Introduction to Dog Diseases

Taking care of your dogs is extremely important. You will find that dogs need to be taken care of to avoid certain diseases and that some of the other diseases are genetic. With genetic diseases you will find that they are difficult to prevent, which means that if your dog is susceptible you will be unable to prevent the disease, but there is much that you can do to help your dog through such diseases. When you are talking about prevention of dog diseases you do need to understand the inner workings of some of the more popular ailments of dogs. We will look at a brief overview of some of the dog diseases that you can prevent.

First it may be a surprise to you, but there are many dogs that have issues with the ears and eyes. Most of the dog breeds that suffer from ear or eye infections tend to have long hair that gets in the way of these two areas. Dogs that have long fur tend to have hair that will grow around the eyes and fall into the eyes. While the hair is part of their body it can cause infections based on the oils as well as the dirt that may be on the hair. You will want to make sure that when you groom your dog you remove any hairs that are near the dog’s eyes. Poodles, some terriers, and English Sheepdogs tend to be a few of the breeds that suffer from eye infections. To prevent these eye infections grooming around the eyes should be done once a month. In other words that means that you should check their eyes daily for infection and remove any hairs that have grown in the way, and once a month you should trim around the area. For ear infections you will find that ticks and other small insects can get into the ears. This means that you have to keep the ears clean on a daily basis. You should check to make sure there are no insects in the canals and that any dirt is removed. Hair can also cause ear infections in certain breeds like the Mexican Chihuahua that tends to grow hair in the ears and cause infections. When you are worried about eye and ear infections for your dog breed you should make sure to use a soft wet cloth around the areas each day to prevent any such infection from occurring.

Another dog disease that can be a difficult is hip dysplasia. Hip dysplasia is one of the most common ailments you will find in large dogs. Hip dysplasia is caused when the hip bones do not form properly. There really is no reason for the bones not to form, but most believe it has something to do with a calcium deficiency during the puppy stages. Hip dysplasia can be treated in a variety of ways. In English Sheepdogs they tend to cut the tail short to prevent the issues. In some cases they offer nutrition and calcium supplements to help your dog grow the bones as a puppy that they need.

Diabetes is another common ailment in dogs that has been seeing an increase like it has in people. You see with most diabetes cases there is a direct link to an improper diet as well as improper exercise. Diabetes is luckily treated with medication as well as changing the diet of your dog so it can be prevented. In some cases after a dog has suffered diabetes and the nutrition and exercise has been fixed the dog may not need to have medication for life. You will find that most dog breeds can suffer from this disease.