• Mold spores
• Dust bunnies
• Tree pollen
• Flea saliva
• Commercial dog food
• Grass
• Microscopic spider-cousins
• Flea saliva

Food:

The Veterinarian can tell you if food allergies are a concern in your pet. It can be hard to differentiate these allergies from other common dog allergy symptoms. Knowing and watching your pet will be able to tell if they have this. If your pet is staying away from any other form of allergy inducers, then most likely they do have food allergies. The Veterinarian will put your dog on a prescribed diet to see if this helps, if not he will change the food. If this does work he will start to re-introduce other food ingredients to find the allergy culprit and the best food.

Fleas:

Fleas are a huge nuisance to both humans and animals. Flea saliva and bites can leave your dog in itching agony. The itching, biting, and scratching will be a huge sign that your pet has a dog flea allergy and they should be taken to the Vet. Over time, if this continues they can get bad infected sores. This can be extremely painful for your dog, and it will just continue to get worse over time.

Breathing them in:

The allergies that we suffer from your dog can also suffer from. Pet allergies can come from dust, pollen, and mold in the house. When dogs breathe these in their body will react to them as toxic. The blood will release antibodies which will cause your pet to have symptoms of dog allergies. Since your animal cannot sneeze the allergies away, they manifest themselves on the skin causing problems there. It is important for Canine allergies to clean up the area your dog spends most of his time in. This will include their dog bed, and even certain parts of the house they lay around it. It is good to wash the bedding, and vacuum these areas. Bathing your pup will help to get rid of some of the allergies, you should do this right around the time you clean up.

Canine allergies do not have to stop your everyday life, with a few minor adjustments you can go back to living normally. Dogs with allergies can be quite uncomfortable in their living conditions, especially if there is excessive scratching and biting going on. Once this is fixed they will go back to being your happy and healthy pet again.

Nutrition:

Many people have decided to go with homemade food instead of the commercial brands that are highly attractive and easy to serve by most pet owners. When making your own dog food you will be able to put in all the important vitamins and health foods yourself. It Is important to research this, you can do so on the Internet, and find the best way to make your very own safe homemade dog food, you can even look into pet health products.

Commercial dog food also has its benefits. Even though the less expensive brands will not have as many vitamins in them and most of them are loaded with extra fat and calories to make up for the loss of much needed vitamins. Research around, and look at friends who use different types of dog food. Buying the most expensive brand will necessarily not mean a thing. It could be harder for your dog to digest the food. If your friends dog looks good-shiny coat, and gleaming eyes: the dog food they are using might be worth a try.

Fight against Disease and Illness:

Vaccinate your pet every year when the Vet. Recommends you come back. This will keep unwanted illness and disease at bay. It is also important to take your dog to the Vet to regular check-ups. You may never know if there are any underlying conditions present that you may not be able to notice yourself. Even if you think your pet is healthy, why take a chance?  Get any dog health advice while you are at the Vet. this will make sure that you will not end up with a sick dog.

Exercise:

When my Family and I purchased our new house, it did not come with a fence in the back yard. My Husband and I were worried about the canine health of our dogs. My oldest dog started to gain weight, because he was used to a big back yard to run and play in at least a few times a day. At this house he was hooked to a chain for a little while or he would run off. When we finally got the fence up the weight started to come off-I could tell a big improvement in his canine health.

The point of this is, that even if your pets to not have everyday access to exercise it is extremely important to take them for a walk/run at least once a day-this will help to ensure a longer healthier life.

Symptoms:

Every owner knows there dogs and can usually tell if even the smallest thing is off. If you look at canine liver disease dogs and liver cancer dogs, they have multiple symptoms that can present themselves right away or over time. Some things to look and watch out for are:

• Weight Loss
• Not wanting to eat
• Extremely thirsty
• Going to bathroom all of the time (more than normal)
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Yellow skin color

Diagnosis:

Checking for liver disease in dogs can actually be tricky. The symptoms can manifest themselves as something else, and not actually getting to the root of the problem. The Veterinarian will take notes of all of the symptoms the dog is displaying. A physical examine will be preformed including multiple blood tests that check for bile and phosphatase in the blood, these tests could point to liver disease and canine liver cancer. After all of the tests are done the Vet will be able to make an informed decision based on the facts.

Treatment:

The treatment options for canine liver disease will vary based on the initial cause. If the problem is cancer the Vet might decide to go with radiation or chemotherapy. If your dog faces a serious trauma then they might need to stay at the vet overnight while they recuperate. If is really hard to say what kind of treatment will need to be administered on your pet. There are numerous liver damage symptoms out there but most of them are definitely treatable, the thing is to catch it in time. If your dog is acting the slightest bit weird then take him to the Vet.

This disease does not have to be the end of your beloved furry friend. Ultimately the Veterinarian is the only one whom can actually tell you what is going on with your little guy. Hopefully it is nothing, but if you suspect something then do not take any chances and get them to the Vet right away. At least to have peace of mind.

Canine Lyme disease Symptoms:

• Do not want to eat
• Fever
• Swollen in certain areas

You know your dog the best and you can look at the facts from their behavior. If they are showing any of these lyme disease symptoms, and you have recently been outside where there are ticks, you should look your dog over. This is important to do this after every camping, fishing, hunting, and walk in the park trips. This will save your animal a bunch of unwanted pain and discomfort. If you do not notice anything on the skin it might be a good idea to take them to the Vet, and see if they can find anything.

Diagnosis:

Lyme disease dogs can be diagnosed at the Veterinarians office by doing a simple blood test. The Vet will physically look at the dog, and ask you about their symptoms plus use the results of the blood test to determine if the animal does in fact have dog lyme disease.  If your pet does not have this disease you should ask about the canine lyme disease vaccine.

Treatment:

The animal will be put on a strong antibiotic for 3 to 4 weeks to get rid of the bacteria disease. It is extremely important to follow through with all of the treatments every day to keep you pet away from chronic lyme disease. If your dog is on pills 2 times a day try and not miss one dose. Make sure to give it to them at the same time every day-this will ensure good results.

The best way to get rid of canine lyme disease is to prevent it. Get your dog regularly vaccinated for this. Try and stay out of areas that are highly populated with ticks. Check your animal over every time you engage in any outdoor activities.

• Muscle
• Reproductive
• Skeletal
• Endocrine
• Respiratory
• Digestive
• Nervous
• Circulatory
• Integumentary
• Excretory

If one of these functions is messed up it can cause canine hypothyroid, which just throws the whole system out of whack and makes for an underactive thyroid.

Symptoms:

The different thyroid symptoms in dogs can also be disguises of other serious illnesses that are why thyroid problems are hard to diagnose. As the owner you know your dog the best and how they are on a day to day basis. So if something is off you will be able to tell almost immediately, even little things. Some common symptoms to look out for are:

• Weight gain
• Fearful
• Lethargic
• Aggressive
• Non-coherent
• No exercise
• Skin discoloration
• Weak

Diagnosis:

Hyperthyroidism dogs can be usually hard to spot this is where the responsibility of the care taker comes into to play. Knowing the dog and their personality will be the key in an alarm sounding and getting the dog to the Vet. This disease is hard to diagnose, but there is a canine thyroid test that can be done by your Veterinarian. The labs will test this for 2 forms of the thyroid hormone. After the results are in the lab should be able to tell if there are any problems existing with the thyroid.

Treatment:

The main treatment for this problem is levothyroxine this will give to the animal twice a day. A few months after the medicine is taken every day, the Veterinarian will most likely run the tests again to see how the canine thyroid is doing. Some animals will need to be on this medication for life, while others are able to get off of it when they are better.

What is canine cushings disease?

This disease has to do with the pituitary gland that is located at the base of the dog’s brain. This gland produces adrenocorticotrophic hormone. This hormone will stimulate the adrenaline glands which basically release hormones like Cortisol into the blood stream. This is important for bodily functions like:

• Kidney function
• Blood sugar levels
• Cardiovascular system
• Skeletal muscles
• Fat metabolism
• Immune response
• Nervous system

When the adrenocorticotrophic hormone and cortisol levels are normal this will spell out a healthy dog. When they are not healthy you will start to notice canine cushings symptoms in your pet. Your pet will start to exhibit symptoms when the hormone levels are not in balance anymore, which could be from pituitary (most common) or adrenal gland tumor, and even interference from the Vet. What will happen is that the cortisol hormone will start to over produce and the dog will be unable to regulate it themselves, causing the symptoms listed above.

What Causes this Disease?

Veterinarians believe that most Cushing patients are 10 years of age or older. This does not discriminate it will hit both the male and the female gender. The animals that have been spayed/neutered will have an increased chance of getting this. This definitely does not mean that you shouldn’t spay or neuter your pet-the benefits of that far out weight the chance of getting cushings disease in canine dogs. Smaller dogs have a far greater risk of getting this disease; this would include breeds like terriers and other small dogs.

Cushings Disease Dogs Symptoms:

Symptoms can start out moderate and then grow over time depending upon how fast this disease takes effect and if treatment has been sought right away. Some of the different symptoms to look out for are:

• Weight gain
• Excessive heat-panting a lot to cool off
• Over eating or not at all
• Urinating in areas they are not supposed to
• Dog hair loss
• Skin color is changing
• Bruised skin
• Lumps in the skin
• Seizures
• Stealing or hoarding and guarding food

Treatment:

The treatment with depend on the stage of the Canine cushings disease that your dog is in. Plus this will also depend on what kind of cushings your pet has. Since this will occur in mostly older dogs the treatment might be a little bit harder since most likely your best friend has other health concerns with their old age. Surgery can be used to remove most tumors. Other forms of treatment are; radiation and chemotherapy. It is important to do what will be most comfortable for your dog and their current health status.

Here is a video of a dog that is going through cushings disease and the owner is blaming the cause on commercial dog food!

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