Common Illnesses in Dogs

Everyone gets sick; you, your dog, your cat, and even your pet frog can become ill. There are a number of common illnesses in dogs. All dog owners should be aware that their dog can get sick from other dogs as well s other animals. If you think your dog is sick, do call the vet, do ask questions, and take the necessary precautions if you have other animals.

What Common Illnesses in Dogs Make Them Sick?

Dogs can get sick from other dogs and other animals as well. There are many types of common diseases that dogs can contract. Here is a list of common illnesses your dog could get.

Parainfluenza
Lyme Disease
Giardia
Distemper
Rabies
Parvovirus
Leptospirosis
Hepatitis
Bordetella

How does your dog come down with any of these?

Disease transmission can happen in many ways. For example, the saliva of an infected animal can transmit rabies to your dog. Once the animal bites your dog, your dog can contract it. Rabies is very serious. If you think your dog may have been bitten by an animal with rabies, you need to call someone right away to have the bite taken care of.

Diseases With Vaccination

Distemper is another pretty severe condition. Your dog should be vaccinated for distemper when they are young. If your dog has not been vaccinated, it could have pneumonia and seizures after contracting the disease from another infected dog's saliva. If your dog does come down with the disease, there is no known cure. This is a Common Illness in Dogs that should be addressed.

Hepatitis also requires vaccination. Prevent hepatitis with vaccinations. There is no cure for hepatitis once your dog contracts it from the feces or saliva of another infected animal, but it is preventable. If your dog has hepatitis, it will get fluid therapy and could survive for a bit with this type of intervention.

Lyme Disease

Ticks transmit Lyme disease. Both you and your dog can get Lyme disease if an infected tick burrows into your skin. Lyme can be treated with antibiotics and is preventable. Use a good flea and tick medicine on your dog regularly. Also, apply tick repellent before taking walks in the woods, in fields, or any other place where ticks might be hanging about.

Bacterial Infections

Giardia and Leptospirosis are bacterial infections that your dog can get from contaminated water supplies. Leptospirosis can be hard to identify in your dog until its kidneys have failed. Giardia will cause diarrhea. It is best to work to prevent these from occurring in your dog by not allowing them to drink water from unknown unpurified sources such as puddles and swamps.

Canine Colds

Parainfluenza and Bordetella transmit through nasal secretions. Both cause symptoms that look like a common cold or flu. Both can be treated with antibiotics and are generally not fatal.

So, in a nutshell, make sure to have your dog vaccinated to keep him safe from easily preventable common illnesses in dogs. Keep an eye on what your dog is drinking and use a product that will be effective in keeping ticks and bugs away from your pet.

What Should I Do if I Think My Dog is Sick?

If you think your dog is sick, call the vet. If you have any question about what you should do, call the vet, Your vet knows your dog; they can guide you on the best actions to take and the signs to look for in case you need to bring your dog into the office.

How Do I Know if My Dog is Sick?

It can be hard to identify common illnesses in dogs. Your animal cant says, hey John, I'm not feeling well today, so you must rely on your ability to read the signs your dog is giving you. Your dog is not likely to show signs that they are sick. Dogs instinctively refrain from displaying weakness, and it is generally agreed that they do not understand the concept of mortality. This means that if your dog is ill, you will have to pay attention to more subtle signs. Here are some things to look for:

Changes in body language.
Fluctuation in appetite.
Disinterest in normal activities.
Malaise
Abnormal sneezing or coughing.
Bloating Seizures
Wounds
Signs of Pain.
Irregular foul odors.
Vomiting Runny snout.
Overly thirsty.
Dizziness

If you identify any of these things, you should talk to your vet. They could be random occurrences or something serious; either way, it is better to know. Being overly cautious when it comes to your pet’s health is OK. The consequences of waiting could be extreme and unnecessarily painful for both of you. So what if your dog has one of the common illnesses in dogs?

What do I do When My Dog is Sick?

Once you have established illness, find your dog a comfortable place to recuperate. If the illness is easily transmissible, you may want to quarantine the animal while they are still infectious if you have other animals or small children around. Your vet should be able to tell you whether this is necessary.

If this is the case, keep your dog in a comfortable room if you can. Try not to put them outside; it may take them longer to recover, or they may come down with other illnesses if there is extreme weather or they are exposed to other pathogens. Make them as comfortable as possible and make sure they can access clean water.

As far as feeding your dog, they will probably do best on simple food. Refrain from treats and stick to basic kibble. You can also feed your dog boiled chicken and rice if you want to make them some food yourself. If your dog is vomiting, wait for at least four hours after the last episode to try reintroducing food to them.