DOG HEALTH

Part of being a respon­si­ble pup­py or dog own­er is know­ing when to call the vet. So many peo­ple let things go and have a “wait and see” atti­tude when their pet has some­thing wrong. Some­times, “wait and see” is fine, oth­er times it can be the dif­fer­ence between life and death. With many things, the soon­er caught, the more effec­tive and even less expen­sive treat­ment can be. Younger dogs, old­er dogs or dogs with a con­di­tion that can affect how it responds to ill­ness can suc­cumb faster than a young, healthy dog. Age and over­all health play a fac­tor in how a dog will respond to an ill­ness, acci­dent, etc.

Your vet should be you first ally when con­cern­ing the health of your dog. Try to use a vet will­ing to work with you and who seems gen­er­al­ly con­cerned about your pets.omega constellation 123 55 24 60 05 002 ladies mother of pearl white dial yellow gold set with diamonds strap 24 mm 42 Just like with human doc­tors, there are vets who are very ded­i­cat­ed to their pro­fes­sion and oth­ers who are not. Hav­ing a good rela­tion­ship with your vet is a key ele­ment in the health and main­te­nance of your dog. If for some rea­son I have to leave a clin­ic my pets are seen at (like when my fam­i­ly moved), I will think noth­ing of inter­view­ing var­i­ous clin­ics to ensure my pets will find some­one as car­ing as the peo­ple we had to leave.

With the Inter­net as pop­u­lar as it is, many peo­ple go there for infor­ma­tion before the vet. Though the per­son may get advice, it may be total­ly incor­rect. Many con­di­tions have sim­i­lar symp­toms. What if some­one says their dog had the same symp­toms and was fine in a cou­ple days but your dog’s symp­toms are of some­thing poten­tial­ly dead­ly? Even vets on line can­not see your dog to exam­ine, runs tests, etc. These are vital in prop­er diag­no­sis. Rely­ing sole­ly on infor­ma­tion from mes­sage board posts, etc., is not the best way to find out what is wrong with your dog.

There are quite a few instances when you should call your vet. He may tell you to mon­i­tor the sit­u­a­tion for a few days, give you an appoint­ment or refer you to an emer­gency clin­ic. Let us look at some:

* Always call your vet should you think or know a car has hit your pet. Even if you do not think the wheels touched him, get him in! If your vet is not open, find the clos­est emer­gency vet clinic.
* Always call your vet should you sus­pect your dog has eat­en a tox­in. Things like antifreeze can kill in tiny amounts. Onions, choco­late, alco­hol and many plants are tox­ic in vary­ing amounts. Tylenol (aceta­minophen) and Ibupro­fen can be dead­ly, as can oth­er human medicines.
* Always call your vet if you sus­pect your dog has had a seizure.
* Always call your vet should you sus­pect your dog has swal­lowed a for­eign body.
* Always call the vet if you pet has been in a fight — espe­cial­ly if you sus­pect a wild ani­mal or you do not know what ani­mal your pet tan­gled with. Even if you see no bite, call. Rabies is always a con­cern as is infec­tion from bites
* Sud­den weight gain or loss should be alert­ed to your vet.
* Sud­den shifts in tem­pera­ment – like going from nor­mal­ly very sweet to aggres­sive – can be a sign of prob­lems, even medical.migo kwiq plus vape
* Should you find any lumps or bumps when exam­in­ing your dog (you should exam­ine your dog week­ly when your groom) call the vet.
* If your dog has been off food, water or act­ing lethar­gic for twen­ty-four hours or more, call the vet. A young pup­py or senior dog should be called in soon­er. Though one missed meal may not be an emer­gency – look for oth­er signs of illness.
* Should your dog be vom­it­ing or have abdom­i­nal ten­der­ness or swelling, call the vet.
* Should you notice lame­ness and limp­ing ‑whether or not there was an injury. If you notice lame­ness when get­ting up, stiff­ness in mov­ing, etc., call.
* Ask your vet about the signs of bloat. Large and giant breeds are more prone, but it can hap­pen to any dog. Indi­ca­tors of bloat are abdom­i­nal swelling and dis­com­fort. If allowed to go on even for a few hours can be deadly.
* Diar­rhea for more than twen­ty-four hours or diar­rhea with blood should be an alert to call the vet.
* Rash­es, falling out fur, exces­sive shed­ding or chew­ing at spots on the body should be brought to your vet’s attention.
* Should the eyes look hazy or your dog seem to have trou­ble see­ing or there is an abnor­mal dis­charge from the eye, call the vet.
* Bad breath and yel­low teeth indi­cate den­tal issues – though not an emer­gency should be addressed. How­ev­er, if the breath smells sweet, there could be oth­er prob­lems. Pale gums can be signs of a seri­ous problem.
* Bad odors, dis­charge and crud in the ear could sig­nal a problem.
* Any­thing that seems out of the ordi­nary for your dog should be cause for concern.
* Know your dog and all his nor­mal habits. In my book, it is bet­ter to get the ani­mal in and spend the mon­ey to find out noth­ing is seri­ous­ly wrong than to let some­time go for days and turn into some­thing very seri­ous. Fast act­ing is often the key in fast recoveries.