Dog Health Care Blog

Michelle Johnson asked:




As a dog owner, we all want what's best for our dog. With the newest reports about the proper diet for your dog, they should have carbohydrates, vegtables, etc., more and more dog owners are giving their dog table scraps without realizing that there are certain foods a dog should never have. Before you put your left-overs in your dog's bowl be sure to read the top ten foods they shouldn't eat.

1. Chocolate - To dogs, chocolate acts as a stimulant, making your dog's heartbeat accelerate or beat irregularly, leading to seizures and even cardiac arrest. To compound things further, it also acts as a severe diuretic, causing frequent urination, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. If you even suspect your dog has consumed chocolate, take him to an animal hospital immediately.

2. Grapes and Raisins - Grapes and raisins create havoc with your dog's kidneys and digestive system. What's worse is that the amount of grapes needed to cause problems can vary greatly among individual dogs. Symptoms include frequent urination, vomiting, and diarrhea.

3. Onions - Onions cause the breakdown of a dog's red blood cells, which deprives his cells of much-needed oxygen. If you're in the habit of feeding your dog table scraps, make sure the dish was not prepared with onions, as the effects can be cumulative over a period of time. Symptoms can vary greatly, ranging from vomiting and diarrhea to loss of appetite, fever, or exhaustion.

4. Valet Parking in Hollywood . Macadamia Nuts - While the exact chemical compound is still unknown, even a small amount of macadamia nuts can cause fever, irregular heartbeat, seizures, or mild paralysis.

5. Alcoholic Beverages - Dogs' physiologies are not equipped to handle alcohol consumption. They are extremely susceptible to alcohol poisoning, and even small amounts can lead to digestive problems or even death.

6. Bread Dough - Because it is soft, dogs will often swallow the dough without chewing it. When the dough hits your dog's stomach, his body heat will cause the dough to rise inside his stomach. This rising action can cause bloating or vomiting. To compound things further, the rising action creates alcohol as a by-product, and your dog may experience the symptoms listed in the previous paragraph.

7. Caffeinated Beverages - Similar to the effects of chocolate, caffeine is a stimulant and can negatively impact your dog's heart rate, causing seizures or heart attacks.

8. Avocadoes- Avocadoes are toxic to many animals. The offensive chemical damages heart, lung, and other essential tissues. Animacion 3D . Be aware since guacamole's main ingredient is avocado, that you keep any such dips well out of your dog's reach.

9. Pitted Fruits - (Peaches, Pears, Cherries, and Apricots) The pits of these fruits contain small doses of cyanide, which can be fatal to smaller dogs. Also, if the pit is swallowed whole, it may become lodged in the intestinal tract, where the blockage will have to be surgically removed.

10. Raw Fish - Raw fish, especially salmon, can contain parasites, usually fluke larvae. The dog consumes the fish, and the larvae hatch in your dog's digestive tract, attaching themselves to his intestinal walls. Symptoms can take up to a week to exhibit and usually mimic other canine diseases, such as distemper or parvovirus. The hazard here is misdiagnosis by the veterinarian, leading to an improper or ineffective treatment. If you choose to feed your dog fish, be sure to cook it thoroughly to kill any bad critters that could be hiding inside.

This is of vital information for your dog care. If you want your dog to have the proper diet, take a small amount of what your making before you add the onions and the extra spices and make him up his own little plate and add it with his dog food.

Remember a good dog is a happy and healthy dog.



Create a video blog...instantly.

Susan Koranki asked:




If you have a puppy you may need to deal with an annoying, but very normal, problem - worms. These nasty little parasites set up residence inside your precious puppy, usually in the digestive system but sometimes (and more dangerously) they can invade other organs such as the heart. Having worms can cause all kinds of problems for a puppy, ranging from vomiting to more serious illnesses such as anemia or possibly even death. Although they can be worrying, treating puppy worms is fairly straightforward and generally very effective. There are 5 main types of worms that are usually seen, these are

Roundworms

Roundworms are the most common kind of puppy worms and many puppies are born with them as an infected mother dog can pass them onto her puppies' in-utero. hvac repair . They can sometimes be seen in your puppy's feces, and are most often transmitted through contact with the worm eggs or larvae in the contaminated stools.

Roundworms can be passed onto humans, and children are most at risk as they tend to play close to the ground where they can come into contact with infected soil, grass or even the feces themselves. car accident attorneys . A child's tendency to put their hands in their mouth, and to be less stringent about personal hygiene makes them an easy target.

A fecal exam performed by your veterinarian can detect the presence of roundworms, and appropriate medications usually cure the problem fairly quickly.

Tapeworms

The most common type of tapeworm is spread by fleas. You can often see tapeworms (or segments of them) in your puppy's feces. They look like small grains of rice and are white in color. They are generally not easily transmitted to humans but good hygiene is still important.

In addition to any medication your veterinarian may prescribe to treat a tapeworm problem, using a regular, monthly flea and tick preventative is a good way to avoid an recurrence of the infestation.

Whipworms

Whipworms may be more common that generally thought, but they are difficult to detect. If your pup has these parasites he may show few symptoms early on, but regular (and often repeated) fecal exams are necessary to make sure he's whipworm-free and to head off any future problems.

Hookworms

The hookworm is a very, very tiny but still pretty nasty little puppy worm. They do best in warm, moist soil and actually penetrate through your puppy's skin and then travel to his intestines.

Humans can also pick up hookworms in the same way, so it's best not to run around barefoot if your puppy has hookworms. A fecal exam and the appropriate medication is the answer to a hookworm infestation.

Heartworms

Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitoes and they're the most deadly of the puppy worms. Heartworms (as their name suggests), take up residence in your puppy's heart and can cause serious health problems. If a heartworm problem is left untreated, it's quite possible that the puppy or dog will die.

A preventative medication (such as Heartgard), given regularly in strongly recommended as treatment for heartworms is long, complicated, expensive and not always successful.

If you have a new puppy be sure to have your veterinarian give him, or her, a fecal exam to check for worms at his first check-up. If at anytime you notice worms in your puppy's feces, or see symptoms that suggest a worm problem, talk to your vet straight away.

Don't try to treat puppy worms with over-the-counter-medications. They're generally not very effective and can have unwanted, even dangerous, side-effects.



Website content

Carolyn Schweitzer asked:




"Magoo was a big, playful Labrador retriever who often got himself into sticky situations..."

So begins a story in the latest report from the ASPCA on foods that may be toxic to dogs. It turns out that Magoo got into the pantry and snagged himself about a pound of raisins. He ate the whole thing, of course.

The ASPCA never mentions Magoo's fate. But they do tell us that as little as a handful of raisins can impair a dogs health and has been fatal for some. Ditto for the grape.

Who Knew?

Growing up, I regarded our family dogs as "the first cycle of the dishwasher". They were good about waiting their turn for whatever we left on our plates, and we weren't too concerned about offering them "people food". It never crossed our minds that our dogs health could be affected by a few measly table scraps. What was safe for us, we figured, was safe for our pets.

What's more, whenever I ate grapes, I liked to give one or two to our German Shepherd "Tiffany". The grapes always popped out of her mouth when she tried to bite into them and Tiffany, ever the good sport, refused to give up until she'd squashed each one into submission. It guaranteed at least 60 seconds of harmless fun.

Tiffany was also fond of chewing gum (she chewed it -- wrapper and all -- but didn't swallow it!) We had the sugarless kind, which is often sweetened these days with xylitol.

Little did I know that I might have been poisoning our family pet! (More on xylitol below).

Why are grapes harmful?

As far as grapes and raisins go, no one is sure why they're harmful. It's been confirmed that even grapes grown without fertilizers or pesticides can be toxic to dogs. But not to every dog, and not every time. It's also not known whether small amounts eaten over a long time period could have a cumulative effect.

What we do know is that the end result in nearly all reported cases of grape or raisin toxicity is acute kidney failure. (The term "acute" means that the condition is severe and comes on quickly.) The dog ultimately can't produce urine, which means they can't filter toxins out of their systems -- a process essential to life.

During the twelve-month period in which the effects of grapes were studied, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center handled 140 cases involving one or more dogs. Over a third of the dogs developed symptoms ranging from vomiting to kidney failure, and seven dogs died. The ASPCA based their study on reported cases, so naturally there may be cases where a dogs health is entirely unaffected by eating grapes. But until they know all the facts, the Society advises against feeding pets grapes or raisins in any amount.

An ounce of prevention

So, your dog just scored himself a big box of raisins. What's a pet owner to do?

The first line of defense, if the grapes or raisins were eaten recently, is to induce vomiting and administer activated charcoal (it absorbs toxins in the GI tract). Vomiting is also the first sign that your dog is in trouble, so skip right to the activated charcoal if vomiting has already occurred. supra shoes . (In a pinch you can make your own activated charcoal by charring a piece of toast until it's blackened and crumbles easily.) Then call your vet right away.

Can't reach the vet? Call ASPCA Poison Control: 888-426-4435

The vet will keep your dog on intravenous fluids for at least 48 hours and monitor blood chemistry daily. Normal blood work after 3 days usually means your dog is in the clear.

Keeping a watchful eye out, of course, is the best way to keep your pet out of trouble. Like children, dogs (and other pets) have a knack for getting into mischief when we're not looking.

It's Not Just the Grapes...

There are other foods your dog should be kept away from, and some of them may surprise you.

Here are some other foods that can put a dogs health in harms way:

Chocolate

Who can resist chocolate? Like it your not, your dog.

Chocolate is made with cocoa beans and cocoa beans contain a chemical called Theobromine, which is toxic to dogs. Different types of chocolate have varying effects on dogs health. Dark chocolate has the largest theobromine, coming in at a whopping 450mg (compared to 1mg for white chocolate). So on Valentine's Day, you're actually being kind to your best buddy if you eat all the chocolates yourself!

Cocoa Mulch

Cocoa bean shells are a by-product of chocolate production (which is how mulch made it into the "foods" category) and are popular as mulch for landscaping. Homeowners like the attractive color and scent, and the fact that the mulch breaks down into an organic fertilizer. However, some dogs like to eat it and it contains Theobromine.

Fatty foods

Fatty foods are hard for a dog to digest and can can overtax the pancreas, leading to pancreatitis. This can threaten your dogs health and is potentially fatal.

Nuts

Macadamia nuts should be avoided. In fact most nuts are not good for a dogs health since their high phosporus content is said to lead to bladder stones.

Mulch

Mulch isn't food, but there's one type tempting enough for dogs to eat. Some dogs are attracted to cocoa mulch, and will eat it in varying quantities. The coca bean shells can contain from 0.2% to 3% theobromine (the toxin ) as compaired to 1-4% in unprocessed beans.

Onions

Onions, especially raw onions, have been shown to trigger hemolytic anemia in dogs. (Stephen J Ettinger, D.V.M and Edward C. house alarms . Fieldman, D.V.M. 's book: Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine vol. 2 pg 1884.) Stay away from onion powder too.

Potatoes

Potato poisonings among people and dogs are rare but have occurred. The toxin, solanine, is poorly absorbed and is only found in green sprouts (these occur in tubers exposed to sunlight) and green potato skins. This explains why incidents seldom occur. Note that cooked, mashed potatoes are fine for a dogs health, actually quite nutritious and digestible.

Artificial Sweeteners

Xylitol is used as a sweetener in many products, especially sugarless gum and candies. Ingesting large amounts of products sweetened with xylitol may cause a sudden drop in blood sugar in dogs, resulting depression, loss of coordination, and seizures. According to Dr. Eric K. Dunayer, a consulting veterinarian in clinical toxicology for the poison control center, "These signs can develop quite rapidly, at times less than 30 minutes after ingestion of the product" states Dr. Dunayer, "...therefore, it is important that pet owners seek veterinary treatment immediately."

Turkey

Turkey skin is currently thought to cause acute pancreatis in dogs, partly due to it's high fat content.

Other foods listed by the ASPCA as harmful:

Alcoholic beverages

Avocado (the only "fatty" member of the vegetable family)

Coffee (all forms of coffee)

Moldy or spoiled foods

Salt

Yeast dough

Garlic

The Bottom Line

Thanks to a more educated public, fewer fatalities from foods like chocolate are being reported these days. But it's important to keep up with what's currently known about foods and their effects on dogs health. Grapes and cocoa mulch, for example, were only discovered very recently to have harmful effects.
Check frequently with sources like the ASPCA, or sign up for the "Cold Noses News" and we'll keep you informed. (You'll also get a bunch of cool dog stuff along with your free registration).

Of course, being alert and getting your pet to the vet promptly will help assure a happy outcome if something unfortunate should happen.
Here's to your dogs health and good nutrition!



Create a video blog...instantly.