Spotting Dog Ringworm And Looking After Your Dog

By: Jennifer King

A common canine illness is ringworm, and it can be prevented and cured if your dog has the problem. Many infections affect dogs, some are extremely frequent and occur no matter how well cared for your dog is at any time. Dogs are creatures of the outside world, and they can get involved in anything. Fungal skin infections to be common in puppies and older dogs. Other common canine illnesses can be prevented with the correct vaccinations and suitable health care. Ringworm is a skin infection that attacks the complete health of the dog.

The frequent canine illness ringworm has several different ways it can be spotted and diagnosed. The common way to identify ringworm is with a black light. The ringworms glow in the black light as soon the light hits them. Sometimes this practice won�t work and your vet will need to carry out another test to identify the ringworm.

If you see tiny areas of the body without hair, it�s probable your dog has ringworm. Your dog�s skin will be scaly and display pus in the area. After time the areas become larger when your pet receives no medical attention. You will notice this parasite on the tail, head and legs.

If the health of the dog is good then the ringworm will clear up by itself in approximately four months. However, when severe cases exist, medical treatments are required. If your dog has the lesion, trimming their hair that�s surrounding the infected patch is needed, but you mustn�t come into contact with the lesion or it will spread. Apply a topical anti fungal cream after trimming the hair away. Such anti fungal treatments like miconazole and lotrimin treatments are applied for this purpose, or you get the option to apply natural, drug free alternatives. You mustn�t allow your gog to lick the patch where you apply the cream. A dog funnel collar may be required to stop the dog from reaching the area.

If the cream doesn�t cure the infection on its own, anti fungal shampoos and anti fungal dips will benefit your dog, and help the infected area to heal quicker. A few other anti fungal active ingredients are itraconazole and griseofulvin, which work well on a dog.

Keeping your dog in excellent health and guarded from fungal, viral and bacterial infections is your responsibility. The most important need of the dog is regular vaccines and proper care. Your dog needs vaccines against provirus, distemper and rabies. Your pet also needs to be checked yearly for heartworm which can cause death to the dog if not correctly prevented. Remember that rabies vaccinations are administered every two years and distemper vaccinations are received yearly.

Many ailments result in health issues, and in a variety of dogs, the breed is prone to more health issues than others. Joint and heart problems account for a couple of these more extreme health issues. When looking to purchase a dog, you want to be wise to some of the health issues that can emerge in a dog�s life. Apart from the everyday parasites and injuries from playing rough, some dogs are prone to ear infections, eye infections and mange.

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