Archive for the 'Pet Health' Category

Kennel Cough First Aid Tips

Kennel cough is one of the most common diseases dogs may acquire. It is very similar to human cough, wherein the condition could be at its worst during the night time. Kennel cough is acquired with contact to dogs having the same problem.

Needless to say, this is a highly contagious disease and you should be careful of it should one of your pets develop it. It may pass from specie to the next and you may find the disease hard to control.

If you observe your dog to be struggling with its breath due to cough, the very first thing you should do is to assess the severity of the disease. Mild cases dont usually require immediate attention but you have to observe the progress of the disease accordingly. Once you feel that your dogs condition is getting worse, it is time to take it to the vet.

Minor kennel cough is normally cured by Vitamin C. Stock on Vitamin C soft gel capsules at home and use it as first aid for kennel cough. Just break one Vitamin C capsule and mix its contents to your pets food. One capsule a day is sufficient.

If there are no Vitamin C capsules around, it is also possible to use a childs cough syrup. Base the dosage on the weight of your dog. Small dogs may be given a one year old childs dosage. However, note that this should only be done for first aid purposes. Never put your dog on continued medication with a human cough syrup without the vets orders.

More than cure, you should also help prevent the worsening of your dogs case. It would be better if you keep your dog away from allergens and anything that could accelerate coughing. Smoke, dust, and the cold weather are the biggest concerns of dogs that have kennel cough. Be sure that these factors wont affect your dog. Do what it takes to free your house from pollutants and allergens as they could only make the situation worse.

Also, try to minimize your dogs daily exercise routine for as long as it is infected with kennel cough. Your dogs air passages get easily irritated and its defenses are not as strong at the moment. Too much exercise may only slow down recovery. A regular walk is more advisable over the usual running-up-the-slopes type of exercise that you do with your pet.

If kennel cough is not duly treated, it could lead to pneumonia or other much severe bronchial diseases. As a pet owner, you have to constantly monitor your dogs health. Know when it is time to give medicine and when to let its body fight off the disease naturally. You should also rightly decide when you have to take your pet to the vet or to simply give it first aid.

Your dogs health is precious. You have to be very cautious of it as dog treatments dont come cheap these days. It is always advisable that you work on improving your dogs immune system one step at a time up until trivial diseases like kennel cough cant easily affect your pet.

Do Your Dogs Ears Smell Like Dorritos?

Under normal circumstances, your dogs ears shouldnt smell bad at all. They shouldnt be red, or itchy, or have a discharge. If your dog shows any of these symptoms, his ears need attention.

Up Close And Personal

One of the most enjoyable aspects of owning a dog is always having something to cuddle. Its not so nice cuddling them when their ears are stinky.

Foul smelling ears are an indication that something isnt quite right in the ear canals. When you bathe or groom your dog, its important that you get close to his ears and have a sniff. Identifying problems early will allow you to start treating the ears straight away, and have him feeling more comfortable very quickly.

Ear mites can cause a bad smell in the ears, as well as an obvious build up of dark crumbly material. They also make the ears extremely itchy, and are easily spread from one dog to another. If theyre not treated, a secondary infection can develop, which hurts and can be more difficult to resolve. You can easily treat ear mites by using an insecticidal ear drop from your veterinarian.

Ears that dont dry out very well are a perfect environment for bacterial growth and infection, and the resultant bad smell. Examples are dogs with floppy ears which dont allow air circulation, and even dogs who swim frequently. These dogs benefit from using a product that dries up excess moisture in the ear canal.

The third main cause of smelly ears is skin allergies. Irritation and inflammation of the skin due to allergies also extends to the ear canal. Your dog will dig and scratch at his ear with his foot, desperately trying to relieve the itch. These allergies lead to secondary infection with bacteria and fungi, which is also itchy, painful, and smelly. Smelly ears are often related to an allergy to food, or to dusts and pollens in the environment.

Get Some Fresh Air Into Those Ears

You can tackle your dogs stinky ears by treating the cause of the smell, which is usually an infection. To do this, youll need to take your dog to your vet for an ear exam. Shell take a sample of his ear discharge and examine it to identify the bacteria thats causing the problem. Shell then clean the ears and prescribe an appropriate antibiotic, and also some pain relief.

Youll still need to deal with the primary problem. If your dog is a water baby, then make sure you clean and dry his ears after he swims. If the infection was caused by ear mites, your vet will advise you on what to use to kill them. If he has allergies, its a good idea to start a food trial to rule out any food sensitivity. Your vet may prescribe anti-itch medication such as Benadryl to stop him scratching and traumatizing his ears, and encouraging further infection.

Ear Clear is a useful tool to have in your arsenal for treating ear infections. Its an all natural product, containing antimicrobial herbs and tea tree oil, and will help to reduce any infection and swelling in your dogs ear canal. Extra virgin olive oil will soothe the ear canal, and help break up any wax accumulation. Finally, lavender oil is anti-bacterial and anti-itch, and makes your dogs ears smell a lot more pleasant.

A bad smell means that something is wrong in the ears, and that something usually hurts. Treating the cause of the smell will not only have you snuggling up to your dog again, but will have him feeling more comfortable. Thats a win-win situation for both of you.

Natural Remedies for Canine Diabetes

You can bring your dog to the vet and get him a processed vaccine or something else that is supposed to help in the aid of diabetes. There are some people that still dont want their dog to suffer with this disease but they also dont want to put chemically manufactured medicine in their dog. So what do you do if you are one of them?

There are some things you can give your dog to treat diabetes and that is all natural so you wont have to rely on chemical medicines. Here are a few natural remedies that you can give your dog to keep their diabetes in control.

There is an herb called Bejak that has been around for a long time and it is said to help with removing extra sugar that is in the bloodstream. This herb is also known to eliminate the signs of abnormal urination in animals that is why this is a great natural remedy for dogs that have diabetes and also urinary tract infection.

Vinegar can be given to your dog to help them with the pain of diabetes. The best vinegar to us is apple cider vinegar because just a few drops in the water dish can do wonders for your dogs symptoms of diabetes and for other illnesses that your dog may have.

Karela is another herb that can help your dog out in a time of need if you are looking to help your dog naturally. This herb helps by controlling the amount of sugar or insulin that your pancreas produces. This herb has been used by humans for many years and now has been given to dogs as a form of treatment for diabetes. This herb also helps to absorb or improve the absorption of food in your stomach.

Cinnamon helps with controlling diabetes in dogs as well by being a substitute for insulin in your dogs blood stream. Just sprinkle a little bit on your dogs food and then you have just given your dog the right amount of medicine for the day.

Gurmar is another herb that will keep your dogs blood sugar level at an elevated state so that your dog has a lot of energy. This herb is a good one to use when you think your dog is sick because the more sugar your dogs cells have, the faster the antibodies can kill the illness that has invaded your dogs body. This herb is also known to treat UTI in dogs.

You can use grapefruit as a diet supplement for your dog. Grapefruit is known to make a dog to loose weight so if you have an overweight dog, feed them grapefruit. Diabetes puts on the weight in dogs so this is a great remedy for your dog to loose the weight and treat your dogs illness.