PETS AND HEALTH

Archive for November, 2009

This blog is a sponsored blog created or supported by a company, organization or group of organizations. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content. The owner of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers’ own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question. This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content may not always be identified

Now you can see how easily you can preserve and increase mobility while reducing the risk of muscle related injuries. Massaging relieves pain in your dog and soothes pain. Massage relaxes the muscle and is an excellent way to help your dog unwind after a long day on the job or an energetic training session. Most dogs also find it totally enjoyable. Warming up before activity has a preventive effect, while stretching is just as effective after the dog has used its muscle. The dog should have warmed up and exercised before you start to stretch the muscles and it is recommended that you allow your dog to wind down after physical exertion. Let the dog walk for a while on the lead in the same way a race horse runs a extra lap at half the pace to round off the race. This helps to remove lactic acid and waste products. As with massage it is important that dog is relaxed before you start this treatment.

A very important part of the therapy for atopic pets is external decontamination using various shampoos, conditioners and leave-on residual products. The main benign include ingredients such as aloe vera and colloidal oatmeal. More stubborn cases require the addition of pramoxine, antihistamines or corticosteriods. Frequent use, we have to use 2-3 times weekly, is essential to reduce antigen exposure thus reducing the need for systematic medications. Any program that does not emphasize topical decontamination in the severely itchy dog is doomed to failure. What once seemed bizarre or complementary is now taken under the part of conventional approach to treating atopic disease by most doctors. Still, being a nutritional product. Fatty-acids therapy could fit under the banner of complementary treatment. We still do not know what is the best fatty acid or even the best dose. I have been using omega-3 fatty acid at double to quadruple the label dose: Some experimentation with various products might be needed. In additional some newer diets with increased fatty acid is beneficial.

But also younger person or dogs get arthritis due to genetic reasons, injuries or being overweight with too little exercise. a common symptom of arthritis is stiffness and lameness. Studies on dogs have shown that regular massaging and stretching over a long period of time does prevent and reduce the effect of arthritis and age related stiffness. Both massage and stretching are effective ways to prevent muscle related problems and strain injuries, thereby improving the quality of your dog’s life. Massage and stretching are complimentary to daily exercise; obedience training and diet, also building the relationship between you and your dog in a natural way of strengthening the bond with your family dog and your canine friend will love it.

Muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments then receive insufficient nutrition and less oxygen. Reduced blood flow also means that lactic acid accumulated in the muscle is not naturally transported away. The lactic acid builds up along with other waste products leading to irritation of the pain receptors in the muscle. The dog experience pain. pain in turn, causes further tension and reduces blood flow even more. a vicious circle arises and can persist for some time if it is not discovered and treated, short and stiff muscle are something that our dogs and ourselves can suffer from if we don’t take care of our physical condition. Another illness that might reduce our dogs mobility in arthritis, and this is usually formed of fibrous connective tissue and cartilage, being very common in older persons or dogs, especially affecting weight-bearing joints. Arthritic cartilage becomes soft, frayed and thinned.

Due to the potential for serious side effects, many veterinarians believe it is best to choose a therapy that is safer for a long term use by these itchy pets. Complementary therapies are used to reduce preferably eliminate the need for chronic drug therapy, allowing resolution of the itching without the troubling side effects us often seen with conventional treatment. Following are several successful complementary therapies: ENZYMES -some dogs respond to health-blend formulas, enzyme preparation and barley grass supplement. these products in some unknown way minimize the body’s chemicals that cause itching and inflammation. Enzymes allow increased nutrients absorption; these nutrients then can alter the chemical responsible for the dogs itching.

No matter how well we take care of our dogs though, diseases and injuries do still occur. If the injury is related to muscle, tendons, joints or ligaments a vet or physiotherapist can help. If there is a defect in the hip or elbow joints and in cases caused by unhealthy breeding, the only treatment available is pain relief. as dog owners there is nothing that we can do to repair problem related to unhealthy breeding nor can we prevent all accidents. However we can prevent muscle related problems and strain injuries by massaging and stretching our dogs regularly. This keeps the dog well balanced physically and psychologically, allowing it to retain the agility of a young dog to an advanced age. A well functioning dog can retain its natural elasticity and suppleness. A dog with restricted mobility has short and stiff muscles. When a dog has shortened musculature or tonicity, pressure is exerted on the joints leading, in turn, to decreased mobility. This strangles the blood vessels and impairs blood circulation.

The conventional treatment has relied on corticosteriods and antihistamines. Short term treatments with correct doses of both of these classes of drugs are effective and relatively safe. There are many long-term side effects of corticosteroids like increased thirst, urination, appetite and susceptibility to infections, weight gain. Cushing’s disease, Addison’s disease, osteoporosis fatty-liver disease, diabetes mellitus, gastrointestinal ulceration, cartilage degradation and blood-chemistry abnormalities are some of the ailments in dogs. Side effect of antihistamines, including sedation and failure to control the itching are less common.

Clinical signs most commonly seen including itching, which is often quite severe and is usually directed at the feet, abdomen groins, armpits and or face. These dogs are often referred to as “armpit scratchers, face rubbers, and feet lickers” some allergic dogs exhibit generalized itchiness all over the body. As a rule, the skin looks normal unless secondary infections are present. some allergic dogs have chronic skin or ear infection as the only clinical sign. Doctors not familiar with this often mistakenly treat the skin or ears without searching for the underlying cause. As a result, the dog never really improves. Diagnosis of the atopic pet is usually made easy. the classic sign of itchiness without primary skin lesions points towards a diagnosis of atopy. Other possible diseases causing similar sign includes food allergies, although most of these dogs do have lesions, and occasionally sarcastic manage. Atopic dermatitis should also be suspected with chronic skin infections, including ear infections.

Although many breeds can develop allergic dermatitis, the condition is far more common in specific breeds, including many terriers, setters and retrievers as well as shar-pei, lhasa apsos, shih tzu, Dalmatians and boxers. The most commonly affected group is terrier with the west highland white terrier topping the list. In my own practice, retrievers are the most commonly affected, in large part because they are among the most popular dogs- and therefore have the greatest number. Age of onset of clinical signs varies, but most dogs show signs of atopic dermatitis within 1-3 years of age or perhaps more correctly, one to three years of living in a place where they are exposed to allergens. Atopy results in dogs that are genetically predisposed to become sensitized to environmental antigens, mainly involving IgE immunoglobulin and to lesser extent allergen specific IgE antibodies.