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OhMyDog.Rocks

OhMyDog.Rocks: Conditions

What a dog ages into, and what cannot wait

The diseases sheet next door covers infections, the things a dog catches. These are the other kind: the conditions a body arrives at on its own, and the emergencies that arrive without warning. They are ordered by how fast each one has to be acted on, because that is the only question worth answering first.

17 records · 109 questions

Go now7

  1. Bloat (GDV)Stomach and abdomen · Resolves with treatmentA swollen, drum-tight belly and retching that produces nothing. There is no useful home treatment, the correct response is to stop thinking and start driving.
  2. Choking and CPRAirway and breathing · Resolves with treatmentThe one record that is useless if you first read it during the emergency. Hand positions, compression rate, and why blind finger sweeps make choking worse.
  3. Heat strokeWhole body · Resolves with treatmentThe emergency most likely to happen to an ordinary Indian dog on an ordinary day. Start cooling before you get in the car, and not with ice.
  4. PoisoningWhole body · Resolves with treatmentWhat, how much, when, the three facts everything depends on. Why inducing vomiting is often the wrong move, and the household poisons specific to Indian homes.
  5. Seizures and epilepsyBrain and nervous system · Managed, not curedTime it, film it, clear the space, and never put your hands near the mouth. Five minutes, or two in a day, is the line between an event and an emergency.
  6. Snake biteWhole body · Resolves with treatmentKeep them still and drive. No tourniquet, no cutting, no sucking, no ice, and find out today which clinic near you actually stocks antivenom.
  7. When to rush to the vetWhole body · Resolves with treatmentThe signs that mean go now, the ones that mean today, the gum check worth practising on a healthy dog, and the three things to prepare while nothing is wrong.

Seen today1

  1. Wounds and bleedingSkin and soft tissue · Resolves with treatmentFirm pressure for ten minutes without peeking, and no powder or turmeric. The wounds that look worst are rarely the dangerous ones, a small bite puncture usually is.

Seen this week6

  1. Cushing's diseaseHormones and metabolism · Managed, not curedDrinking constantly, a pot belly over thinning legs, symmetrical hair loss and skin that bruises. Diagnosis takes a dynamic test and several hours, not one blood draw.
  2. Dental diseaseMouth and teeth · Managed, not curedThe most common disease in adult dogs, and the least treated, because dogs almost never stop eating because of it, however much it hurts.
  3. DiabetesHormones and metabolism · Managed, not curedDrinking more, urinating more, eating more, losing weight anyway. Insulin for life, and far more ordinary day to day than the diagnosis first sounds.
  4. HypothyroidismHormones and metabolism · Managed, not curedWeight gain, lethargy, a thinning coat and a rat-like tail get attributed to middle age for years. It is one blood test and a cheap daily tablet.
  5. Kidney diseaseKidneys and urinary tract · Progressive, slowed, not stoppedSilent until roughly two-thirds of function is gone. Increased drinking is the earliest visible sign, and the SDMA blood marker finds it months before creatinine does.
  6. Lumps and bumpsSkin and soft tissue · Resolves with treatmentNobody can tell what a lump is by feeling it, not you, not your vet. A ten-minute needle sample answers what months of watching will not.

Managed over time3

  1. ArthritisJoints and mobility · Progressive, slowed, not stoppedA dog that has stopped doing things it used to enjoy is telling you it hurts, not that it is old. Weight loss outperforms every drug available.
  2. Hip dysplasiaJoints and mobility · Progressive, slowed, not stoppedLargely inherited, but how fast a puppy grows changes how badly it expresses. Bunny-hopping in a young large-breed dog is the sign worth acting on.
  3. ObesityWhole body · Resolves with treatmentAround 59% of dogs are overweight and most of their owners do not think so. The most treatable thing on this shelf, and the least treated.

About this sheet

Why are these separate from the diseases page?
Because they are a different kind of record. The diseases register is organised around infection, what causes it, how it spreads, whether a vaccine exists, whether your family is at risk. None of those questions apply to arthritis or heat stroke. Forcing them onto the same sheet would mean filling four columns with "not applicable" on every row, which helps nobody.
Why is this page ordered by urgency rather than alphabetically?
Because a reader who arrives here at two in the morning is asking one question, and it is not a question about the alphabet. The first band holds the records where a delay measured in hours changes the outcome. Everything else can wait until you have read that band and ruled it out.
Has a vet checked these?
Each record states its own position at the top. Where a record has not yet been reviewed by a practising veterinarian, it says so plainly rather than implying a review that has not happened. All of them are sourced from the veterinary literature, and none of them are a substitute for someone examining your dog.
What does "managed, not cured" mean?
That the condition does not go away, but it can be controlled well enough that your dog lives comfortably, hypothyroidism and diabetes are the clearest examples. It is distinguished here from conditions that resolve with treatment and from progressive ones, where the honest description is that treatment slows the decline rather than stopping it.