Mastitis in dogs
Mastitis in dogs is A disease that is located in the mammary glands Of the females, almost always when they are raising puppies, but sometimes even if there is a psychological pregnancy, something that is more common than we think.
Causes
A canine mastitis is nothing more than an inflammation of the breasts of the females, which can be accompanied by infection or not, since sometimes there is only swelling.
Among the most usual causes is the way in which puppies get breast milk, especially when they are a bit larger and gain weight. So They press the breasts with the legs and nails, causing small injuries.
This is usually combined with a decrease in the mother's defenses, which facilitates inflammation and infection, which would otherwise not occur.
On other occasions it is not necessary that there are sucking puppies, since sometimes mastitis appears in psychological pregnancies. The dog is not pregnant, but she believes yes and the body acts accordingly.
In fact, even though there is really no pregnancy, breasts swell and get hard, which sometimes derives in a mastitis.
How to know if my dog has mastitis
The diagnosis must be made by a veterinarian, but we must be attentive to our dog if you have puppies, checking the breasts regularly in order to see if we notice them very hot, hard or swollen.
In addition, in the event that our dog changes behavior, it is also the first thing we must look at, in case it had a psychological pregnancy that has derived in a mastitis.
If you are raising, we will not only appreciate mastitis in our dog, but Puppies can also put us on alert, for example, if we notice that they stop giving weight.
In any case, a visit to our trusted veterinarian will bring us an accurate diagnosis in order to act accordingly, which always begins to withdraw the puppies, otherwise the problem will only go to more and will be aggravated.
This professional can do different tests, but sometimes a physical examination is enough for him and taking the temperature to the dog. In order to make sure you can analyze the breast secretions if there are or perform a milk crop.
Symptoms
There are several symptoms that are common to all bitches with mastitis, although it is true that sometimes it is not easy to associate them with this pathology if we do not make an exploration, since some such as fatigue are associated with parenting, especially if there are many puppies
Thus, with mastitis The first thing we notice is that the dog is very tired And fatigued, moving less than normal or making it very slowly. We should not think that it is a matter of breastfeeding, especially if it has also lost its appetite.
If despite having several sucking puppies, it is not eaten, it is best to start exploration as soon as possible.
What do we notice in the breasts of a dog with mastitis?
Already with this disease in mind, we are going to explore the breasts and we may see other very clear symptoms, such as very inflamed and hard tits, which get to hurt if we explore and touch them.
At this point it is common that The mother avoids breastfeeding the puppies, since they cause a pretty strong pain that no longer supports.
In turn, it is likely that the area around the breasts is red and irritated or even has some packages or protuberances.
Other symptoms, of the clearest, are the hemorrhagic secretions with pus, perhaps what warns us most, because we all know that milk is neither red nor green.
It can also have vomiting, diarrhea and fever, although of course the most obvious signals are what we appreciate in the breast area.
Puppies also suffer from some symptoms
Although puppies do not infect mastitis, even when it is as an infection, they present symptoms that also indicate that the mother can suffer from this problem.
Suddenly, we notice that they are not taking weight as they should. In fact, they even lose weight because they do not suck quite a lot, because the mother prevents it.
Your activity also low. The aforementioned puppies that did not stop moving now are weak and complain all day, as if they were hungry.
As if that were not enough, they can have diarrhea and vomit, in addition to losing their hair due to lack of nutrients by not ingesting all the milk they need.
Treatment
In the beginning, and if it is taken in time, mastitis is not a serious illness, but it can go more in the event that it goes unnoticed.
The treatment begins with a broad spectrum antibiotic such as amoxicillin For about two or three weeks. After that time, if mastitis has not disappeared or sent almost entirely, it is necessary to make a crop.
With this, it is seen what is the specific bacteria that is causing mastitis and the best antibiotic can be prescribed to eliminate it.
In addition, the veterinarian will prick the female an anti -inflammatory in order to take away the pain as soon as possible and lower the swelling, which will accompany with a recipe to give it compressed at home for a few days.
Another treatments is to get the milk that is retained And if there are wounds in the breast area, you can apply some treatment (even a natural one) with the idea that you improve as soon as possible.
There are serious cases in which the dog has to go through the operating room, because we must drain the entire pus accumulated in the mammary glands and it may be that the mastectomy is a good decision.
To end the treatment, at first it is likely that the veterinarian manages an intravenous serum with some vitamins or even glucose, especially if he has a fever or sees it very weak.
Prevention
We already know the symptoms and treatment, but the most important thing is the prevention of mastitis in dogs, because the puppies have to breastfeed and nothing better than they do with their mother, ingesting natural milk.
We will start with breast hygiene. One or twice a day we will proceed to clean them with water and a sterile gauze, something that will not affect puppies, because they will not perceive any strange flavor.
This will allow us to notice immediately if the breasts are changing or there is any problem that leads to mastitis.
The puppies are also part of the prevention, so with the same procedure we are going to clean their legs eliminating dirt and feces, which we do not want to end in the mother's breasts.
Finally, when the puppies are sucking, you have to see if they do all the tits. If we let one of the puppies take it and put it to breastfeed there, then It is essential that all breasts "work" and allow milk to come out through them so as not to cause retentions.
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