"'If you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras,' Dr. Jo Myers, a veterinarian with veterinary telehealth company Vetster, told HuffPost. 'It's a reminder that most of the time, something common is going on. This means that when your dog does something unusual, it's unlikely to be something serious or rare. However, there are some situations that warrant more urgent attention.'"
""We often associate coughing with colds or the flu, but a persistent cough can signal something more serious, like heart disease," Myers said. "While dogs can get upper respiratory infections that cause coughing, they typically go away within a couple of weeks, often without treatment.""
""Dogs of any age can be affected by several different kinds of heart conditions that lead to congestive heart failure, often with few noticeable early signs," Myers noted. "In many cases, a lingering cough ― especially one that doesn't respond to treatment for an infectious disease ― is the first sign of serious heart disease.""
Dog owners must remain vigilant because dogs cannot verbalize pain or illness. Most unusual behaviors or mild symptoms stem from common, nonserious causes, but some changes require urgent attention. A cough that persists longer than a couple of weeks can indicate underlying heart disease, including conditions that progress to congestive heart failure and often show few early signs. Significant, unexplained weight loss in a dog that is eating normally is uncommon and often linked to serious underlying problems. Any persistent, progressive, or unexplained change in breathing, appetite, weight, or behavior warrants prompt veterinary evaluation.
Read at BuzzFeed
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]