Tips for Helping Your Dog Through Injury or Illness

 

From caring for a newborn pup, all the way through their life until you're helping your dog with arthritis, dog ownership is a fulfilling yet sometimes difficult commitment. Being a responsible dog owner means being there for your furbaby when it counts. 

A dog care guide will help you to understand the physical and emotional needs that your dog has, and helps you to ensure that you provide them with the social interactions, mental stimulus and physical exercise that they need. 

When your dog is ill or injured, it’s important to know what you can do to help. Let’s take a look at some of them now, as well as some reasons why your dog may be unwell. 

What Are the Signs of a Dog in Pain?

A care guide for new dog owners will help you with caring for a sick puppy. Understanding circling behaviour in dogs or what the other signs of your dog in pain are is one of the first steps in taking care of a sick puppy. 

Changes in regular habits

Dogs that are in pain often sleep more than normal. This is because their body is trying to heal or they are finding it difficult to move around. 

If your dog’s eating habits have changed, this could be a sign of dental pain and if they are drinking a lot more water, this could also indicate a health issue. 

Aggressive behaviour

Dogs don’t show their pain very often, but they can become more antisocial or even aggressive if they do not feel well. They may yelp in pain if touched in sensitive areas. Any behaviour change should be taken seriously. 

Heavy or altered breathing

Panting heavily or shallow breathing can be a sign that they are finding it difficult to take a breath or are unwell. 

Signs of stiffness or limping

This could be a sign of injury to their legs, feet or paws, or even a sign of arthritis. If your dog is reluctant to climb stairs or is slow to get up, then it might be worth a trip to the vet to get them checked out. 

Shaking or trembling

This can be a sign of pain or a symptom of something more serious such as pancreatitis, poisoning or kidney disease. Muscle tremors are a common symptom after a dog has eaten chocolate or xylitol, for example. 

Common Injuries in Dogs

Good tips to be a better dog owner include taking care of a sick dog or injured dog. Be sure to wise up on these common injuries and prepare yourself with what to do if any of them should happen to your furbaby.  

Trauma

If your dog gets hit by a car in a car during a crash or falls from a height, this would be considered major trauma.

Avoid these by keeping your dog on a leash outdoors, closing accessible windows and having a dog restraint in the car to help them feel safe and secure. 

Eye injuries

Eye injuries are fairly common. Dogs can injure their eyes when running around through plant life, face to face with a cat or during a fight with another dog. These types of injuries can turn severe, so have them seen too quickly. 

Ligament or injuries to the limb

Cruciate ligament injury (the stabilising ligament in the knee) is one of the most common limb injuries and almost always needs surgery to repair it. 

Other limb injuries, including leg breaks or fractures, need to be assessed professionally, with treatment including medication and rest, alongside surgery at times.

Ingestion of a foreign body

It’s not uncommon for a dog to chomp on a sock or swallow a toy, but it can be very uncomfortable and even life-threatening, so you will need to take them to the vet for appropriate treatment. 

Tips to Care for Your Injured or Ill Dog

Coping with an ageing dog means ensuring they are comfortable and having the right tools for managing dogs with arthritis.

When you need to know how to care for a sick dog at home, be sure to speak with a veterinarian to provide you with the tools and support you need. 

Taking care of a sick puppy can be in the physical or emotional sense. Be sure to read up on helping your dog deal with separation anxiety if your new puppy is struggling to be left alone. 

Learn to recognize an emergency

If your dog is unresponsive, has collapsed but cannot get up, has broken a bone, may have eaten something toxic or has been vomiting or had diarrhoea for more than 24 hours, this is considered an emergency and your veterinarian should be contacted. 

Keep a first aid kit handy

A kit should be pet specific and include things your furbaby might need if they injure themselves such as some gauze, pet-safe painkillers, saline solution and more. 

When travelling, it would be handy to have a few essentials in the boot or glovebox, so that you are prepared at all times. 

Encourage relaxation

To promote recovery, your dog must get plenty of rest. It may be beneficial to add some soothing ingredients to their daily diets such as a nutrient booster, chamomile or hemp to encourage them to remain calm. 

Do not be tempted to play vigorously with them and create a very welcoming and comfortable space for them to relax in. 

Add supplements to your dogs’ diet

In addition to these soothing supplements, you might like to offer your furbaby something to boost their immune systems, such as a probiotic booster or antioxidant-rich ingredient. 

If your dog has a muscle injury, look for foods high in magnesium to promote muscle recovery. If they have a broken bone, make sure they have plenty of calcium in their diet. 

Perhaps a dog-friendly multivitamin will ensure they have all the essentials they need to recover. 

Visit your local vet

Your veterinarian is your go-to person for any specific questions that you have to ensure that you are providing the right kind of care for your furbaby at home. 

Make sure that you take them for regular checkups to ensure that they are getting better and for advice to potentially avoid issues in the future. 

Take Home Message

You can correctly care for your furbaby at home through illness and injury as long as you are well-equipped with the tools and the knowledge that you need.