Keeping a dog as a pet is an amazing experience. But like human beings, pets also require a lot of caring. And also just like us they don’t come with an instruction manual. Worry not, Puppyplace has got you covered.
Be a vigilant dog-parent
It is important to keep a check on each and every activity your dog performs, his whereabouts, his food intake etc. For activities you can get a good quality wearable that monitors everything. For food, you will have to keep a watch on him. But sometimes you might experience something that you are unable to figure out, you may not understand the issue. Hence it’s recommended to take him to a veterinarian and also look it up online. 90% of problems or health issues related to dogs can easily be found online. Rest of 10% of issues may not be found online and may just be really difficult to figure out. So, whenever you are faced with a situation that you are unable to comprehend, consult a veterinarian asap.
Some problems may seem very minor but they may aggravate if not treated on time. For example, allergic reactions.
Story of Coco
Once we had a beautiful bitch Coco, her ears had an allergic reaction caused by coming in contact with the toxic skin of a toad.
Who would have thought that a small frog, that jumps on the garden plants and eats harmful snails that spoils the plants, could become this dangerous for a dog? The truth is that in the world there are many species of animals whose toxicity, either of their skin or the poison they eject can become deadly for a person and even more so for other animals.
This is what happened to a German shepherd of 9 years and 30 kilos. A very active and responsible dog, who we never had to keep a check on. One day, after a good hour of playing in garden, we noticed her wallowing on the tiles of terrace as if she wanted to wipe something off her ears. She was trying to touch her ear and clean it and we just let it go like something usual. Never did it cross our minds that she might be having some allergic reaction.
Hence, we did not care until several hours later when the right ear swelled up badly to the thickness of a person’s finger.
The irritation was very strong and it was hot. The cartilage, which is usually 4-5 millimeters thick, had gained weight as if covered with a fluid bag, which was 20 to 25 millimeters thick in both ears. The bitch did not seem to feel pain, but there was some discomfort.
We immediately called the pet clinic. The veterinarian on duty told us on the phone that we had to wait and try washing his ears with warm water. And if it was still bad then we should go to the clinic. But Inflammation took a whole day. The hair on the tip of both ears was sticky as if there were some open pores or escape valves for the liquid that appeared to form between the cartilage and the skin.
The shocking discovery
The diagnosis in the clinic after reviewing everything he had done was that it was an allergic reaction to something very irritating. Hence the frog’s poison was spoken about. Due to the temperature and time of year, the bug bite was ruled out because there was no evidence. The dog was given a steroid injection that started healing immediately. Two hours later, the swelling was almost gone.
In the next three days, doctor advised us to give her pills and some ointment for the affected area that helped the sensitive skin inside the ear to regain its texture.
In this whole process we learned how harmful some small animal can be for a dog. The doctor warned us to keep an eye on the dog because they can sometimes bite toads or frogs and then the inflammation occurs in the mouth, or the venom passes into the blood and kills them, depending on the size of the animal.
We wrote this whole story to warn you how something so silly can actually cause the death of a pet. Therefore, it is recommended to never leave the pet alone, keep an eye on his activities, and get regular pest control to keep the bugs and pests away. If possible, ensure that the dogs don’t come in contact with any frog.
Read Ebooks
If you want to keep a dog as pet, it is important to learn everything about him to ensure a comfortable lifestyle. You will find so many e-books about dog and pet care everywhere. Here we are recommending this book ‘How to care for your dog’ written by dog care specialists. This book is like an instruction manual, it covers everything about dogs from food, to training, to habits and vaccinations. It’s all you need to know to care for your pet and to raise him to a healthy happy and responsible dog.