Good Health Archives - Edie MacKenzie

Dog Health: Natural Healing

March 5, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Every dog owner wants to ensure that his or her dog lives in the pink of health. It is only natural for us to wish for our dogs’ good health because, after all, they are our best friends. However, despite of having the best interests in our minds, we often fail to give the right kind of health care for our dogs.

Read on to find out how you can keep your dog in the best of health:

Dogs have an in built ability to take a certain amount of care for themselves. There are a number of natural ways which keep the dog in great health. They are blessed with a natural healing system which, to a great extent, repairs cells, organs and molecules. This natural healing power is something that has ensured the dog’s survival over the centuries, before man started embracing the dog into his daily life and devising ways to care for his pets. Since there is an in built natural care system in dogs, it is our duty to enhance it through our love and care, rather than repress this inherent quality through our artificial methods.

Natural healing in dogs is something that all of us have witnessed. If you see a skin injury in a dog, you will notice that it disappears after a time period of approximately two weeks. Yes, there is a certain amount of time required for the healing, but the healing does occur and it is something that happens beautifully and has the touch of Nature’s perfection.

In order to take good care of your dog, you have to understand these natural health processes at first.

It is only through a thorough understanding of the natural processes which will show us the way of taking good care of our dogs. Every single day, the dog’s body is repairing some kind of minor damage or the other. The numerous cells, organs and molecules in the dog’s body are quick to sense damage, however small it may be, and start working on it.

There is an innate capability of healing that dogs are born with. But as responsible and caring owners, we must create ambiences which will enable the dog to heal itself to its full potential. This can be accomplished by giving our dogs a healthy diet. It is through a healthy diet, proper exercise and love and care that we can give them the best condition for staying healthy and healing themselves.

Another thing that you must ensure for your dog is regular check ups. Take your dog to a veterinarian regularly in order to check for health disorders. In cases of extreme illnesses, do not leave things to natural healing. For example, if your dog breaks its paw, you have to go for surgery immediately.

Just making sure that your dog gets these things mentioned above and you will be happy to learn that your dog will be able to live a long and healthy life. After all, that is all that we as dog lovers want, a happy, healthy and barking long life for all our dogs.

Article by Kelly Marshall from Oh My Dog Supplies – the top place to buy dog beds online

Article Source: Dog Health: Natural Healing

Nutrition And Dog Health

July 26, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

When dogs were wild, or at least still hunted for their food, hunger may have been an occasional concern, but rarely were deficiencies or imbalances ever a problem when pertaining to dog health.

Dogs killed and ate almost all of their prey’s carcass including the entrails, skin, and even bones.

Domesticated and dependent upon their owners for food, today’s dogs are amply fed, right to the point of obesity, yet they often develop bad overall dog health due to a number of deficiencies from their improperly balanced diets.

————————————————————–

Dog Health Secrets You Need To Know!

“In This Shocking FREE Video Report You Discover Why 87% of Dogs Die Too Early & 3 Easy Things You Can Do Today To Stop It Happening to Your Dog”

Dog Food Secrets

————————————————————–

The advent over the past decade of nutritionally “complete” or “balanced” commercial dog foods, and their increasing acceptance by dog owners and veterinarians alike, has drastically reduced the incidence of dietary deficiencies. Today such nutritional problems are seen mostly in dogs who are fed homemade diets or a diet of table scraps and leftovers.

Poor nutrition, whether from dietary deficiencies or excesses, has a significantly negative effect on your dog’s ability to remain in good health. Resistance to infection is lowered, as is the production of antibodies, allowing infectious agents to multiply rapidly and spread.

The resulting fever, diarrhea, or other manifestations of illness, more than likely will make your dog less interested in eating, thus increasing the state of malnutrition and is concerning to dog health.

Constipation And Flatulence In Senior Dogs

July 1, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

As with every mammal, the muscles of the colon and rectum may lose some of their ability to propel and expel feces adequately during a bowel movement, so don’t be too surprised if this happens to your senior dog. Reduction in stomach and intestinal digestive secretions can produce a bulkier, firmer stool as can diets very high in dry food content if there is insufficient water intake. Your dog will squat and strain to force the fecal mass slowly out. She may cry from the discomfort.

Prostatic disease can mechanically cause constipation as the prostate gland enlarges and presses up against the floor of the rectum. Similarly, tumors in the rectum or on the anus can interfere with the passage of feces. Senior dogs may have an isolated difficult bowel movement on occasion. This should be no cause for alarm if he is otherwise in good health and there is no bleeding or excessive pain.

Repeated bouts of constipation can slowly stretch the rectal muscles, causing permanent dilatation and resulting in chronic constipation. Once this occurs, senior dogs will need frequent enemas as well as fecal softeners to help him eliminate. The increased time the stool remains in the colon and rectum will allow bacteria that normally live there to act on the stool, causing putrefaction and excessive gas production in senior dogs.

2 Items To Insist From Your Breeder When Buying A Puppy

May 14, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

1. Written Guarantee: Good breeders provide written guarantees against genetic disease. It is essential to get a guarantee on the hips and eyes of your pup, given the epidemics of hip dysplasia and various forms of progressive blindness among the nation’s dogs. The guarantee entitles you to a refund of the price of the puppy or a replacement puppy should there be a problem. The guarantee should also allow you to take your new puppy to your own vet within a certain period of time in order to have its good health independently confirmed before the sale is considered final.

Beyond the guarantee of your pup, you want to see copies of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) certificate on the hips of both parents, plus the Canine Eye Registration Foundation (GERF) certificate on the eyes of both parents. Do not take the breeder’s word that the parent animals are so registered. Good breeders will not be troubled by your request.

However, you must be prepared to run into the occasional breeder whom will not want to comply with your request. You are almost sure to run into “prominent” breeders who don’t believe in having their dogs’ hips and eyes checked, even if they are from seriously afflicted breeds.

Both in a personal quest for a dog and in researching this information I had this experience again and again. For instance, there is a dog breed about which Michele Lowell says in Your Purebred Puppy: A Buyer’s Guide, “He is susceptible to hip dysplasia and serious tumors.” She urges: “Buy only from OFA-registered parents.” A leading breeder of this breed, a person who sits on the national club’s breed standard committee, told me she didn’t have her animals OFA-certified because “I’ve never had any hip problems. If I ever start, I’ll have my dogs checked.” Even in the midst of a plague of canine hereditary disease, this ton-of-cure-is-worth-an-ounce-of-prevention attitude is still common. Be ready to decide for yourself if you find it acceptable.

2. Restricted Transfers: Responsible breeders are answering the distress call of America’s dogs by trying to minimize inappropriate breeding. One way to do this is with “restricted transfers.” These can involve a contract between the new owner and the breeder stipulating that the dog will not be bred until it is old enough to be tested for inherited disease and has been certified disease free. Some restricted transfers require that the animal be spayed or neutered at six months of age, with AKC papers not passing to the purchaser until this is done. You may not be interested in acquiring a pet under such conditions, but you can be sure that breeders imposing them are deeply committed to improving the quality of their breed.

Understanding Balanoposthitis In Your Older Dog

May 5, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

Certain disorders are rather common occurrences in many older dogs and are potentially life threatening. In the female dog, conditions such as mammary gland tumors and pyometra, as well as the less serious false pregnancy and mis-mating, can be prevented to varying degrees by ovariohysterectomy. If your mature dog has already had such surgery you have removed the sources of several major threats to her continuing good health.

Although castration of the male will similarly prevent at least two reproductive disorders related to aging, side effects are more extensive and such surgery is rarely recommended for preventive reasons. The treatment of existing reproductive disease may, however, require such an operation.

Balanoposthitis: This inflammation of the penis and prepuce (sheath) is seen with variable frequency in dogs of all ages, even young puppies, but is more common in aging males. Small amounts of yellow or grayish discharge at the opening of the prepuce are apparent although the dog’s licking at the area may clean most of it away. In several cases, the amount of discharge is quite large and will be greenish and pus-like, often matting the surrounding abdominal hair in long-coated dogs. The surface of the penis and the lining of the prepuce develop multiple little bumps, called lymphoid follicles, and bacteria actively begin to grow in the secretions. Should your dog have this problem, you will often find some of the discharge on the various surfaces that he lies on for any length of time.

You can usually clear up mild cases yourself by gently flushing out the sheath twice daily with hydrogen peroxide solution for a week or ten days. Using a rubber human ear syringe to hold the peroxide, insert its tip into the sheath opening, at the same time pulling the sheath gently toward the syringe. This will avoid the syringe tip touching the penis. Holding the sheath opening firmly around the syringe tip, slowly instill the peroxide until the prepuce distends slightly. Remove the syringe, keeping the prepuce opening closed, and gently massage the fluid back and forth within the sheath. Release the opening, let the fluid drain out, and carefully clean the surrounding area.

More severe cases should be treated by your veterinarian and may require the application of irritating medications to these delicate tissues. This would, of course, be done under anesthesia and probably followed with soothing antibiotic ointments which you would continue at home as instructed.

Your older dog may be recurrently bothered by this condition. Regular flushing with peroxide or the application of an antibiotic ointment or both, done once or twice weekly should keep the discharge under control and avoid the more serious problems.

Dog Health Secrets You Need To Know!

Recent Blog Posts