by this time.
The vet will provide you a salve to soothe the itching and reduce the inflammation and some powder or a spray to kill the fleas. Prevention, however, is better than cure and medicated collars are available to treat and prevent an infestation of external blood-suckers like ticks and fleas.
Besides fleas, other parasites like ticks and lice in addition to the internal parasites like hook worms, round worms, whip worms etc. can affect the health of your dog. For instance, if hookworm infects a dog, that dog will usually suffer from anaemia. The signs of anaemia become more prominent depending on the degree of infection by the hookworm.
Hookworm larvae can pass directly through the skin into the internal body and cause severe problems inside the infected dog. These dogs may have lesions on their paws and on their skin because of dermatitis. Often, skin rashes occur too in these cases and the infected animal may also have diarrhoea, which is flecked with blood.
Nearly all dogs and definitely all puppies will have round worms at some time, which is why dogs can sometimes be seen rubbing their bottoms along the floor. However, if round worms are present in very large numbers, affected puppies show a pot belly, which is easily noticeable by the dog’s owners themselves. This can result in malnutrition and even death. A dose of piperazine salts is given orally for the treatment of this condition. However, broad-spectrum anthelmintics like pyrantel pamoate, fenbendazole etc. will also cure this very common condition.
Many drugs have arrived on the market to treat fleas and other parasites, although nowadays, the medical agent called ivermectin seems to be preferred by many dog owners to treat fleas and other parasites in dogs. This drug is available for injection or oral use and is now even available for external application too.
Mar 13, 2011 | | Dog Health
All dogs require some kind of grooming, there is no question about that. Even smooth chihuahuas should be wiped with a moist chamois leather to get rid of loose skin and dirt. However, one of the main reasons for grooming your dog frequently is so that you can inspect him for skin problems such as allergic reactions to flea or tick bites. Another reason is bonding. In a pack situation, dogs groom other dogs and are themselves groomed every day and dogs enjoy it.
Therefore, you should groom or brush your dog at least every week and take him to a dog parlour every three, four or six months depending on how fast his hair or fur grows and whether you can afford it or not. Having said that, you will find brushing simpler if your dog’s coat is the right length, because it will not tangle so readily.
You should wash your dog every month or so and groom him at at a minimum of once week. This will ensure that your dog gets accustomed to being bathed and handled. If this is done from the puppy age, most dogs will not only accept it, but they will come to enjoy it, although there will always be those dogs that bolt for it as soon as they see a hose and a bowl. They get to know what to look out for. If you talk to him constantly, comforting him and sometimes giving a doggie treat, he should soon come to accept the unavoidable – that he is going to be bathed and groomed.
Actually, most dogs enjoy the grooming, although many only tolerate the bathing. Anyway, bathing and grooming regularly will keep the job as simple as it can be. Once your dog is no longer a puppy, say after six months or so, you might take him to a professional groomer in a so-called ‘Poodle Parlour’. By that time, he should be getting accustomed to the routine and he will accept the treatment from strangers more willingly too.
You should look for professional groomers in adverts in the pet store or the vet’s or simply ask your friends and neighbours for suggestions. Finding a groomer should not be problem, but you might have to try a few before you find one whose style of cutting you like or who is flexible enough to suit your way of life.
When you drop your dog off at the Poodle Parlour, ask when it will be ready to be collected up. Turn up fifteen minutes early and you might be lucky enough to witness first hand how your dog is being treated and how your dog is getting on with the groomer. This is invaluable information, because it will help you make up your mind whether the groomer is getting on with your dog or not.
If the groomer is doing a good job, but your dog is anxious, you can help put him at ease. If the groomer is being a bit too rough, then you will know whether to change Poodle Parlours or just have that groomer banned from taking care of your dog.
Mar 12, 2011 | | Dog Health
Or more to the point as a dog owner could you differentiate between the two types of conditions?
Ear mites in dogs can be infectious among animals – your dog may pass them to your feline and vice versa, for example a mother may pass them to her puppies.
The more common types of ear mites in dogs is Otodectes cynotis; however, all types of mites are treated in the same manner.
If you notice that your dog is itching their ears constantly or perhaps is tossing or shaking his / her head, it typically signifies some problem with the ear.
You will need to look at the inside of your dog’s ear close up.
When the ear mites are fairly new and the infestation isn’t yet that severe, you possibly will not notice much of anything, but you will need to take remember that your dog will not be itching and scratching its ears for absolutely no reason therefore look closer, and monitor the situation.
You do not have to concern yourself with “catching” mites from your dog; they most definitely do not transmit from animals to humans.
On the other hand, if you notice or see what appears like coffee grounds within your dog’s ear, this really is an indication of a serious infection of ear mites in dogs. These types of “coffee grounds” are bits of dried blood that has built up within the ear.
It is important not just to identify these types of symptoms, but additionally to deal with them when you notice that there’s an infestation.
Failure to treat and eradicate ear mites can lead to much more serious concerns such as long term damage to your dog’s ear canal and ear drum, and could even lead to a loss in hearing.
Once you have determined your dog does have mites, you ought to examine your pet from head to tail. Mites can live anywhere in your dog’s body, not just his ears, and thus when you start treating the mites, you will need to make sure that you destroy them all.
The most typical treatment for ear mites is by using a medication that contains insecticide, most often pyrethrin.
It is a waste of time to utilize any kind of remedy that doesn’t contain an insecticide, simply because it will likely be ineffective.
Basically this can be a medicated shampoo that will get rid of the issue in a short time.
Bringing the dog back to good health.
Mar 09, 2011 | | Dog Health
If you own a dog as time passes it will become a close family friend and we need to watch out for any changes in health whether it’s good or bad, diet can be the source or many health problems.
You’ll find many disorders that are caused due to infrequent or very poor diets such as allergy reactions and bowel issues. A natural and sensible diet is paramount for a dog’s health and well being, and can help keep prospective allergies at bay.
Dog foods that are made of natural and organic ingredients help with our dog’s health; usually these types of foods will be richer in vitamins and minerals which can only be a good thing in providing a more healthy option.
If your dog suffers a food allergy identifying and eliminating the source will allow the dog to return to good health fairly quickly.
Another option for good health is to introduce a vitamin supplement as we would take if feeling run down or tired.
Various other supplements that are beneficial incorporate beta-carotene which assists in eliminating toxins from the body.
A dog on a solely meat diet will consume toxins, this needs to be regulated and monitored as other health problems can arise.
As a result this shows a certain amount of all natural dog food assists in maintaining the metabolic system and keeps it working well.
If a dog with allergies is not treated the results can be very serious as open wounds can develop leading to further infection and discomfort.
To help eliminate allergies you should feed your dog a balanced and natural diet. Numerous options are available but as with anything a little research goes along way.
Homemade foods are great for dogs thus there are no artificial ingredients and the dogs desire for foods will remain strong and well-balanced.
Mar 08, 2011 | | Dog Health
Each dog has unique needs. And much more is a dog that suffers from being immobilized. And if you really care for your dog and treat it as a very close member of your immediate family, then you can show your compassion by providing your dog with the best dog wheelchair that a loving owner can give. It doesn’t have to be expensive for as long as the dog wheelchair can bring back to life your injured dog.
Even for impaired humans the time we see anybody dear to us recover from a debilitating accident which leaves him losing a limb and now has risen from misery brought about by the loss and is now living a rich life, regaining the capacity to do exercise and play games, the joy and exhilaration that you feel inside is just incomparable. Dog wheelchairs have various styles which depend on the extent of his being incapacitated. And the prices of these dog wheelchairs need not be extremely high because there are manufacturers who can offer better deals without compromising the quality of the dog wheelchair.
Since all dogs are unique and they are made more different because of their injury, you may want to have the dog wheelchairs that are designed to suit most dogs, particularly if you did not bring the dog to fit the wheelchair to bring it as a surprise. The best thing about other dog wheelchair dealers is that they have customizable carts and can make the contraption for the dog perfectly and there are those that offer money-back guarantee if it doesn’t fit your dog, an awesome benefit.
Arthritis, rehabilitation from injury, surgical procedure recovery, hip dysplasia, partial or complete paralysis, and/or neurological impairment are some of the most popular reasons why dogs would be given a dog wheelchair. The best thing you can do is choose from a long line of dog wheelchairs and support your dog for him to enjoy what’s left of himself.
Mar 03, 2011 | | Dog Health