Lethargy Archives - Edie MacKenzie

Use Milk Thistle For Your Dogs Health

September 2, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Dog owners care a lot about their pet’s alimentation because they consider this loved animal a part of the family. As you know, dogs do not only need specific foods to keep them healthy and joyful, they also require pet supplements to improve the capacity of their body. Calcium, glucosamine and magnesium are a dog’s best nutritional friend because these elements will help strengthen its bones. Moreover, if you have an old dog, you should think about buying it dog supplements so it can remain active even at an old age. Of course, it is equally beneficial if you buy dog supplements for a younger dog so as to improve its growth process and its ability to become a playful mate. If your dog is suffering from joint pain, swelling, hip dysplasia or arthritis, you could ease his pain with Glucosamine for Dogs. If you own a dog, you sure know how nice it is to see it playing and climbing the stairs without any pain, however, it is more likely that a dog will encounter mobility problems during old age. That is why you should give your dog some dog supplements to help it remain the same playful friend.

Arthritis in canines occurs as commonly as it does in humans. At first, canine arthritis is uncomfortable, but in severe cases it causes extreme pain as a dog’s bones begin rubbing against each other. There are several symptoms that can give you a clue that your dog suffers from this disease such as trouble when sitting and standing, not being as active as before, stiffness in their joints, reluctance to run and jump, or even lethargy. Don`t let your dog to live with the discomfort generated by canine arthritis. Let him live a normal life. If you have noticed these signs in your dog’s behavior, visit the vet immediately to see exactly what treatment your dog requires.

If you want to have a healthy dog, you should use 100% natural products, like Chondroitin for Dogs. Experts appreciate that natural remedies have been used for hundreds years to support both human and animal health. It is important to remember that your dog faces a great amount of stress daily and old age presents adverse side effects on your dog’s cartilage and muscles. That is why you should help your dog’s health by feeding it with natural products whenever possible. It is vital to ensure your dog gets proper nutrition and Glucosamine and Chondroitin will help support your dog’s immune system as well as bone and muscle strength.

Another great supplement for dogs is Milk Thistle for Dogs with EPA and DHA. This product is 100% natural, just like the first two, and it will help your dog overcome problems relating to liver and kidney failure or ailments in their urinary tract. It improves the efficient production of insulin and bile within the liver and thus helps your dog eliminate harmful toxins. Proper kidney function is very important in both animals and humans because kidneys stop the deposit of harmful waste within the body, while helping the body’s excretion process in order to keep the body clean and healthy. If you love your dog, give him Milk Thistle to improve his health and wellbeing.

Understanding The Various Health Complications Of Tick Bites

August 22, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Dogs are man’s favorite pet. Some are even raised and adopted to be part of the family. Pet owners nourish and care about their pets just as a parent to a young kid. Pet dogs are lucky because they are fed, groomed and well taken care of. When a dog is queasy, it is brought to a veterinarian who specially cares for animals. One of the most conventional health problems of dogs is tick invasion.

Ticks are blood sucking pests. They belong to the family of spiders and mites. They are not insects, but rather arachnids. Ticks are perilous because they carry certain diseases. As formerly mentioned, they fed on their hosts by sucking on its blood. By sucking, they get to transmit diseases from one host to another.

Ordinarily, when a dog is affected by ticks, the most common symptoms distinguishable are fever, sudden loss of appetite, irritation, swelling in the area, lethargy and depression. For proper prognosis and treatment, pet owners should report these symptoms rightaway to their vet.

If tick bites are ignored, it can advance and become serious. Complications from tick bites often have general symptoms. It is consequential to know the various complications of tick bites in order to arrest the condition as soon as possible. Cited below are some of them:

Ehrlichiosis
This disease is passed on via brown dog tick bites and lone star tick bites. The causative agent is rickettsia organism. It is bacteria. But some say that it is a virus because it produces flu-like symptoms. The common symptoms of this disease range from loss of appetite to fever, joint discomfort, anemia and bruising. Other possible symptoms are eye swelling and decrease levels of all types of blood cells. This disease is treated by antibiotic therapy like doxycycline or tetrachycline.

Anaplasmosis
Anasplasmosis is often mistaken as Ehrlichiosis because they have almost the same symptoms. Pets that are anguished from Anasplasmosis and Ehrlichiosis can exhibit signs of fever, headache, muscle discomfort, chils, queasiness and fatigue. On the other hand, they have different causative factors. If Anasplasmosis is caused by rickettsial parasite of ruminants. Same management with Ehrlichiosis, antibiotic therapy is the best management for Anaplasmosis.

Tick Bite Paralysis
This particular disease is very rare in dogs. It occurs when a poison is released by the female wood or mountain ticks. This poison blocks the signal between the nervous system and the muscles. Paralysis is the usual effect when the nerve function is stopped. Watch out for signs of weakness, difficulty of breathing and walking. The best management for tick bite paralysis is elimination of ticks. As soon as the tick is removed, the pet is on its way to recovery. Nevertheless, full recuperation is achieved in twenty four to seventy two hours. If symptoms on the other hand become critical or if the paralysis has progressed intravenous fluid may be given or the pet may need a ventilator to assist in breathing.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
This is a dangerous complication and most of the time fatal. Some countries call this disease as tick typhus and Tobia fever. The disease is transmitted by the bite of the Rocky Mountain wood tick or the American dog tick. Rickettsia then enters the dog in the tick spit. The most common signs and symptoms of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are hyperthermia, nausea and vomiting, decrease in appetite, muscle pain and headache. Late signs of the disease are Petechial and maculopapular rash, abdominal and joint pain. Doxycycline is the drug of choice for the management of this disease.

Tick bites must be solved rightaway. It can cause complications and the symptoms are very disheartening. Prevention is still best key to manage tick invasion. So be sure to maintain a tick free home surroundings!

Treat fleas and ticks and use Frontline for dogs. Frontline flea and tick is effective in killing all stages of fleas and ticks.

Canine Ticks – Simple Ways To Remove Ticks

August 4, 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Ticks can cause serious health problems for dogs, including humans. When it comes to transmitting communicable diseases, they rank second to mosquitoes. To identify if your dog is infested by ticks, following are the signs and symptoms to lookout for: irritation, inflammation, local infection, hypersensitivity, fever, lameness, loss of appetite, sharp pain in legs or body, arthritis, malaise or lethargy, cough, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis.

Since ticks are hard to detect if the dog’s fur is long, most pet owners would maintain their pet’s hair short for easy tick detection. In searching for the presence of ticks, it is advisable to don gloves. Rub your hands against the dog’s hair and feel for bumps. Visually check if it is a tick.

Removing Ticks – Common Practice

To get rid of ticks, spray alcohol or pour one to two drops of mineral oil at the tick. It will immobilize the tick in seconds. It also helps loosen its clasp to the dog’s skin. Carefully, grip the head of the tick, as close to its mouth as possible. Carefully apply pressure. Carefully, remove the tick away from your pet’s skin. Avoid gripping the tick at its head as not to twist the tick. Twisting can leave tick debris or other parts behind. Be conscientious not to crush the tick. Crushing the tick can spread more microorganism, or worse, it can cause the blood of the tick to access the dog’s stab. If the head or any part of it remains in the dog’s skin, remove them cautiously. Although the immune system of the dog can usually banish these remainders, an infection or swelling might occur, so it is best to contact your veterinarian if uncertain.

After removing the tick, drop the parasite to a mineral oil or alcohol, ensure that it is dead before disposing it to a nearby garbage bin. To avoid transfer of infection, wipe the mineral oil in the dog’s fur and then disinfect the area with alcohol.

Efficient Tools For Tick Removal

It is not expedient to directly takeout the tick with your bare hands. Doing so can transfer bacteria from the tick to your nails. Although removing dog’s tick might not be as easy as you think, there are other strategies to readily remove ticks by using different tools such as curved hemostats, tick spoon, tick slider, tick nipper, tick noose, and tick pincers. Curved thermostats are traditionally used by physicians or veterinarians. Tick spoon on the other hand, is an impressively well-crafted little plastic spoon with a notch at the end. Tick spoon is used by sliding the notch under the tick before levering it off. The tick slider is very similar to the tick spoon. Simply, slide the instrument under the tick before lifting it off. Tick nipper is a little plastic instrument with a curved jaw, which enables you to grasp the tick by its head before lifting it off. Tick forceps is just like an instrument used by ophthalmologists. It can readily grasp the head of the tick because of its fine tipped end. Never use sharp objects when removing ticks as not to poke holes in your pet’s skin.

Although ticks might be removed easily using various instruments, prevention is still far better than cure. Regular bathing and other preventive tick medications are still the most excellent ways in keeping the ticks off your pet.

Manage fleas with Frontline for dogs. Frontline for Dogs treats all types of fleas and ticks and kills them quickly.

Housetraining: How To Find Out Why Your Dog Is Having So Many Accidents

May 26, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

If you are having trouble with housetraining your dog, the quickest way to get around the problem and make a diagnosis is to know your pet’s history. Knowing how your dog has been acting at home yields important information to the veterinarian and helps narrow the diagnosis. Here’s how you can help:

1) For urinary accidents, note if your dog is wetting more often; producing normal, smaller or larger amounts of urine; dribbling while walking; leaking while relaxed or sleeping; or wetting when excited or scared.

2) For fecal accidents, take a sample to the veterinarian. If your dog defecates in front of you, doe she appear to be straining or pooping while he’s walking upright? Look at the stools: Are they loose, runny, firm, hard, blood or mucousy? Are stool volumes less or more often than normal? Is your dog defecating more often?

3) Report any changes you’ve noticed in your dog, such as increased drinking or vomiting; reduced or increased appetite; weight, skin or coat changes; lethargy; panting; anxiety; fear; lameness or difficulty getting up; or reluctance to play or exercise.

4) Think about any changes or new events in your dog’s life that preceded or coincided with his housetraining accidents. A new member in the household? A change in diet, supplements or medications? A frightening event? Be sure to report anything new to your dog’s veterinarian.

Mistake: Do Not Withhold Water

What goes in must come out, so some dog owners might find it tempting to simply reduce the amount of water their dog drinks or withhold water completely at night or while they’re absent.

This could be a very dangerous thing to do. There are medical issues such as kidney problems or urinary tract infections where the dog actually needs to drink more water. Withholding water from a dog with low-grade kidney problems might lead to life-threatening kidney failure.

Depriving a healthy or ill dog of water could also lead to new or worse pre-existing problems. That said, there are some young dogs that just love to drink water, so they wet far more often. In those cases, restricting water to some extent is the only way that the dog can be a happy, functional member of the family. Unfortunately, many dogs do not outgrow this.

If you suspect that your dog is lapping up water because it makes him happy to do so, discuss your suspicions with your veterinarian and get a veterinary exam to rule out any conditions that could cause increased thirst.

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