Category — dog health

Electrocution in Dogs

While we generally never give our appliances a second thought, they can be very dangerous for playful and inquisitive young dogs. Electrocution from chewing on an electrical cord is the single most common type of electrical injury for household pets. These types of injuries can result in burns to the surrounding areas (e.g., mouth, hair), or because the current alters the electrical conduction in the heart, muscles, and other tissues. Possible complications of electric cord bite injuries are fluid accumulation in the lungs (pulmonary edema) and high blood pressure in the arteries near the lungs (pulmonary hypertension). Additionally, there have been reports of animals developing cataracts – an eye abnormality – after such injuries.

• Symptoms and Types
• Causes
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• Living and Management
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Yersinia pestis in Dogs

Plague is a bacterial disease caused by the parasitic genus Yersinia pestis. This condition occurs worldwide. In the United States, it is predominantly found in the southwest between the months of May and October. Carriers of this disease include rats, squirrels and mice; the disease is typically transmitted when a rodent either bites, or is bitten by a dog.

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Kidney Disease in Dogs

Fanconi syndrome is a collection of abnormalities arising from the defective transport of water, sodium, potassium, glucose, phosphate, bicarbonate, and amino acids from the kidneys; impaired tubular reabsorption, the process by which solutes and water are removed from the tubular fluid and transported into the blood, causes excessive urinary excretion of these solutes. Approximately 75 percent of the reported cases have occurred in the Basenji breed; estimates of the prevalence within the Basenji breed in North America range from 10–30 percent. It is presumed to be an inherited trait in this breed, but the mode of inheritance is unknown.

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The term pancytopenia does not refer to a disease itself, but rather to the simultaneous development of a number of blood-related deficiencies: non-regenerative anemia, leucopenia, and thrombocytopenia. The root word pan refers to all or whole, and cytopenia refers to a lack of cells circulating in the blood.

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• Living and Management
• Prevention

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Cobalamin Malabsorption

Cobalamin malabsorption refers to a genetic abnormality by which the vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, fails to be absorbed from the intestine. This condition occurs secondary to the absence of a specific binding receptor in the lower intestine (the ileum) for intrinsic factor-cobalamin complex (IF-cbl). This is a rare disease that tends to affect Giant Schnauzers, Border Collies, and Beagles. In the Giant Schnauzer, it is inherited as a simple autosomal recessive trait. Symptoms generally appear at 6 to 12 weeks of age in Giant Schnauzers, and around four to six months in Border Collies.

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Loss of Stomach Motility in Dogs

The spontaneous peristaltic (involuntary, wavelike) movements of the stomach muscles are essential for proper digestion, moving food through the stomach and out into the duodenum — the first portion of the small intestine.

Excessive gastric motility, with muscular contractions occurring too frequently, causes pain, whereas below normal motility causes delayed gastric emptying, abnormal gastric retention, gastric distention/bloating, and other related signs. Symptoms may occur at any age but it is less common in young dogs than in aging dogs.

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• Diagnosis
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Shock Lung in Dogs

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) refers to a condition of sudden respiratory failure due to fluid accumulation and severe inflammation in the lungs. ARDS is a life-threatening problem, with current mortality rates in dogs at almost 100 percent. This condition is also medically referred to as shock lung, as it occurs following an episode which leads to a state of shock, such as traumatic injury. As typified by a syndrome, ARDS is indicative of an underlying medical condition, usually an injurious event that has allowed blood, fluid and tissue to cross over the barrier and into the alveoli, the air cells in the lungs, causing them to collapse. Once the alveoli have been compromised in this way, breathing becomes labored, and eventually impossible if not treated with haste.

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Poison can be defined as any substance that is harmful to the body upon contact, whether it is internal or external. Internal poisoning can occur through inhalation of a substance, which can be in chemical form, like sprays or powders, but a toxic reaction can also occur simply by breathing in a material as innocuous as dirt. Other forms of internal poisoning take place when an animal has a physical reaction, or allergy, to a plant or food that has been ingested.

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Aspiration Pneumonia

Aspiration (or inhalation) pneumonia is a condition in which a dog’s lungs become inflamed due to the inhalation of foreign matter, from vomiting, or from the regurgitation of gastric acid contents. Aspiration pneumonia can also be a direct result of a neuromuscular disorder, which would cause difficulty with swallowing, as well as problems associated with the esophagus, with possible paralysis of the esophagus.

Other causes for a dysfunction of the lungs may be an obstructed airway, or inhalation of gastric acids, which can cause extensive damage to the internal tissues of the lungs. Bacteria present in the inhaled foreign matter may also bring about infection.

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Pain (Acute, Chronic and Postoperative) in Dogs

One of the biggest challenges in animal care is determining your dog’s source of pain. This is partly due to their limited ability to convey the pain. Dogs vary greatly in their specific responses to pain; the animal’s age, species, experience, and current environment will all affect their response levels.

There are numerous causes of pain; most are commonly associated with tissue damage. Treatment options are available that can help to reduce the amount of pain your dog is experiencing.

• Symptoms and Types
• Causes
• Diagnosis
• Treatment
• Living And Management

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