Shanti
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Weekly Health Exams You Can Do For Your Pet
http://www.housepet magazine. com/02/Doc_ Halligan. htm
SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS FOR WEEKLY HOME EXAMS
By Karen Halligan, DVM, excerpted from Doc Halligan's What Every Pet
Owner Should Know
When performing your weekly at-home exam, you want to take a
systematic approach and do it the same way every time so you don't
miss anything. Be sure to sneak in lots of hugs and kisses so your
pet learns to enjoy it; you might even find a special petting spot
during the once-over. I discovered that Kinky loves to be scratched
under her chin and Nathan adores body rubbing.
FACE
It's been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. This is
true for animals as well—you can tell a lot about their health by
looking at their eyes. You're probably already looking into your
pet's eyes lovingly, but you also want to look for signs of illness
or injury.
Dogs and cats get many of the same diseases that we do, including
cataracts, glaucoma, conjunctivitis, and dry eye, but if caught in
the early stages, many of these conditions can be prevented from
progressing and your pet's eyesight could even be saved. Cats and
dogs can even develop tumors in the eyes, so look closely with a good
light. Both pupils should be the same size and the eyes should be
clear, bright, and shiny, not cloudy.
The whites of the eyes, or sclera, should be white, not red. Dogs and
cats have what's called a "third eyelid," which helps protect the eye
as well as lubricate it by producing tears. The third eyelid should
not be showing. When a cat or dog is sick or in pain, you will
suddenly see this white- colored membrane covering the lower part of
the eye. You should not see redness, discharge, or squinting, as
these can all be signs of infection, foreign objects in the eye, or
pain.
Check to see if there is an increase or a decrease in tear production
by noticing how moist your pet's eyes look and how often they tear
up. Certain breeds of dogs such as the cocker spaniel, shih tzu,
Lhasa apso, Pekingese, miniature schnauzer, and bulldog are
predisposed to developing a very common condition known as dry eye,
where tear production is greatly reduced, leading to red, itchy, and
painful eyes.
The eyes should not appear sunken or excessively protruding, and your
pet should not be rubbing or pawing at its eyes. If your cat or dog
has a small amount of normal discharge in the corner of its eyes, go
ahead and gently wipe this out with a soft tissue. You can also use
eye wash solution, a saline solution available over the counter at
drug or pet stores, to remove this.
LIPS
Some dogs that have lip folds, such as spaniels, are especially prone
to inflammation and skin infections on their lips. Lip tumors can
develop on both dogs and cats. Check your pet's lips to make sure
there are no crusts and there is no scaling, and that the skin isn't
dry and cracked like your lips when they are dry. Be sure to look for
redness and hair loss around the mouth as well.
NOSE
It's a common fallacy that a warm nose means a dog or cat has a
fever. Humidity, body temperature, and flow of tears through the
ducts into the nose all help determine whether your pet's nose is
dry, moist, warm, or cold. There are no sweat glands in the nose and
the moisture is caused by the mucus lining. During sleep and in
certain climates, a dog or cat's nose may become warm and dry, but
this doesn't mean it has a fever. However, the nose should be smooth
and without any scaling or roughness. Sneezing or nasal discharge can
be signs of an upper respiratory infection, quite common in cats.
Also look for color changes on your pet's nose. There should be no
loss of pigmentation on a dark nose. White noses can get sunburn and
even skin cancer. See Chapter 12 on seasonal disturbances for
directions on applying sunscreen.
EARS
Since cats and dogs have much longer ear canals than people do,
infections usually start way down at the eardrum and work their way
upward, so by the time you actually see debris, the infection has
most likely been there a while. Dogs and cats are susceptible to ear
infections because of their long, L-shaped canals; some dogs have wax-
trapping hair lining the canals as well. And dogs that have moisture-
sealing earflaps provide the perfect swamplike environment for bugs
to thrive.
Look at your pet's ears. They should have very little odor or
discharge, but a small amount of wax is normal. If you see debris,
redness, hair loss, or crusting, or your pet seems to be in pain when
its ears are touched, it could be a sign of an ear infection. Look
for abnormalities on the outside of the ears, a happy home for some
parasites. Hair loss, crusting, and redness can indicate mites,
allergies, or infection. Ears should be ?at, not swollen. Flies will
sometimes bite at the tips of dogs' ears, so carefully check along
the edges. Cats and dogs will paw at their ears or shake their heads
when their ears are bothering them. Also, if your pet is prone to ear
infections, learn how to properly flush out the ear canals. Have your
vet show you how to do this. I've also given some tips below.
How often to clean depends on the pet and how many predisposing
factors it has. I usually recommend ear cleaning at least every two
weeks for dogs, and only if instructed by your vet for cats. Regular
ear cleaning can drastically reduce the number of infections your pet
develops.
How to clean the ears:
Never use Q-tip-type swabs, since they can easily break off and get
lodged in your pet's ear canal.
Never clean ears with peroxide, soap, water, or oil, as these can
irritate the skin lining the canal or set up the perfect environment
for an infection.
The bottom line is to learn what your pet's ears normally look like
so you'll spot a problem early—before a severe infection or illness
sets in.
MOUTH
Notice if your pet has any trouble opening and closing its mouth.
Look for any drooling or difficulty chewing and swallowing. Hopefully
you're brushing your pet's teeth daily or at least three times a
week. Refer to Chapter 5 on dental disasters for instructions. Check
your dog or cat's mouth for tumors, swelling, bleeding gums, tartar,
and foreign objects like string (cats) and sticks (dogs). Look at the
teeth. Are they white, brown, or green? There should be no broken
teeth and no odor.
Look at the color of the gums. They should be nice and pink, not
white or red. You can check your pet's circulation by using your
thumb and briefly applying pressure to the gums and releasing. The
area that you pressed should turn white and then rapidly return to
the normal pink color. This is called the capillary re?ll time. For
dogs and cats, one to two seconds is considered normal. If the refill
time is less than one second or more than three seconds, it could
indicate a serious circulation problem and necessitates an immediate
trip to the vet.
Before moving to the skin, feel under your pet's throat. Dogs and
cats have lymph nodes in their bodies, just like humans do. Feeling
for lumps, like the doctor does to you, can help detect enlarged
lymph nodes, which can be the first sign of cancer or infection in
dogs and cats. Dogs that get lymphoma, a common type of cancer, will
have enlarged lymph nodes that are easily felt. Other lymph nodes
that are readily detectable when enlarged are located at the
shoulder, under the forearm, and on the backs of the rear legs.
Excessive panting or coughing is abnormal, and your pet should not
cough when you touch its throat. This can be a sign of a sensitive
trachea or a common upper respiratory disease in dogs known as kennel
cough. The trachea, or windpipe, is a long, hollow tube that connects
the nose, mouth, and throat to the lungs. The normal trachea is
tubular and it maintains its shape because of a series of circular
rings made of cartilage. Certain breeds of dogs have weak cartilage,
which leads to a flattening of the cartilage rings. Tracheal collapse
is a common disease of toy breeds of dogs including chihuahuas, Lhasa
apsos, Pomeranians, poodles, shih tzus, and Yorkshire terriers.
SKIN AND COAT
The skin is the largest organ of the body and is also the first line
of defense against disease. Look closely at your pet's skin by
parting the hair in several spots or blowing gently. It should be
clean and dry. Look and feel for areas of swelling, heat, scrapes,
pain, hair loss, crusting, or redness. Some pets have pigmentation or
freckles on their skin, which is considered normal. Now run your
hands all over your pet's body, including all four legs, and lift up
the tail. You'd be amazed at how many animals develop tumors or
infections on the underside of the tail. And don't forget to look at
the tummy. (You never know—this could be a favorite spot for
petting!) Check for lumps, bumps, and growths of any sort. Look
closely under the fur because small bumps can be hard to see. The
most common sites for tumors to grow are on the skin, mouth, mammary
glands, and lymph nodes. Check under the coat for flakes, ticks,
fleas, and flea dirt—small flecks of black debris that look like
black pepper. This is actually flea poop, and if you get it wet, it
will turn red—pretty disgusting! See Chapter 12 on seasonal
disturbances for more information on fleas.
Your cat or dog's coat should be sleek and glossy, not dull, dry, or
greasy. Run your fingers through your pet's hair. There should be no
buildup or odor on your hands. Also check between the toes and look
at the pads. Dogs and cats can get burrs, gum, and other foreign
objects lodged there. During the summer months, dogs can easily burn
their pads. See Chapter 12 on seasonal disturbances for more
information.
Proper hydration is very important. A good check to see if your pet
is drinking enough water and is adequately hydrated is to gently pull
up on the skin over your pet's shoulder blades, then release the
skin. If your pet is hydrated, the skin will snap back quickly into
position. If your dog or cat is dehydrated, it will take much longer
for the skin to release; sometimes, it will even stay tented up. This
can be a serious problem and requires a phone call or a trip to your
vet right away.
ANAL GLANDS
The anal glands are two dime-sized sacs located on either side of the
rectum, at the four o'clock and eight o'clock positions, and are
found in a variety of animals. Their biological function is to impart
a distinct odor to the stool that is unique to pets, and consequently
they serve very little purpose in domesticated dogs and cats. This
odor is very foul and pungent. The secretion from the glands is
normally expressed when a pet has a bowel movement or is frightened,
due to tightening of the rectal muscles. However, if the stools are
too soft or too hard, or the substance in the gland is too thick, the
glands will not get expressed and can get very full or become
abscessed and impacted, causing pain and discomfort. A small
percentage of dogs and cats genetically produce anal gland secretions
that are too thick to pass through the small ducts that extend from
the sacs to the anus.When the glands become full or impacted, pets
may scoot on the ground, lick their anal area, or exhibit strange
behavior such as tail chasing, reluctance to allow you to touch their
tail or rear end, reluctance to lift the tail, or circling; sometimes
cats will groom themselves excessively beneath the tail. At this
point the glands need to be manually emptied, usually by your
veterinarian, although many groomers are adept at expressing the anal
glands. If the glands are infected, antibiotics may be necessary.
TOENAILS
Keep those toenails short. Dogs and cats with overgrown nails are
like women in stiletto heels. Walking is very difficult, and
lameness, bone, or joint problems can occur as a result. Also, the
nails can grow so long that they curl under the foot, embedding into
the pads or skin, which is extremely painful for your pet. Nail trims
need to be done regularly, depending on how active your pet is and
how fast its nails grow. You should have your cat's or dog's nails
trimmed on a regular basis, either at a vet hospital or at a
groomer's. If you want to attempt it yourself, have a professional
teach you how. Cats and dogs can get quite ornery if it isn't done
properly, and accidentally cutting the nail too short will result in
lots of pain and bleeding. It's best to start trimming your pet's
nails early on, as a puppy or kitten, to get them used to this
routine grooming procedure.
WEIGHT
Last but not least, check for weight gain or loss. This can be
crucial in determining early signs of disease or illness. I recommend
weighing your pet weekly. Using your home scale, just weigh yourself
holding your pet and then subtract your weight that day. Even just a
few extra pounds can be significant in animals, leading to arthritis,
heart disease, diabetes, and breathing dif? culties. Chances are if
you can pinch an inch, your pet is overweight and should see the vet
to get started on a weight-loss program. See Chapter 6 on the battle
of the bulge for more details. Some long-haired cats and dogs can
appear healthy, when in reality they have lost weight, but because of
their luxuriant coat, the loss may not be readily apparent. Catching
weight loss or gain in the early stages is far better than waiting
until it has progressed to something more serious that's much harder
to treat.
Again, be aware of what's normal for your pet, so when changes occur,
you can address them immediately by calling or visiting the vet to
get the problem checked out and treated before it becomes severe.
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