Archive for the ‘Dog diseases’ Category
Bordetella Infection: kennel cough in dogs
May 12th, 2010
Kennel cough is a highly contagious respiratory infection in dogs akin to bronchitis in humans. Recently, it has been officially titled tracheobronchitis. While this disease can be caused by various bacteria or viruses one of it’s most common agents is the bacteria bordetella.
Bordetella is highly contagious. It can be transfered via infected individuals, or through infected surfaces. Due to this, it can quickly and easily spread throughout kennels. Dogs often contract this disease after spending time in public places like dog parks, boarding, or the groomer’s. When adopting a dog, be aware that the kennel situation may be conducive to kennel cough. Be sure to isolate the new dog from the old ones for about a week to prevent a whole household of bordetella if there is a reasonable chance. A dog that has been there for several weeks would already have been exposed and treated but a dog at the shelter for less than a week may have contracted the disease but is not showing any symptoms.
Symptoms of Kennel cough
After exposure it may take up to a week to show any symptoms.
The most obvious symptom in dogs with kennel cough is the honking cough. It’s pretty surprising to first hear a dog have a coughing fit. It sounds like a duck? A donkey? Usually it isn’t just one cough but fit that can last nearly a minute.
Dogs may exhibit other symptoms but those are usually secondary in obviousness to the cough.
When checking if that cough is just a tickle or if it is a sign of tracheobronchitis, take two fingers and rub the sides of the dog’s wind pipe. Usually, in kennel cough cases, this action irritates the throat and induces a coughing fit. In combination with a history of contact with the dog public, the induced cough is enough to almost guarantee a diagnosis.
Treatment of Kennel cough
First off, prevention is always better than treatment. If you are planning to bring doggy out and about to grooming, parks, boarding, a dog party, or anywhere they may have contact with other dogs it is prudent to opt for the kennel cough vaccine. The kennel cough shot is a yearly shot that can be given to help lessen the chances of your dog contracting kennel cough.
After noticing symptoms of kennel cough, doggy should be taken to the vet. Sometimes dogs need antibiotics to help fight off bordetella. While this disease can be self limiting and naturally recovered from, it is always better to check with a vet.
As a courtesy to others, if you believe your dog has bordetella or kennel cough please live him at home and wash your hands before handling anyone else’s dog!
Raw Salmon Poisoning in Dogs
January 11th, 2010
I eat raw salmon all the time and it has never occurred to me that it could cause serious disease in my dogs. The cause of salmon poisoning is not limited to salmon, it also can come from any fish that migrates from salt to fresh water to spawn. It is most commonly caused by fish from the west coast where the primary hosts (snails) are found. Other examples of fish able to carry richettsia are trout and steelheads. Be sure to cook these fish well before feeding or avoid them if cooking is undesirable. I’m sure not every single salmon out there is necessarily a host but you never know which one is.
In a nut shell, salmon can carry a worm that can be a host to a organism known as richettsia. When the dog eats the salmon flesh, small cysts in it can hatch out in the dog’s stomach. The flukes then infest the dog and also release the richettsia. Salmon poisoning disease may be a bit of a misnomer as it isn’t a poisoning so much as an illness.
Richettsia infestation can cause swollen lymph nodes, high fever, dehydration, diarrhea, vomiting, and lethargy. Discharge may be seen in the eyes and nose. Dogs usually fall ill quickly within about a week of eating infested fish. If a dog becomes severely ill and raw fish was fed to the dog recently it is important to mention that to the vet treating the dog.
If you have fed your dog raw salmon, don’t panic. When caught and treated properly, most dogs survive their encounter with richettsia. Extra vigilance needs to be taken to watch the dog’s condition as the mortality rate of untreated dogs can be as high as 9 out of 10 dogs. Contact the vet if the dog has eaten raw salmon and ask for directions. If no symptoms have presented and are instructed to carefully observe here are some basic things to watch out for.
Watch out for these symptoms up to a month after fish consumption.
If the dog has a change in its behavior, acting more morose than usual take the time to feel their lymph nodes and take its temperature. Two of the easiest places to feel for swollen lymph nodes is in the “knees” of the back legs (the largest bend in the back legs) and under the chin. The lymph nodes under the chin are analogous to our own. If a firm sac is felt in these areas that indicates a swollen node. The temperature of the dog may become elevated to as high as 107 degrees a few days after consumption before falling back to a normal temperature. If the dog begins to vomit and pass bloody stools bring the dog to the vet and inform the vet of the situation. Symptoms may be appear as severe as some of the most dangerous infections like distemper and parvo.
Once at the vet, a stool sample may be taken or a biopsy of the lymph node to confirm the infestation. The vet may administer liquids to maintain proper hydration as well as use a combination of a deworming drug and antibiotic to clear the infection. After proper treatment recovery should be fairly quick.
I really have never heard of this disease before a few weeks ago and I can imagine thinking salmon is a great raw food as we often eat it in sushi. It is important though to feed only cooked fish that may harbor this disease or exclude them from a raw diet. We need to be vigilant of our dogs normal behavior. This disease definitely requires vet treatment and should not be taken care of at home. And don’t worry! Humans are immune to this disease and our sushi is still safe for humans 
.
Urinary Tract Infections Part 2
November 21st, 2009
I wrote part one of this post back at the beginning of the war of the UTI. I would have loved to have said that the first visit was the last. No, I’ve gone back three times since then and have one more scheduled for the end of this month. Two vet visit were regular re-checks to make sure the bacteria were eliminated. After the first re-check Emmala was prescribed a two week course of antibiotics and 4 a day herbal supplement.
My vet was very concerned about strange crystals in her bladder. She said that it was probably caused by the dry kibble she was eating and that she really needed to be fed canned food if not better. I figured canned food would be more inconvenient, so I decided to go all the way and just cook for them. After my vet visit, I realized that my dog would be sickly and prone to recurrent and chronic bladder infections as long as she was eating commercial kibble. While only a few ingredients in the kibble were affecting Emmala’s bladder problems directly, raising the quality of her food also help to support her entire system against disease and illness.
The last vet visit was a food consultation in which I was given the basics for home cooking.
Since the beginning of the war, I’ve come up with several conclusions.
1. If you have a UTI, just do the culture and sensitivity test. It is more expensive and takes a little longer but it will save you money in the long run if doggy has to go for a second course of antibiotics and check ups.
2. Try to get a morning appointment for bladder checks. Doggy has had all night to brew and won’t be over due either!
3. Pilling dogs takes practice.
4. In conjunction with an antibiotic, a bladder supporting herb will be helpful. Consult a doctor to make sure it is okay to give along with the antibiotic.
5. UTI’s are stubborn! And expensive.
6. Recurrent UTI’s may indicate that a diet change may be in order.
7. If I think of anything else as time goes by I will tell you!
Urinary Tract Infections in Dogs
October 20th, 2009
Over the past few months I’ve been at war with Emmala’s stubborn bladder infections. The dog bladder infection issues in my household have not only inspired many vet visits but also intensified my interest in holistic health for dogs. It is was the primary motivation for switching to home cooking and forced me to reevaluate the quality of my dog’s lives.
On a Wednesday, Emmala seemed fairly happy and healthy but by Thursday, there were some pretty serious signs that all was not well. Wednesday night there was the bloody urine. Because I still use puppy pads when my dogs are home alone, to my boyfriend’s dismay, and I happened to notice a few red drops in the middle of a puppy puddle. The blood was fairly subtle, maybe only five or six drops.
By morning, I was awakened by Emmala whining to go downstairs earlier than normal. Actually, she never whines at all. After ignoring her until I could no longer (cruel me!), I brought her outside. Once outside, Emmala squatted probably nine or more times. By her third squat I was already on the phone with the vet.
Upon inspecting the squatting area, I observed that she was leaving literally only a drop of blood. The rest of thursday, Emmala was slightly more lazy than she normally is, and definitely looked sad.
Because I was worried that bloody urine could be a sign of an even more serious problem, I took to the internet. It turns out that urinary track infections were the most likely culprit. I was lucky to have caught the infection so quickly. Many owners won’t spot bloody urine when their dog puddles in the grass and may not observe any changes in their pets bathroom habits if they do not already know how often their pets urinate. Blood in the urine is definitely the most dramatic symptom that signifies something is wrong.
Other symptoms are malaise and straining during urination. Dogs may also regress in their potty training, spotting in incorrect places or having dribble problems. “Excited urination” may actually be a UTI. If your dog has potty training problems it could be an infection instead of a training problem.
If you suspect that your dog has a UTI, make sure your dog does not go to the bathroom the morning of your vet appointment, especially if it is small. I made the mistake this morning of letting Emmala use the potty before we left. As it turns out, she is a small dog with a very small bladder. Being empty, the small bladder was impossible to find even using an ultrasound and a long needle. I ended up having to leave her there for three hours to “re-brew” so to speak.
My vet recommended that the culture and sensitivity test were the most reliable test to diagnose UTI. It takes around three days in which a sample of the bacteria in the urine is grown in the lab and then that culture is checked to see which antibiotic it is sensitive to. Without this testing, choosing an antibiotic is a guessing game. Because Emmala was presumably incredibly uncomfortable because of the UTI’s advanced progression, the doctor opted to have the urine gram tested. The lab also checked to see the basic type of bacteria present, whether they were cocci, rod or the spiral guys.
I received the appropriate antibiotics which are administered twice a day with food for probably two weeks. The total for my visit today came out to about two hundred dollars. Fifty for antibiotics, fifty for the office visit, thirty for the ultrasound, forty or so for the urinalysis, and another 10 for a cytosyntesis.
Some dogs are more prone to bladder infections especially older dogs. Dogs can also develop bladder stones which can harbor bacteria. Bladder stones can be caused by diet as in Emmala’s case. My vet also recommended cleaning the vulva area to try and prevent bacteria from entering the urinary track.
UTI’s are very common in dogs but are sometimes hard to diagnose. In people the first sign of a urinary infection would be the burning during urination, but because dog’s can’t talk it is up to us owners to be vigilant and watch our dog’s behavior.