Dog Health Care FAQs – Frequently Asked Question

When your dog falls sick, the first thing you have to do is to keep him hydrated. Give him warm water.

For dogs with stomach-related issues or during any illness, try to feed white rice mixed with bland boiled chicken. Normally, dogs love the taste of chicken mixed with anything. Carbohydrates in rice give your dog the required energy.

You can even try the bland shredded chicken. You can even feed him mashed rice mixed with chicken broth. Make sure to feed the meals in small quantities.

Before administering any trials with your dog, check with your vet and vet healthcare team. Never ever try on any human medicines or home medications with your dog.

The most vital thing is to keep your pup hydrated at all times.

However, for an upset stomach, you can give a small amount of boiled rice mixed with plain (no salt or spices) chicken broth. Watch out for any improvements or antagonistic effects. Another simple way is to make him fast for eight hours.

Generally, when your dog feels weak or falls sick, it’s his natural instinct to seek a quiet place. Animals do that to hide from their predators when they feel weak.

When they are injured or sick, they prefer to sleep in cool places, tiled floors, or any fluffy beds.

Sometimes, some pet dogs may look for their pet parents or the person with whom they are more attached.

It is not advisable to leave your sick or injured dog alone as it may not help the situation in any way. It may be a stressful phase for you, but dogs need loving support and care from their pet parents.

However, make sure to provide your sick dog a comfortable and separate place to rest and sleep without any disturbances. This will make your pet recover faster and be normal again.

If your dog is sick, you may notice certain symptoms like

• Fever
• Sluggish attitude and lack of interest in activities
• Excessive swallowing
• Excessive urination and change in urine color
• Drooling
• No appetite
• Breathing difficulty
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Discharge in eyes
• Wheezing and coughing

Call your vet immediately right away if you notice any of the above symptoms in dogs.

If your active dog suddenly becomes lethargic, sluggish, or drool excessively watch him closely for any sickness.

• Fever, runny nose, cough, nasal discharge, redness of eyes – Flu or respiratory infections
• Vomiting, diarrhea, drool, excessive swallowing – Gastric irritation or stomach problems
• Yellow urination, fever, sluggish, loss of appetite, and tick bites – Tick fever or Lyme fever
• Any major symptom like breathlessness, heavy drooling – Take him to the vet immediately

Not all human diseases are potentially contagious to dogs. The actual cases reported of dogs contracting diseases from humans are very few. However, certain diseases like ringworm and viral infections like flu viruses, mumps, salmonella virus, SARS, MRSA, AIDS may be transmitted from humans to dogs.

Dogs get sick for a variety of reasons. Generally, toxic leftover human foods, rummaging unwanted foods, swallowing harmful objects, and change in normal diet may be the cause for gastrointestinal problems in dogs.

Dogs under three generally suffer from dental problems. Dogs may get sick through serious bacterial and viral infections. Elderly dogs get sick and show subtle signs of diseases as they age.

Like humans, dogs do get sick and it is really a challenge to feed a sick dog.  Your furry friend may show loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea, and lethargy. You can try these to feed a sick dog.

• Plain chicken broth mixed with boiled rice
• Chicken mixed with rice without any spices, salt, or other ingredients.
• Plain boiled shredded chicken as chicken goes easy on dog upset stomach
• If your dog doesn’t eat anything, try his favorite treat.
• You can mix his treat with plain rice
• Plain scrambled egg
• Rice and yogurt
• Rice with plain bone broth
• Pumpkin
• You can even try baby food

Only a few female dogs suffer from morning sickness when pregnant. Female dogs show symptoms of nausea, fluctuating appetite, and tiredness during 3^rd or 4^th week of pregnancy.

Some dogs suffer from increased appetite or loss of appetite and throw up occasionally. These changes are due to the hormonal variations and somewhat similar to human morning sickness.

Loss of appetite is the major symptom of a sick dog. If your sick dog doesn’t want to eat anything, try these:

• You can give him his favorite treats
• Plain rice mixed with his favorite treat (shredded)
• Plain chicken broth/bone broth mixed with rice
• Shredded chicken without salt or spices
• Rice mixed with plain yogurt
• Try baby food
• Chicken/bone broth

Dogs are such smart and intelligent animals that they can detect even a small subtle change in your mood and activity level. They can snout your sickness even before you feel it. Dogs can be trained to detect cancer by snuffling changes in certain hormones in human body.

First of all, don’t be anxious and always stay calm and speak calm to your dog.

• Keep him well hydrated all the time. You can feed him plain chicken broth if he doesn’t like to drink plain water.
• Be with him, hug him tenderly, softly massage him, and make him feel comfortable physically as much as possible. You can give a gentle dog massage in their ears, body, and head.
• Make him rest well in a calm place and try not to allow unfamiliar visitors and strangers. When a dog is sick, he may need his family to be with him just like humans.

Generally, dogs that have gastrointestinal irritation tend to eat a lot of grass. The main science behind this is – the grass is a good source of fiber. As a process of correcting their intestinal upset, dogs eat a lot of grass and then vomit or pass unwanted elements through stool to run their body system smoothly.

Irregular brushing of teeth, severe problems in the liver and kidneys can be the main cause of bad breath in dogs.

To get rid of bad breath in dogs, you can do the following:

• Brush the teeth regularly with good dog toothpaste.
• You can take him to the vet for a thorough dental checkup and tartar cleaning.
• Good medicinal dental chews may help forego the bad breath problem.
• Give him chew toys filled with toothpaste or clean treats.
• Feed him plain yogurt daily to clear off and for smooth digestion.
• Add parsley leaves to his food as they hold good antibacterial and breathe freshening properties.
• You can add some coconut oil to his food. Dogs love the taste of coconut oil and coconut oil has good antibacterial and antifungal properties.