Category: vet approved

If you’re a dog parent, you know how important it’s to keep your canine healthy. However, like humans, dogs are prone to various diseases and conditions that could jeopardize their health. One of the common conditions that occur in dogs is pancreatitis.

As you can guess by the condition’s name, it affects your dog’s pancreas and could be life-threatening. Because of this, it’s essential to learn more about the signs and causes of this condition, as well as how to care for your dog if it has pancreatitis.

What Is Pancreatitis?

Every dog has a pancreas in its abdominal cavity that produces enzymes that allow it to digest food. However, your dog’s pancreas could get inflamed, meaning it suffers from pancreatitis.

When a dog has pancreatitis, its pancreas is not functioning as supposed to, so instead of the digestion enzymes reaching the small intestine; they activate inside the pancreas. That damages both the pancreas and the organs around it, which could cause a lot of pain in your furry friend.

It’s a widespread condition in dogs, so every canine is prone to this condition regardless of its breed, age, and sex.

Both types of pancreatitis are painful for your dog and can vary from mild to severe.

What Are the Signs of Pancreatitis?

There are various signs that indicate your dog is suffering from pancreatitis, although some resemble other diseases, which may make it difficult to determine if your dog has pancreatitis.

While just one of these signs can indicate numerous health issues if you notice multiple of them, remember that your dog may have pancreatitis. Of course, you should always get your dog to the vet, who will perform blood tests and do more testing to find out if your dog has this condition and teach you how to treat it.

What Are the Causes of Pancreatitis?

A strange thing about pancreatitis is that most of the time, veterinarians don’t know the cause of pancreatitis in dogs.

However, some specific causes affect the pancreas and therefore may lead to pancreatitis, including:

How Do I Care for a Dog with Pancreatitis?

If your dog suffers from pancreatitis, you should immediately involve your vet and start treatment. The treatment for your dog will typically depend on the severity of the signs your dog is experiencing.

Treatment	Moderate and Mild Pancreatitis	Severe Pancreatitis
Antinausea medication
Stomach protectants
Pain-reliever medication
Low-fat diet
IV fluid
A feeding tube for nutritional support
Antibiotics

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which Dog Breeds Are Prone to Pancreatitis?

Pancreatitis is a condition that can affect dogs of all breeds. However, some breeds are more susceptible to this condition than others, including:

Also, older dogs, overweight dogs, and dogs that already have a history of illnesses and health conditions typically have higher chances of getting Pancreatitis.

Is Pancreatitis Painful for Your Dog?

Pancreatitis is an extremely painful condition for dogs. The condition itself causes pain in your dog’s abdomen, but due to other signs that follow this condition, your dog will be in more pain. Pancreatitis commonly causes vomiting, diarrhea, and overall weakness in your dog, which leads to pain in its whole body.

What Kind of Prognosis Do Dogs Suffering from Pancreatitis Have?

The prognosis for a dog suffering from pancreatitis depends on the severity of the condition. Most of the time, if the condition is mild, your dog can easily recover. However, when the condition is severe, your dog might not be able to recover entirely.

Is There a Way to Prevent Pancreatitis in Dogs?

While there are precautionary measures you can take to lower the chances of pancreatitis in your dog, there’s no way to prevent the development of this condition entirely.

A low-fat diet and food supplements can help your dog and lower the chances of this health problem. Also, it’s best to keep your dog active and prevent it from becoming overweight because overweight canines have higher chances of getting pancreatitis.

Another thing to remember is to avoid giving human food to your furry friend. Instead of random foods, give your dog high-quality dog food with enough nutrients that are suitable for your furry friend.

Are There Long-Term Problems After Pancreatitis?

Most of the time, dogs don’t suffer any long-term problems after pancreatitis. However, if your dog has severe pancreatitis, it could experience the following long-term health issues:

Of course, the problems will depend on your dog’s overall health, agility, and age. If your dog does experience long-term problems after pancreatitis, it’s best to speak to your vet about the treatment your canine will need.

Which Foods Make Pancreatitis in Dogs Worse?

If your dog has pancreatitis, you should avoid giving it high-fat foods and high-carb foods. Also, dogs with pancreatitis shouldn’t consume human food, scraps, and foods high in sugar.

While dogs can consume plant-based protein, it’s still better to choose natural protein coming from high-quality meat when your dog has pancreatitis.

Conclusion

Pancreatitis is a widespread disease in dogs, which is why it’s up to you to observe your dog and react promptly to any signs. If you act on time, your dog won’t suffer any long-term damage, and you’ll be able to treat the condition quickly.

Featured Image Credit: Alice Rodnova, Shutterstock

The post Pancreatitis in Dogs: Signs, Causes & Care (Vet-Approved Explanation) appeared first on Pet Keen.

Dogs can eat squid in small amounts occasionally. The squid must be cooked to ensure that there aren’t any food-borne illnesses in the squid. Seasonings should also be avoided, as many are toxic to dogs. Squid itself is completely fine, though, as long as it is prepared correctly.

Squid contains a lot of beneficial nutrients, including fatty acids. It is very similar to other fish, nutritionally speaking.

However, squid doesn’t contain everything your dog needs. For that, you’ll have to feed your dog a commercial complete and balanced food (or a carefully formulated home diet with supplements). Too much squid can also cause stomach upset, especially if your dog isn’t used to it.

Squid can be a good treat, though, and may provide extra omega fatty acids into your dog’s diet. We highly recommend being cautious with feeding your dog too much squid, though.

Potential Health Benefits

There are many potential health benefits of squid. When fed in moderation, squid can provide your dog with some benefits. However, the benefits your dog gets mostly depend on what the rest of their diet is.

Protein

Squid is very high in protein. In fact, it is mostly protein. Not all dogs need high amounts of protein; it largely depends on their breed and activity level. In many cases, a commercial diet has plenty of protein. However, dogs that are very active (like working dogs) may need some extra protein. Squid and other meats can provide this.

However, too much protein isn’t a good thing. Moderation is key, as excessive protein can lead to health issues.

Fatty Acids

Fatty acids are extremely important for dogs. Omega-3s¹ are used for all sorts of different purposes. For instance, they can alleviate joint problems and inflammation. There are several studies pointing to other benefits, too. Plus, these fatty acids have few side effects (though some do exist¹).

Nutrients

Squid also contains several other nutrients. For instance, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin B12 are all contained in squid.

Potential Risks

Of course, nothing comes without risks. Squid does provide a few risks, though it isn’t outright toxic to dogs. No food is perfect, after all.

Mercury

Since the industrial revolution, all seafood has contained a level of mercury. However, different fish do have different mercury levels and luckily, squid does not have one of the highest mercury contents. Still, they do have some level of mercury. Where the fish comes from matters, as some waters contain more mercury than others. Chronic ingestion of mercury can result in health problems.

Allergies

There is always a risk of potential allergic reactions to food. Dogs can become allergic to foods even if they previously had no problems with that food. Therefore, feeding your dog large amounts of squid for a long time can lead to an increased risk of allergies. A varied diet is useful to prevent this.

Foodborne Bacteria

Like all foods, squid can contain dangerous bacteria such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Luckily, cooking the squid usually kills these bacteria. For this reason, we highly recommend cooking the squid before feeding it to your dog. Raw squid isn’t the safest food to eat.

Cooking Squid for Dogs

Preparing squid for dogs isn’t complicated. The most important thing to do is cook the squid thoroughly to ensure that bacteria aren’t present. It doesn’t particularly matter how you cook the squid—just that it is cooked through. Steaming, boiling, and baking all work.

You also don’t want to use any seasonings. Many spices are toxic to dogs, including garlic and onion. There are some seasonings that are safe, however, the safest option is to avoid seasonings altogether. Your dog will likely consume the squid so fast that it won’t matter, anyway.

You should avoid feeding your dog fried food, as these foods are very high in fats. Not only do dogs not need these fats, but they can also cause stomach upset. Therefore, fried calamari and similar foods aren’t recommended in the least.

What Seafood Can Dogs Not Eat?

While squid is safe, not all types of seafood are. Most types of seafood are not toxic to dogs but some are very high in mercury. Because dogs are much smaller than us, it takes much less mercury to cause side effects. You have to be much more careful with dogs.

Larger fish are typically higher in mercury. All seawater has mercury in it and fish absorb this mercury from the water. However, if fish also eat other fish, they’ll absorb the mercury in those fish, too. In the ocean, bigger fish often eat smaller fish. This leads to larger fish having a mercury level many times higher than smaller fish.

The largest fish in the sea that you should avoid are shark, tilefish, swordfish, king mackerel, and albacore tuna. Skipjack is safe, though, as these tuna are actually very small. Today, most canned tuna is skipjack. However, you should still double-check the can before serving it to your dog.

Conclusion

Dogs can eat squid in moderation. It isn’t terribly high in mercury like other fish, and it does contain many amino fatty acids and other nutrients. Therefore, it’s a great option for dogs that need a little more protein in their diet or as an occasional treat.

However, squid doesn’t contain everything your dog needs and should only be fed as an occasional snack.

Featured Image Credit: Sorratorn Phosida, Shutterstock

The post Can Dogs Eat Squid? Is It Safe? The Surprising Answer! appeared first on Pet Keen.

Dogs are not-so-modest about some of the things they do. So if they have taken a shine to a couch pillow or one of your child’s stuffed animals, you might want to end the behavior once and for all—but that can be challenging.

Dominating inanimate objects can be a real problem for some dogs, but it is manageable. If you have a dog with specific sexual behaviors you’d rather keep tucked out of sight, try these methods to help the issue.

The 8 Tips to Calm a Sexually Excited Dog

1. Make a Distracting Noise

Don’t let the behavior continue. Clap your hands very loud, shout out a command—anything you can to get their attention. When you break the concentration, you should momentarily halt the behavior and then have time to push your dog’s attention toward other activities.

Try not to yell, threaten, or spank your dog. However, make it clear that the behavior is unwanted.

2. Channel Your Dog’s Attention

Once you’ve broken their concentration, it’s time to put them on to something else. Toss them their favorite toy to chase or a bone to chew on. Whatever it takes to get their energy focused toward another self-play option.

3. Strike Up Play Time

You might need to play along if you’re having trouble distracting them. That means finding an activity the two of you can do together. Take this time to have a miniature training session or play a game of tug of war.

Rearranging your dog’s thought patterns will interrupt the current action and put their energy to good use.

4. Ignore It Completely

Some folks let their dogs do their business and stay out of it. If that sounds like something you prefer, remove yourself from the room so that your dog has some private time.

Make sure they don’t have any bedding, items, or belongings you don’t want to be destroyed.

5. Remove Your Dog from the Area

If your dog wants to get frisky, they can do so in its own area. You can put them in their crate or kennel, let them go outside in the backyard, or separate them into another room. This way they can do what they want, and you and your family can rest distraction-free.

6. Get Your Dog Spayed or Neutered

Sometimes, decreasing sex hormones can eliminate this behavior. If you have yet to get your pet spayed or neutered, it’s a really good avenue to consider. Spaying and neutering have their own series of health benefits, all of which can help your dog live a longer and healthier life.

Speak with your veterinarian about the pros and cons and schedule an appointment. Most veterinarians recommend getting your pet spayed by 6 months to 1 year old. It will be different from dog to dog.

7. Keep Up with Daily Exercise

Exercise is vital to keep your dog fit and provides an excellent way to expel extra energy. Some dogs require more exercise than others. If your dog gets sexually excited frequently, it may come from a lack of channeled energy.

Get your dog out for a few brisk walks, make sure they’re getting enough time to run around, and keep them engaged and mentally stimulated as much as possible. Proper exercise often decreases the frequency of sexual excitement.

8. Give Them a Treat to Divert their Behavior

Your dog might be excited about the teddy bear in the corner until they see the mouthwatering treat in your hand. You can divert your dog’s attention away from the stimulating behavior and satisfy their taste palate instead.

It’s important to make your dog realize in these times that they are not being rewarded for their current behavior. That is why you’ll need to snap them out of their recent activity and move their focus elsewhere.

Why Do Dogs Get Sexually Excited?

Sexual excitement in dogs can stem from a variety of factors, but it’s usually because they aren’t being stimulated enough in their daily life. It can also spawn from sudden excitement or stress they can’t articulate.

When dogs encounter these situations, they self-soothe by masturbating or mounting objects. While it can be a little embarrassing to us, this is quite natural for them.

Don’t Negatively Scold Your Dog

If your dog is performing this action a lot, you will want to make them aware that the behavior is unwanted without overdoing it. You should never punish, spank, or use negative reinforcement tactics to correct the situation.

Regardless of how annoying or embarrassing it might be to you, this is still a very natural process for your dog, and not one they should be ashamed of. It’s not so much that you should try to eliminate the behavior entirely, but there is a time and a place for everything.

If you need to excuse your dog or put them in a separate room until they can calm down, these are definitely solutions you need to implement over harsh discipline. Disciplining in this manner can lead to fearful reactions, poor behaviors, and destructiveness.

Get Your Dog a Friend

As humans, we can only fulfill so many of our dog’s mental and physical needs. Sometimes, your dog could be downright bored and unstimulated in other ways, which can lead to excessive sexual excitement.

If you only have a single dog in the home, it might be time to invite another canine in that can match their energy. The two can spend time romping around to alleviate a lot of that extra tension.

You might notice fewer of these behaviors, and you have a playmate for your dog, so you can get some work done. There are plenty of rescues, shelters, and breeders with amazing dogs of any age. Just make sure to get the dogs fixed if they’re different genders and you don’t want any unwanted puppies, or get two dogs of the same gender instead.

Conclusion

A sexually excited dog can be a real pain sometimes. But there are reasons for everything, and your dog is simply following something instinctual. There are ways to curb the behavior, or at least put it in its proper place.

Just remember to refrain from highly harsh punishments. Reacting out of frustration can cause fearfulness in your dog, resulting in worsening issues.

Featured Image Credit: zoegammon, Pixabay

The post How to Calm a Sexually Excited Dog (8 Tips & Tricks) appeared first on Pet Keen.