August 11th, 2009 | 
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Early recognition of symptoms in dogs is very important, particularly in senior dogs or very young pups. I was the owner of a senior dog, a Golden Retriever. August 6th 2009, she finally had to be put to sleep. Abigail was her name and she was my heart. It was because of her that I decided to make this blog. I wanted to do something that might help others with their dogs, senior or not.
I also have a special needs pet, a paralyzed dog, Isabel. . The special challenges that she presents are an education in themselves. And early recognition of her symptoms was critical for saving her life.
So you can see by these two dogs alone, there is a wealth of information that I can share with you about symptoms in dogs.
Our Abigail and Isabel were both rescued puppies. Abigail was a product of a puppy mill, and Isabel was an abandoned pup that we got from the rescue league. You have no idea what you are getting when you rescue a puppy so you need to be aware of symptoms in dogs related to multiple possible diseases. And taking any precautions recommended by your vet. But there are some things you can be aware of at the beginning.
All reputable rescue shelters provide veterinarian care. All diseases detected are properly treated and the animal cared for. Diseases such as distemper, parvo, rabies, leptospirosis, are detected and treatment administered. It is important to remember these are rescue centers and they are usually short funded. So if they do not believe the animal can be saved or is too far gone with a disease, a humane euthanasia is performed. So for you this means your dog has been treated and is felt to have been cured, or it would not be offered to you for adoption.
You still want to take proper precautions and have your own vet look your new family member over. Disease symptoms can be missed especially if they are very early, or the animal was not handled much or emotionally withdrawn where it wouldn’t show it’s symptoms very readily. These animals need a lot of love and attention, but be sure to give it to them on their terms. Don’t force anything. Allow them to get used to you. But monitor and observe them for symptoms of dogs diseases. Educate yourself. You know what feels right or what causes you to be worried. The sooner detection does occur, the more likely it will be a full recovery.
Let’s just cover a few common diseases today.
Distemper
Symptoms in dogs wit distemper are similar to the common cold – like runny nose and eyes, coughing, high temperature, and diarrhea. These are early symptoms. If the disease has progressed, you may observe nervous twitching, convulsions and even paralysis. Unfortunately there is no treatment or cure. Veterinarians can treat the dog palitively in the early stages, but the humane treatment is put the dog to sleep. Canine distemper is caused by a very contagious virus transmitted by air. The good news this is a common disease for vaccination. Puppies at rescue leagues will probably have been vaccinated. But a neglected older dog, now rescued dog may not have had such treatment, so early detection is key for your animal’s humane care.
Parvovirus
Symptoms of dogs with Parvovirus are lethargy, fever, vomiting, bloody diarrhea and rapid dehydration. It is spread by contact with infected stools. It is deadly and highly contagious. Treatment will entail rigorous intravenous fluids to combat the diarrhea and resulting dehydration. Supportive therapy may also be required. And isolation is necessary because it is so contagious. However, like distemper, cared for animals are vaccinated against parvo, so your dogs already in the home would be safe.
Tracheobronchitis (aka Kennel Cough)
Symptoms in dogs of this common ailment is a chronic, dry, hacking cough, usually associated with a recent trip to be kenneled, so in close association with other dogs. It is caused by a variety of viruses and bacteria. It attacks the respiratory system and results in the chronic cough. It is very transmittable but generally remains a mild infection. The reason we need early detection is the protection of the young pups and the senior dogs, if untreated, it could develop into pneumonia. There is treatment and recovery is usual. There is a vaccination available to prevent kennel cough.
Leptospirosis
This disease infects the kidneys and is caused by bacteria. It is spread through contact with mucous, urine or saliva of infected animals. Leptospirosis is of particular concern since it can infect humans. Symptoms in dogs include vomiting, diarrhea, and jaundice (detected by yellow color to gums, whites of the eyes and skin) excessive drinking, and distention of the dog’s abdomen. Intensive care is necessary for these animals. They require antibiotics and intravenous fluids. Animals can recover but are often left with permanent kidney damage. Vaccinations do exist, but the multitude of strains of this disease often thwart the effectiveness of preventive measures.
I hope this introduction to some diseases common to our rescued friends can help you with early detection of symptoms in dogs. It is my goal to help with the care and treatment of our beloved pets.
Isabel, my paralyzed Belgium Sheep dog
Even though you love your dog, you feel devoted and loyal, and you know your dog is giving you unconditional love and devotion in return, you can still be a stupid dog owner.
Let me explain.
You MUST be aware of what your dog is communicating. Is she telling you something is wrong? Is there some nuance that is different today than yesterday? Does it mean anything?
Let me tell you the story of Isabel, my paralyzed Belgium sheep dog. That’s her picture at the top of the post.
At the time, Isabel was 5 years old. She was fast as lightning and loved running. Just for the sake of running, for the sake of speed. She also loved chasing the squirrels. She did not catch any, thank God, but she loved to give them a run for their money. Every day she ran and ran.
Isabel and Jim on their daily walk
She also loved her daily walks. She lived for those walks. She and my husband, Jim would leave each day and be gone anywhere from 30-60 minutes. Jim allowed her to sniff the mailboxes and visit with every clump of grass that called to her. That takes time.
We had friends visiting us from England. I am using this as the excuse for this terrible incident to be allowed to occur. I consider myself to be an excellent dog owner, sensitive, alert and dedicated to their care and love.
Like I said, we had friends visiting from England. We live in the USA, in the northern state of Michigan. It was a wonderful visit. Nothing changed for Isabel, she still had her daily walks, and she still ran and ran in the backyard, chasing squirrels. This one day we were going to show our friends around a bit, and we left the house for the afternoon. Isabel had already had her run and walk and she was going to be staying home. We were gone until early evening, and then I began preparing supper. I first went up to feed the cat and realized Isabel was not with me. She ALWAYS came up the stairs to beg for the cat food can. I went to the top of the stairs to see where she was and she was sitting at the bottom of the stairs looking forlorn. I asked her what was she doing, why wasn’t she coming for her can. She stood up and came up the stairs and happily got her can.
I continued on with dinner preparation, entertaining our guests and enjoying the evening. Isabel started to come into the kitchen and I noticed she was walking funny, her left back leg was sort of uncoordinated and faltering. I went to her and started checking her over for what could be the problem. I called to Jim to have him take a look and we couldn’t find anything, but Jim recalled that she had not been very enthusiastic about their walk earlier that day. She just didn’t seem herself, he said.
She continued on to her destination of the water bowl and seemed to be doing okay at the time. So we thought maybe with all her running she had strained something, we would keep an eye on her, but we went back to our guests.
We were all sitting around the dining room table having our meal, when Jim realized Isabel had come under the table and had wedged herself up against his legs and she was whimpering. We immediately, went into action and realized she was in trouble AND she was in pain. We tried to call her out from under the table, but she could not move herself. It was about midnight now, we called the emergency vet clinic and described what we were seeing and the day’s events, (which were startling clear in hindsight). They said we needed to rush her into the clinic immediately, we were dealing with a spinal cord injury.
We placed her big soft pillow in the back of the van and we carried her out to the van, and we had her to the vet clinic in about 15 minutes. She cried when we lifted her and it was so obvious the pain she was in. I couldn’t stop myself from crying. Our house guests were long forgotten.
The Veterinarian at the clinic examined Isabel right away, she had neurological deficits that were frightening and worsening quickly, they said the injury could be traveling up her spine toward her heart and lungs, she could die. They did a myelogram and Ct Scan of her spine. They found she had a severely ruptured disc in her spine and she had a lot of damage in her spinal column. They recommended immediate surgery to save her life. We did not even hesitate, DO THE SURGERY!
We did not understand that she might be paralyzed, we did not know how to care for a dog with this circumstance, we didn’t think about anything but saving her life. She survived the surgery and then they said it would be another 48 hours to see if the damage traveling up her spine would stop and she would indeed survive. She stayed in the hospital for 3 more days with IV’s and pain medicines and antibiotics, She was shaved on both sides of her spine and she was drugged and weak and she was the most beautiful sight to our eyes.
Both Jim and I would crawl into her very large cage and sit on her blankets with her. She had a bladder catheter in place and they were worried she wasn’t making enough urine. Also she wouldn’t eat or drink so they couldn’t remove the IV. I asked them to let us try and we gave her mushed up food and water and she took it gratefully with that look that every animal lover recognizes. “why did you wait so long”.
So from then on we went there every day to give her food and water, she was able to get the IV out and to get off the strong pain medicines. She got her catheter out the last day. That is when we were told she was incontinent (couldn’t control the function of) her bowel and bladder. She was paralyzed and we would need to assume these functions.
What?
They showed us how to sling walk her, using a strap under her belly and we had to be extremely careful due to the newness of her incisions and surgery. We also had to express her bladder to make her urinate and we had to keep her clean from the stools. We had to make sure her bladder was empty or she would develop urinary tract infections. And we were taught how to perform physical therapy on her so she could keep her muscles in good shape for when and if she ever walked again.
They told us it could take up to two years, but she had all her reflexes, so they were hopeful she would walk again. So off we go to our home with our baby and all the determination to be the best caregivers on the planet and terrified of what we were undertaking.
Well to bring this story to a close, let me just tell you that as of today’s writing it has been 3 years, 2 months and 12 days. She is not walking. BUT…who cares?
She is the best dog in the world. She is happy and well adjusted. And she has the best parents alive. We love her. It is just simply all okay. We have mastered the art of diapering a dog, well enough that we rarely if hardly ever have an accident outside the diaper. We got her the wheels to enable her to be independently ambulatory. And she is the talk of the neighborhood.
Isabel on her wheels
Jim loves to tell the story of how when Isabel was ambulatory, we knew our two next door neighbors and the people across the street. Now…we know the entire neighborhood. As Isabel on her wheels and Jim walk by people will actually come out of their homes to speak with them and pet Isabel and make remarks about how wonderful it is and what a great person Jim is and how sweet Isabel is. All of that is correct of course.
Also before the accident, Isabel was very shy and standoffish. She would even hide behind Jim’s legs when people or kids would approach. Now she is the one to say hello first and she knows she is the pride of the neighborhood. It is truly remarkable.
She is totally the wrong breed, it should not have happened to her. It is those short little dachshunds that are prone to these injuries, not a herding dog. But it happened. We theorize that it happened because of all that running and jumping and twisting and she just landed wrong one time.
We have forgiven ourselves for ignoring the subtle symptoms in our dog that we missed because we were too distracted with our out of town guests to notice. We love our Isabel and would not change a thing. We know she is not going to be one of the dogs that regains the ability to walk, but we don’t care. Our lives have nicely settled into a routine that works for us all. We can deal with it.
Isabel is a dog, despite the fact that she is so remarkable. She lives in the moment, she has no idea anything is any different than it is supposed to be. She is happy and well loved. When people express their sympathy and sadness over her paralysis, I like to say, “hey don’t feel sorry for her, it’s me that changes her diapers”… Life is good.
If you take anything at all away from this…Love your dog and pay attention to what they are saying to you. And forgive yourself if you miss one now and then.
If you would like to see more pictures of Isabel you can visit the Squidoo lens I created for her. You would be welcome.
Posted in Dog Paralysis | 
Tags: dog illness, Dog Paralysis, Symptoms in Dogs, Treating Dogs | 
2 Comments »
Frequently had gastroenteritis
Dogs can get a tummy ache too. Only it is a bit more severe.
Gastroenteritis, which interestingly enough is the same term used for humans,
is associated with severe and rapid onset of vomiting and diarrhea. This can be
very severe in both humans and dogs, causing severe dehydration. Dehydration in
dogs can be fatal if not treated.
The cause is usually an over zealous eater. A dog will eat
about anything, and they will overeat if they like it. Sudden dietary changes
can also lead to problems. They may ingest a foreign material or spoiled food.
They can even eat medications that have been accidentally dropped into their
reach.
There are many medical conditions that can also lead to
acute vomiting and diarrhea such as pancreatitis, peritonitis, metabolic
disorders like diabetes, kidney and liver disease and bowel obstructions. Thus
you can certainly see the importance of having your veterinarian check your dog
if you should notice the vomiting and diarrhea.
Acute vomiting and diarrhea in dogs usually resolve quickly
and really do not require much to diagnose it, It will usually resolve in a day
or two if you are monitoring the intake. But if it persists for longer than a
couple days, or if you should notice blood in the stools or vomit, testing will
become necessary.
When you take your dog to the vet, go ahead and bring a
stool sample with you, It will speed things along. They also may check urine,
so if you are clever at catching a specimen, go ahead and bring that too. They
will draw some blood to check for anemia or infection or electrolyte imbalance.
They may even do abdominal x-rays or ultrasound. All of these will determine
either what the cause is or at least things that can be treated.
Of course treatment will include replacing lost fluids with
IV therapy and correcting electrolyte imbalance if necessary. The Veterinarian
can prescribe medication to control nausea and stop diarrhea, thus allowing the
dog to catch up a bit. You actually need to restrict the oral intake of your
dog, allowing the stomach and intestinal tract to heal while they are being
rehydrated. After 24 hours a bland diet and water can be reintroduced. If
tolerated, continue another couple days before returning to the normal diet the
dog was on before the symptoms began. If at any time vomiting or diarrhea
returns, go back to the bland diet, if they are not able to handle that either,
please return to your veterinarian.
Remember your dog depends on you for their very life. Make
it a good one. Help them when they need it. Be wise with your observations and
choices. Act quickly when you realize something has gone wrong. You and your dog will be long life companions.
Posted in Dogs Illness |
Tags: dehydration in dogs, diarrhea in dog, gastroenteritis in dogs, Symptoms in Dogs, vomiting in dogs |
4 Comments »
In the last post I identified some of the common problems that produce symptoms in dogs. Some diseases that are difficult to treat, but easy to prevent if vaccinated when they are puppies. I want to finish that list with some more common diseases and causes of certain symptoms in dogs.
Canine Infectious Hepatitis (Adenovirus)
Adenovirus is transmitted through excretions – urine, feces, saliva. Symptoms include fever, depression, and loss of appetite, coughing, and a tender abdomen. This disease affects the liver and kidneys as well as the blood vessels. The dog will require Intensive care, if there is to be a chance for recovery. However, this is not guaranteed.
Corona (Canine coronavirus)
This disease seen more often in puppies since older dogs have built up immunity. The symptoms in dogs is very similar to parvovirus symptoms., except it is normally milder and more treatable. However it is highly contagious and attacks the gastrointestinal tract and causes fairly severe vomiting and diarrhea. This is why early treatment is so important because of the intensity of dehydration. You may also notice loss of appetite and depression and blood in the stools. The disease can even be misdiagnosed because the symptoms in dogs can mimic poisoning. The necessary treatment includes combating the dehydration usually with IV fluids. As well as palliative treatment of symptoms for the dogs comfort.
Rabies
Rabies is probably the most well known disease of animals, including dogs. It even includes man. Why, they have even made movies about rabies, can you say CUJO. Rabies is a very serious illness that attacks the central nervous system and causes encephalitis or infection of the brain. The symptoms progress slowly, starting with nervousness, anxiety and isolating. Then they will become restless, irritable and extra sensitive to noise and light. Next the animal will begin to over salivate and have difficulty swallowing. Finally deep labored breathing, paralysis and respiratory failure. The animal including humans, will die if not vaccinated.
When a person is bitten by a suspicious animal, the animal must be quarantined for 10 days to monitor for signs of the disease to determine if the human must go through the rabies vaccinations. If the suspected animal is already dead, a autopsy of the brain will determine if the disease is present. Rabies vaccine must be started in a series and Immunoglobulins must be given within 10 days of the bite.
When you get your new family member it is very important, whether they are a puppy or an older dog, to have them checked out by your veterinarian. Early detection of any disease is important. Some symptoms in dogs will show you the way to a cure if a cure is possible. Otherwise humane treatment of your dog can result from early detection. But no matter what the age of your pet or the newness of their arrival in your home, you must pay attention in the symptoms in dogs.