If your dog is having any skin problem, never ignore it. Your ignorance can lead to an extremely sore skin of your beloved pet made by its biting and scratching. Moreover, if not paid heed to for long, the skin disease can intensify and spread to other members of your household, even you.
The basic symptoms of dog skin problems are itching and reddening of the skin.
If you find your pet constantly scratching a specific part of its body, be sure, it is caused by terrible itching. Itching can occur due to attack of parasites like tick, mites or lice. If you examine carefully you may also be able to discover bacterial sores i.e. small reddish spots in already inflamed areas.
There are basically four causes for this problem:
• Ear disease
• Parasite infestation
• Contact dermatitis which is indicated by redness on the stomach
• Affected anal sacs, which is indicated by dog licking inflammations at the base of his tail
The treatment of course, is cause specific. If it’s caused by parasites, an antiparasitic bath is the best antidote. For minor bacterial problems, use antibacterial wash. If your pet is suffering from severe bacterial sores or ear problems or infected anal sacs, don’t take a chance! Consult a vet immediately!
For reddened skin, there are still four possible causes:
• Allergic dermatitis
• Contact dermatitis
• Fleas
• Anything that causes irritation such as lice, ringworm, or bacterial sores
If the reddening is limited to one particular region of your pet’s body, try applying calamine lotion. But if it is more extensive, wash out the infected part with lanolin baby shampoo. This will cool down the affected skin of the patient. After the dog is dry, you may even use a good flea spray. In case nothing works and the problem remains after 24 hours, do consult your vet.
Do Older Dogs Tend to Get Fat?
The answer is YES. Too much pampering tends to overfeed your dog. Older dogs develop loose muscles owing to lack of exercise and over feeding.
How Does a Dog’s Hearing or Sight Change, as He Gets Older?
Both hearing and sight are negatively affected with age. Even when the dog is medically fit, we see that dogs aged between 9-15 years often lose their power of hearing. Deafness occurs so gradually that often it’s impossible for the owner to detect it properly until the dog has become totally deaf.
Blinding, however, is a much rarer problem in dogs although partial clouding of the lens may occur with advancing age. Dog’s eyes contain no cones but only rod cells. So they are color blind i.e. can see only shades of black, white and gray. They do not have the power of a colored vision.
To learn more about dog behavioral and other pet-related problems, check with your local vet by phone or in person. You can also surf the web for many dog articles to help you and your furry friend become better at knowing one another.
Take care!