If only the first criterion were to be applied to biting or self-mutilating dogs, then they would incorrectly be considered psychotic. In fact, many people believe that any biting dog should be labeled as a “psycho” and destroyed immediately, regardless of the circumstances. On the other hand, if the second element applies, and the dog is unaware of his behavior, it would seem reasonable to apply the psychotic label. The dog that appears to have withdrawn from reality or suffers episodes of withdrawal could be either psychotic or physically ill. If the behavior fits the basic neurotic model and is also in some way harmful to life or well-being, then the animal may be psychotic, if otherwise healthy.

Dogs that are defined as psychotic have included the following symptoms: Dogs that suffer “avalanches” of rage for no clinical reasons and do not respond to external stimuli; manic-depressive animals that vacillate between depression and wild activity; and depressed dogs that fail to respond even to powerful stimuli, such as hunger, as when dogs starve to death in the presence of food. These cases have been seen in pet dogs as well as laboratory animals. The rage and manic-depressive states occur mainly in excitable types, whereas depression usually occurs in those with inhibitive tendencies. Some notable factors in the medical histories of apparently psychotic pet dogs are listed below.

• Early distemper (before 3 months of age)
• Serious parasitic infection (before 6 months of age)
• Severe beatings
• Accidental injury, especially to the spine and/or head
• Accidental drug overdose
• Prolonged corticosteroid or other drug therapy
• Diabetes
• Extreme psychic trauma.

The underlying physical problems are rarely, if ever, investigated with the same dedication applied to humans with similar conditions. As a result, the dogs are generally destroyed, which solves the owner’s immediate problem, but offers no progress toward understanding of the problem’s causes.

Many people feel that there are a lot of health advantages to feeding a raw food diet. Many owners who have dogs with problems such as allergies, skin problems, weight problems, and anal gland problems have found that the bones and raw food diet has helped to significantly remedy these issues.

Some of the advantages to feeding a biologically appropriate raw food diet include no consumption of preservatives found in most commercially prepared kibble diets, it usually tastes better to your dog than regular dog food, and in general, muscle mass and body condition improve on a raw food diet. One also often finds that dogs produce fewer stools, eat more slowly, and have fewer health problems. Many advocates of the raw food diet also claim that it is less expensive than commercially manufactured dog food. One of the biggest disadvantages to this diet is that it takes longer to prepare.

If you decide that you would like to try the BARF diet with your dog, you must first do the research. There are many websites and books available to guide you through the process. Talk to your veterinarian, though many veterinarians are unfamiliar with the BARF diet. Find people in your area that feed the raw food diet to their animals. Make sure it is right for you and your dog before you try it.

The next step is to transition your dog from his commercial dog food to his new bones and raw food diet. You may want to do this gradually as oftentimes dogs develop digestive problems when switching to new diets. Some advocates of the BARF diet recommend switching your dog to the new diet cold turkey, however.

When feeding a raw food diet, you will generally want to feed your dog twice per day. The first meal of the day will usually consist of raw meat and bones like turkey or chicken legs, thighs, wings, or necks, pork riblets, lamb chops, and the like. The second meal will consist of a mush made with raw meat, fresh vegetables, and Offal (the organs parts of the meat you are feeding). Usually you will want to supplement this with cottage cheese, eggs with the shells, yogurt, fruit, fish, and recreational bones (which are the harder to chew kinds of bones). This can vary, so do your homework. You will want to avoid grains. Advocates of the biologically appropriate raw food diet agree that dogs do not have the proper digestive systems to deal with whole grains and that most food allergies are grain related.

Most advocates of the raw food diet do not recommend supplements. If you aren’t sure what to do, speak with your veterinarian.

Many people are hesitant to feed their dog a raw diet because they are concerned about their dogs choking on bones. While these incidents occur, proponents of raw food diets say they are rare, and that generally, dogs choke on cooked bones, not raw ones.

There are commercially prepared raw food diets on the market. While this is always an option for you if you choose to feed raw food, many advocates of the BARF diet recommend against it. They argue that these foods have different regulations that human grade foods, oftentimes contain unnecessary supplements, are ground foods (and the whole basis of the BARF diet is raw, meaty bones), and are much more expensive than visiting your local butcher.

If you decide that the bones and raw food diet is something that you’d like to try, first talk to your veterinarian about your decision. Then, do as much research into the diet as possible. Talk to others who feed the diet. You may find that by feeding the BARF diet you are improving the health of your dog.

Although we have discussed the issue of your dog having a persistent and constant coughing problem, acute coughing can be a sign of something a little less dangerous, but important nevertheless. Acute coughing may be a sign of kennel cough, acute bronchitis, inhalation pneumonia, a foreign object in the airway, or even an infection of the tonsils, larynx, or pharynx. Kennel cough is contracted from other dogs which causes inflammation of the voice box. Bronchitis is caused by a bacterial or allergic inflammation to the bronchi in the lungs. And of course any foreign object stuck in the lung will cause acute coughing.

What to do: Kennel cough is extremely contagious so be sure to isolate your dog and get him to the veterinarian right away. Cough suppressants can be given to your dog to ease the pain. Medications an be administered to treat any of the above infections. And if there is only a foreign object stuck, then the vet can pull it out with forceps.

Snoring

There are many breed of dogs that have elongated soft palates that hang at the back of the throat, especially those dogs with compressed faces. This soft palate interferes with the larynx and produces a snore. An allergic inflammation in the throat can also be the cause of your dog’s snoring problem. Also, snoring is enhanced if the dog has narrow nostrils and larynx.

What to do: Although snoring may not seem like a series issue, it is always best to consult your vet for a full checkup. And if you have a dog breed such as the Pekingese or Pug that snores, this could be a sign of potential heart and breathing problems. Your dog may have surgical reduction of the length of the soft palate to reduce or eliminate the snoring issue.

Changing Of Your Dog’s Voice

If you notice that your dog’s bark is altered in any way, then it could be due to damage of the larynx. Also, allergic reactions from bee stings can cause laryngeal swelling. Worst case scenario for the older dog is that a tumor has developed.

What to do: Your vest may give your dog antihistamines or anti-inflammatories to reduce allergic swelling. If the problem is as severe as a tumors, then your dog will undergo surgery to have the tumor removed.

Leptospirosis is an odd disease that can often show no signs or symptoms at all. In these cases the bacteria are eventually defeated by the dog’s natural defenses. Other times, and more often, however, the disease can be life threatening to the infected dog. The three main forms of the disease are hemorrhagic (infection in the blood, causing bleeding), renal (infecting the kidneys), and icteric (infecting the liver).

Hemorrhagic Leptospirosis tends to start with a high fever, loss of appetite, and general lethargy. Small hemorrhages start to occur in the mouth and eyes and the dog may develop extreme bloody vomiting and diarrhea. This form of the disease is often fatal.

Icteric Leptospirosis will often start the same way as the hemorrhagic form; with fever, lethargy, and loss of appetite. The mouth and whites of the eyes will take on a yellow appearance, similar to victims of jaundice. In some cases the dog’s skin may also appear yellow and jaundiced.

Renal Leptospirosis also starts with fever, appetite loss, and lethargic depression, but eventually leads to kidney failure.

All three forms of the disease are treatable and curable and all three forms can be potentially fatal. Often dogs that survive renal Leptospirosis will have chronic kidney disease for the rest of their lives.

Treatments for Leptospirosis

Treatment is accomplished with the use of antibiotics and, if the disease is caught early enough, is generally successful. Cases of Leptospirosis in North America are fairly rare, thanks to the development of a vaccine. Puppies are inoculated for the disease as early as six weeks of age and receive annual renewal shots to maintain their immunity.

Vaccination and clean, hygienic conditions are the best way to avoid Leptospirosis in dogs. If the animal is not able to come into contact with disease carrying rats and their urine, the dog is unlikely to become infected, even if unvaccinated. The leptospirosis vaccine is the most likely of all dog vaccinations to cause an adverse reaction in the dog. This reaction is generally mild and most often includes lethargy, loss of appetite, and depression. These effects last only a few days and afterward the dog is fine and, more importantly, protected from the disease.

Leptospirosis is one of the nastier diseases a dog can get and no one wants to see his or her pet suffer with this illness. Fortunately, thanks to the existence of a good vaccine, few dogs have to endure this life threatening illness in today’s day and age.

Like many viruses, CAV-1 first localizes and replicates in the lymph nodes and spreads into the bloodstream from there. Once in the blood, CAV-1 attacks several organs, most notably the liver, eyes, and kidneys. Although hepatitis is a very serious disease, not all cases of CAV-1 infection lead to it and not all are serious. Some dogs show few or no symptoms after being infected. Some, on the other hand, especially young puppies, become seriously ill.

Once a dog is infected, there is no treatment that will destroy the CAV-1 virus. There is no cure. There is, however, a very good vaccine that can be given to puppies when they start their series of inoculations. The vaccine has greatly reduced incidents of canine hepatitis in the United States and Western Europe.

Not all cases of hepatitis are caused by the CAV-1 virus. Called idiopathic or periportal hepatitis, these cases of hepatitis are of unknown origin and occur in dogs that are five or six years old in most cases.

Symptoms of both CAV-1 hepatitis and hepatitis of unknown origin can include vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss, jaundice, depression and weakness. Since there is no cure, a vet can only treat the symptoms to the best of his or her ability. Antibiotics are typically given to prevent further infections.

In most cases when a dog contracts CAV-1 the symptoms can be treated to keep the dog comfortable until the virus passes. Once that happens a dog is usually immune to the disease for the rest of its life. Survival rates are high for CAV-1 induced hepatitis with death usually occurring only in puppies.

Some specific breeds (most notably Doberman Pinschers and certain terriers) can develop and suffer from chronic hepatitis. There is no cure for the disease and these animals will have it for the rest of their lives.

Puppies between the ages of three and six months are most susceptible to the disease, although older dogs and other carnivorous mammals can also contract distemper. At one time, distemper was the leading cause of death among puppies that had not been vaccinated. Since the distemper vaccine was created in the early 60s, incidents of distemper and distemper related deaths have dropped considerably.

CDV is transmitted via airborne viral particles that dogs inhale. Infected dogs also shed the virus through bodily secretions and excretions. In this manner it is easy for an infected dog to cause the infection of another dog.

Distemper causes a multitude of symptoms that include various respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms to central nervous system disorders. In fact, dogs that die as a result of distemper actually die from central nervous complications caused by the disease or from secondary bacterial infections.

Diagnosing distemper is difficult for a veterinarian to diagnose as blood tests are not helpful in detecting the presence of CDV. Successful diagnosis often relies on the ruling out of comparative disorders whose symptoms can often suggest the presence of CDV.

Because there is no cure for distemper, treatment for the disease is supportive and a vet will attempt to treat the symptoms as best as possible. A clean, warm, and draft free environment should be created and maintained to ensure the dog is as comfortable as possible. The eyes and nose should be kept free of discharge, and medication to treat diarrhea should be administered. Dogs suffering from distemper must be given plenty of fluids to help reduce fever and prevent dehydration. Other symptoms are treated as they appear if possible.

Like any viral disease, prevention is a much better and more successful option than treatment and the best option is vaccination during the early weeks of life. The distemper vaccination creates a long lasting immunity to the virus, but it is not permanent. Annual inoculations are recommended to maintain the dog’s immunity to distemper. Most puppies are given vaccinations that include distemper vaccine along with vaccines for several other diseases.

Signs of Heartworm Infection

When a dog is first infected with heartworms, there are literally no signs and the presence of heartworms can not be detected even with a blood test.  Once the worm larva reaches the heart and matures, however, signs that are detectible by X-ray start to develop almost immediately.  These include damage to the blood vessels around the heart and lungs.  It is rare that a dog will be infected by only one worm and as the mature worms in the heart grow in size and number, the conditions worsen, eventually causing a blockage of blood flow.  It is at this point that the dog will start to display physical signs which can include pain, hypertension, difficulty breathing, lethargy or even fainting.  In extremely progressed cases the dog can suffer from heart failure and death although by the time the heartworm disease has reached this stage the owner has probably realized that something is going on and sought veterinary care.

Treating Heartworm Infection

Once a dog has been diagnosed as having heartworms, treatment must be started.  What this treatment is and how it is administered is dependant on the stage of heartworm infection.  Generally, there are four stages of heartworm disease.

• Stage One – Dogs at the lowest risk – heartworms are detected in X-rays but all other tests appear normal.
• Stage Two – Dogs are moderately infected, may have some difficulty breathing and be demonstrating coughing
• Stage Three – Dogs are severely affected & may display weight loss, have difficulty breathing, blood tests likely show kidney and/or liver damage
• Stage Four – Dogs have Vena Cava Syndrome and are in shock, essentially dying – surgery may be undertaken to remove worms, but there is no guarantee that it will save the dog.

When it comes to heartworms in dogs, prevention truly is the best medicine.  The best time to begin a preventative treatment is early in puppy-hood, before the dog is seven months old since dogs older than seven months are at a great risk for adverse reactions to the preventative treatments.

Signs and Symptoms of Dog Allergies

Allergy reactions from dogs can consist of skin rashes, watery and itchy eyes, sneezing and a stuffy nose. More serious reactions are wheezing, asthma attacks and not being able to breathe deeply. These can be frightening reactions and choosing not to have a pet, for these reasons, out ways the benefits of having one. For dog lovers, who suffer with allergies, this is a hard fact to accept. The reason some people suffer from simple pet hair is because of their immune system. They are hypersensitive to the components found on the dog hair. Many people think it is the animal hair that causes the problem, but in reality it is what attaches itself to the pet hair. The dog’s hair picks up pollen and dust attaching itself to the hair follicle. With normal movements, the elements are distracted on whatever it comes across.  Hence, larger and longer haired dogs have a tendency to generate more allergens than smaller and shorter haired dogs Therefore, the bigger the dog, the more allergy components it will distract.

Possible Treatments for Dog Allergies

Over-the-counter preparations and treatments for common dog allergies exist and may be purchased at any good pet supply store, but care should be taken when choosing such treatments.  Consultation with a vet is the best first course of action for several reasons.  First of all, what you think is an allergic reaction may actually be signs of a more serious ailment and a vet should be the one to determine whether that is the case.  Secondly, if the allergy is severe enough, over-the-counter treatments may not be sufficient to treat the symptoms and a prescription strength treatment may be required.  There is also the chance that the dog does not have an allergy at all.  The last thing you want to do is medicate your pet unnecessarily.

If you do think your dog has some type of allergy, consult your vet.  The doctor will be able to perform tests to determine whether an allergic condition exists, how severe it is, and what the proper treatment will be.  If the dog has an allergy to certain foods, it will be imperative to restrict the animal’s diet to eliminate those items that cause a reaction.  The vet’s testing methods can help to determine whether this type of allergy exists as well.  If the dog has flea allergy dermatitis (an allergic reaction to the saliva of fleas, rather than to the insects themselves), an extreme flea prevention regimen will be recommended.

Just like humans, dogs that suffer from various allergies can live comfortably with them if they are detected and treated properly.  It is important to keep in mind that this is not a time to “play doctor” by attempting to diagnose and treat a possible allergic condition yourself.  Only your veterinarian is qualified to determine whether your dog is suffering from allergies and what course of action to take.