Dogs are one of the most beloved pets in the world. As man’s best friend, dogs are adored by both the young and the old. Any dog owner should be aware of the most common dog diseases and their symptoms so these diseases can be prevented or treated.
Ear infections can affect any dog breed, particularly dogs with floppy ears like beagles and bloodhounds. The primary causes of ear infections are bacteria and yeast. The bacteria and yeast live and thrive due to moisture, excess cleaning, allergies, wax buildup, and the dog’s ear injuries. It can lead to deafness and even paralysis when left untreated.
Common symptoms include itchiness, head shaking, ear discharges, redness, pain, and odor. Treating ear infections requires veterinary examination and can take up to 2 weeks before healing completely. Antibiotics and ear drops may be prescribed to help with the healing process.
2. Allergies
Like humans, dogs can also experience allergies. These allergies could be skin, food, and acute allergic reactions. Allergy symptoms include itchiness, itchy ears, vomiting, diarrhea, sneezing, itchy eyes, inflamed skin, constant licking, and face, ears, and lip swelling.
Treating allergies requires vet examinations diagnosing a specific allergy. Prescribed medication can help alleviate pain and suppress allergies.
3. Worms
The most common disease in dogs is brought by worms. They are intestinal parasites that can cause digestive system infestation. There are four types of worms that can infect dogs: Roundworms, Whipworms, Hookworms, and Tapeworms.
Detecting worm infestation in dogs is looking out for symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, loss of appetite, a dull coat, itchiness, skin irritation, scratching using the ground or hard surfaces, presence of worms in the dogs’ feces, pot belly, and coughing.
Your veterinarian will prescribe deworming medicine to help treat and prevent dog intestinal worms.
4. Urinary Tract Infection
UTI is a bacterial infection that occurs in the urinary tract. This can affect any dog and can have very adverse effects if not treated quickly.
Symptoms include bloody urine, urinal area licking, fever, pungent odor from urine, vomiting, change in appetite, increase in water consumption, frequent urination, and inability to urinate.
Your veterinarian will diagnose dogs with urinary tract infections after collecting and testing sterile urine samples. After the diagnosis, your veterinarian will prescribe the proper medication to help treat your dog’s infections.
5. Canine Distemper
This is a highly contagious virus caused by the paramyxovirus. This disease affects the gastrointestinal, respiratory, skin, immune, and central nervous systems of the dog resulting in a widespread infection that is difficult to treat, making it a potentially lethal disease. Symptoms of canine distemper are: – Fever – Nose and eye discharge – Lethargy – Coughing and sneezing – Breathing difficulties
There are no sure ways to treat this disease, which makes it deadly. Veterinarians will prescribe antibiotics and vitamin supplements to help with the treatment of canine distemper.
6. Kennel Cough
Dogs can get this disease by inhaling bacteria and virus particles from other infected dogs or infectious places like daycare facilities, dogs’ parks, etc. Inhaling this bacterium can make your dog susceptible to contracting canine adenovirus, canine distemper virus, canine herpes virus, parainfluenza virus, and canine reovirus. If a dog is infected with kennel cough, it may develop the following symptoms: – Strong cough – Runny nose – Sneezing – Lethargy – Loss of appetite – Low fever
Treating dogs with kennel cough is easy. Veterinarians will prescribe antibiotics and cough medication to ease symptoms and prevent secondary infections. While pet owners can prevent Kennel cough by vaccinating their dogs against this disease.
7. Ticks and Fleas
These parasites bite and cause an infestation in dogs that can lead to itching, dermatitis, and other serious infections. To learn more about tick and flea bite dermatitis, you can read this article: Detecting Tick and Flea Bite Dermatitis – MAN Pharma
