Common Puppy Illnesses

Are you aware of the common puppy illnesses that your fur baby is susceptible to contracting? While you may shudder at the very thought of your puppy being anything but healthy, it’s a reality you must be prepared for.  Neglecting to arm yourself with the signs and symptoms of common puppy illnesses could very well result in serious and possibly fatal consequences for your beloved puppy.

3 Common Puppy Illnesses:

Parvo

Parvo is a contagious, viral disease that spreads very quickly.  There are two forms of this disease – intestinal and cardiac.  Cardiac Parvo is more deadly but the least common of the two. Puppies that are between weaning age and six months are most susceptible to this sometimes fatal disease.

Symptoms include:

• Lethargy
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• loss of appetite
• fever

Distemper

Distemper is another serious illness in puppies.  Similar to Parvo, Distemper is highly contagious disease.  This virus can cause serious and irreversible damage to a puppy’s nervous system, gastrointestinal system and respiratory system.  The distemper vaccination is one line of defense against your puppy or dog contracting this deadly illness.  Approximately eighty percent of puppies that contract this illness will die.

Symptoms include:

• Lethargy
• Coughing
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting
• Fever
• Discharge from eyes and/or nose

Ear Mites

Mites are pesky parasites that can wreck havoc on your puppy’s ears.  Most often, mites live on the skin of a puppy’s ear canal.  They can survive on your puppy for up to three weeks and feed off of the secretion coming from your puppy’s ears.  Left untreated, those pesky mites can cause ear infection in your puppy.  Permanent damage and/or a loss of hearing may also be caused from ear mites.  Puppies and adult dogs are both susceptible to getting mites and although they are most often found in the ears of dogs, they may also travel to their backs, tummies and tails.

Symptoms include:

• Scratching
• Headshaking
• Hair loss
• Brown, waxy debris

Raising a puppy is no easy task and does not come without days of worry.  Keeping up with vaccinations and limiting your puppy’s exposure to other animals will reduce the likelihood that your puppy will contract any of these diseases.  Also, keep in mind that feeding your puppy a high quality diet will help boost his immune system thereby reducing his risk of getting these illnesses and a whole host of others.  Reach out to your veterinary doctor at the first sign that something is just not right.