Other Diseases

It is not abnormal for your dog to drool sometimes. Pavlov showed in his famous bell experiments that anticipating a meal can make a dog salivate. Fear can also cause dogs to drool, as you will see in a storm-phobic dog. Drooling is a form of heat control for dogs called evaporative cooling. So, the answer is yes! Drooling can be normal and in response to the dog's emotions or environment.

There are few things as frightening as watching your dog have a seizure. Yet dog seizure disorders are surprisingly common. A seizure is defined as uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain. Seizures can run the gamut from very minor, focal seizures (a twitching of the face or a leg) to major convulsions in which a dog loses consciousness, may vocalize loudly, has uncontrolled muscle movements, and loses bowel and/or bladder control.

Symptoms of panosteitis can look like other conditions, so a thorough evaluation is needed. Other diseases that can mimic panosteitis include tick-borne illnesses (Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever), polyarthropathy (inflamed joints), sprains, and fractures.

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depends on your dog's lifestyle."

Fortunately, tetanus is relatively rare in dogs. Horses and humans are more susceptible to tetanus, while cats are highly resistant. Dogs fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum – but it does happen. As an emergency veterinarian, I have personally seen two cases of tetanus in dogs and read of several others.

Because Canine Parvovirus can be found anywhere infected dogs have visited, the cornerstone to protecting your dog from the parvovirus is vaccination. Since the development of the parvo vaccine, the incidence of infection has been greatly reduced. A single modified live vaccine can confer protection within three to five days. Although parvoviruses continue to evolve, vaccination appears to confer reliable protection against all known strains.

How is parvo spread among dogs? Whole Dog Journal discusses a number of canine parvovirus prevention and treatment approaches taken by veterinarians and dog guardians today. Reactions to parvovirus vary widely. In a world where parvovirus is literally everywhere, parvo kills some dogs and leaves others unscathed. And in the debate about parvo vaccination, some people vaccinate their dogs early and often, while others refuse to vaccinate against parvo at all.

Hypothyroidism (underactive or low thyroid) is a common disorder in dogs. A variety of breeds are known to be genetically predisposed, including the Labrador Retriever, Golden Retriever, Dachshund, Boxer, Doberman, and Cocker Spaniel. (It's normal for sighthounds such as the Greyhound to have relatively low thyroid levels as a result of their unique physiology; these levels are not a sign of pathology in these breeds.)

These 29 dog breeds are the top most inclined to develop hypothyroidism as they age.

MYTH: Adult dogs don't get parvo. TRUTH: It's true that the likelihood of a serious parvo infection decreases as dogs age, and that most victims are puppies. But adult dogs can become seriously ill or die from parvo. MYTH: I can protect my dogs from exposure to parvo by maintaining a clean environment and restricting their contact with other dogs. …

Three days after Jonah first showed symptoms, so did his brother, Micah. Three days later, eight-year-old Tyrone and two-year-old Vivian, both Malamutes, became ill. Levy caught their symptoms early because she kept all of her dogs confined and followed them individually to check for diarrhea. Parvo's diarrhea has such a specific