Canine Diseases
Vaccines in animals have come under attack recently with critics blaming adverse
reactions and long-term health disorders on their wide-spread and frequent use.
But, bacteria, viruses and parasites are all organisms which constantly pose a threat
to the canine body. Like all species of organisms, the canine body is
equipped with an elaborate system of defense, known as the immune system,
designed to protect it from these infectious enemies. Even in animals with
normal immune function, invasion and damage can proceed at a rate faster than
the immune system's ability to destroy the invader. The dog may succumb to
the disease before the immune system can get rid of the infection, or in cases
where the infection is eliminated, death may still occur as a result of damage
to the body.
The immune system responds much more rapidly if it encounters an organism that
it has already battled and defeated. The theory that introducing just
enough antigen into the body to produce an immune response without causing
disease would protect the body from contracting the disease at a later time gave
rise to the procedure of vaccinating. Therefore, "vaccination," also known as
"active immunization" refers to the procedure of administrating an antigen,
resulting in protective immunity to the disease associated with that antigen.
CANINE DISTEMPER
Canine distemper is a disease that attacks the nervous system of a dog. It usually causes death and can affect dogs of all ages. Since puppies are the most common victims of this dreadful disease, the vaccination program every three weeks is designed to help prevent distemper. Distemper is a virus that can develop in to pneumonia as secondary bacterial infection takes over the body. The distemper virus attacks the brain within a few weeks and death or euthanasia is generally the outcome. Vaccinations are very effective in preventing this disease.
CANINE HEPATITIS
Canine Hepatitis is a viral disease which affects the liver. Fortunately, hepatitis is rarely seen today due to the effectiveness of vaccinations. Most all distemper vaccines are combined with hepatitis vaccine to control this disease.
LEPTOSPIROSIS
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that usually affects the kidneys and other organs of the body. If the kidneys are affected the puppy usually dies. Leptospirosis, like hepatitis, is not seen often. The bacteria is most often carried in the urine of rats. The disease was seen more often in farm dogs that could be exposed to rat urine. Distemper vaccine does not always have leptospirosis vaccine included.
PARVOVIRUS
Parvovirus is an intestinal virus in dogs. The virus can remain in the area for months and can
be transmitted on your shoes or other articles.
Your dog does not have to be around a sick puppy to get parvovirus. The symptoms include depression, bloody
diarrhea and vomiting. The treatment is aggressive supportive care with I.V.
fluids and medicines for vomiting. Without proper veterinary care this disease
is most often fatal. Vaccinations are generally very effective in preventing the
disease. Dogs over one year of age rarely will contract the disease, but
vaccinations are recommended as an insurance that the disease will not strike
your dog.
RABIES
Rabies is a scary disease that is spread mainly through the wild animal population in an area. The signs are foaming at the mouth and behavior uncommon to the animal. However, rabies can be difficult to diagnose and any abnormal behavior in a dog should be viewed with suspicion. Vaccination for rabies is a state law in all states.
PARASITES
Intestinal worm checks are tests done on a dog's bowel movement to see if there are any worm
eggs or parasites present in the dogs' body. A few common parasites are
hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, coccidia, tapeworms, and giardia.
Only two of the six worms can be seen without the aid of a microscope.
Hookworms
can be spread through a dog's feces or can penetrate the dog's skin, or travel
through the milk to nursing puppies. They attach to a dog's intestines to feed
on the blood. Hookworms can cause major blood loss which is sometimes fatal to
puppies. The baby stage of hookworms are called sandworms. These baby worms can
penetrate the skin of people and migrate under the skin causing a human health
hazard.
Roundworms can be spread from mother to puppies or through soil that has
eggs in it. They can cause bloated bellies and diarrhea and vomiting. Roundworms
can be transmitted to people also and can cause some serious health problems
relating to loss of sight.
Whipworms
can cause diarrhea, weight loss and dehydration. They are very hard to detect
and also to eliminate. Whipworms do not lays eggs very often so they can be
overlooked during the worm checks performed by a veterinarian.
Coccidia
are single celled organisms that infect the intestine. They are microscopic
parasites detectable on routine fecal tests in the same way that worms are but
coccidia are not worms and they are not visible to the naked eye. Coccidia
infection causes a watery diarrhea which is sometimes bloody and can even be a
life-threatening problem to an especially young or small pet.
Tapeworm
lives in the small intestine of the dog or cat. It is hooked onto the intestinal
wall by a structure called a rostellum which is sort of like a hat with hooks on
it. The tapeworm also has six rows of teeth to grab on with. Most people are
confused about the size of a tapeworm because they only see its segments which
are small; the entire tapeworm is usually 6 inches or more. The tapeworm
absorbs nutrients through its skin as the food being digested by the host flows
past it. Older segments are pushed toward the tip of the tail as new segments
are produced by the neckpiece. By the time a segment has reached the end of the
tail, only the reproductive tract is left. When the segment drops off, it is
basically just a sac of tapeworm eggs.
Giardia
are parasitic protozoans (single celled organisms) found in the intestines of
many animals. Clinical signs range from mild recurring diarrhea consisting
of soft, light-colored stools, to acute explosive diarrhea in severe cases.
Other signs associated with giardiasis are weight loss, listlessness, mucus in
the stool, and anorexia.
FLEAS AND TICKS
These tiny pests can hop onto your dog unobserved to feed on its blood and lay eggs,
producing yet another generation.
Fleas can make life miserable for people and
dogs alike, disrupting your household with a nasty cycle of biting and
scratching and in some pets causing flea allergy dermatitis or anemia. The flea
life cycle can be as short as a few weeks or can last several months - plenty of
time to be mighty irritating to you and your dog. Dogs infested with fleas
may become unusually nervous and agitated and will scratch excessively.
Ticks attach to dogs to feed. You might not even notice these minute pests on your dog until the ticks
have fed so much that they've become engorged. Worse yet, ticks may transmit
diseases that can cause potentially serious dog-health problems. Talk to
your veterinarian about the best way to remove ticks you find on your dog.
You'll also want to discuss how to protect your dog from ticks that may transmit
potentially serious diseases.
HEARTWORM AND PREVENTION
Prevention of heartworm disease is very simple. Heartworm preventative for dogs
is usually started between 2-3 months of age and the preventative is given once
each month for life (a daily heartworm preventative is also available) Since
heartworms are spread by mosquitoes which are prevalent in warm climates all
year long, the preventative must be given all year in many southern climates. In
some other areas of the United States the preventative only needs to be given
6-9 months of each year. Heartworms are the most life threatening parasite dogs
can have.
The microfilia (baby heartworms) are deposited in the dog's body by a mosquito bite. These baby worms
grow and move to the heart where the damage to your pet's health is done.
Symptoms of heartworms do not show up sometimes for years. but early tests
performed by your veterinarian will diagnose the disease before much damage is
done. Your dog should be on the medication for life with once yearly testing to
make sure the preventative is doing its job.