The Complete Healthy Dog Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Keeping Your Pet Happy, Healthy & Active

963 Pages·2009·6.31 MB·English

by  Betsy Brevitz

The Complete Healthy Dog
Handbook
The Definitive Guide to Keeping Your Pet Happy,
Healthy & Active
B B , D.V.M.
ETSY REVITZ
WORKMAN PUBLISHING • NEW YORK
To dogs, who love with their whole hearts; and to my
“home pack,” whom I love doggedly.
Contents
Foreword to the New Edition
Introduction
PART 1
PREVENTIVE HEALTH CARE
CHAPTER 1
Choosing a Healthy Dog or Puppy
Puppy or Adult?
Purebred vs. Mixed Breed
Designer Dogs
Allergic to Dogs
Children and Dogs
Temperament Testing
Puppy Lemon Laws
Screening for Health Problems
Health Checklist for 130 Popular Breeds and 13 “Designer Dogs”
CHAPTER 2
Raising a Healthy Puppy
Puppy Vaccines
Puppy Nutrition
Feeding to Prevent Hip Dysplasia
Puppy Health Hazards
Housebreaking
Baby Teeth
Puppy Warts
Spaying and Neutering
CHAPTER 3
Keeping Your Adult and Senior Dog Healthy
Choosing a Vet
New Vaccine Protocols
How Old Is That in People Years?
Pet Food Poisoning
Reading Dog Food Labels
Homemade Diets
Food Myths
Bones-and-Raw-Food Diet
Dangerous Foods
Weight Loss
Seasonal Health Hazards
Dental Care
Tennis-Ball Mouth
Travel Tips
Car Sickness
The Healthy, Happy Senior Dog
PART 2
COMMON CANINE ILLNESSES
CHAPTER 4
Allergies, Itching, and Other Skin Diseases
Paw Licking
Allergies
Hot Spots
Food Allergies
Anal Glands
Skin Infections
Debunking Bathing Myths
Splitting Nails
The Dandruffy Dog
Lumps, Bumps, and Growths
Shedding
Dudley Nose
CHAPTER 5
Vomiting, Diarrhea, and Other Digestive Ailments
Why Do Dogs Get Diarrhea?
Flatulence
The Dreaded Parvovirus
Home Care for Diarrhea
Irritable Bowel Disease
Another Bad Bloody-Diarrhea Disease
Digestive Enzyme Deficiencies
Why Do Dogs Vomit?
Regurgitating Puppies
Home Care for Vomiting
Bloat
Eating the Inedible
Liver Problems
Pancreatitis
Gall Bladder Disease
CHAPTER 6
Worms, Fleas, Ticks, and Other Creepy-Crawlers
Roundworms, Hookworms, and Whipworms
Children and Worms
Heartworms
Picking a Heartworm Preventive
Fleas
Sorting Out Spot-ons
Natural Flea Prevention
Demodectic Mange
Getting Rid of Ticks
CHAPTER 7
Mental Health and Behavior Problems
Unlearning Fears and Phobias
Canine Alzheimer’s Disease
Dominance Aggression
Pups on Prozac
Bringing Home Baby
Dog Smarts
Rescue Remedy and Other Holistic Helps
Obsessive Licking
CHAPTER 8
Eye and Ear Diseases
Cherry Eye
Dry Eye
Applying Eye Medications
Glaucoma
Blindness
Cataracts
Inherited Eye Problems
Recurring Ear Infections
Ear Cleaning 101
A Swollen Ear
Deafness
CHAPTER 9
Bones, Joints, and Arthritis
Causes of Hip Dysplasia
Treating Hip Dysplasia
Knee Injuries
Wobbly Kneecaps
“Growing Pains”
Treating Arthritis
Wobbly Necks in Little Dogs
Wobbler Syndrome in Big Dogs
Spinal Disk Disease
Foot-Dragging and Paralysis
CHAPTER 10
The Heart and Circulation
Holes in the Heart
Other Birth Defects
Making Sense of Murmurs
Symptoms of Heart Disease
Valve Disease in Older Dogs
A Big-Dog, Big-Heart Disease
Congestive Heart Failure
Heart Tumors
Treating Heart Disease
Supplements for Heart Disease
CHAPTER 11
Colds, Coughs, and Other Respiratory Problems
Kennel Cough
Distemper
Snores, Honks, and Snorts
The Hiccups
The Flat-Nosed, Smushed-Face Blues
Fungal Infections
Panting
Bronchitis
Secondhand Smoke
Cold Nose, Healthy Dog?
CHAPTER 12
Diabetes and Other Endocrine Diseases
Diagnosing and Treating Diabetes Mellitus
Low Blood Sugar in Puppies
Low Blood Sugar in Adult Dogs
Cushing’s Disease
Addison’s Disease
CHAPTER 13
Seizures and Other Neurological Diseases
What Causes Seizures?
Treating Seizures
What to Do When a Dog Has a Seizure
Suddenly Dizzy Old Dogs
Droopy Face
Little White Shakers
The “Down Dog”
Dancing Dobermans
High-Stepping Rottweilers
Rabies
Tick Paralysis
Coonhound Paralysis
Myasthenia Gravis
Meningitis and Encephalitis
CHAPTER 14
The Bladder, Kidneys, and Reproductive Tract
Urinating All the Time
Urinary Tract Infections
Crystals and Stones
Kidney Disease
Incontinence
The Heat Cycle
When to Spay
An Infected Uterus
False Pregnancy
Neutering
Contraceptive Implants
Giving Birth
The Hunt for a Missing Testicle
Prostate Problems
CHAPTER 15
Blood and Lymph Disorders
Causes of Anemia
Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia
Blood Cell Toxins
Blood Transfusions
Low Platelets
Blood Clotting Problems
Shock
Hemophilia
Stroke
Blood Clots in the Lungs