Top 10 Most Serious Canine Diseases

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Dogs are not superheroes. Though they seem to possess superb energy and never seem to run out of batteries, there are also times when they become “sick as dogs”. We found a great page on the 10 most serious canine diseases and it’s worth learning about them as it could save your best friend’s life! The link is after our commentary as usual.

The majority of canine illnesses stem from 2 major causes: One is the weather. If we leave our dogs outside when the weather is extreme (too hot or too cold), there will be high chances of them getting sick. Since they are also warm-blooded mammals just like us, they can’t stand freezing cold temperatures – and getting soaked in the rain for too long can be problematic because their fur takes longer to dry.

The second is their tendency to eat anything and drink water from anywhere. It’s in their nature to have a scavenging instinct to eat whatever they can find – but these tendencies increase their susceptibility of getting sick, especially when they ingest something that they should not. Since they have this habit of ingesting almost anything, they are highly predisposed to acquiring bacterial and fungal infections and diseases. Apart from things found outside in nature, there are also household chemicals and other products, which may be appealing to a dog but can lead to a painful death. Another example is that we should also avoid giving them spoiled foods just because they can eat things that would normally make us (humans) sick.

Immunization, again, plays a big part in preventing these diseases. Prevention is better than cure, after all, not only to help prevent almost imminent suffering and discomfort but also to trim down health care expenses in the long term.

When signs and symptoms of any of these diseases present themselves, it is time to call your vet. Here’s the link to the article: http://www.all-about-the-pug.com/chat/top-ten-worst-dog-diseases (via web archive)