Sick Dog? These are the 10 Most Common Dog Health Problems

What Could the Problem Be?

During every second of every day of a dog’s life, its body is identifying potential health problems, protecting itself by combating these problems and repairing the damage. To maintain good health, the dog’s body cells are constantly renewing and repairing. Organs, cells and even microscopic molecules are capable of self-diagnosis, self-repair and, if needed, self-destruction.

Under normal circumstances, your dog’s body will recognize damage at any of these levels and then proceed to remove, repair or replace the damaged area.

Simply stated, your dog’s natural state is one of good health. Good health is defined as a condition maintained by physical, behavioral and immunological defenses. It is only when these defenses fail, or accidents happen, that medical conditions develop.

Many diseases in dogs are caused by an invasion of pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria, fungi and animal parasites. Other problems such as injuries and poisoning are due to the environment in which a dog finds itself. For some medical conditions, such as certain forms of blindness, arthritis and cancer, there is a genetic predisposition.

Here are some of the most common dog diseases you should be aware of.

Vomiting

Dogs are extremely prone to vomiting. There are three stages of vomiting:

• Nausea: manifested with lip-smacking, yawning, excessive salivation, frequent swallowing
• Retching: manifested with muscular contractions visible on the abdomen
• Vomiting: manifested with the expulsion of stomach content through the mouth and sometimes through the nose

In otherwise healthy dogs, acute vomiting is of no clinical significance. The most common reason for a single vomiting episode is to rid the stomach of something that should not have been there in the first place.

However, intermittent and repeated or persistent vomiting may be triggered by a problem that occurs inside or outside the gastrointestinal system. In such cases, the vomiting may be a sign of potentially life-threatening conditions and requires medical attention.