Normal Vital Signs: By knowing what’s normal in your dog, like body temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate, you can better tell if your pet needs medical care.
Body Temperature: Body temperature in animals is taken rectally. The normal body temperature for a dog is 100 to 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit. If your pet has a temperature less than 99 or over 104, contact your veterinarian immediately.
Mucous Membrane Color: The most commonly examined mucous membranes are the gums. The color of the gums is a good indicator of blood perfusion and oxygenation. The normal gum color is pink. If your pet has pigmented gums, lowering the eyelid can also give you an indicator of mucous membrane color. Pale, white, blue or yellow gums are cause for concern and you should contact your veterinarian immediately.
Capillary Refill Time: Briefly apply pressure to the gums and release. The area should blanch and rapidly return to the normal pink color. This test is referred to as the capillary refill time and is a crude method of assessing circulation. Normal refill time is 1 to 2 seconds. If the refill time is less than 1 second or over 3 seconds, immediate veterinary care is recommended. To practice, you can do a quick capillary refill test on yourself. Press down on the tip of your fingernail. The pink skin underneath the nail will blanch. When you release the fingertip, the color rapidly returns to normal.
Heart Rate: You can feel your pet’s heartbeat on the left side of the chest at the area where a raised elbow will touch the chest. Your pet should be calm and quiet. Place your hand over this area of the chest and feel for a heartbeat. You can also use a stethoscope if you have one. Count the number of heartbeats for 15 seconds and multiply that number by 4. Be aware that a dog’s heartbeat will normally slow down and speed up with each breath. This is not an abnormal heart rhythm and does not require veterinary care.
If you cannot determine your pet’s heartbeat, you can try to determine the pulse rate. The easiest pulse to feel is the pulse associated with the femoral artery, which is best felt inside the back leg in the groin area. Place your first two fingers up high on the inside of your pet’s thigh. Slowly feel the area until you can detect a pulse. This method may take some practice and you may want to ask your veterinarian for guidance during a routine exam.
For dogs, a normal heartbeat varies on size: · Small dogs and puppies normally have heart rates of 120 to 160 beats per minute. · Dogs over 30 pounds have heart rates of 60 to 120. The larger the dog, the slower the normal heart rate.
If your pet has a heart rate outside the normal range, contact your veterinarian immediately.
Respiratory Rate: Counting the number of breaths per minute and determining the breathing pattern can be very important in an emergency. Learn the normal breathing rate and pattern for your pet.
Count the number of breaths your pet takes in one minute. Avoid counting when your pet is panting. A good time to count the normal breathing rate is when your pet is asleep.
Normal respiratory rates:
· For dogs: 10 to 30 breaths per minute. Dogs can also pant normally up to 200 pants per minute.
Determining the breathing pattern is also important. In a normal breath, the chest expands as the breath enters the chest. The chest then sinks as the breath leaves the chest. Exhalation requires no effort. If you notice your pet using his abdominal muscles to breath, gasping, making loud noises, taking shallow breaths, panting excessively or exhalation seems to be difficult, consult your veterinarian immediately. If you are unsure if your pet is breathing, place a cotton ball or tissue immediately in front of the nose and mouth. If you see movement of the cotton or tissue, your pet is still breathing. Another method is to use a mirror. Place the mirror in front of the pet’s mouth and nose. If you see condensation on the mirror, your pet is still breathing.
Hydration: Lift the skin on the back of the dogs neck, release quickly. The skin should spring back into place. If the skin remains up or is slow to go back down, your dog is dehydrated. Another method of checking for dehydration is to touch the dogs gums. If the dogs gums a slick – normal. If the dogs gums are sticky – moderately to severe dehydration. If the gums are dry – Critical dehydration.
** Baseline Chart: You should keep a baseline chart of what is normal for your dog for easy comparison.
Dog owners, who recognize the early signs and symptoms of illness or pain in their dogs, will not only relieve their loved one’s suffering but may also be able to save themselves an expensive trip to the veterinarian. Not only is it important to recognize these signs early to relieve pain and suffering, but it is much more effective to treat an illness when it is detected early.
The dog owner should keep an accurate and detailed account of their dog’s symptoms to help the veterinarian correctly diagnose and effectively treat the dog’s illness or condition. Most canine illnesses are detected through a combination of various signs and symptoms:
Temperature, Respiratory Rate and Heart Rate
A newborn puppy will have a temperature of 94-97º F. which will eventually reach the normal adult body temperature of 101.5º F. at the age of 4 weeks old. Take care when trying to take your dog or puppies temperature as the thermometer can easily be broken off in the canine’s rectum. Also any form of excitement can cause the temperature to rise by 2-3º when the dog is actually in normal health. If your dog’s temperature reaches 105º or above OR 96º or below please take him/her to the emergency vet immediately!
An adult dog will have a respiratory rate of 15-20 breaths per minute (depending on such variables as size and weight) and a heart rate of 80-120 beats per minute. You can feel for your dog’s heartbeat by placing your hand on his/her lower ribcage just behind the elbow. Don’t be alarmed if the heartbeat seems irregular compared to a human’s heartbeat, it is irregular in many dogs. Have your vet check it out and get used to how it feels when it is normal.
Behavior Changes
Any behavior changes that are not associated with a change in the household atmosphere, such as jealousy over a new pet or child may be an indication of an illness. Signs of behavioral changes may be:
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Sleepiness
• Trembling
• Falling/Stumbling
If your dog shows any of these signs, he/she needs to be kept under close watch for a few hours, or even a few days, until positive signs develop or he/she has returned to normal. Do not try to exercise the dog or put him/her in any situation that may cause stress. Most veterinarians will want for you to keep track of when the symptoms first appeared, whether they are getting better or worse, and also whether the symptoms are intermittent, continuous, or increasing in frequency.
Pain
Dogs that are in pain will likely indicate that they are suffering by giving you clues as to where the area of discomfort is. For instance, a dog that has abdominal pain will continually glance toward their belly, bite or lick the area, and will not want to leave his/her bed. The dog may stand hunched over, or take the ‘prayer position’ which is when a dog gets down on it’s forelegs with the hind legs still standing, because of the pain in her abdomen area.
Dogs can not tell you that they are hurting or cry real tears but a dog may vocalize their pain in a different way. A dog that is hurt suddenly (such as being stepped on) will cry out or whimper in pain. This also happens when an external injury or internal injury (such as an organ) is touched. Whining or vocalization that is unprovoked may be caused from an internal injury as well. Some breeds of dogs (such as the American Pit Bull Terrier) have a higher pain threshold and need to be watched more closely for signs of pain. Breeds with a high pain tolerance are more likely to endure the pain without vocalization.
Another clue to pain is a change in temperament. A dog that is in pain may show signs of aggression. Please take note of this before concluding that a dog has become vicious and let your veterinarian know so that the correct treatment can be administered. Also females in general (even humans!) have days when they are just in a bad mood for no obvious reason. Take note of days of times that these mood swings occur as well as any events that might have triggered them.
Other signs that your dog may be sick: • Ears: discharge, debris, odor, scratching, crusted tips, twitching or shaking.
• Eyes: redness, swelling or discharge.
• Nose: runny, thickened or colored discharge, crusty.
• Coughing, sneezing, vomiting or gagging.
• Shortness of breath, irregular breathing or prolonged/heavy panting
• Evidence of parasites in the dog’s stool, strange color, blood in the stool, or lack of a bowel movement (constipation).
• Loss of appetite or not drinking as much water as normally would.
• Weight Loss.
• Strange color of urine, small amount of urine, straining, dribbling, or not going as frequently as normal.
• Bad odor coming from mouth, ears, or skin.
• Hair loss, wounds, tumors, dander or change of the skin’s color.
• Biting of the skin, parasites, scratching or licking the skin frequently
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