Common Canine Diseases

Canine Distemper:

• Description: Canine distemper is a highly contagious viral disease most common in unvaccinated puppies 12- to 16-weeks-old, but it can affect any dog with a poor immune status. Nearly every dog will be exposed to distemper virus in its lifetime, and when infection occurs, it is often fatal. It attacks many organs in addition to the nervous system.
• Transmission: The virus is spread through coughing, sneezing, and other body secretions.
• Clinical Signs: Fever, loss of appetite, diarrhea, listlessness, vomiting, slobbering, and discharge from the eyes and nose. In its final stages, the disease may cause convulsions, paralysis, and death.

Canine Parvovirus:

• Description: Canine parvovirus (CPV) is an intestinal disease with rapid onset and varying degrees of illness. It most commonly affects puppies with mild to severe illness. The disease can cause death.
• Transmission: Canine parvovirus is transmitted from one dog to another through feces or from objects contaminated by feces. It can be carried on a dog's hair and feet, as well as on contaminated cages, shoes, and other objects. Because food and water dishes, cages, bedding, litter boxes, rugs, and soil can become contaminated with the virus, the dog's environment can become a reservoir for infection.
• Clinical Signs: Depression, loss of appetite, vomiting, abdominal pain, and severe bloody diarrhea.

Leptospirosis:

• Description: Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease of mammals including dogs and humans. It can be transmitted to dogs by infected dogs, wildlife, livestock, and rodents. The Leptospira bacteria most frequently affect the liver and kidneys.
• Transmission: Leptospira bacteria are passed through the urine of infected animals including dogs, wildlife, rodents, and livestock. The bacteria can enter through a break in the skin or when infected urine is ingested. Outbreaks of Leptospirosis infections occur frequently after periods of heavy rain. The bacteria can be found in standing water, rivers, streams, and ponds.
• Clinical Signs: Fever, weight loss, dehydration, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, kidney pain, yellowing of the skin (jaundice), and increased urination.

Canine Adenovirus Type 2 (CAV-2):

• Description: Canine Adenovirus Type 2 is a highly infectious respiratory disease in dogs. It causes local infections in the upper respiratory tract and may progress to lower respiratory disease in puppies or debilitated adult or aged dogs.
• Transmission: The virus is transmitted via aerosolized respiratory secretions.
• Clinical Signs: Runny nose, possible fever, and dry harsh coughing followed by retching and gagging.

Canine Adenovirus Type 1 (Canine Hepatitis):

• Description: Canine hepatitis is a highly contagious viral disease of dogs.
• Transmission: It is spread to other dogs when they come into contact with an infected dog's stool, saliva, or urine.
• Clinical Signs: Lethargy, lack of appetite, fever, discharge from the eyes and nose, bloody diarrhea, vomiting, "tucked-up" posture, sensitivity to light, tonsillitis, bleeding gums, yellowing of the whites of the eyes (jaundice), and uncontrolled bleeding. The death rate is highest in young dogs.

Canine Parainfluenza:

• Description: Canine parainfluenza is a respiratory infection in dogs.
• Transmission: It is highly contagious and is transmitted readily by aerosols.
• Clinical Signs: Infection of the parainfluenza virus produces coughing and fever. This virus is typically mild; however, secondary bacterial infection may occur and contribute to a more severe disease.

Salmon poisoning

• Description: Salmon Poisoning is an intestinal parasite that usually affects dogs, foxes, and coyotes primarily in the Pacific Northwestern US.
• Transmission: Occurs after consumption of raw salmon or trout carrying rickettsial-infected flatworm (fluke) larvae (Nanophyetus salmincola).
• Clinical Signs: symptoms include high fever, swollen lymph nodes; usually fatal within five days

Prostatitis:

• Description: Inflammation of a gland near the urinary bladder (prostate gland) in male dogs; usually controlled by antibiotic drugs; other prostate-gland disorders.
• Transmission: May result from tumors (carcinoma, sarcoma) or from abnormal increase in cell multiplication (hyperplasia)
• Clinical Signs: In male dogs, straining during defecation, walking abnormally, and sometimes blood or pus draining from the urethra, straining to urinate.

Congenital heart disease:

• Description: Congenital heart disease may occur in 1 percent of all dogs; heart disorders may lead to secondary disease diseases such as pneumonia, accumulation of fluid in body cavities, labored breathing, edema (swelling); heart failure occurs.
• Transmission: Congenital heart disease is present at birth and is rare.
• Clinical Signs: Early signs are hard to detect but may include shortness of breath or coughing during short periods of exercise/excitation, rapid breathing, abdominal swelling, weight loss.

Hip Dysplasia:

• Description: Hip dysplasia is a crippling disorder common in many breeds (especially German shepherds); a shallow hip socket (acetabulum) results in an unstable hip joint, particularly during motion of hind leg.
• Transmission: Hip dysplasia is a hereditary disease that commonly affects larger purebred dogs, but may also affect smaller, non-purebred dogs, and is a result of abnormal development of the hip joint.
• Clinical Signs: Pain or discomfort during or after exercise, abnormal gait (walk), stiffness or pain in rear legs.

Kidney Stones

• Description: Calculi develop in kidney, bladder, and male urethra (tube from bladder to outside of body); surgery usually necessary; inherited types include cystine calculi, and uric acid calculi.
• Transmission: High concentration of mineral salts in urine.
• Clinical Signs: Painful urination, bloody urine (hematuria).

Hypothyroidism:

• Description: The thyroid gland may function marginally or be absent; symptoms include awkward, slow movement, coarse, dry coat; treatment includes iodine, thyroid preparations.
• Transmission: Hypothyroidism results from the impaired production and secretion of thyroid hormone. The production of thyroid hormone is influenced by the pituitary gland, the hypothalamus, and the thyroid gland. Heredity and damage to the gland may also be factors.
• Clinical Signs: Non-itching hair loss, weight gain, High blood cholesterol, darkened skin pigment in groin area, lethargy. (Mental dullness or depression, constipation, anemia, muscle loss, are also common but may be symptoms of other diseases as well.)

Dermatitis:

• Description: Dermatitis is a common term used to describe inflammatory diseases of the skin. Transmission:
• Causative agents include nutritional deficiencies, bacterial infections, hypothyroidism, allergies, hormone imbalances, and parasites (e.g., fleas, lice, mites, fly larvae, and ticks)
• Clinical Signs: Common symptoms include skin inflammation and loss of hair.

Strychnine Poisoning:

• Description: Strychnine poisoning is the affect on the neurological system of a dog after it has ingested poison for the control of rodents. It is highly toxic and may result in death.
• Transmission: Accidental ingestion of 0.75 milligram of the poison (found in rat poisons) per kilogram (about 2.25 pounds) of body weight may cause death from convulsions and respiratory distress
• Clinical Signs: Violent seizures, Rigidity, Muscle stiffness, Fast heart rate, Difficult or slow breathing, Cessation of breathing and death.

Glaucoma:

• Description: Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases in which the retina and optic nerve are damaged.
• Transmission: Certain breeds have a hereditary tendency for the disease; this is known as Primary Glaucoma. Other breeds develop glaucoma as a result of other eye disorders that have caused decreased fluid drainage. This condition is called Secondary Glaucoma.
• Clinical Signs:  Red or blood shot eye, cloudiness of the cornea, vision loss.

Pancreatitis:

• Description: In acute types the gland may be destroyed because of inflammation from unknown causes; an animal that lives may develop diabetes mellitus or be unable to secrete enzymes from pancreas, or both, thus preventing digestion, which increases the appetite and causes progressive weight loss; treatment difficult.
• Transmission: Pancreatitis is caused by poor nutrition, malabsorbtion of food.
• Clinical Signs: Soft, pale and voluminous stools, weight loss, greasy soiling of the area around the rectum, and sometimes the entire hair coat.

** The author of this article accepts no liability for misdiagnosis. If your animal shows any signs/ symptoms of the diseases described above, contact your veterinarian immediately. This is an informational article only and is NOT a complete list of diseases in dogs. This article should not take place of regular veterinary care.*