Dog Health Blog

A dog is a man’s best friend. You do everything you can to maintain your optimum health. Doesn’t your best friend deserve the same? Your dog is an active (rather the most active) member of your family and needs the same, if not more attention to health and nutrition as you do, to stay healthy, and live longer.

After all it’s very easy to get lost in s big pet store. The sea of products that we have today, aisle after aisle is very confusing and also time consuming. However keeping your dog healthy need not be a career option for you. All we need to use is a little common sense and good information regarding the breed and age of your dog.

Let’s divide the dogs into two categories – small & adult.
For Small Dogs & Puppies
It has long been established and proven that small dogs have a different metabolism as compared to large dogs, due to physiologic effect of their body mass.

For example
Great Dane weighing 100 pounds needs to consume about 23 calories per pound of body weight. Pomeranian weighing 6 pounds needs to consume 47 calories per pound of body weight every day-more than twice as much!

As owner of a small dog, you need to be certain that your dog’s energy needs are being satisfied. Be sure to choose a diet that’s been formulated properly with optimal balance of highly digestible nutrients. Digestibility determines how much your dog can actually utilize each nutrient in a diet.
Puppies require almost 2 - 3 times as much food as adult dogs per pound of weight. To keep up their energy levels, they have to be fed as frequently as three to four times till they are six months of age.
Diet is always the key to raising your children or puppies. The diet should balanced, nutrient rich, should contain high levels of phosphorous and calcium and be highly digestible. It should also contain high-quality proteins and should adhere to Association of American Feed Control Officials’ (AFFCO) procedures. This would ensure that the puppy develops strong bones, muscle and tissue.

For Adult Dogs
Your dog like you needs a combination of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water in a balanced diet to meet their daily needs. A lot of dog food bags claim they are in themselves complete food. This ends up as null if the nutrients cannot be absorbed by your dog’s system. Major companies take great care in this aspect by trying to provide the nutrients in an absorbable form.
Dog foods must also consist of mineral and vitamin supplements in a balanced form. The proportions should be accurate so that they do not interfere with each other in your dogs system. This would provide maximum benefit to you dog. If the food consists of one ingredient in overdose and the other in lower doses, it could have an adverse affect on your dogs health.

Given below are some feeding tips to make chow time more pleasant:
1.Always keep the food dish clean.
2.Feed adult dogs twice a day to prevent hogging at one single meal and lessens the chance of your deep chested dog developing bloat or stomach torsion.
3.Feeding Schedule should be relaxed so that your dog knows the meal time but will not bother you if you are a little late.
4.Keep your siblings away from your dog while feeding, so that he does not get insecure and feel a need to defend his food.
5.Never let your dog have free access to food, lest they have constant activity in their digestive systems.
6.Make sure your dog sits and has his food, in which case there is less chance of food spilling all over the floor.
7.Never play with your dog with his dish, better to teach him manners instead.
Leave the dish for 15 minutes so that he licks it clean.

Diarrhea and vomiting are common occurrences among pooches. However, a single episode of diarrhea or vomiting isn’t something to be overly concerned about. You usually discover that your hungry hound has just wolfed down something that he shouldn’t have eaten and now he’s paying the price by regurgitating. Diarrhea occurs when your dog’s body attempts to process the food quickly just to be rid of it.

However, you do need to be concerned when these symptoms persist for more than a day. Diarrhea and vomiting could be signs or symptoms of an underlying illness or worms. Your dog could have ingested toxic food such as rodent bait, resulting in food poisoning.

You will need to check your dog for any signs that his physical condition has changed. A good place to start would be checking to see if his eyes are still bright and alert. Verify that your dog isn’t listless or running a temperature, as veterinary attention should be given in these cases. Do take some time to observe what your dog has vomited or defecated to check for unusual materials and odd colour. If your dog shows signs of discomfort and strains himself as he defecates, check to see if the stools contain traces of blood or appears to be full of mucus, as these would need a vet’s advice.

Your dog might still appear perky, but it is unusual for symptoms to persist beyond a day, so do get your vet to check him over to see what’s ailing the dog. This would also help prevent the symptoms from worsening. If it is simply something he shouldn’t have eaten then the vet can prescribe some medication to help stop the diarrhea and vomiting. You will also be advised on your dog’s water and food intake to compensate for the loss of mineral salts and possible loss of hydration in your dog. Dietary restrictions on your dog are usually implemented for the next two or three days. Food that is low in fat and easily digestible is usually advised to avoid undue pressure put on a already weakened digestive system.

On the other hand, if your dog is plagued by worms or other internal parasites, your vet will prescribe treatment to expel them and set up a treatment routine to help to prevent their recurrence. Dogs tend to love to explore and can pick up these parasites from other dogs’ or from other dogs’ faecal matter. Another possible reason for diarrhoea or vomiting could be due to an allergic reaction. The vet would also be able to determine if your dog developed an allergy to something he’s eaten or come into contact with, resulting in an adverse violent reaction.

Should your dog be suffering from a serious ailment; investigation, treatment and good nursing care will be necessary. If your dog is very weak due to repeated purging, he will be placed in overnight care at the surgery for intravenous therapy to maintain hydration. Tests will be conducted to establish whether your dog is harbouring viruses or bacteria that may affect his liver or his digestive system.

The longer your dog suffers, the greater the possibility there will be for the situation to worsen. When in doubt, always get veterinary advice as soon as possible.

About the Author

Moses Wright is the webmaster of http://www.dogcustomer.com/. He provides more information on Dog Health, Dog Health Care and Dog Veterinary Diseases that you can learn in the comfort of your home. You are welcome to reprint this article if you keep the content and live link intact

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Plump whole chickens, choice cuts of beef, fresh grains, and all the wholesome nutrition your dog or cat will ever need. These are the images pet food manufacturers promulgate through the media and advertising. This is what the $11 billion per year U.S. pet food industry wants consumers to believe they are buying when they purchase their products.

This report explores the differences between what consumers think they are buying and what they are actually getting. It focuses in very general terms on the most visible name brands — the pet food labels that are mass distributed to supermarkets and discount stores — but there are many highly respected brands that may be guilty of the same offenses.

What most consumers don’t know is that the pet food industry is an extension of the human food and agriculture industries. Pet food provides a market for slaughterhouse offal, grains considered “unfit for human consumption,” and similar waste products to be turned into profit. This waste includes intestines,
udders, esophagi, and possibly diseased and cancerous animal parts.

Three of the five major pet food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of major multinational companies: Nestlé (Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, and Ralston Purina products such as Dog Chow, ProPlan, and Purina One), Heinz (9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature’s Recipe), Colgate-
Palmolive (Hill’s Science Diet Pet Food). Other leading companies include Procter & Gamble (Eukanuba and Iams), Mars (Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham’s), and Nutro. From a business standpoint, multinational companies owning pet food manufacturing companies are an ideal relationship.
The multinationals have increased bulk-purchasing power; those that make human food products have a captive market in which to capitalize on their waste products, and pet food divisions have a more reliable capital base and, in many cases, a convenient source of ingredients.

There are hundreds of different pet foods available in this country. And while many of the foods on the market are similar, not all of the pet food manufacturing companies use poor quality or potentially dangerous ingredients.

Taken from “The Dog Food Report”

Recommended: All Natural, Premium Dog Food at Only Natural Pet Store

Here’s Today’s Joke: What did the Dalmatian say when he had finished his meal?
That hit the spots.

Just like their owners, dogs can suffer from allergies too. Some of these allergies can be related to the foods that they eat where some of the cheaper brands of dog food have coloring and preservatives that can cause allergic reactions. If this is the case then it is a process of eliminating those foods that have the ingredients that cause the reactions.

This is not always as easy as it might seem as it can take quite some time to find which particular ingredient is the culprit.

By buying the better premium quality dog foods you are less likely to have these problems or alternatively if you only feed your dog fresh meat and some vegetables rather than processed foods that should help.

Most of the cheap dog foods use grain products as a filler and these are often the cause of the dog’s problems. These food allergies can result in your dog scratching their skin, which can also cause more problems with infections.

More Information:
Dog Supplies

Just as we would be very uncomfortable with an allergy that makes us constantly want to itch our skin, allergies can make a dogs life miserable.

Aside from the allergies affecting skin sensitivities your dog could also develop coughing, discharge from the nose and eyes, hair loss and breathing problems. There are many more symptoms that can arise and these are just a few.

If you notice any changes in your dog when they have a change in diet then it will pay to take a note of the ingredients of that product to see what is in it that could be making your dog feel unwell.

Dogs can also get allergies from dust mites just as humans would and it is always necessary to ensure that your dog lives in a clean environment even if they are an outdoor pet by regularly cleaning their cage or kennel.

Fleas are another concern for dogs and they can lead to excessive licking, particularly around the tail, which can ultimately lead to hair loss and sores. It is very easy for your vet to see if your dog has fleas if you are unable to do so yourself and there are simple solutions to eliminate fleas.

Dogs can also get varying skin diseases and some breeds are more susceptible than others. There are many good lotions and antibiotic pills that can be administered by your vet to control this and the sooner you get these problems seen to the better as they can lead to more intensive skin problems if left unattended.

More Information:
Dog Supplies

If you don’t have thousands of dollars lying around to treat your parvo puppies, don’t worry. There are simple, inexpensive steps you can take at home to treat parvo puppies using Parvaid.

Many parvo puppies are cured after consuming the first few doses of Parvaid. Most stop vomiting, begin to drink fluids on their own, and are eating within one to two days. However, that’s not always the case. The worst cases of parvo puppies require hourly oral or enema dosing continuously for one to two days, so if you’re doing home treatment, you will need helpers who can sleep in shifts. Using an IV can make dosing easier, but you should still administer oral drops every hour until the puppy is eating and drinking on his own. Unfortunately, many people think they can mix the Parvaid in the puppy’s water, but if the puppy isn’t drinking fluids on his own, he won’t be getting the medication.

If you can’t stay home for two days straight, you might have the option of taking your parvo puppy to the veterinarian during the day for IV dosing and pick him up on the way home for home treatment throughout the night. Ask your vet about other options for combination treatments.

Keeping a record of your home treatments is a good idea. Make a note of every dose you administer, record every temperature, every instance of diarrhea and its appearance — you should record every minute detail. This will help you remember exactly what you’ve done and will enable someone else to easily take over the puppy’s care while you get some sleep.

Treating parvo puppies at home is exhausting, but it’s very rewarding. Even though it can take a long time and seem like a nightmare, you’ll be overjoyed when their recovery is complete, and you will have made new-found lifelong friends!