Living With Dogs (15 page)

Tapeworm live in the small part of the bowel and cause anal irritation, which dogs show by scooting on their bottom. They are usually diagnosed by the owner who notices pinkish-white segments crawling out of the dog’s anus when it is at rest or, alternatively, the worms may be sighted crawling over the surface of a bowel motion. Many general dog wormers do not treat tapeworm, so you must use a product specifically designed to combat it. An adult dog should be treated for tapeworm every three months, at the same time it is treated for other worm types. Dogs which live in or visit sheep farming areas should be wormed against hydatids every six weeks.

Hydatid tapeworm eggs swallowed by humans can cause bladder cysts to form in the chest and bowel cavities. These have serious consequences and surgical treatment is horrific.

The heartworm is potentially one of the most dangerous of all the worms. The adult heartworm lives in the right-side chamber of the heart, and can grow to 30 cm long. It causes great destruction to the heart chamber, eventually leading to right heart failure. The female heartworm releases tiny, tadpole-like larvae called microfilaria into the bloodstream, and these are picked up by mosquitoes, which inject the larvae into other dogs. Prevention of the disease is a great deal more reliable than treatment, and the tablets work by killing the larvae before they develop into heartworm. They are highly effective provided they are used regularly, as prescribed.

Puppies should begin taking daily or monthly tablets to protect them against heartworm by the time they are three months old. The monthly chewable tablet is more expensive, but it frees the owner from the task of administering a tablet daily. Some owners like giving the daily tablet because it gives them the opportunity to interact with their dog, but you should be wary that a lot of dogs get cunning, and owners suddenly look behind the sofa and find a fortnight’s supply of heartworm tablets that were supposed to have been swallowed. There’s no room for error with the daily tablets, and if you miss two days in a row, you’re in trouble. You can be up to 10 days late with the monthly tablet without putting the dog in danger. Better still get your vet to use an annual treatment against heartworm by injection.

When you purchase a dog, you may not realise that dog ownership is quite complex, and there are all sorts of accidents which can happen, and diseases it can catch. Dog ownership entails consistent responsibilities, one of which is understanding the importance of preventative medicine, and that, without our help, dogs won’t survive. Humans learn survival skills as they go through life, but because dogs cannot speak for themselves, humans must learn survival skills on behalf of their dog.

The lesson that Tom Ewer, Professor of Animal Husbandry at the University of Queensland, taught me when I was his student has seemed more and more relevant to me in nearly 45 years of practice: unless you understand normal behaviour in a dog, you have no hope of understanding what is abnormal, and, more particularly, of recognising the warning signs that the dog is ill. A dog that is unwell, or that has suffered an injury, will always give clear signs that it is sick or has a problem with some part of its anatomy. Owners must spend time observing their dog and all its idiosyncrasies — how it walks, jumps, and eats its food — because a change to the dog’s normal pattern of behaviour will be a pointer to what’s wrong. Your dog’s behavioural pattern can’t be learned in a textbook, and the only way to understand it is to observe the dog and interact with it at least twice a day.

A well dog will be alert, bright-eyed, interested in what’s going on, and it will look for and relish its food and drink. The cardinal signs of something wrong are depression (or hiding); unwillingness to move; and refusing food. The other key signs are vomiting for more than 12 hours; diarrhoea for longer than 24 hours; lameness or an inability to use a limb for more than 24 hours; sore or inflamed eyes; pus discharge; blood loss from any orifice; and lethargy, or wanting to sleep continuously.

Following is a brief guide to the warning signs given by different parts of the dog’s body to indicate that something is wrong.

The abdominal cavity includes the stomach and bowel, liver, pancreas, kidneys and urinary system and, in the female dog, the reproductive system. A dog with a stomach or bowel complaint will refuse to eat. If the dog vomits blood, or has blood in any diarrhoea, the cause should be investigated immediately.

Kidney disease is usually characterised by failure to eat, or a reduced desire for food and sometimes vomiting and diarrhoea. The animal will drink more, and it will lose bodyweight. Often you find increased frequency of urination, and the urine will sometimes be bloody-pink and contain clots or streaks of blood. The urinary system is the major excretory system in the body, and it does frequently become diseased.

Inflammation of the bladder, or cystitis, makes a relatively healthy dog urinate more often, but with small amounts of urine that is often blood-coloured. Most cystitis in dogs occurs as a result of stones in the bladder.

Older female dogs often wet their bed, or the area where they’re lying, during sleep. This is caused by a hormonal imbalance, which can be treated by hormone replacement therapy.

The liver is such an important organ that when liver disease strikes, it happens very rapidly, and the animal quickly becomes very ill. The dog will go off its food completely, is often in a state of collapse and usually vomiting. In very serious cases, the surrounds of the eyes and the lining of the mouth show the classic yellow colour of jaundice.

One of the most under-diagnosed or mis-diagnosed infections in dogs is pancreatitis. It can range from a minor inflammation, where a dog will simply go off its food, to serious inflammation, where it can be hunched up in acute pain, with vomiting and diarrhoea. Disease of the pancreas, like the liver, can be critical, and dogs that are seriously ill with pancreatitis should be treated as a medical emergency.

The most usual signs of brain disease are fitting, followed by a short period of disorientation. These fits can range from being quite mild, up to the most serious seizures. Other forms of brain disease are accompanied by profound depression and continuous disorientation.

Problems in the lungs and the upper respiratory system are accompanied by coughing and shortness of breath. The most common illnesses are pneumonia and kennel cough, an infection which is the canine equivalent of the common cold. An affected dog is often depressed and off its food.

Kennel cough gets its name from the fact that it is often caught in boarding kennels, where the animal is in close contact with other dogs, and it results in inflammation of the back of the throat and the top of the windpipe. The illness is generally overcome by the dog’s immune system if the invading bacteria are of the
Streptococcus
group. But if
Bordetella
bacteria invade the inflamed tissue, the coughing symptoms simulate whooping cough in humans, and the sound of the coughing can be quite alarming, even though it is rarely life-threatening. It is normally treated with antibiotics. Vaccination against kennel cough can be included in a dog’s regular annual vaccination. With so many dogs now living in the suburbs, in close proximity to each other, you frequently find dogs with kennel cough who have never been to a kennel. Hence the modern name ‘canine cough’.

The ear canal should always be clear pink to grey, with no discharge or signs of inflammation, and no smell. An ear problem is usually indicated by redness, irritation, an obvious discharge of pus and/or black wax, and an offensive odour. In severe cases a dog will indicate the problem by tilting its head to one side, constantly shaking the head, and scratching the affected ear.

A dog with an upset eye, or surrounds of the eye, will have closed eyelids, excess tears, and sometimes a pus discharge. The eye will frequently be a source of irritation, and the dog will rub it with its paw. Because of the complex nature of the eye, all conditions of the eye should be considered an emergency.

Senile cataracts can occur in dogs of 10 or more years old, and they are diagnosed by a cloudy, later turning silvery, colour behind the pupil. These cataracts can be removed if both eyes are affected and the dog is threatened with blindness, but this is usually only done for younger dogs.

Most heart problems are associated with degenerative disease, and the onset is slow. Difficulties are first noticed when a dog lacks exercise energy, and even though it’s enthusiastic about going for a walk, it will suddenly stop and go no further. Other symptoms are shortness of breath, coughing at the slightest exertion and gradual loss of body condition.

Problems are usually indicated by drooling, and the excessive production of saliva, or by a fierce halitosis (bad breath). Dogs drooling suggests they have a foreign body stuck somewhere in the oral cavity, or a decayed tooth has become loosened, or they have suffered an injury to some part of the mouth, like the tongue. Before rushing to the vet,
look
!

There are three main causes of halitosis. The first is a problem in the mouth, and this is usually one or more decayed teeth. The second is odour emanating from the stomach and the upper intestines, and, while this could indicate a serious internal illness, it usually means the dog has eaten something highly smelly, or has been fed on a diet causing halitosis. If it’s caused by diet, the smell will be stronger immediately after eating, and then fade away after meals. The third, and least frequent cause, is problems stemming from the respiratory system.

The nose should always be clean, and without discharge, so the appearance of blood or pus requires prompt examination. The airways should always be clear. The old saying that a wet nose is the sign of a healthy dog is only partially true. Dogs go through a cyclical pattern where their nose is cold and wet, then warm and wet, followed by warm and dry, and cold and dry. When a dog’s nose is consistently warm and dry, this indicates that something is wrong.

Any discharge of blood or pus from the vulva must be investigated. In a bitch that has not been desexed, this usually indicates problems with the uterus. If a bitch is pregnant, any green-coloured discharge indicates she has gone into labour and there is difficulty in the birth of a puppy.

Any swelling of the testicles in a dog that has not been desexed must be investigated, as should the prostate of all older males which have not been desexed and that are having problems defecating.

These are commonly caused by the failure of bones to develop correctly, or by degenerative joint and bone disease. If either of these are seen in a limb, the most obvious sign will be lameness. Alternatively, if the condition exists in the spinal column, it is likely to show as weakness in the fore or hind quarters, inability to jump up, and crying out if the sore area is touched, or when the dog moves, particularly at night, or when it gets up in the morning.

Most bone development diseases are inherited. One of the more common, osteochondrosis dissecans, is a failure of the elbow or shoulder joints to develop correctly, and it causes persistent front-leg lameness. Hip dysplasia affects the ball and socket joints causing gait problems, lameness and weak hindquarters.

Degenerative bone disease, which is known as osteoarthritis, occurs in many breeds through a genetic susceptibility, or as a result of trauma earlier in the dog’s life. Some dogs have a poorly engineered spinal column, and eventually the body breaks down under the excessive pressures placed on bones and joints. Spinal disc problems, for example, are commonly seen in Dachshunds, Pekingese, Beagles, Australian Terriers, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. The disc acts like cushions between the bones, but when the disc becomes inflamed and damaged the cushion function is lost, and the bones rub together causing acute pain.

Dogs are just as prone to lower back problems as humans. The larger breeds, such as Labradors, Retrievers, Dobermanns, Rottweilers and Airedales, are all susceptible to osteoarthritis in this area, and it is frequently seen after the age of eight. In other dogs, osteoarthritis may be brought on by an injury such as being hit by a motor vehicle.

Dermatitis is the second most common reason after vaccination for owners bringing their dogs to a vet. Nearly all skin complaints are characterised by irritation, accompanied by scratching and hair loss, signs of redness and inflammation and, in untreated cases, infection. Regardless of the type of dermatitis, the dog will have a body odour.

The most frequent dermatitis is allergic dermatitis, which is commonly seen during warm, dry weather, when there are more allergens around. The four main sources of these allergens are fleas, inhaled allergens, vegetation and food.

The most common food allergic reaction is to beef protein. Most dogs are not allergic to fish protein or chicken, although you will find isolated cases where dogs do react.