Speaker: Kim Meijer, JustAnswer Expert
Kim Meijer: Hi, I'm Doctor Kim. I'm a small animal veterinarian with over 13 years of experience. I've been with JustAnswer for just over a year where I help to answer your questions about your pets, most of them dogs and cats. But I also help with exotic animals and the occasional chicken question.
Kim Meijer: Today, I will talk to you about some of the most common health risks in dogs and how we can prevent them, which is gonna be very handy if you want to avoid vet costs. And also if we want to keep our pets happy and healthy for as long as we can.
Kim Meijer: So as dogs age, they can encounter a few health problems. The most common one that we see almost every dog that like a big dog above age eight or nine, a smaller dog above age 10 or 12 will encounter some form of arthritis. You might notice that your dog is a little bit sore when they get up in the morning or they're a little bit stiff, getting up and then once they get walking, they improve, that can be a sign of arthritis. Also, we often see that in cold weather, they might be a little bit more stiff and they might feel better in summer. One of the other things we very commonly see is dental problems. Of course, they don't brush their teeth like we do, which causes plaque and tartar to build up and that can cause dental problems. One of the other things we see is kidney or liver problems. Sometimes you might notice that your older dog might have a little bit more thirst or it might have a little bit less appetite. Those are two of the first symptoms that we can see, when their liver or their kidneys aren't functioning as well as they should.
Kim Meijer: So, of course, now we want to know how can we avoid these problems and also how can we know when they are there? So, the main thing is to get your dog checked at least annually. Especially once they start to age, it's very important to get those annual checks done even though we might think, oh, they're up to date with the vaccinations or they seem absolutely fine because your vet is able to pick up on things that we don't see with the like the untrained eye. They will look for special s like small signs that can indicate pain. For instance, when we press their spine. If their skin is twitchy, there can be a sign of pain. They will listen to their heart and lungs make sure there are no murmurs because you cannot hear them from the outside. So once we start to see the problems, they're already advancing. The other thing they always check is their teeth, make sure there's no signs of gingivitis, no signs of tartar, things like that. And then also once they feel their tummies, we can find small lumps and bumps that might need a further work up. So, annual health check is the best way to make sure your pet stays healthy and fit. And also once they get older, sometimes the annual health check is best done with a little bit of blood testing as well to make sure we're checking the kidneys, the liver, the blood sugar levels. Sometimes the red and white blood cells just to make sure there's nothing brewing under the surface that we don't see yet. Because often early intervention or early prevention can make a big difference in the quality of their lives.
Kim Meijer: Another very important factor in your dog's life is their diet. What I would recommend is to feed them a high-quality diet in measured portions. So twice a day is my preference. Some dogs do better three times a day and some are grazers. However, we want to make sure that we're feeding them a measured portion depending on their energetic needs and also what type of diet. So the main thing to check is that your dog is not gaining weight or losing weight. Once they're in a good body condition score. We want to be able to easily feel their ribs, you don't want to see them. But when you press on their, like when you touch them, you want to be able to easily feel them. If you cannot feel them, they're probably a little bit obese. If they are obese, they are at a higher risk of arthritis, they're at a higher risk of developing diabetes. So those things are very important to monitor. If you do want to feed your dog some table scraps and or some extras, just make sure they don't contain too much salt because that can cause kidney problems or too much fat because if it contains too much fat, their pancreas can become a little bit upset. And pancreatitis is one of the other things we often see in dogs, unfortunately. The other thing I recommend is to either brush your teeth daily if possible just with a doggy toothbrush or to feed them a special diet that works against like dental problems or to give them a chew that helps with their dental hygiene. Because that's one of the main things we see in older dogs is that they develop dental problems as well.
Kim Meijer: Now, I'll talk to you a little bit about vaccinations. So there are several vaccinations that we can get done. The main one is the rabies one. In many states it's actually required by law that your dog is up to date with the rabies shots. The next one, we have the big vaccination, which is the DHPP. It's a five in one. So it contains canine distemper, canine adenovirus one and two, canine parainfluenza and parvovirus. That is the main one to protect your dog. So I really recommend to keep that one up to date. Because often we do see outbreaks of Parvo and it's, a horrible disease when they contract it. The other one, it depends on your dog's lifestyle and where you live. But most dogs that actually go outside, maybe socialize with other dogs or they are in areas where sometimes there's rats or mice. We recommend to get them vaccinated against lepto virus, which is leptospirosis and it's actually a virus that humans can contract as well from dogs. So it's very important to prevent that. And then the other one is kennel cough. So part of the kennel cough vaccine is already covered in the five in one. But there's another like, usually it's a nose drip or a drop in the mouth and that just gives them a little bit more protection. It's not 100%. It's kind of like us with the influenza vaccine. So it will make them less sick, it will make them less susceptible, but it's not 100% guarantee that they won't be able to catch it. Those are the main vaccinations that I would recommend depending on where you live with your dog or what you do, activity wise, there might be other ones but your vet can help you to figure out which ones exactly are the best for your dog.
Kim Meijer: If you have any further questions or concerns about your dog's health, you can reach out directly to me with the link in the description or any of the other experts on JustAnswer. We're here 24/7 and we're happy to help you. Have a good day.
