Dogsmanship - The Dog Lover's Survival Guide

Common Puppy Health Problems and Treatments

Dogs have illnesses and diseases that can be mild or very serious, however dogs don't have the ability to verbally express what is ailing them. Most of the problems that dogs have to deal with are minor and will get better with time or can be treated with medications. Let's take a look at a few of the common puppy dog health problems that can affect your dog.

Cancer
A serious puppy health problem such as cancer can be successfully treated in some cases and cancer is more likely to occur in older dogs. Veterinarians can remove the growths but in some cases they return and have serious consequences. Symptoms include abnormal growths that typically continue to grow in size, also open sores that don't improve, abnormal bleeding or unusual discharge substances from opening in the body, having difficulty breathing, continual coughing, loss of appetite and not being able to urinate easily. Other signs that may suggest your puppy has cancer include a fever, loosing weight, and feeling lethargic.

Depending on the type of cancer, if the tumor is discovered early enough and treatment is administered early a positive outcome can occur. Surgery can be effective for some types of cancers especially if it is a localized type of cancer. When surgery will not solve the problem radiation therapy as well as chemical types of therapies and biological therapies are available for dogs.

Skin Allergies
A common puppy health problem is known as Atopy which is an irritating skin allergy. The main signs include constantly itching and scratching in the affected areas. They typically scratch their face with their paws and some dogs that have Atopy constantly chew on their itchy paws. When this particular puppy health problem occurs they typically chew in the groin area and in the areas under the legs. Some dogs have a serious case of Atopy and their whole body is affected. The veterinarian will typically perform a series of tests and once the proper diagnosis has been made he can begin a treatment program which typically will include some types of medications.

Heartworm
It is a serious puppy health problem which is caused by parasites that have entered the right portion of your puppy's heart as well as the blood vessels in the area. The parasites that live in the blood vessels eventually produce cardiovascular problems as well as diminish your puppy's lung capacity and unfortunately it can lead to death. This serious puppy health problem is basically caused by mosquitoes. When mosquitoes take blood from a puppy or a cat that already has the disease the mosquitoes pass it to other dogs.

There are treatments available but when the symptoms appear the disease has typically become advanced and can be difficult to deal with. Most veterinarians recommend preventive treatment for dogs such as oral as well as topical types of medications that are used on a monthly basis and they can be very effective at preventing heartworm. Veterinarians have treatments and medications available for most puppy health problems.