Dog NEUROLOGICAL AND CIRCULATORY Heart PROBLEMS

Most of cardiac problems are cause by malformations and respond favorably to the continued treatment with medicines. Blood and neurological problems, on the other hand, are usually caused by infections or traumas and need immediate attention.

NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS

Even when some neurological problems affect the metabolism and can alter the conduct, they should not be mistaken with nervous problems. Phobias or urination for suppression for example, are merely conduct problems and should be treated as such.

Compulsive Attacks

A dog can experiment convulsions for many different reasons, from a cerebral tumor to the ingestion of a poisonous substance, going through to any infection that may affect the nervous system as the distemper or the meningitis, for example. Epilepsy can be either a symptom of a brain injury or a hereditary disease, especially in certain breeds as the Golden Retriever. If a dog suffers from regular convulsions, besides treating the last origin of the problem, you will have to provide it anti-convulsive to suppress the attacks. dog t shirt

Ataxy
Lost of balance and coordination provoked by an otitis media or by a brain accident like stroke in humans. In this case the blood stops oxygenating a part of the brain and the animal looses balance, it becomes incapable to coordinate its movements and sways its head in a characteristically way. As in the case of the stroke, it tend to get better as time goes by.

Dog Spinal Injuries
The neurological conditions also affect the backbone and the nerves that are in touch with it. The prolapsed of the vertebral discs is common in breeds with an elongated back such as the Dachshund. The vertebras are normally separated from each other by shock absorber discs of cartilage that keeps a ligament in its place. When this ligament weakens the soft vertebral cartilage can move, causing pain in its back and paralysis of the rear paws. If the prolapsed affects the cervical vertebras, the four paws can get paralyzed at the same time. The mild affections can be healed with anti-inflammatory and absolute rest, but when they are serious, it may be necessary to go immediately for surgery in order to prevent the paralysis.

Dog Blood PROBLEMS

The most frequent ones are the anemia and the heartworm.

Anemia
The reduction on the number of red corpuscles is not properly a disease, but a symptom of some hidden problem. These can be very diverse: internal hemorrhaging, presence of parasites that destroys the red blood cells or decrease in their production.

Heartworm
They are tiny worms that may live in the veins and arteries gradually taking the dog's vitality away. The dead parasites can block the blood flow causing clots and thrombosis.

HEART PROBLEMS

Dogs, unlike humans, don't suffer from heart attacks caused by coronary thrombosis (blocking of the arteries produced by fat heaps), but they do suffer from other problems. Thorax radiographs and electrocardiograms (ECG's) allow us to diagnose coronary dysfunctions and medication can relieve the symptoms a great deal, but the disease itself normally has no cure.

Heart Murmur
Some small breeds are more likely to suffer from endo-cardiosis, a fattening of the coronary valves that reduces their efficiency. This problem can be early detected just by using and stethoscope since it produces some kind of a whistle that is known as heart murmur. As the disease gets more serious, the heart begins to fail and the dog may present some other symptoms as cough, fatigue and liquid retention in the abdomen.

Cardiomyopathy
The gigantic breeds can suffer from cardiomyopathy, a degeneration of the cardiac muscle that provokes them to faint and even the dog's sudden death if the rhythm of the heartbeats gets altered.