A dog is a great companion for both yours and its lifetime. Aside from reducing your stress levels, owning a canine friend leads to better heart health, keeps you fit and active, and lessens the risk of depression. As its owner, you would want to keep it equally happy and comfortable all its life. So the concern is understandable when you see the first signs of an itch or discomfort. Getting something like an advocate for dogs online is essential for the optimum health of your pooch.
When you feed, walk, and play with your dog, you are confident of its health. Since you know the feeling of being sick, you would not want that to happen to your pet. But how do you know if your canine friend feels like something is off?
Fleas
Summer is all about getting some fun under the sun. But the hot temperature and humidity is a nightmare for your pooch. An infestation is the worst enemy of a dog. Imagine your pet scratching an itch, only to try and rub another area. Licking and fur-biting also indicate the possible presence of pruritus due to fleas. Flea dirt – the specks of black on the fur which are feces of fleas with digested dog blood – is also a pointer.
Biting Lice
Pediculosis – otherwise known as lice infestation – causes itching, inflammation, and hair loss. Two types of lice can affect dogs. A chewing louse eats skin secretions and debris. Sucking lice feed on the blood of the canine. They can both look like dandruff. So to be sure, shake the fur. If it falls, dandruff it is. But if it sticks to the hair strands, that is sure to be lice. Use a flea comb on the fur as well to be safe.
Mange Mites
Have you ever seen some stray dogs with red skin showing all over? What you see is probably mange – a treatable but highly contagious condition. The mange mites that cause it can move quickly between animals. So the common cause of a house pet getting it is via exposure to an infected dog. The mites burrow deep into the skin, and no amount of scratching will help. Its scraping will cause most of its fur loss, and the skin rash will develop pus and crust formation on the skin.
Read More: 5 Best Dog Breeds that Suit Everyone
Heartworm
A big jump from the aforementioned seen-by-the-naked-eye parasites is the worms. Dirofilariasis or heartworm disease is a fatal disease for a pet to contract. The heartworms come from a larvae-carrying mosquito which bites and infects the dog. When another mosquito bites the dog, it then becomes the host and will contaminate the next dog it bites. The larvae settle in the heart via the bloodstream where it will grow between approximately six to eight months. Adult heartworms cause organ malfunction by clogging heart and arteries, which reduces blood flow to the liver, lungs, and kidneys. Unfortunately, it takes years before a dog shows signs of infection, and by that time, it may be a bit too late. Prevention is better than cure, so it is better to start looking up solutions to these problems like supplements or an advocate for dogs online.
Intestinal Worms
There are several intestinal worms common in dogs. Roundworms absorb nutrients that your pet should be getting. The conventional transmission is from mother to puppy, but they can also get the eggs from the soil or other objects. Hookworms feed on blood and are dangerous for puppies who may suffer from significant blood loss. Whipworms are the most life-threatening of all because it can lead to weight loss and bloody diarrhea.
Dogs are man’s best friend. So if you love your dog, ensure that he is always at the peak of health. Give him treatment and prevention medicine to ensure his well-being.
