Dog Deficiency Disease

Negative as well as positive factors cause disease. Many pets havedied from lack of oxygen. There are the obvious cases of suffocation;the carrying cage or shipping crate may be insufficiently ventilated, andwhen it is opened the pet is found dead. Lack of oxygen, obvious as itis, constitutes a deficiency disease. 'Iliere are many more subtle defi-ciencies.

Some deficiencies produce what should be called conditions, notdiseases. A disease is a morbid process with characteristic symptoms.Thirst is neither a disease nor the result of disease. The symptoms ofdehydration are cured by water consumption. Anemia is a disease inone sense, a condition in another. Millions of humans go about in ananemic condition. In general, deficiency diseases are quite easily cured,simply by furnishing the body with missing nutritional elements.

Anemia. Anemia is a disease in the oxygen-carrying capacity ofblood. When an dog suffocates, the pink color of the tissue turns blue. Alack of oxygen in the tissues can be produced by many causes otherthan lack of air. The blood may simply be unable to carry it about thebody. This, in turn, may result from a diminished supply of red cells inthe blood. There may be too few, or the chemical composition of theircomponents may be inadequate.

Hookworms are the most common cause of an inadequate supply ofred cells. Their blood consumption strains the blood-building equip-ment, which cannot keep up with the loss. A hookworm-infested ani-mal lacks animation and gets out of breath easily. It shows all thesymptoms of anemia, as though blood had been drawn from its arteriesor veins. Little puppies arc frequently found to be anemic because ofhookworm infestation. There is so little iron in milk that they cannotregain their losses despite dcworming, and they frequently die becauseof their owner's ignorance of this fact.

Heavy infestations of sucking lice may also cause anemia. Some dogsharbor so many lice that the parasites touch one another in places. Thedog's gums reveal a sickly pallor; it can't stand cold and loses itsappetite. The basic condition is probably aggravated by toxins from thelice. Animals are often seriously weakened by these parasites. Dogshave actually been known to die from lice infestation.

Blood diseases, rare in dog, produce an altered blood picture.Some ordinary diseases alter the proportion of red and white cells, notby reducing the number of red cells but by increasing the number ofwhite cells. This is not anemia. Diseases that produce toxins or attackthe blood-building apparatus of the body produce anemia by reducingthe number of red cells.

A lack of iron or copper or both causes anemia. Insufficient iron isresponsible for a shortage of hemoglobin, and though there may be a full quota of red cells, they can't pick up and transport oxygen. Copperdeficiency also causes anemia. Copper is not part of hemoglobin but isconcerned with its formation.

Niacin deficiency, which causes black tongue; a shortage of vitaminB complex factors; and pyridoxin deficiency all cause anemia.

Rickets. Once a common problem, rickets is almost unheard of to-day due to the presence of vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus in dogfoods.

Eclampsia. Also called puerperal tetany, eclampsia a disease of nurs-ing mother dog caused by an inadequate amount of calcium or aninadequacy in the parathyroid glands.

Black Tongue. Black tongue is a disease almost unheard of wheredogs eat commercial dog food or table scraps. A deficiency of niacin inthe diet over a period of many weeks is at least one of the causes. Thedog develops a general loss of condition and muscular incoordination.It slobbers constantly from the mouth, and its breath is obnoxious. Itsgums and tongue appear inflamed. Associated with the disease is agreat proliferation of spirochetal bacteria, such as cause trenchmouth.Injections of niacin (nicotinic acid) or the whole B complex will effectdramatic recovery. The term "black tongue" is misleading because thatsymptom is seen only in a dead dog. Soon after death the mouth,because of congestion in the tissues, turns deep purple.

Mineral Deficiencies. The only two minerals of great consequenceto dogs are calcium and iron, but nevertheless the absence of others causes dire consequences. Iodine isessential. Its lack causes goiter in dog, and when pregnant femalesare iodine-starved they may produce abnormal young called cretins.Common salt is also essential. Since 99 percent of the calcium in thebody is found in the skeleton, obviously a calcium deficiency results inpoor skeletal development, as in the case of rickets. But calciumdoes more than develop bone. It is necessary to proper nerve functionand acts almost like some vitamins as a catalyst or "marrying agent"between other minerals. Bad teeth may be traced to a fluorine defi-ciency. Cobalt and boron, though needed in minute quantities, pro-duce sickness through their absence. Potassium deficiency causes paralysis, and so forth.