Since animals can not talk, so its very difficult to judge what problem they are facing! So it’s better to educate yourself about the options you have when it comes to your pet’s health or taking care of your pet. There are so many treatment options available for your pet; the only need is to get the knowledge about the conditions and problems they may have, so that you can take appropriate step to prevent them or to cure them. Having knowledge about the health problems and issues related to your pet is very important because your pet health requires same attention as you pay towards your health issues.



If we talk about dogs, different researches have shown that a dog faces same problems as a human being does. Your dog may suffer from Arthritis, diabetes, cancer, kennel cough and heartworm, but fortunately most of them can be treated successfully with medication, surgery, therapy and other types of medical procedures. (1)

The most important thing is to observe your dog for any abnormal sign and symptom that he may be showing, because this is the time to take your dog to see its veterinarian. It will not only improve the chances for a quick recovery, but also save your pet’s life.

Now, let’s discuss some of the pet diseases that your pet (dog) may face. (2)

Canine distemper:

Canine distemper is caused by a virus named as paramyxovirus. This virus is quite similar to that of a paramyxovirus causing human measles. This virus affects different organs of a canine body including brain, eyes, skin, respiratory tract and intestinal tract.

Mostly puppies of less than six months of age are affected by this virus.

Symptoms:

The first symptom is fever, abnormal high body temperature that lasts for 3 to 6 days after the virus has infected the body. Other symptoms include cough, nasal and eye discharge, vomiting and uncontrollable muscle movements. Canine distemper is also called as “Hardpad Disease" because the nose and foot pads become thickened.

Prevention:

Canine distemper can be prevented by the help of vaccination. Vaccination helps in boosting the immunity, ability of the body to fight against harmful organisms. Make sure that your dog receives an annual vaccination to ensure protection against the virus. (3) (4)

Rabies:

Rabies is also caused by the virus that affects the brain in mammals. The virus of rabies is transmitted by the bite of an infected animal. It is a fetal disease which not only threatens the life of the dog but also its owners. (5)

Symptoms

There are some common and easily seen symptoms of rabies. If a pet is suffering from this disease, one may observed him confused, the pet can get slight or partial paralyzed, it may have difficulties in swallowing eatables and the most common symptom is that the sufferer has become hydrophobic, which means it terrifies from water.

Some other symptoms can also be observed in the victim, which bit are complicated and can only be analyzed by a veterinarian and they are as follow:

Sleeping Disorders:

Sudden Emotional and Behavioral Changes

Reacts as it is Seeing Something or False Sights (6) (7)

Prevention:

There is no cure for rabies in human. The only thing that you can do to prevent it is Vaccination. The vaccine is administered after the exposure because the rabies virus takes long time to induce disease. Rabies vaccine treatment must be started as soon as possible. (8)

Kennel Cough:

Kennel cough is a contagious disease caused by virus and bacteria. It is characterized by problems of respiratory tract like coughing. It is transmitted through dogs sneezing and coughing. It is highly contagious and can even progress to pneumonia, a respiratory disease characterized by soreness of the lung with congestion caused by viruses or bacteria or irritants. (9)

Symptoms:

Dogs that acquire this disease, they cough after every few minutes, and it is dry, harsh and coarse type of cough that lasts for three to seven days.

Prevention:

There are different treatment options available for kennel cough. For any type of bacterial infection, antibiotics are used. Vaccination is also used in addition with Cough suppressants and other medications. (9) (10)

Reference:

dogpro.com

animalhospitals-usa.com/dogs/dog_health_.html

peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1556&articleid=419

animalhealthchannel.com/distemper

wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies

healthscout.com/ency/68/738/main.html#SymptomsofRabies

mayoclinic.com/health/rabies/DS00484/DSECTION=2

peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&articleid=347

wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennel_cough

thepetcenter.com/gen/kenc.html