Health Concerns And Suggestions For Your Older Pets
Posted: 06/30/10 11:40 PM | Filed Under: Blog | No Comments »
Pet-owners of older dogs know that it takes much more care and attention to keep man’s best friend happy and healthy.
As your pet ages, keep an eye out for these signs of aging:
- Decrease in energy. This is due to a natural slowing of metabolism.
- The natural slowing of the metabolism can lead to obesity and weight gain in most dogs.
Older dogs also have an greater chance of disorders, diseases or illnesses. That is why it is so important to be familiar with this dog health information. Three of the most serious and common complications of aging are:
- Congestive Heart Failure
Mostly overweight and elderly dogs are prone to congestive heart failure, or CHF. Â Dogs with CHF accumulate fluid in their lung and chest cavities because a weakened heart can no longer pump blood effectively. Symptoms of CHF include coughing, difficulty breathing, dizzy spells, sudden fatigue, agitation, potbellied-looking abdomen, bluish tongue and gums, and weight loss.
No cure exists for CHF, but treatment includes drug therapy as well as vitamin supplements. To decrease the chances of your dog getting CHF, try making changes in your pet’s lifestyle.
- Kidney Failure
Aging may also cause kidney failure in dogs. Chronic renal disease sometimes goes undetected for years. You should be alert to symptoms of this condition, including excessive thirst, excessive urination, weight loss, fatigue, and bruising easily.
Electrolyte injections has been shown to slow the progression of renal disease in dogs. dogdration happens to contain a hefty supply of electrolytes, so to prevent your dog from suffering from impaired kidney functions, buy some today!
- Arthritis & Hip Dysplasia
Arthritis may worsen with age or develop in old age, causing significant joint pain and stiffness in dogs. Hip dysplasia, an abnormality of the hip joint, is one cause of severe arthritis.
Regular non-strenuous exercise, combined with medication and nutritional supplements, can help mitigate the frailties brought on by arthritis. Losing weight takes the pressure off stressed joints in dogs with arthritis; a warm bed eases the pain of dysplasia.
Here are some suggestions and dog health tips to keep your favorite pooch happy and healthy—for life:
- Take your pet on regular walks. Exercise is always good for both you and your dog.
- Feed your pet dogdration. It is not only a tasty beverage for dogs, but it also provides your dog with essential vitamins and electrolytes.
- Feed your pet low sodium, high protein meals.
Tips For Exercising With Your Dog
Posted: 06/29/10 2:42 AM | Filed Under: Blog | No Comments »
All —or at least most— dogs love exercising. Their tails wag and their ears perk up when they hear that special word—WALK.
But just like humans, pets need to prepare for their work-outs. Follow these dog health tips, however, and your dog will do just fine.
- Pets should start an exercise program slowly, building up to the level or duration of exercise that they can handle.
- If puppies are given proper nutrition— healthy treats, food and plenty of water— and an opportunity for plenty of rest, they’ll be full of play. As they grow older, outgrowing this playful period, it then becomes the responsibility of the owner to see that they get plenty of quality exercise on a regular basis.
- Walking is great exercise for you and your pet and can be as long and a strenuous as the two of you want. What’s important is that it becomes a routine that the walks are done on a regular basis. Once or more a day is the ideal for a regular walk schedule, but if this is not possible, then try to walk your pooch at least a few times a week. If you are tired of walking and your dog still wants to continue then a game of fetch can finish out the program for the day.
- Avoid canine dehydration by providing your dog with plenty of clean water, or even some dogdration.
- Feed your dog healthy treats, with no excessive fat or grease, to keep your pups healthy and energetic.
DOs and DON’Ts
DO:
- warm up your pet before taking on any exercise
- have dogdration or water available for you pooch
- make the exercise a routine for your dog
DON’T:
- overwork your dog
- exercise your dog outdoors on extremely hot or extremely cold days
- don’t feed your dog immediately after or immediately before exercising your dog
Top 5 Dog Health Questions
Posted: 05/22/10 8:11 AM | Filed Under: Blog | No Comments »Your dog health questions are answered. Â Read this blog and follow these dog health tips and dog health information to insure that your dog remains happy and healthy.
How do I prevent my dog from having fleas or ticks? External parasites, which are an extremely common ailment to many dogs, can lead to many health problems.  Fleas can be a source of tapeworms to your dog.  They can also cause hair loss, infections of the skin, allergic reactions, and even anemia. Ticks are a big cause for concern for your dog because they can carry Lyme disease.  To prevent fleas and ticks, check your dog for these and other parasites regularly. If necessary, take your dog to the vet and have these pests removed by a professional. If you feel comfortable doing this yourself, go to your local pet store or vet for an effective treatment you can administer.
How do I prevent my dog from being overweight? The primary causes of obesity are overeating and lack of exercise. When the number of calories your dog eats exceeds the energy burned, the excess is stored as fat. As little as an extra one percent caloric intake can result in a 25 percent increase over ideal body weight by middle age. Â To prevent your dog from becoming, or remaining, overweight, take these precautions:
- Lower your dog’s daily calorie intake by changing his food brand, or the amount that you feed your dog
- Increase your dog’s fiber and water intake, to fill and satisfy your dog
- Increase your dog’s exercise and activity
How do I prolong and prevent my dog from suffering from arthritis? Arthritis is very common among overweight and old dogs. To prevent arthritis in your dog, maintain his weight. Â Make sure he gets plenty of exercise, and do not excessively feed him. Â If you know that your dog already has arthritis, or soon will, try feeding him glucosamine supplements, to make the pain from arthritis more bearable.
What is Heartworm? Heartworm is a parasitic disease that is contracted through mosquitoes. It is a parasite that multiplies and grows in rapidly dividing cells. For this reason it tends to affect puppies, more than adult dogs. It ultimately will cause infections in the dogs’ heart chambers and arteries in their lungs. Symptoms start as a mild cough with fatigue, and if untreated, could worsen to congestive heart failure. All puppies should be vaccinated against this parasite to prevent infection.
What causes dog diarrhea and how can I prevent it? Diarrhea occurs when food travels through the digestive system too quickly, resulting in insufficient moisture being absorbed. This usually happens when the dog’s intestines become irritated and inflamed. Â Dog diarrhea is usually caused by the foods that they eat. Â If your dog gets in to something he wasn’t supposed to, or if you give him too many fatty foods, he will likely have diarrhea. Â To prevent loose stools, cut out foods and treats high in fat and sodium, and be sure to keep all human food out of your dog’s reach.
Want To Learn More About Dog Health Information?
Posted: 04/19/10 7:13 PM | Filed Under: Blog | No Comments »
Want to learn some dog health tips that will keep your canine happy and healthy? Â Here are some pointers for maintaining your dog’s well-being as well as some ways to prevent common canine ailments.
Pet joint health— If you notice your dog has symptoms of joint problems, like swelling around a joint, limping, soreness around a joint or stiffness, you might want to take some of these precautions:
- Maintain your dog’s weight at a healthy range throughout his life. Â If your dog is overweight, he is more likely to experience joint problems because of the added pressure on his joints.
- You can easily prevent arthritis by giving your dog glucosamine supplements, like dogdration, which contains a large amount of the nutrients to help with hip and joint problems.
Dog digestion— If you notice your dog’s stomach rumbling, with spells of diarrhea or vomiting, try these tips on digestive dog health information:
- Provide your dog with a balanced diet. Â Processed foods, complex sugars and carbohydrates, grease and high fat content are all hard on your dog’s digestive system. Â Eliminate these types of foods from your dog’s diet to ensure their digestive health.
- dogdration offers your dog essential vitamins and nutrients for their strength and energy levels. Â The dog beverage is enhanced with electrolytes for hydration and ginseng for well-being. Â Try pouring some dogdration over your dog’s food to soften it, making it easier to chew and digest.
Dog dehydration— Avoid dog dehydration with these simple steps:
- Always provide your dog with fresh, clean water
- Try giving your dog frozen water on hot days, or add ice cubes to their water bowl to cool them down
Try serving your dog canned, wet food rather than dry dog food- Try flavored water, because some dogs don’t like the taste of tap water. Â Dogs love the peanut butter taste of dogdration, and the added nutrients of the deionized water don’t hurt either.
If you want to keep your dog happy and healthy with glucosamine for joint health and nutrients for digestive health, order dogdration today.
Gather Up Some Dog Health Tips
Posted: 04/13/10 3:12 AM | Filed Under: Blog | 2 Comments »
Many dogs have common health issues, like osteoarthritis, joint and hip problems, as well as weight issues. Â These health issues can be lead to other serious health risks, and may be potentially deadly, especially among bigger dogs, overweight dogs, and breeds that are more at risk for similar problems. However, these health issues can be easily avoided using simple health measures.
- Weight management is crucially important for dogs’ health, especially among bigger dogs, and breeds that are more at risk for problems like osteoarthritis or other breed-specific problems.
- Getting dogs to an ideal weight will decrease stresses on their joints. Â Decreasing fat in dogs also decreased inflammation in the joints.
- Building dogs’ strength, muscles and muscle functions also help protect joints, and help overall function.
- Altering your pet’s diet would also help with any weight issues. Â Switching to a healthier pet food may be necessary.
- Adding glucosamine to your dog’s diet will also drastically help with their hip and joint problems. Â Dogdration, with its all natural and human grade ingredients and allergen-free peanut flavor will help your dog with increase their health and fitness as well as their hip and joint health.
For overweight dogs:
- Increase your dog’s activity by taking him a more walks or longer walks, or trips to the local dog park. Â Your dog will not only burn calories, but also gain muscle tone.
- Replace your fatty dog treats with dogdration. Â Try freezing the liquid in an ice tray and rewarding your dogs with the healthier alternative.
- Try feeding your dog three smaller meals rather than one or two large meals a day. Â This measure will help boost your pup’s metabolism, helping with weight loss.
- Pour about a third or  a half of a bottle of vitamin-enhanced dogdration over your dog’s food not only to add flavor to their meal, but also to ensure that they are receiving all their needed vitamins.
Looking to ensure your dog’s health and happiness? Visit our website to order a case of our vitamin-enhanced dog beverage, dogdration, today, discounted for a limited time only.
brian@dogdration.com
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