Canine Septic Shock Treatment

The principal and most important aspects of treatment of the septic dog include drainage of the septic focus, appropriate antibiotic treatment and aggressive fluid therapy. Low-output sepsis may be nothing more than inadequately resuscitated high-output sepsis.

Drainage of the septic focus is mandatory. Drainage may entail lancing an abscess or maintaining open abdominal drainage for peritonitis. Wounds and drainage should be cultured for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, and the dog should be started on appropriate antimicrobial therapy with a bactericidal antibiotic. Pending the results of culturer and sensitivity, antibiotic choice location may be based on Gram Stain previous experience, and location of the septic focus. Otherwise, combinations ofof ampicillin and gentamicin, or cefazolin, metronidazole and gentamicin or cefotetan provide coverage against a broad spectrum or aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Antibiotics are continued until the temperature and white blood cell count have returned to normal.

Pulmonary damage and pulmonary hypertension also occur in septic shock; the etiology is not known. The dog is monitored for signs of pulmonary edema (increased respiratory rate, moist rales, radiography), and if pulmonary edema occurs, less aggressive fluid therapy is indicated. Positive end-expiratory pressure respiration has been recommended if respiratory distress is suspected.

Metabolic support is frequently necessary to arrest protein catabolism is septic shock. Intravenous hyperalimentation, possibly with branched-chain amino acids is recommended. Use of antiserum to the lipopolysaccharide core of endotoxin may be promising. Use of glucose-insulin-potassium mixtures may also be beneficial.

Puppy House Training | House Training a Puppy

House training your puppy

When you are training your puppy to be clean in the house do not expect too much from him at first. After every meal always put him out of doors or take him to a particular spot where you want him to be clean. Get him into the habit of going to the same place. If given the opportunity the puppy will much prefer to be clean out of doors rather than soil the floor.

As soon as he wakes from a sleep he should again be put outside for a few minutes. If this routine is carried out you will have very little trouble at all, but you must not expect your puppy to go through the night without making a puddle whilst he is still having his milk drink last thing at night. If he sleeps in the house a piece of newspaper put down near the door will encourage him to visit it and avoid accidents elsewhere. The old fashioned method of 'rubbing a puppy's nose in it' when he has made a mess is totally wrong and quite unnecessary. A little time and patience is all that is needed.

Consult your veterinary surgeon with regard to inoculation. Twelve weeks of age is the usual time to have the first injection but it does depend on the maker of vaccine used.
Distemper, hard pad, contagious hepatitis, and leptospirosis are the four diseases chiefly concerned, and are the scourge of the canine world. In order to obtain lifelong protection, an annual booster injection is advisable but this does depend on whether one's dog is likely to come in contact with possible sources of infection, such as going to shows. A small percentage of dogs do not respond adequately to vaccination but on the whole it is very successful and the only safeguard.

From the time the puppy is six weeks old get him used to standing on a table whilst you groom him and stand him as if at a show. He will soon learn to be handled and by doing this almost daily he will stand quite still and you will get a perfect picture of your future show prospect. When he is about three months old he will be too big to lift on to a table so you must continue to practice on the ground. As he gets a little older buy a light weight cord lead and, after grooming, put it on him and encourage him to run up and down. Treat it as a game and he will soon get the idea of following you. In the same way as one teaches a child good deportment, so a dog can be taught to stand and move correctly.

mycaninecare.com recommendation:
Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way to Transform Your Dog and Your Life by Cesar Millan.

Feed Puppy | Feeding puppy

Feeding your puppy

Feeding methods vary considerably after choosing a puppy, so one must not be too dogmatic about them but, however you decide to feed your puppy, stick to a regular diet and regular feeding times. Feed your puppies with the meat, biscuit meal, milk and eggs.

A puppy at six weeks old should weigh from nine to ten pounds. You should weight your puppies at this age which is the age at which you should generally worm them for the first time. Never let the puppy leave the kennel before it has been wormed for the second time which is at about eight weeks old.

The diet for a puppy of eight weeks old would be as follows:

9 a.m. One quarter of a pound of meat either raw or cooked, mixed with sufficient fine biscuit meal which it will clear up readily. Increase the amount of biscuit meal as required. This should be soaked in gravy or stock of some kind such as Oxo or Marmite. The mixture should be allowed to stand for about fifteen minutes before serving to the puppy and it should not be sloppy or sticky. Do not use boiling liquid as this is apt to make it sticky. A nice crumbly consistency is best. Add to this crushed vitamin tablets. At this age puppies are too young to swallow tablets whole voluntarily but will do so quite happily when a little older. Extra calcium preparation such as 'Stress' should be added to the food. If you are using raw meat it should be either minced or cut up very finely.

This meal should be repeated again at 6p.m. At 2 p.m. and again last thing at night, give the puppy half a pint of milk or milk powder to which Farex, Farlene or similar baby cereal has been added to make a creamy consistency. Add one raw egg to every pint of milk that you mix, so that each puppy has an egg every day. At eight weeks old the puppy will begin to take an interest in chewing hard biscuits so give a few after the midday milk. Also give big bones to chew and play with. These are better raw and should not be sharp or splintery. No poultry, game or rabbit bones should ever be given. The amount of meat should gradually be increased so that at twelve weeks old the puppy is having six ounces in the morning and six in the evening. He should be sufficiently well grown now to go on to three meals a day. Leave off the milk last thing at night and give him a few hard biscuits instead when he goes to bed. If you are house training him you will find that this will enable him to be drier at night.

Continue this diet until the puppy is six months old when he will probably not require such a big morning feed. Discontinue the meat and biscuit in the morning and give the egg and milk instead. Increase the amount of milk and give a piece of baked bread or hard biscuit afterwards. The evening meal will now consist of one pound of meat and as much biscuit meal as he will readily clear up. An average amount would be half a pound of biscuit but condition and appetite must be considered and regulated accordingly.

At nine months old the puppy should be well bodied-up and no longer require the milk in the morning. Some puppies, however, are slower developing and it would be advisable to continue giving this milk as long as you consider it necessary.

mycaninecare.com recommendation: Natural Raw Puppy Bison Bars.