As for puppies, exceeding the upper limit of the norm by 0.3 – 0.5 °C is not a pathology. Mild pyrexia can be observed in animals after lactation and intense physical activity.
But in most cases, dog’s fever is more often associated with pathologic behavior.
According to veterinarian’s belief,
pyrexia is caused by the following:
1 Infectious diseases. Distemper, parvovirus enteritis, adenovirus infection, leptospirosis and many other contagious diseases cause fever. Sometimes the cause of a sensible rise in the body temperature is a parasitic infection, for example piroplasmosis.According to veterinarian’s belief,
pyrexia is caused by the following:
2 Heatstroke. Leaving your dog in a closed car for 15 to 20 minutes in summer times can cause excessive heat exchange to the body. Representatives of large breeds of dogs and overweight pets suffer the most from heatstroke.
3 Excessive muscle work. The hard and exhausting physical work of the animal, especially in the hot season. The risk group includes hunting dog breeds and animals participating in sports races.
4 Abnormality of the hormonal state of the body. Diseases such as hyperthyroidism, pheochromocytoma are accompanied by hormonal abnormalities, as a result of which vasoconstriction and metabolism increases occurs. These processes are accompanied by pyrexia.
5 Allergic states.
6 Sensitivity to vaccines.
7 Complication after anesthesia. In rare cases, when an animal is injected with a narcotic sedative, hyperthermia syndrome may develop.
8 Inflammatory states of non-infectious origin. Abscesses, phlegmons, inflammation of internal organs of non-infectious origin usually lead to activity the defense system of the body, based on an increase body temperature.
Please remember that there are other causes of fever to dogs. It is important to consult your veterinarian to rule out any serious problems and get a correct diagnosis.
What Symptoms of Fever does Your Dog have?
Fever is not an independent disease, but a specific reaction of the body’s immune system. Clinically, an increase in animal’s body temperature is accompanied by the following symptoms:
Appetite decreases or disappears completely.
The nose is hot and dry on the touch.
The dog drinks often and a lot.
Weakness. Apathy. Vomiting.
Diarrhea.
Aggressiveness.
Accelerated heart rate.
Paws are hot on the touch, sometimes warm and wet.
Rapid breathing.
Pallor or yellowness of the mucous membranes.
Gums are swollen and red (usually they are pink).
Dogs often try to find a cool place to rest – a tiled floor or a bathroom.
What should You Do when Your Dog has a Fever?
The best decision would be to contact your veterinarian. Treatment won’t be the same if the problem is due to a bacterial, parasitic, or other infection. You will have to provide your veterinarian as much information as possible. Especially if your dog has had contact with infectious dogs, recently traveled, ingested medication, has been bitten or stung by insects, received vaccinations, had allergies.Due to this information and a detailed examination of the dog’s body, the veterinarian will be able to offer you one or more solutions to the problem. If necessary, your doctor makes blood and urine tests, as well as various x-rays, to rule out the risk of tumors, abscesses, or infections.
The first treatment for your dog is rest. The pet will have to recover his energy to avoid acerbation.
Through the use of medication provided by a veterinarian, most dogs return to normal health level after a few hours or days.
The most common treatment is the dog swallowing antibiotics if the fever is too strong.
Fever is the body’s way of fighting inflammation or infection. Therefore, do not try to lower your dog’s fever unless advised otherwise by your veterinarian.
If you are having an emergency situation and cannot visit your vet, there are a few things you can do to try to lower dog’s temperature a little. At the same time, before and after that, it is necessary to get your veterinarian through telephone, who will inform you if these tips are correct for your particular case.
- Use a bath towel and moisten it to make the dog sit on it.
- Give the dog some warm water to drink.
- Make sure the dog has access to shade and cooler areas of the house.
- Leave your dog alone for a little while.
How to Avoid Dog’s Fever: Some Tips
⦁ Visit your veterinarian every 6 – 12 months. Preventive medicine can save a lot of money and time if we know about pathology in time.
⦁ Timely vaccination. It is highly important to follow the dog’s vaccination schedule.
⦁ Deworming. To avoid problems with external and internal parasites, you should make deworming regularly on your veterinarian’s orders.
⦁ Monitor the air temperature. It is important for dogs because they can suffer from heatstroke, colds or hypothermia.
⦁ Toxicity. To avoid possible intoxication, it is important to identify which plants are toxic to dogs and to study feed composition that your dog consume.
