If the dog's eyes are dull or half closed, he is unwilling to move, likes to lie still, his ears are slow or unresponsive to external stimuli, his expression is indifferent, and he is even in a lethargic state, which is called mental depression or coma. Some sick dogs are emotional, running around indoors and outdoors, frightened, screaming loudly, often walking aimlessly, circling, and even biting all kinds of things. This mental state is called mental excitement or mania. The above two mental states are abnormal mental manifestations.
In order to determine the nutritional status of dogs, we mainly check the status of fat and hair. A healthy dog should be slim, moderate, muscular and smooth, which makes people feel comfortable after seeing it. If the dog is thin, muscular, rough and dull, and the tail hair is upside down. , often suffering from parasitic diseases, skin diseases, chronic digestive diseases or some infectious diseases.
Judging from the posture, when the dog stands or walks, its limbs are restrained and it is afraid to carry heavy loads. When it stands or walks, it means that its limbs are weak, indicating that its limbs are abnormal. If the dog is curled up when lying down, with his head under his abdomen or lying in an unnatural posture, turning over from time to time means abdominal pain.
Under normal living conditions, the body temperature of healthy dogs is kept within a certain range, usually low in the morning and slightly high in the afternoon, and the temperature difference between day and night is generally not more than1` C. If it exceeds 1 ` C, or it is high in the morning and low in the afternoon, it means that the body temperature is abnormal. The normal body temperature of healthy dogs is 38,5 ′ C ~ 39 ′ C for puppies and 37 ′ C ~ 38 ′ C for adult dogs. A simple way to judge a dog's fever is to analyze the dog's nose, ears and mental state. The nose of a normal dog is cold and moist, and the skin temperature of the ear root is the same as that of other parts. If you see the dog's nose (nasal mirror) is dry and hot, the skin temperature at the root of the ear is higher than other parts, the dog is depressed, has poor appetite and is thirsty, which means that the dog's body temperature is high. In most infectious diseases, inflammation of respiratory tract, digestive tract and other organs, heatstroke, heatstroke and body temperature rise. In the case of poisoning, severe failure, malnutrition and anemia, the body temperature often drops.
The most accurate way to measure body temperature is to use a thermometer. When measuring the temperature, the mercury column of the thermometer should be kept below 35℃, wiped and disinfected with alcohol cotton balls, and coated with a small amount of lubricant (liquid white wax). The assistant should take good care of the dog. The thermometer should be slightly raised and slowly inserted into the anus. After insertion, the thermometer should be prevented from falling off. You can take it out and read the degree in 3 minutes. When the dog is excited, nervous and exercising, the rectal temperature will rise slightly.
Breathing condition: the dog must be kept quiet to see. Check the breathing state, including the number of breaths, the way of breathing and the degree of dyspnea.
(1) Breathing times: generally, according to the fluctuation of the chest and abdomen, it is 1 breath. Cold season can also be measured according to exhaled airflow. The respiratory rate of healthy dogs is 15 ~ 30 times per minute. The number of breaths is often influenced by some physiological factors and external conditions, such as puppies slightly more than adult dogs, pregnant dogs more than non-pregnant bitches, especially when exercising or excited, which can often be increased many times. In addition, the change of temperature and season will also affect the change of breathing times.
(2) Breathing mode: The normal breathing mode of dogs is chest breathing. If the abdominal wall movement is more obvious than the chest wall movement during breathing (abdominal breathing) or the chest wall and abdominal wall movement are carried out at the same time (thoracoabdominal breathing), it indicates that there is a disease in the chest or abdomen, such as pleurisy, pleural effusion or rib fracture.
(3) Respiratory rhythm: It is also important to check the respiratory rhythm of dogs for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases. The normal breathing of healthy dogs is an accurate and rhythmic alternating movement, that is, inhalation and exhalation. After each breath, after a short period of time, the dog breathes again, so it is very regular after circulation, which is called rhythmic breathing. Arrhythmia is an abnormal phenomenon. However, the respiratory rhythm of healthy dogs will change temporarily due to excitement, exercise, fear, screaming, sniffing and other reasons, which should be distinguished from pathological changes. When pain, hypoxia, nerve excitement and lung parenchymal lesions appear, the pathological frequency increases. When toxic coma occurs, the frequency decreases. In encephalitis and toxemia, the frequency is fast and slow (tidal breathing).
When the sick dog breathes, its mouth is open, its head and neck are straight, its ribs move up and its elbows expand outward, which is caused by airway obstruction. If the sick dog's breathing becomes shallow and the number of breaths increases, it means that the lungs cannot be completely expanded, which is common in rib fracture, pneumonia, pneumothorax or pleurisy. When the respiratory tract is compressed by foreign bodies or tumors, it can also be manifested as dyspnea.
Second, nasal secretions: healthy dogs have almost no secretions. When dogs catch a cold or have respiratory tract inflammation, secretions often flow out of their nostrils. The nature of secretion is serous (clearing nose), mucinous and purulent inflammation. Nasal secretions may be purulent (purulent nose), or may be mixed with blood or tiny foam. Secretion often varies with the degree of inflammation. Sometimes I can't see my nose, and most of them are licked or wiped off by dogs. But when I was seriously ill, I stopped licking my nostrils.
See through the digestive system (1) Oral examination: First, check the color of oral mucosa (oral color). The change of oral color can remind us of many diseases and their severity. The normal color of a healthy dog's mouth is pink, and some parts have different pigments. Oral irrigation refers to inflammation or elevated body temperature; Pale refers to anemia; Patients with hepatobiliary diseases may appear yellow red or yellow white; Patients with severe illness will appear blue-purple (cyanosis), leading to blood circulation disorder and even shock. When checking the color of the oral cavity, we should pay attention to whether there is tongue coating and its color, the activity of the tongue, whether there are ulcers and injuries. The mouth of a healthy dog is moist and cannot flow naturally. If saliva is secreted and sticky saliva flows out of the corners of the mouth, indicating that saliva is increasing, it is necessary to check the color, gums, oral mucosa and pharynx for blisters, ulcers and swelling. Also pay attention to whether there are foreign objects or sharp hard objects, such as bone fragments.
(2) Check appetite: By checking appetite, digestive system diseases and some infectious or toxic diseases can be found. Healthy dogs drink and have a big appetite, especially when there is fish in their food. They not only eat fast, but also bark and even bite when other dogs approach to warn them not to approach. If you see a dog after feeding, you just smell it and want to eat it, but don't eat it or walk away, even if you are not interested in the food you usually like, or don't eat much or at all, it means that the dog's appetite is poor or abandoned, and it is a digestive tract disease or infected with some infectious and parasitic diseases. But pay attention to distinguish between refusing to eat, picky eaters, or eating difficulties. In addition, most dogs with high fever, diarrhea and dehydration have significantly increased thirst and water consumption. But in severe cases of circulatory failure, dogs will stop drinking water.
(3) Examination of vomiting: Dogs are prone to vomiting, and sometimes they can vomit under normal circumstances. So we should pay attention to identify and analyze the causes of vomiting. For example, vomiting a lot of stomach contents at a time, and not vomiting for a short time, is often caused by food. Vomiting is actually a protective reaction of the body. Therefore, when dogs are found to vomit, they should be carefully analyzed and identified according to the time and frequency of vomiting, the quantity and smell of vomit, and the nature and composition of vomit. For example, frequent and repeated vomiting indicates that the gastric mucosa has been stimulated for a long time, so it often happens immediately after eating until the stomach contents are all spit out; If it is caused by feed spoilage, the vomit contains feed (carrion, etc.). ) just eaten; The vomit is brown or bright red, often accompanied by different degrees of gastroenteritis or gastric ulcer; If vomit is a colorless and foamy liquid, it is often caused by eating some irritants when the stomach is empty; Refractory vomiting can occur even on an empty stomach, which is mostly caused by stubborn diseases (such as cancer) in the stomach, duodenum and pancreas. At this time, vomit is often mucus; If the vomit is mixed with ascaris lumbricoides, it is mostly caused by excessive parasitic ascaris lumbricoides. In addition, when forced to eat or take medicine, it is also easy to cause vomiting, which needs attention.
(4) Observation of defecation: Observation of defecation should include defecation, defecation action and frequency, defecation appearance, defecation amount, defecation smell and defecation color.
A, defecation status: the dog's defecation posture is almost squatting. If you don't take the normal defecation posture, feces will involuntarily flow out of the anus, which is common in persistent diarrhea, the late stage of some intestinal infectious diseases and the relaxation or paralysis of anal sphincter after lumbar spinal cord injury. For example, dogs defecate frequently, but there is no defecation or only a small amount of mucus, which is mostly the performance of rectal infarction. Therefore, the sick dog shows mental disorder, pain, loss of appetite or stopping eating, and the abdomen is full and contains a lot of gas, which must be treated in time. For example, defecation is laborious, the feces are dry and hard, the amount is small, the color is dark, and there is sticky mucus or pseudomembrane on the surface, which can be seen in the early stage of constipation, fever or mild gastroenteritis. If the feces become thinner and softer, the amount increases, and undigested food is mixed in the feces, which indicates that the digestive function of the dog decreases. If the frequency of defecation increases, water samples, clots or mucus, pus, blood, bubbles, etc. It is constantly discharged, which is the result of enhanced defecation after intestinal stimulation, and is common in diseases such as enteritis. Pay attention to the location and nature of adhesion, whether it is on the surface of feces or in feces. If bright red blood is attached to the feces, it is a feature of posterior intestinal bleeding; When the blood is evenly mixed in the feces and is dark brown, it means that the bleeding site is in the stomach and foregut. Of course, we should also pay attention to the smell of feces, whether it is fishy or sour. If necessary, fecal parasite eggs should be checked.
B. Urination state: The male dog's urination posture is to lift one hind leg and then urinate to the side; Bitch's hind legs leaned forward slightly, crouched slightly, arched her back and raised her tail to pee. Urinary incontinence is more common in bladder sphincter paralysis or lumbar spinal cord injury. Feeling uneasy when urinating, the hind limbs and abdomen are supported on the cage net, which is the performance of micturition pain, mostly cystitis, urethral calculi or dermatitis; Decreased urine volume and urination times are more common in acute nephritis, severe abdominal pain, shock and heart failure.
After the above-mentioned visual inspection, we can find abnormal phenomena, diagnose and treat them in time, and prevent the illness from being delayed.