DrBarchas.com is a free resource for people with pets. Searchable articles are available on diseases, behavior, symptoms, and medical treatments for dogs and cats.
Primarily dogs; occasionally cats
Heartworm disease affects dogs most frequently. Cats suffer from heartworm disease less often but are still at risk. Heartworms have been found in people in rare cases.
Puppies and kittens. Rarely, adult cats and dogs.
Coccidia are microscopic intestinal parasites of dogs and cats. They are extremely common, but they very rarely cause symptoms in adult animals. In puppies and kittens, they are a frequent cause of diarrhea.
Untreated, severe cases of coccidia in young animals can lead to profuse diarrhea, dehydration, and serious illness. However, most cases of coccidia do not have these consequences.
Cats, dogs, puppies, and kittens.
Roundworms (often simply called worms) are extremely common in pets. In dogs and cats, worms may cause no symptoms whatsoever, or they may cause diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems. Many safe and effective treatments and preventatives are available to keep pets free of worms.
Hypothyroidism is common in middle-aged and older dogs.
Hypothyroidism is a disease of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland, located in the neck, produces a hormone called thyroid hormone. Although thyroid hormone plays a complex role in the body, its main effect is to increase the rate of metabolism. Hypothyroidism causes reduced production of thyroid hormone. Therefore, the main problem in hypothyroidism is reduced metabolism.
Dogs
Collapsing trachea is a common syndrome in middle-aged and elderly small dogs. In the syndrome, the structures that support the wind pipe, or trachea, weaken. This causes the trachea to narrow during the course of respiration, leading to irritation of the wind pipe and coughing.
Collapsing trachea is a chronic, progressive, and non-curable syndrome. However, it rarely causes severe compromise to quality of life, and very rarely contributes to premature death.
Dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens.
Tapeworms are parasites of dogs and cats. They live in the intestines and, although they rarely cause clinical symptoms or disease in pets, they rob their hosts of nutrients. Tapeworms are aesthetically unpleasant.
The most common type of tapeworm is spread by fleas. Pets contract this species of tapeworm when they swallow fleas in the process of grooming. Other tapeworms are spread through improperly prepared food.
All animals, regardless of species or age, experience pain.
Animals feel pain under the same circumstances as people. Anything that would cause pain in a person will cause pain in pets.
Symptoms of pain differ among species.
Cats:
Cats instinctively hide pain. Therefore, signs of pain in cats are usually subtle. A cat in pain may:
Cats and dogs.
Constipation is a syndrome in which a pet has difficulty defecating or is unable to defecate. It is characterized by repeated attempts to defecate that produce only small amounts of feces or no feces at all.
Dogs
Hormone-based urinary incontinence is a common problem in middle-aged and elderly spayed female dogs. The syndrome occurs less frequently in male dogs.
In affected individuals, an imbalance of hormones in the body causes urine to leak from the bladder. Affected dogs usually are not aware that urine is escaping from their bodies.
Most cases of urinary incontinence are manageable with a medication called PPA.