Ava Williams
Even dogs have days when they are not feeling well. With these tips on the most common complaints, you can help your dog get back on its paws and nurse it back to health quickly.
Note: The symptoms and tips are only an initial assessment. Please always have the exact cause clarified by your vet in good time and before treatment.
Gastrointestinal disease
Acute gastrointestinal disease is manifested by vomiting, a bloated abdomen, or diarrhea. It can have various causes: ingested foreign objects, infection with pathogens, gastritis, or poisoning. The vet will clarify what the four-legged friend is suffering from. As a first aid measure, you should not eat anything, but give your dog plenty of water. However, this does not apply to poisoning. Your dog is not allowed to drink anything here – except poisoning from acids or alkalis. Charcoal tablets help bind toxins in the gut.
Symptoms: diarrhea, bloating, vomiting
Causes: swallowed foreign body, poisoning, infection with pathogens, gastritis
Measures: no food, drink a lot (exception: poisoning), in case of poisoning charcoal tablets, consult a veterinarian
Parasite infestation
Ticks, mites, and fleas are among the most common dog parasites. It is best to remove ticks immediately to avoid Lyme infection. If your animal suffers from itching, hair loss, or skin inflammation, it has probably caught mites or fleas. Antiparasitic drugs help here.
Symptoms: itching, hair loss, skin inflammation
Causes: transmission through other animals, infestation in nature
Measures: remove ticks, antiparasitic agents
Cardiovascular disease in dogs
Cough, drop in performance, rapid breathing, blue tongue, fainting spells: these symptoms indicate heart disease. Possible causes of your dog’s unstable health can be an infection with bacteria, viruses, or heartworms. A metabolic disease also causes these symptoms. Here only the veterinarian can provide clarity and determine a therapy.
Symptoms: fainting, blue tongue, drop in performance, irregular breathing, coughing
Causes: congenital heart defects, infection with viruses, bacteria, or heartworms, metabolic disease
Measures: Follow the veterinarian’s treatment instructions carefully, prevent obesity
Eye diseases
A common eye disease in dogs is conjunctivitis. Drafts, dust, or foreign bodies as well as infection with viruses or bacteria cause these. The eye reddens, tears, or swells shut. Now help your dog by keeping the eye clean with a lint-free, damp cotton cloth and applying anti-inflammatory medication from the vet.
Symptoms: Redness, watery eyes, eyelid swelling
Causes: Draft, dust, foreign bodies, infection
Measures: Clean your eye, apply anti-inflammatory medication
Skin diseases
Often, allergies such as food or flea saliva allergies (treatment of choice: flea control) or a skin infection (skin fungus) are the cause of the skin change. Than dogs often scratch or nibble their paws. Sometimes weeping patches of skin form. But autoimmune diseases or hormonal disorders can also be triggers. You can only track down the allergen with an elimination diet. If there is a fungus behind the skin disease, circular hair loss with crusted or scaly skin can occur. The skin fungus disappears after treatment with antifungal drugs.
Symptoms: itching, hair loss, crusting
Causes: food intolerance, fungal infestation
Measures: exclusion of the cause of the allergy, medicinal fungal control