Heart Disease Facts For Dogs And Their Owners
The first heart disease fact that dogs and their owners need to know is that dogs are just as prone to getting heart disease as people are. In fact, dogs and people share over 400 ailments and illnesses. Perhaps the saying, "lucky dog" should be modified. Like people dogs can be born with heart disease or they can acquire it through a combination of obesity and age.
You Need To See The Vet
Heart disease does not go away on its own. If you ignore any signs of obesity, lack of energy, shortness of breath or even suddenly collapsing, then you have to bring your dog to the vet for help. To not do so could be considered animal cruelty and you may not only be arrested for animal cruelty, but may have your dog taken from you.
Another heart disease fact in dogs is that there are millions of them with heart disease. In the Unites States alone, there is an estimated 3.2 million with one form of heart disease or another. Although it is a heart disease fact that many puppies are born with congenital heart disease, a lot of heart problems are brought on by too much food and not enough exercise - same with people.
One of the happier heart disease facts for corpulent canines is that it is much easier to diagnose heart problems in dogs than it was even just a dozen years ago. Dogs can also take variations of human medicines for heart problems, such as digitalis. However, never feed human medications to dogs. Human medications are often way too strong for dogs and may poison them.
Diet And Exercise
Another of the happier heart disease facts in pudgy pups is that they adjust to changes in their diet with a lot less fuss than people. Dogs have less taste buds than people do, and so they will eventually get used to a healthier diet. Although dogs are champions at making you feel guilty, they will not hold it against you if you stop feeding them treats they should not eat any more.
It is imperative that you stop feeding people food to your dog with suspected or diagnosed heart disease. Dog food is actually a lot healthier for people than most people food is. This is because people food is loaded with sugar, preservative, fat and harsh chemicals. And there are some foods like chocolate which do not hurt people but are poisonous to dogs.
