Symptoms of Common Dog Illnesses
Your dog can’t tell you when he is sick, so it is important for you to learn to spot behavior by your dog that may be symptoms of illness and his overall general condition.
If your dog is frequent sick, it’s an indication that your dog’s health is not what it should be and he should be checked out by his veterinarian. For example, if the dog has persistent nasal discharge, it may an indication that your dog is suffering from nasal congestion and if the discharge is usually thick, the dog may be suffering from something more serious such as pneumonia.
A dog throwing up once or twice during the year may not be a sign of any serious illness; however, if your dog throws up frequently, it may indicate a serious health problem that should be checked out by a veterinarian.
If your dog is continuously scratching an itch, you should check him for any skin inflections or infestation by parasites such as ticks, lice or fleas. You can check for these parasites by examining the dog’s skin by separating the dog’s hair material. If you see your dog shaking or scratching his ears frequently, like his trying to shake something off, you should take him to a veterinarian to see if he has ear mites.
Notice the whites of your dog’s eyes. The corneal opacity is a good indicator of diseases such as trypanosomosis. If the mucous membrane of the eyes of your dog turns pale or in severe cases, white, and the dog seems weak, uncoordinated and anemic, he may be afflicted with trypanosomosis. Trypanosomosis is caused by another parasite which may also attack the dog’s heart and slowly cause heart failure. The symptoms could be confused with more common types of heart disease. If a large number of the parasite gets in the dog’s heart, an inflammation of the heart may occur, and the dog may suddenly collapse and die.
Check you dog’s stool. If he has infrequent loose stool, once or twice a year, this is normal and not something of concern. However, if your dog is continuous passing loose stool, then the dog may be suffering from bowel disorders that need to be looked at. On the flip side, if your dog does not pass stool for two to three days, or have difficulty passing stool, he may be having digestive problems that needs to be checked out right away.
Just take time to observe your dog’s walking movements and notice any abnormal movements. Any signs of your dog favoring one leg or side, or if him walks with a limp, could be an indication of foot lesions.
Since your dog can’t tell you about his needs, it is up to you to learn the sign of common illnesses that could affect your dog.
I own a Miniature Schnauser. She is 5 years old and quite healthy and generally passes two quite normal stools per day but over the last few weeks, there has been a small, quite firm ball about the size of a small marble, in her bed some mornings. Is this something that should cause me concern?