How to Identify Dog Health Problems

Dog Health Problems - How to Identify Them and How to Treat Them
by: Brigitte Smith

An essential to your dog’s health is his/her regular annual checkup with the vet.

Whether or not you choose to have your dog vaccinated* at this time, the annual checkup is also an excellent opportunity for a thorough physical examination to be carried out, and a time to discuss any minor problems or issues which you feel may be affecting your dog’s health or wellbeing.

Your dog's annual checkup is a time when your vet may pick up inherited diseases and the like (when your dog is young) so they can be treated early, or just kept an eye on.

And as your dog gets older, the vet may find the early signs of more sinister illnesses during the checkup.

About three years back, I took my dogs for their annual checkup, and for the first time alarms were raised about matters of significant concern - it was thought that Kara might have early stages of lymphoma (cancer) - which, fortunately, tests then proved to be not the case.

And Jet apparently had something akin to the early stages of cataracts in her eyes, and according to the vet, Jet was likely to go progressively blind over the next several years. At least knowing that in advance gave me the opportunity to watch for any developing signs and, if and when necessary, adapt her outings and home environment to take into account any sight loss. It also allowed me to look into natural eyesight remedies for dogs - and the one I'm using really does seem to be doing the trick.

Most importantly, it made me realize that a good vitamin and mineral supplement for dogs is actually a very wise idea.

* There are natural alternatives to [tag]vaccinations[/tag], and signficant controversy as to whether vaccinations are necessary or desirable in adult dogs at all..