10 top Diseases of dog

There are 10 infectious diseases in dogs, which can inflict any dog breed, at any age. Understanding these dangerous dog diseases will allow you to protect your furry friend from infection. Each dog disease is described below, focusing on the manner in which the infectious disease is transmitted from dog to dog and across dog breeds, as well as the options open to dog owners for preventing infection in their dog.

10 Dog Diseases: #1, GIARDIA

Giardia is a dog disease that causes diarrhea with abdominal pain and consequent weight loss and poor weight gain. This dog disease results from a water-born parasite, after whom the disease of Giardia is named. Giardia is ubiquitous in open water sources throughout North America, and your dog can become infected by simply drinking contaminated water, such as in a lake, pond, or stagnant pool. Monthly Heartworm prevention pills, which also prevent other intestinal parasites, will protect your dog against Giardia.

10 Dog Diseases: #2, DISTEMPER

Distemper is a viral dog disease which is extremely contagious. Affecting the respiratory system as well as the nervous system, this dog disease causes fever and fatigue, coughing, vomiting and diarrhea, and finally seizures. And if untreated Distemper can lead to death. Distemper can be prevented with vaccinations at your local vet.

10 Dog Diseases: #3, PARVO

Parvo (or Parvovirus) is one of the most contagious dog diseases around. Affecting the bowels, Parvo symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting so severe that they may lead to death. And though dogs of all ages may contract this disease, Parvo is most common, and most dangerous, in puppies. Typically Parvo is passed from one dog to another from contaminated feces. But this dog disease may also be carried on fur or paws, thereby contaminating the living space of the dog and any objects he comes in contact with. Vaccination can protect dogs from Parvo.

10 Dog Diseases: #4, CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus is another viral diarrhea that can affect dogs of all ages, though puppies are most at risk and will suffer the worst symptoms, from diarrhea to vomiting and weight loss, accompanied by constant drinking. At times, a dog may be infected with both Parvo and Coronavirus, in which case his symptoms will be more severe and may lead to death. Vaccination can protect dogs from Coronavirus.

10 Dog Diseases: #5, HEPATITIS

As with humans, Hepatitis dog disease affects the liver. This contagious dog disease includes symptoms such as fever, vomiting and diarrhea accompanied by abdominal pain. Furthermore, Hepatitis may lead to kidney damage. Once more, however, vaccination can protect dogs from Hepatitis.

10 Dog Diseases: #6, LYME DISEASE

Lyme disease is dangerous bacterial disease which can cause irreversible damage to a dog's health. Symptoms of Lyme disease include arthritis and lameness, sudden limping indicative of pain, fatigue and lack of willingness to play or even walk, depression and loss of appetite. If left untreated, Lyme disease will damage the heart, kidney and even the brain. Vaccination can protect dogs from Lyme disease.

10 Dog Diseases: #7, RABIES

Once the most dreaded dog disease, Rabies is a caused by a virus, which attacks the brain. Rabies is a deadly disease that will be contracted through a bite from a rabid wild animal, such as skunks or raccoons, as well as bats. Unlike some dog disease, rabies can be passed to humans as well through a bite, or even just a scratch. Vaccination will protect dogs from Rabies and is mandatory for dogs throughout North America.

10 Dog Diseases: #8, LEPTOSPIROSIS

Like Rabies, Leptospirosis is carried by wild animals, although this dog disease is caused by a bacteria. You dog can become infected by drinking contaminated water or by coming in contact with an infected animal. Symptoms of Leptospirosis include high fever and jaundice, accompanied by hemorrhaging which will manifest in bloodstained feces. Vaccination can protect dogs from Leptospirosis.

10 Dog Diseases: #9, KENNEL COUGH

Most dog owners knew this dog disease by the name of the organism that causes it: the Bordetella virus. However, several other organisms can cause this highly infectious dog disease, whose full name is Infectious Tracheobronchitis (ITB). Symptoms of kennel cough include severe coughing spells, which may lead to vomiting and gagging. Nasal discharge and watery eyes are also possible. Though this vaccines is not automatically given at your local vet, if your dog is likely to interact with other dogs in the park, vaccinating him against kennel cough is a very good idea.

10 Dog Diseases: #10, PARAINFLUENZA

Parainfluenza is another strain of Kennel cough. This respiratory infection in dogs is highly contagious and will lead to flu like symptoms. Once more, the name Kennel Cough may mislead dog owners into thinking that their dog is not at risk if he never stays at a kennel. However, Parainfluenza may be contracted by simply being around an infected dog, as in the park, the beach, or an off-leash dog park.

dogs vomit?

Dogs can vomit for a variety of reasons. A dog may have a quick vomiting episode that is over and the dog appears healthy by the time it gets to the veterinarian.

Other times, a dog may vomit as a signal that there are problems with the dog’s health. It is important that you give your dog a healthy diet and enough exercise and playing with you to keep your dog healthy. A dog may vomit from eating old food and inedible items that it has found in the garbage. After the dog’s digestion tract has tried to digest any offensive material and it still cannot process it, the dog will vomit the material out of its system.

A dog may vomit from stress. Efforts should be made to remove the dog from the tense situation. You can monitor your dog’s activities to avoid this type of emotionally charged type of vomiting. Shy type of dogs may vomit from stress.

Puppies and dogs may vomit as one of the symptoms of internal parasites of the intestinal tract. Your veterinarian can diagnose and treat this common problem with puppies and dogs. Regular treatment for parasites can prevent and reduce the incidence of infection.

Improper diet and allergies can also cause vomiting. It is important that your dog has a healthy diet and that, if you suspect and have allergies diagnosed, you find healthy alternative food ingredients to the allergen foods. Your dog’s healthy diet is important to your dog’s health.

A dog may vomit from ingesting poisons. Many common food ingredients can be toxic to a dog if it is eaten in enough quantity. Your dog can also be poisoned by toxic substances that are left on the property in which the dog roams.

Illness and medical conditions can also cause vomiting. Examples of medical causes of canine vomiting include stenosis, ulcers, bowel disease, pancreatic disease and conditions, lack of digestive enzymes, cancer, esophageal condition, colitis, liver disease, kidney disease, hyper motility syndromes and problems with the digestive tract. A dog may also vomit from foreign objects and the side effects of medication. It is important that you are aware of exactly what your dog is eating on a daily basis so that if your dog experiences vomiting from a serious cause, you can find medical treatment for your dog in a timely way.

Your dog relies on you for its needs to stay healthy. You must monitor your dog’s activities and provide a nutritious diet to prevent your dog from eating the neighbor’s garbage.

Dog and lips

Do dog have a lop?

Yes, dogs have lips..........

Interesting question! Something I never thought about........when I read it I definiteloy thought they did, but this confirms my belief.

You just made me check my dogs's lips! My Border Collie mix has black lips, while my yellow Lab/Shepherd mix and my English Setter mix have mottled lips! Never even knew! You learn something every day :-)

1. Why do dogs have black lips?
Patti: According to veterinarian Dr. Peter Ihrke, the black color helps protect them from being damaged by solar radiation. Since they don’t have as much hair around their mouths as they do the rest of their body, the black pigment in their lips is important to keep their mouths from being burned and dried out by the sun’s rays. Other vets , also members of the American Veterinarian Association, say that the black pigment is dominate over all gene colors. But not all dogs have black lips. Some have light colored lips. A Chow Chow for example has bluish lips while other breeds may have a mottled mouth that is both light and black. But by far the black lips are the most common.

Dog Tip: Stopping Dogs From Eating Poop

Does your dog have a dirty little secret?
A number of readers have contacted us about dogs who munch their own or other animals' feces. Here is background on the condition known as coprophagia, and what you can do to discourage doggie-do-eaters from this somewhat common, natural behavior that strikes humans as a disgusting gustatory pastime.

Background and principles:
* Coprophagia is a condition that compels dogs to consume feces.

* Why does the dog engage in this habit? A dog may ingest fecal matter for various reasons:

Dog eat his poop, why?

Here's what to do when your beloved pooch has a taste for the unthinkable.

Q: My older female dog has begun to eat her poop and we cannot figure out the cause. She gets the same amount of dog food that she always has. Why is this happening?
A: There comes a time in every dog owner’s life when poop dominates the conversation. Welcome to not-so-nice aspects of dog ownership. While my dog Lulu does not share your pet’s particular problem, she has taken extreme measures to hide evidence of “accidents” every now and then. With such a strong sense of smell, she still seems to forget that poop leaves an odor.

Since your little poop eater leaves the crime scene squeaky clean, she may have a condition called coprophagia.

Crazy in love with a dog

Lots of pet owners shared with me the names of their sitters after I wrote that Dog wasn’t invited on a vacation with Husband’s side of the family later this summer.

Better than the recommendations was confirmation that I’m not the only lunatic out there when it comes to worrying about the health and happiness of an animal.

A Mount Laurel reader speaks for a lot of us. She’s hired a sitter to check on her dog midday now since the commute to a new job is too far to get home at lunchtime like she used to.

“It is an added expense, but well worth the cost. Dog loves her pet sitter and vice versa. Friends and family may think we’re crazy, but so what!”

Other readers had a warning. Dogs can’t talk, they reminded me. Be sure you’re getting the care for them you’ve paid for.

“My neighbors recently hired a dog-sitting group for the two weeks or so that they are on their vacation. They asked me to come over and feed the cat and scoop the poop. No problem.

Bacterial Infections in Dogs

In dogs, bacterial infection can be treated by antibiotics; but to determine which antibiotics to administer, the vet will have to carry out a proper diagnosis. On your end, having a rough idea about the condition can help you carry out a preliminary diagnosis and take your pet to a vet well in time.

Dogs are susceptible to a variety of bacterial and viral infections, some of which can even prove fatal for them. Skin, eye, ear, urinary tract, kidneys, nervous system and even the respiratory system of the dog is vulnerable to such bacterial infections. Even minor infections can lead to severe dog health problems when left untreated, and therefore it is necessary to identify the problem and initiate treatment at the earliest.

Bacterial Skin Infections: Staphylococcal pyoderma is a skin condition in dogs caused by a Staphylococcus sp. infection. This bacteria is in fact a part of the dog's normal skin flora. However, in case of wounded skin, or skin that has aberrations and cuts, the bacterium may enter under the skin and cause skin infections. A staph infection in dogs is characterized by itchiness, crusted skin, pustules and small, raised lesions. As the severity of the infection increases, there is loss of hair, and dried discharge is given out in the affected area. Most of the time, it affects the superficial layer of the dog's skin. However, if there is deep laceration then the inner folds of the skin are also affected. To treat skin infections in dogs, topical medication along with antibiotic doses is prescribed, especially to eliminate recurrence of the disease.

Dermatitis in Dogs and Cats Caused by Bacterial and Yeast Infections

Dermatitis is general term that refers to inflammation in the skin. In dogs and cats, dermatitis may be caused by yeast or bacterial infections in the skin.

How Yeast and Bacterial Dermatitis Happens in Dogs and Cats
Skin infections caused by yeast and bacteria rarely happen alone. Under normal circumstances, both canine and feline skin provides a defensive barrier that bacteria and yeast are unable to breach. However, when your dog or cat's skin becomes damaged, the environment on the surface of the skin changes. This change gives the normal yeast and bacteria living on the surface of the skin the opportunity to avoid the skin's normal defense systems and cause further damage to the skin.

If your dog or cat has been scratching excessively or has been losing his hair, it is possible that his skin has become infected by either bacteria or yeast. Various skin diseases can cause changes in the skin that can allow yeast and bacteria to invade and infect the skin. Potential underlying causes include:

• allergic skin disease, such as flea allergy, food allergy or atopy
• infectious skin disease, such as Demodectic mange
• metabolic skin disease, such as that caused by hypothyroidism or hyperadrenocorticism in dogs

LEPTOSPIRA BACTERIAL INFECTION IN DOGS

Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is an infection of bacterial spirochetes, which dogs acquire when subspecies of the Leptospira interrogans penetrate the skin and spread through the body by way of the bloodstream. Two of of the most commonly seen members of this subspecies are the L. grippotyphosa and L. Pomona bacteria. Spirochetes are spiral, or corkscrew-shaped bacteria which infiltrate the system by burrowing into the skin. Leptospires spread throughout the entire body, reproducing in the liver, kidneys, central nervous system, eyes, and reproductive system. Soon after initial infection, fever and bacterial infection of the blood develop, but these symptoms soon resolve with the reactive increase of antibodies, which clear the spirochetes from most of the system. The extent to which this bacteria affects the organs will depend on your dog’s immune system and its ability to eradicate the infection fully. Even then, Leptospira spirochetes can remain in the kidneys, reproducing there and infecting the urine. Infection of the liver or kidneys can be fatal for animals if the infection progresses, causing severe damage to these organs. Younger animals with less developed immune systems are at the highest risk for severe complications. The Leptospira spirochete bacteria is zoonotic, meaning that it can be transmitted to humans and other animals. Children are most at risk of acquiring the bacteria from an infected pet.

Disorders of the shoulder joint

How can I tell if my dog has a shoulder joint problem?

There are many disorders affecting the shoulder joint that can affect all ages of dogs and which can occasionally also affect cats. Limping is the usual problem noted at home. There is usually no specific gait abnormality suggestive of a shoulder problem (as opposed to an elbow problem, for example). Some shoulder problems are developmental and affect young dogs that have not been subject to trauma. In some cases, problems can be associated with an external injury, whilst other shoulder conditions are the result of repetitive strain to the muscles around the shoulder joint.

Here is a list of some of the common conditions affecting the canine shoulder joint:

Osteochondrosis (OC) and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD)

In dogs that grow very quickly, the rapid cartilage growth can outstrip its own blood supply. This causes abnormal cartilage development and subsequent osteoarthritis. In some cases, flaps of diseased cartilage become separated from the remaining cartilage surface. This is called osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). Genetic factors are the most important cause of OC and OCD, with strong breed predispositions, particularly in Labradors and giant breed dogs. Different breeds appear to be predisposed to developing the condition in different joints. For example, the shoulder joint is most commonly affected in Border Collies, Great Danes and Irish Wolfhounds. Various other factors such as dietary or nutritional problems during the first few months of life, hormonal imbalances and joint trauma can also increase the risk of developing OC.

OC lesion

OC is typically diagnosed by a combination of examination by an experienced orthopaedic surgeon, radiography of the affected joints, and arthroscopy (examination of the joint by keyhole surgery). Because OC can occur at the same time as other developmental orthopaedic diseases (such as certain manifestations of elbow dysplasia), some dogs may require additional tests such as CT or MRI scans.

Various treatment options are available for shoulder OC/OCD. The best treatment option for each dog can only be recommended following thorough clinical, radiographic and arthroscopic assessment. Non-surgical management is occasionally appropriate for dogs with small cartilage defects and minimal discomfort. The majority of dogs are treated surgically. The following options are available:

Surgical removal of the cartilage flap: Certain types of small cartilage defects in specific locations are treated arthroscopically (keyhole surgery) by flap removal and debridement of the defect bed. This allows the cartilage defect to heal by scar cartilage formation over the course of several weeks. Scar cartilage (fibrocartilage) is less robust than healthy joint (hyaline) cartilage, so although this allows some of the joint inflammation to resolve in the short-term, the joint will remain abnormal, with ongoing development of osteoarthritis and cartilage wear. We currently recommend this surgery for very small or shallow disease lesions.

Principle of OATS and a synthetic graft in situ with preparation of an adjacent site for another synthetic graft.Osteochondral autograft transfer (OAT): Over recent years, we have adopted the OATS™ (Arthrex, Naples, FL) system for use in the canine shoulder joint. This system has been used for many years in human joints to resurface cartilage lesions including OCD, with positive long-term results. It involves collection of a cylinder of bone and cartilage from a non-contact area of a healthy joint (usually the knee) and transplanting it into a joint affected by OCD in order to resurface the cartilage defect with healthy hyaline cartilage. In some cases, it may be more appropriate to use a synthetic resurfacing graft instead of a cartilage graft.

Shoulder instability

There are several different forms of shoulder instability. Some dogs experience a low-grade repetitive sprain injury to the shoulder ligaments or a strain injury to the muscles of the rotator cuff. Affected animals are often middle-aged athletic large breed dogs. Lameness in affected dogs is often worse after exercise. Dogs affected by high-grade sprains and strains of the shoulder joint may experience an obvious permanent limp.

Prosthetic stabilization postoerative radiograph.

Diagnosis of shoulder instability is made using a physical examination test that is usually performed under sedation or general anaesthesia. We will often perform radiographs to check for the presence of osteoarthritis. Occasionally, advanced imaging using MRI can be helpful when assessing dogs with suspected strain injuries. Most dogs are assessed under general anaesthesia using arthroscopy. This is a keyhole technique whereby a fibre-optic camera is inserted into the shoulder joint.

Treatment of shoulder instability depends on the grade of sprain and strain, and the degree of instability. Low-grade injuries are often treated non-surgically with anti-inflammatory medication, exercise modification and physiotherapy. High-grade injuries can be treated using prosthetic stabilization, shoulder fusion, or total joint replacement.

Prosthetic stabilization: The surgical technique for shoulder stabilization is modeled on the techniques used for the management of rotator cuff tears in humans. We have pioneered the application of human implantation systems to dogs, with excellent success.

Post-op shoulder arthrodesis.Shoulder fusion (arthrodesis): In animals affected by the most severe problems affecting the shoulder, including severe instability, dislocation (luxation), articular fractures, and arthritis, arthrodesis may be the best option. This is called a “salvage” surgery because it is used as a last-resort where other techniques to save the joint would have a poor probability of success. We have excellent experience with shoulder arthrodesis, and have published the largest case series describing this technique in dogs.

Postoperative radiograph of a total shoulder replacement

Total shoulder replacement: The technology and implants for canine total shoulder joint replacement have been pioneered at Fitzpatrick Referrals. The first clinical cases were operated here, and we are currently the only veterinary hospital offering this procedure worldwide.