Skin Bruising in Cats Remedies:

Cats have a thick coat of hair that provides natural protection from external injuries. However, if your cat gets into fights with other cats in the neighborhood, chances are that the soft and relatively unguarded portions of skin around its eyes, nose and ears may get bruised. A miscalculated jump or move may also lead to minor bruises on cat skin that usually heal on their own. Parasitic worms may also cause minor bruises to appear on the skin of your pet if they manage to attach themselves at the base of the dense hair on the cat’s body. A simple way of preventing this from happening is to run your fingers gently over your cat’s entire body and check carefully if there are any mites or fleas on the surface of its skin. It is sufficient to groom your cat daily with a soft hairbrush in order to minimize the chances of parasitic organisms from causing skin infections. Make it a habit to check your cat for fleas and mites in this manner every time it returns from out of doors. You may use a pair of tweezers very carefully if you find any parasitic worms attached to its skin. You should, however, refrain from trying to bathe your cat, as they are quite capable of keeping themselves clean through licking. The saliva of cats contains chemicals that help heal minor wounds and bruises naturally. You may soak a wad of cotton wool in a very mild soap and water solution and apply it gently over cuts and scrapes on the cat’s skin in order to prevent local infections. Bandaging is usually not necessary as the cat’s own hair covers up the wound quite well.

However, if small swollen and red patches appear on the surface of the cat’s skin without any determinable cause or recent injury then there could a more serious underlying problem. Look out for other symptoms like paleness, weakness, loss of appetite and fever in your pet, as these may be signs of an internal hemorrhage of which skin bruises are only one of the outward manifestations. In such a case, you must immediately take your pet to a vet. Bleeding from the gums or the corners of the eyes are also danger signals. Vasculitis, which is the inflammation and damage of blood vessels, low blood platelet count and feline leukemia are some of the major internal causes that could lead to the appearance of bruises on your pet’s skin.

Home Remedies for Dry Skin in Cats:

Cats suffer from dryness of skin mostly during the harsh, cold winter season. If your cat scratches itself frequently and begins to lose dander at an abnormally high rate, you should take these as signs of dry skin. Your pet is also likely to lose the natural sheen of its hair if it is suffering from dryness of skin. A close observation of the cat’s skin may also reveal dry, crusty flakes at the roots of the hair, which are basically the thin outer layer of the skin that have lost their natural moisture content. The deficiency of certain essential nutrients in the cat’s diet may also contribute to the dryness of its skin. Dry skin may lead to dandruff in cats, which may lead to itching and irritation to the creature.

There are a few simple home remedies for solving this problem. One of the best ways of ensuring that your cat’s skin does not turn too dry is to regularly groom it with a soft hairbrush. This helps improve blood circulation in the cat’s skin and prevents it from becoming excessively dry. Also, make sure that the cat food you buy does not contain a very large percentage of corn. Instead, opt for those varieties of cat food that contain other nutrients in higher amounts to keep your pet’s skin naturally well nourished. You may also add 2 drops of fish oil to your pet’s food each day in order to enrich its diet with fatty acids that play a crucial role in keeping the skin supple and well moisturized. Once a week, you should also add a few drops of olive oil to the cat’s food as supplement.  It is also recommended that you do not let your cat out during the peak hours of the day, as the rays of the sun are at their harshest around noon and may rob the creature’s skin of its natural moisture content. Also, make sure that the room your cat spends most of its time in is not overheated due to the use of room heaters. It is a good idea to use a humidifier if you use room heaters regularly in order to prevent the cat’s immediate environment from becoming too dry. You may also try running a hot shower for 10 minutes and then place your cat into the bathroom full of steam for a few minutes. This may be useful in relieving the dryness of its skin.

Signs, Causes of Dog Ear Ache:

Ear pain in dogs that is accompanied by a pus discharge and odor are some of the sure signs that your dog is going through an ear infection. This is one of the most common ailments in dogs and affects one in five dogs all over the world. Most cases of ear infections are caused due to a bacterial or a fungal infection. Sometimes, a hormonal imbalance in a dog can cause suppression of the immune system and this can further cause a pathogenic invasion in the ear of a dog. To make things worse, some breeds are prone to ear infections, especially those that have long and flappy ears. This is because the air inside the ear ends up getting trapped leading to a buildup of moisture. Some allergic conditions usually end up causing this problem as well.

The condition is medically termed as otitis externa and is a problem that human’s get as well and is colloquially called swimmer’s ear. The ear structure of a dog is slightly different from humans in that the ear canal curves upwards instead of being a near linear formation as it is in humans. This makes administration of medication a lot more difficult and also the expulsion of debris. It is also the cause of many ear mites finding a dog’s ear the perfect place to reside in. The typical symptoms of an ear infection in your dog are the dog tilting its head to one side, exudates coming out of the dog’s ear, a foul odor, and the dog always rubbing itself on some material. The dog would also be scratching the inside of its ear more often.

Treating the condition requires cleaning out the ear and using antibiotics and antifungal medication. Cleaning a dog’s ear is something that your dog will not cooperate with you for and must always be done with the help of a vet. The vet would anesthetize the animal and then use a hydrogen peroxide solution to clean out the ear. The vet would then apply some kind of ointment that is probably a corticosteroid or antibiotic combination solution. Ventilation is very important to preventing and treating the condition since a warm damp environment is what the pathogens thrive in. This can be achieved by lifting flappy ears for a few minutes every hour allowing for a change in air. Calming the dog during the entire illness is also important.

Epiphyseal Fractured Dog Leg

Dogs are as prone to leg fractures as we humans are – perhaps even a bit more because they are prone to getting hit by cars and getting into accidents that humans would consciously avoid. The basic mechanism of a bone fracture lies in the bone getting broken. There are many kinds of fractures that range from small nicks to the bone to splintering and shattering of a bone. In itself, a fracture will cause death but if recovery is not properly managed or treatment not sought in time, these conditions can be fatal. Just like humans, the method of treating leg fractures in dogs is a matter of using casts, plates, and screws depending on how severe dog leg injuries were.

Greenstick Fracture in Dog Leg

The classification of a fracture is what defines the treatment of the injury. There are instances when the crack to the bone doesn’t cause it to be actually snapped in half; this is called a greenstick fracture. This is treated with a simple cast and since there is not continuous damage to the tissue from bone fragments, this is the simplest fracture to deal with. The bone is eventually quickly healed. Another fracture is the closed fracture in which the bone splinters and breaks in half while still in the skin. This has to be dealt with using a cast and complete immobilization of the limb. Fragments may even have to be screwed back into the main bone. One of the worst fractures to have is the compound fracture where the broken bone juts out of the leg. This type of fracture is also dealt with in the same way as a closed fracture but since there is extensive tissue damage, this also has to be taken care of. This is one of the most painful types of fractures for humans and dogs. The last type of fracture is one that is quite common in very young dogs and called the epiphyseal fracture. Here, a trauma of compression could cause a break in the top most portion of the tibia or fibula – mostly near the knee cap area. This is because in young growing dogs, this part of the bone is still soft to allow for more growth. This kind of fracture will mostly require screws to keep the bones together when healing.

Most fracture healing depends largely on how well the healing time is managed and how old the dog is. Very obviously, the younger the dog the better that it can handle growing the bone back.

Read more on dog hind leg injury and dog limping leg

Foot Problems in Dog:

As a dog owner, you will have to face a lot of pet idiosyncrasies and one of these is the practice of continuous licking by a dog. This is something that sometimes may not mean much but when your dog does this continuously, it is usually a sign of some kind of an infection taking hold. As you would have noticed, a dog’s paw is quite different to any other kind of paw with a very rough patch where a palm would be. This is usually where most of the fungal infections that can take place do. This is something that is completely curable but you must remember that the only real impediment to treating an infection of the foot is the dog itself. Dog’s don’t really take very well to medicine and end up licking off any ointments that you apply. This is not a good thing, as no topical ointment should ever be ingested orally. A good way to prevent this would be to simply bandage up the affected area, but this is sometimes impossible. The best way to treat the problem therefore is to simply use quick treatments like Triclosan and some shampoo antifungals. Remember that the things that might seem quite innocuous to us can be deadly for animals. Take for example garlic. This is extremely useful in humans to deal with infections as it contains the antibiotic allacin. However, using this on animals can result in a fatality. The same thing goes for essential oils like tea tree oil.

Fungal infections on dogs are usually caused by a fungus that is common with humans and dogs called malessezia. In humans, it causes a simple case of dandruff but can also cause tinea versicolor and eczemas. In dogs, it does cause dermatitis and worse. The good news is that it is quite easy to treat as well.

If your dog already has a sore paw and the flesh is exposed, the first thing to do is to apply hydrogen peroxide to the area, wait until the bubbling stops, and then wash off in warm distilled water. Your dog will experience pain so be prepared for it. This will take care of most bacterial and fungal infections in the first application itself but keep up this treatment until the dog stops licking its paw. Also wash the paws with a simple anti-dandruff shampoo and some antiseptic soap.

Prevent Dog from Biting:

Dog’s biting can be quite a problem for an owner to contend with. This is not only the case when a dog bites the owner but also when it bites someone else. A dog biting its owner is usually a case of a dog not having the required amount of discipline or the owner not having established himself or herself as the alpha leader of the pack. This is a problem on the part of the owner and not having established this early on could prove to be problematic and you would instead have to sometimes settle for just a peer relationship with your dog instead. When a dog is too aggressive with strangers, this is sometimes just a product of the dog’s personality itself. It has to be noted that dogs are a very loyal set of animals that form very close and tight bonds with their human family. To this effect, some dogs even have a problem when there are new additions to the family. In this kind of a scenario, respect and get other’s to respect your dog’s space and cooperation with the dog is the only way to get its trust – feeding and eating together is a good trust building exercise as well as being around the dog often enough for it to understand that you are not a threat.

Some dogs will tend to show an aggressive streak if it is mating season and this is a problem that most male dogs face. There are two options here: you could simply allow your dog to mate and fulfill that urge; the other option is to get the animal neutered. It is curious to note that some dogs can get self destructive and actually bite themselves as well. This is usually a psychological problem and a result of confining the dog in a space that is too boring and frustrating for the animal. It is worth noting that this is part of the compulsive disorders of dogs and tail-chasing is one of the other signs of a psychological problem in the animal.

A biting dog is nearly always similar in nature to a spoilt brat and to that effect, you can use some of the same disciplining techniques that you use for a child. Since dogs are a bit smarter, they can understand from your demeanor and change in voice modulation that you mean business and they will pick up on this.

How to Keep Dog Quiet:

Keeping a dog depends mostly on the situation that it is presented with that makes the animal create a fracas. There are some dogs that are naturally quite excitable like sheepdogs and terriers that tend to get excited the minute someone knocks on the front door. There are also those dogs that haven’t been trained correctly and tend to lose their calm when at the vets for a shot. There are yet other dogs that simply refuse to behave when in the presence of other dogs. The first thing that you need to understand is that a dog doesn’t naturally have a sense of good behavior as we do. A dog’s behavior is mostly dictated by instinct and that too a very basic one. Another thing that you need to remember is that not all dogs will take very kindly to strangers and some will keep barking at unknown strangers as part of their protective nature.

Keeping a dog calm when visitors come home is really a matter of how well you have trained your animal. If you live in the countryside and are not a person that receives frequent guests, the chances are that your dog will get quite excited by the new face. To this extent, you must train the animal to get used to certain strangers. This can be done by trying to meet strangers in an open area that does not give a claustrophobic effect to the dog. The combination of an enclosed space and a person taller than the dog doesn’t really settle the dog enough. Also try and keep the dog near you with a hand touching the dog while you are in front of a stranger. You must also ask the stranger to not appear as if he or she is intimidated and be as natural as possible. Most dogs will do a scent check and settle down if the owner is also at ease with the intrusion.

At the vet’s things might be a bit more complicated and this is also something that your pet has to be accustomed to from an early age. A friendly vet is also a good and helpful factor in calming an animal down. When at the vet’s, maintain close physical and visual contact with your dog so it does not go into a panic. Some dogs that are not accustomed to going to the vet will have to be sedated a bit before coming in to the vet’s.

Dog Diabetes Signs and Cures:

Diabetes affects not just humans, but dogs too. Dogs that have been diagnosed with this condition require a lot of care, as this can pose to be a life threatening condition. Diabetes mellitus can be defined as a disease that affects the endocrine system. This condition is caused by an insulin deficiency. Insulin is the hormone that is entrusted with the responsibility of regulating the manner in which sugar is absorbed as well as used by the tissues and cells in the body. The highest occurrences of this condition have been found to be among dogs that are 5 to 7 years of age, with female dogs being more susceptible to the condition. Additionally, dogs that are obese are also more vulnerable to this condition. All in all, diabetes is considered to be one of the most commonly occurring hormonal disorders among dogs.

Genetics or hereditary factors are considered to be the main cause of this problem. This simply indicates that if the dog’s parents had the condition, then in all probability the offspring may inherit it. Apart from genetic factors, viruses and many infectious diseases could also trigger this condition. In fact, many a times, this condition could be brought about by a completely different illness, which the dog may have been suffering from in the past. Certain diseases, particularly ones that affect the pancreas, could cause or bring about an abnormal production of insulin. When this occurs, the pet’s body faces a difficulty in managing blood sugar or glucose levels. The dog then develops diabetes. Cushing’s disease is a condition that has been known to trigger diabetes.

A dog that has diabetes may display one or more of the following symptoms; lethargy, increased urination, unexplained weight loss or weight gain and increased water intake. However, the condition may not always display obvious signs, thus make detecting as well as treating the condition a challenge. This is the main reason why diabetes is often referred to as the silent killer. Thus, one must ensure that their dogs are taken for regular medical checkups, as early diagnosis is crucial. While there is no cure for this condition, the right kind of treatment, administered at the right time, can go a long way in keeping it under control. While mild cases can be treated with simple change in diet and medications, the more severe cases may call for insulin injections, which can be given by the pet’s vet.

Treating Dog Constipation:

Constipation is a very common problem among dogs. The pet’s diet is usually the main culprit behind this problem. Just as humans suffer from constipation due the absence of a fibrous diet, so do dogs. A diet that is rich in fiber is important, as it helps in promoting bowel movements. Constipation that has been caused due to this reason generally tends to stop in a day or two. However, this may not always be the cause for dog constipation. Constipation among dogs can be brought about due to a large number of factors. Dehydration or an insufficient intake of water or fluids could also cause constipation among dogs. The amount of water that a dog requires is measured at about an ounce per pound of their body weight, every day. More active dogs may require a little more and in case of hot weather the quantity needs to be increased.

In addition to this, foreign bodies such as garbage, rocks, bones and so on, could at times, also interfere or disturb a dogs’ digestion. While small objects may be ejected in a day or two, larger objects may pose to be a health hazard. If in case you suspect that your dog has ingested some foreign substance, then consulting their vet is recommended. Some of the other factors which could cause this problem include; medical problems, worm infestation, and a lack of adequate exercise. It is important to bear in mind that prolonged constipation can many a times lead to serious gastrointestinal problems. If your pet is constipated then it may display one or more of the following symptoms; bloating, abdominal uneasiness, decrease or a complete loss of appetite, straining during a bowel movement, rigid or hard stool and a long gap between bowel movements.

If in case your dog happens to display any one of the above symptoms, then it is time to step in. First and foremost increase its water intake. Make sure that you are feeding it a substantial amount of water. Next increase the amount of fiber in its diet. This will help in facilitating bowel movements. Taking the pet out for a walk or a run, will also help to a great extent and lastly give it a nylon bone, this is known to help in digestion. If in case the condition shows no signs of improving in a day or two, and the dog is still severely constipated, then consult its vet immediately.

Treating Dog Vomiting:

Vomiting can be defined as the expulsion of the stomach contents. All dogs experience vomiting at some point in time or the other. This condition can range from being sudden and mild to being serious and at times even life threatening. Occasional vomiting in dogs is quite a common phenomenon, which does not require any medical attention. It is simply the body’s way of getting rid of some unwanted foreign object or food that the dog may have consumed. However, repeated vomiting in your dog can be the indication of something serious, especially if it is accompanied by diarrhea, lethargy and changes in behavior. This situation calls for prompt and immediate medical help.

If your dog has been vomiting, then first and foremost it is important to determine how severe the symptoms are, and whether or not the situation requires medical aid. If in case the condition is mild, then the next step involves taking away all water and food from the dog. Do not feed your pet anything for a period of 6-8 hours. This will give the dog’s stomach enough time to recover from the shock that it has just been through. During the six hour fasting period, keep a check on the number of times the dog vomits or if it display’s symptoms of lethargy or diarrhea. If the vomiting stops and the pet appears to be behaving in a normal manner, then you can introduce small amounts of fluid. Make sure that the fluids are clear and that they are fed in small quantities.

Give your pet small amounts of fluid every 3-4 hours. Keep doing this for the next 24 hours. Do not switch to solid food immediately. The fluids will do the job of keeping your pet well hydrated, while also helping it to recover at the same time. Again, do not feed it large amounts of fluid, as this may simply induce vomiting. After a span of 24 hours, the dog can be fed small amounts of solid food. As the dog begins to regain it strength and shows signs of improvement, you can transition it to its regular diet. However, on the other hand, if the vomiting shows no signs of stopping during or after the 6 hour fasting period, then contacting your pet’s veterinarian is highly recommended. Finally, never give your pet any medication without the prior approval of a vet, as it could have grave repercussions.