by Diane Morgan
Some controversy is stirring about whether or not to medicate dogs whose thyroid reading is low but not yet abnormal. One problem is that veterinarians do not yet know if every breed should have the same level of thyroid activity to be considered “normal.” We do know that the normal level changes throughout the life of the dog. Explore this issue carefully with your veterinarian, keeping in mind that the target organ of the disease may not always be the easily noticed skin and hair, but the liver. Many dogs have lost their lives to undiagnosed hypothyroidism. It may be advisable to use a hormone supplement if you have concerns over your Husky’s test results.
The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) offers a new registry to identify dogs who have normal thyroid function. A dog must be 1 year old to be eligible for the test and should be retested every year or so. Hypothyroidism usually manifests itself between ages 2 and 5. Properly screened parent dogs must pass three tests, the Free T4 by dialysis test (FT4D), the Canine Thyroid Stimulating Hormone test (cTSH), and the Thyroglobulin Autoantibodies test (TgAA). Dogs who pass these tests can be issued an OFA certification number.
The OFA program is a useful addition to breeding programs; eventually, it may help to drastically reduce the number of dogs born with a propensity towards hypothyroidism. When purchasing a Siberian puppy, ask the breeder if she has submitted the parents of the litter for a thyroid test.
Cancer
Cancer is one of the most common dog ailments, especially for the aging canine. The most common type is skin cancer (of which there are many varieties). Most skin tumors found in dogs are benign, but for cancerous ones, early detection is critical. Owners find most cancerous growths themselves, so during your grooming routine, look for any unusual lumps. Fast-growing lumps and hard lumps that seem to be attached to bone or muscle are especially suspicious.
Other common types of cancer include lymphoma, brain tumors, osteosarcomas (bone tumors), testicular tumors, and oral tumors. Treatment options include surgery, diet therapy, chemotherapy, and radiation. Plus, it’s not always successful.
Zinc Malabsorption Disorder
Zinc malabsorption disorder is a genetic condition that Huskies share with Samoyeds and Alaskan Malamutes. In this disease, the intestine does not absorb zinc properly. A dog with zinc deficiency will develop noninflammatory lesions on the skin and may lose his hair. He will need a zinc supplement. Follow the dosage recommended by your veterinarian.
Allergies
Like people, dogs can be allergic to any number of things, the most common being fleas, foods, and inhalants. I knew one dog who was allergic to fescue grass, pine, and maple. I knew another one who was allergic to the family cat. It’s also possible for dogs to be allergic to human beings.
Where humans react to many allergies by sneezing, dogs tend to react by exhibiting various skin disorders. These include redness, itchiness, and rawness around the feet, ears, armpits, face, or groin area. In very serious cases, maggots can infest the oozing sores of allergic dogs. Most allergies, especially food allergies, tend to show up when the dog is about 2 years old.
Allergies cannot be cured; they can only be controlled, and usually with difficulty.
For temporary relief from allergies, bathe your dog frequently, using a gentle shampoo. If possible, avoid using tap water, which may contain chemicals that irritate your dog’s skin further. Rinse thoroughly with cool water, to which you may add some soothing like witch hazel or peppermint tea. Then apply an herbal deterrent or antibiotic or cortisone spray to help heal the sore spot to prevent your Husky from licking it.
Corticosteroids are another option. They relieve itching but have innumerable side effects. Usually, your vet will prescribe high dosages for a few days, with the amount gradually being reduced over time.
Immunotherapy, which relies on a series of injections to identify allergens and then desensitize the dog to them, is slow-acting and can be expensive. Neither is it always successful.
The best way to control the allergy is to remove the allergic agent from the dog, but this is not always possible. Fleas can be hunted down and destroyed, but if your dog is allergic to grass, mold, or pollen, you’re in for a difficult time.
Because allergies can be inherited, an allergic dog is not a good choice to be a parent. Make sure when you buy your puppy that the parents of the dog have no allergies.
Food allergies
Food allergies account for between 5 and 10 percent of canine allergies. Like other allergies in dogs, they usually manifest themselves as itchy skin, although they have also been implicated in canine inflammatory bowel disease. Head-shaking is another possible symptom of food allergies.
Just because your dog has been on the same diet all his life does not mean he hasn’t suddenly developed an allergy to one of the ingredients. These things happen. Eliminate the suspect foods from your dog’s diet for as long as 16 weeks. Substitute some kind of meat that your dog hasn’t eaten before.
Food allergies are notoriously difficult to pin down. Lamb used to be the meat of choice for this purpose, but unfortunately lamb is now a common component of dog foods, so it can no longer be used to test for allergies. People are now using rabbit or venison. If you have a puppy, don’t feed him any product containing lamb; that way if he does end up with an allergy later on, you can still use lamb as a high-protein elimination diet.
Many of the fillers commonly found in commercial foods are allergens. The key is to find an elimination diet that contains none of the common foods your dog has been consuming. This includes treats like dog biscuits and rawhide bones. Because food allergies are both fairly uncommon and hard to detect, other sources of allergies should be eliminated first.
There is no cure for food allergies; your dog must simply avoid the suspect foods. Always talk with your vet if you suspect your dog may be allergic to certain foods.
Inhalant allergies
In a dog who is allergic to inhalants, the culprits are often the same ones that affect human beings — dust, mold, and pollen. An allergic Husky will react by scratching, chewing, and licking. He may develop an ear infection, and his skin may become greasy with an uncharacteristically strong odor. These allergies can be identified the same way they are in human beings — by injecting a small amount of the suspect stuff in a shaved patch on the dog.
Flea allergies
The flea itself is probably not causing an allergy in your dog, but the proteins present in flea saliva are. If your dog has fleas, the usual scratching symptoms are present. The best cure is prevention — keep the fleas off your dog by using Frontline or another effective flea-repellant product.
Dental Problems
A dog’s mouth is a perfect quagmire of microbial lifeforms. In fact, over 450 species of bacteria have been found there. Lots of them can cause dental disease, one of the most common afflictions of older dogs. Left unattended, bad teeth can abscess and lead to septicemia (blood poisoning) and even serious heart problems. Brush your dog’s teeth regularly (see Chapter 12), and make sure he gets regular dental checkups.
Many veterinarians use broad-based antibiotics, in addition to professionally cleaning the teeth, to treat periodontal problems. To save a sick tooth, veterinarians can apply an enamel matrix that actually helps regenerate jaw and gum attachments.
Bloat
Bloat is a disease that is most common in large breeds with deep chests, but it can and does occur in Huskies. When it hits, it can be deadly, killing a dog within two hours. Its cause is unknown, but predisposing factors seem to include gulping food and air, and drinking a lot of water or exercising right after eating. There may be a hereditary link also.
In bloat, the dog’s stomach becomes distended with gas or fluid (or both). The stomach can then twist, trapping the gas. Not only is the stomach affected, but pressure is put on the large blood vessels of the abdomen, leading to organ failure. Dogs with bloat will vomit (or try to), whine, groan, pace, and salivate. Their stomach may become visibly swollen and sou
nd hollow when tapped.
Treatment for bloat is both expensive and of uncertain success.
Often surgery is the only option; it must begin as soon as possible if the stomach has started to twist. Sometimes the veterinarian will perform a procedure called gastropexy, in which the stomach is attached to the body cavity in an effort to prevent further twisting.
The best treatment for bloat is prevention. Feed smaller meals at more frequent intervals, and encourage your dog to eat more slowly by scattering the food over a larger area. Do not exercise your Husky immediately before or after eating.
Aging
When does a Siberian reach retirement age? Well, if the human retirement age is 67.5 years, your 10-year-old Husky meets the criterion.
Dogs reach retirement age at various rates. Although it is true that giant breeds like Great Danes and Saint Bernards age more quickly than smaller ones, a great variation exists. Shih Tzus, for instance, age more quickly than Old English Sheepdogs.
In the United States, 14 percent of all canine companions are 11 years old or older. This is a tribute to better veterinary care and to keeping dogs in fenced yards. But aging brings its own difficulties. As dogs grow older, you can expect certain medical problems to occur with more frequency. Among the more common are eye problems, dental disease, hearing loss, Cushings disease, cancer, arthritis, obesity, and kidney and liver problems.
Take your older Husky for regular veterinary maintenance checkups, so he can be monitored for the development of any of these diseases. When your Siberian reaches the age of 8 or 9, you should begin geriatric screening.
This is the time to pamper your older dog; a bed raised a little off the floor, for example, is easier for him to get in and out of.
Regular exercise is as important for the old dog as for the young one, even though the exercise will not be so vigorous. An 11-year-old may be past his sled-pulling days, but he won’t object to frolicking with you or his canine pals in the backyard.
As far as diet goes, recent research has indicated (somewhat surprisingly) that the older dog requires about 50 percent more protein than a young adult dog! The greater amount of dietary protein is needed to make up for a decreased ability to synthesize protein.
Canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) is a form of senility just recently recognized as a specific disease. If your older dog (10 years or older) suddenly seems confused, withdrawn, sleepless at night, or begins to regress in the house-training department, suspect CDS. The drug Anipryl (L-deprenyl) has been approved for use in treating CDS. Its active ingredient is selegiline, the same medication used for Parkinson’s disease in humans. Dogs with CDS need to take Anipryl for the rest of their lives, but 69 percent of afflicted dogs improve dramatically with treatment. The medication costs between $1.50 and $2.00 a day.
Chapter 15
Responding to Emergencies
In This Chapter
Assembling a first aid kit
Knowing when to call the vet
Dealing with life-threatening situations calmly and wisely
Recognizing an emergency is a necessary skill in dog ownership. Quite simply, it can make the difference between life and death. Dog sicknesses can be serious precisely because dogs are stoic creatures; by the time the dog is actually showing distress, the illness may be far along. Besides, dogs can’t tell you when they are sick — they can only show it through their symptoms.
This is why you need to pay attention to small signs, such as lack of appetite, increased thirst, or lethargy. These are often the first symptoms of something seriously wrong. I am conservative with my dogs; at the first sign of something unusual, I rush them to the vet.
Sometimes, however, you may need to undertake certain measures to help your dog before you can get him to the vet. This chapter is designed to recognize emergency situations and give you a first-line defense.
The following symptoms are serious enough to warrant a call to the vet:
Blood in feces, urine, or vomit
Pale gums
Persistent coughing
Seizure or shaking
Prolonged lethargy
Unexplained weight loss
Refusal to eat (for 48 hours) or drink (for 12 hours)
The Complete Pet First Aid Kit
Be prepared for any emergency by assembling a first aid kit for your pet. You can use an old fishing tackle box or lightweight tool box for this purpose. On the inside of the box, write down the correct dosage for medication for your each of your pets. And remember to keep your first aid medications up to date.
Here is a complete list of what to put in your first aid kit:
Ace bandage
Activated charcoal
Adhesive tape and gauze
Alcohol prep pads
Antibiotic ointment
Benadryl antihistamine (1 to 2 milligrams per pound, every 8 hours)
Buffered aspirin (5 milligrams per pound every 12 hours)
Cold pack
Cotton balls
Ear and oral syringe
Epsom salts
Eye wash
Gauze sponges
Hydrogen peroxide (1 to 3 teaspoons every 10 minutes until the dog vomits)
Imodium A-D (1 milligram per 15 pounds, once or twice daily)
Kaopectate (1 milliliter per 1 pound every 2 hours)
Magnifying glass
Milk of magnesia, antacid and laxative
Mineral oil, laxative (5 to 30 milliliters per day)
Pepto Bismol, anti-diarrheal (1 teaspoon per 5 pounds, every six hours) or tablets
Providone-iodine ointment
Rectal thermometer (specifically made for canine use)
Rubbing alcohol
Safety pins
Soft cloth muzzle
Scissors (small blunt-end type)
Splints
Tweezers or hemostat
Vaseline
Accidents
In case of an accident, you may need to restrain your dog either by muzzling him or binding his feet. If you have no muzzle handy, you can make one from a strip of cloth or nylons crossed over his nose and tied behind his neck (see Figure 15-1). Loosen the muzzle periodically to allow him to pant or vomit. In severe cases, you may need to throw a blanket over him.
Figure 15-1: How to make an emergency muzzle.
Avoid moving an injured dog unless you have to do so.
If your dog has been struck by a car, assume the worst. Even if he trots away apparently unaffected, he may have internal injuries. Take him to a vet just to be safe.
Serious symptoms include bleeding from the nose, mouth, and ears, although some internal injuries are slower in making themselves noticed. More subtle warning signs include pale gums, weakness, or general listlessness. By the time you notice these, it may be too late.
Bites
The curious Siberian is forever poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Many times he will be rewarded with a sharp and sometime poisonous reprisal.
Snakebite
Dogs are curious by nature, and a number of them get popped in the nose or leg every year by snakes. Most snakebites are nonvenomous, but even a non-venomous bite can lead to infection.
The wrong kind of snakebite can be deadly. Snake venom is a complicated mess of enzymes, peptides, and proteins. It can affect the nervous, muscular, and urinary systems. To make things worse, snakebites hurt. Treatment includes intravenous fluids, antivenin, steroids, and antibiotics.
Do not try to cut the wound and suck the poison out! It’s probably too late for that anyway, and you’ll only end up making yourself sick.
In as many as one out of every three cases, even a bite from a venomous snake is not poisonous, because the snake has complete control of his venom sacs. He may wish to save his good stuff for real prey and just bite to frighten your dog.
Spider bites
There may be 100,000 different s
pecies of spiders in the world, and sooner or later, one of them will probably bite your dog. Almost every species of spider is venomous, but the venom of most is very weak — good enough to paralyze a fly, but just a minor irritation to people and dogs. In the United States, we have two kinds of dangerously poisonous spiders: the black widow and the brown recluse. The bite of the brown recluse is especially nasty, because it not only makes a dog sick, but results in ulcerated flesh around the bite. Often the skin necroses and falls away from the wound.
If possible, capture the offending spider, and bring it with you to the veterinarian. Unfortunately, of course, it is unlikely you will be present or notice the bite. If you just suspect a spider bite, get your Husky to the vet as soon as possible.
Bleeding
Apply direct pressure with a clean cloth. Minor bleeding should stop in five minutes. For major wounds, keep applying pressure until you get your Husky to a vet. Use an ice pack if necessary.
Rectal bleeding can be a symptom of parvovirus, whereas bleeding from the vulva can indicate pyometra (a serious disease of unspayed females) or other internal infections.