How to Tell if your Dog is Sick

If your dog contracts pneumonia you will know that it is sick. But unless you know more than that, there is little that you can do for the dog. On the other hand, when you know something about the types of diseases and their causes and your pet becomes ill, you can hand lethe situation mud's more intelligently. You may be able to recognize the symptoms well enough to diagnose the condition and often treat it yourself. If you do not recognize the symptoms, or if it is a serious disease which you cannot treat, you will realize the importance of having the pet properly cared for by a veterinarian. You will also be much better able to give the veterinarian the specific, accurate information he or she needs to treat the dog quickly and effectively.

A knowledge of the causes of the diseases to which our dogs are subject and of the ways they contract them is even more important from the standpoint of prevention. Many diseases can be avoided by observing a few simple precautions. Some of these maladies, once contracted, are difficult or impossible to cure. To the pet owner and to veterinary medicine, the prevention of disease in dog is as important as it is in humans. A dog that is kept well is a good pet, a lively,active companion.

A simple understanding of the basic facts about disease is sufficient for pet owners. You don't need to learn and remember a series of medical names or technical terms. You should know the broad general classifications into which all diseases are divided, be familiar with the common characteristics of each, and have a general knowledge of the way each affects dog. This is hardly too much to expect of any person who is really concerned with his or her dog's welfare.

To most pet owners all dog diseases are more or less alike the result, they think, of some vague thing called "germs." Actually, of course, there are a number of distinct types of diseases, and they reclassified according to their causes. Some are caused by bacteria, some by viruses, and others by fungi, or parasites, or deficiencies. To under - stand the diseases themselves it is necessary to know something about these causative agents.