Dog Health Conditions and Terms You Should Know, Part 3…
Dog Health Conditions and Terms You Should Know, Part 3...
Continued from part two.Epilepsy/seizure disorderWhen your Boxer is between 2 to 5 years old, he may develop seizure disorder.When he has an epilepsy attack, he'd be unconscious and may look like he is not breathing but he is. He is not suffering.The information that would be important to your veterinarian regarding such episodes includes:> Duration of the attack> The type of muscular activity your Boxer exhibits during seizure> Any abnormal behavior during the attack> Frequency of the seizureWhat you do in such instances is not panic and time the attack by actually looking at a watch or clock.It may only take place for 30 seconds but may seem forever to you. You need a veterinarian if it lasts more than 5 minutes.Emergency treatment is definitely called for if your Boxer goes into seizure for 10 minutes or longer, twice in the span of 24 hours, or if he has a second attack before he could completely recover from the first seizure attack.Remain by your Boxer's side; be there when he comes out of the seizure to calm him. Stroke and comfort him.To keep your Boxer from hurting himself during the seizure, move away furniture from the immediate area and protect him from water, the stairs and any sharp objects. If you can, place a pillow under his head to protect him from head trauma.Unlike seizure attacks in human, animals do not swallow their tongue. So you don't have to put your hand or spoon or any other object into your Boxer's mouth when he has an attack. You might get bitten.Also, keep children and other pets away from your sick Boxer.Coming out of the seizure, your Boxer will be groggy, confused and feel like he has done something wrong. He may make unusual sounds and stumble around.Do not allow him on the stairs until he has fully recovered. In the mean time, sooth him by talking to him softly, offer him some water, stroke and comfort him.And if he doesn't recover fully after 30 minutes, consult your veterinarian or any emergency vet facility.Flea-infected BoxersFlea-infected Boxers can develop skin diseases especially those allergic to fleas.Black specs in the fur and bite marks on the skin tell if your Boxer has them. To check further, spread some newspapers and place your Boxer on top. Brush him and look for the black specs falling off.Fleas live up to 6 weeks, feeding on blood and during that time would have laid hundreds of eggs that mostly land on your Boxer's bedding, carpets and other favorable nests around your home.The eggs hatch into larvae that seek nice, dark places while feeding on flea's droppings, dust, human shed skin, dandruff and other such tasty morsels.The larvae turn into hardy pupae that could survive for months before changing into adult fleas.Fleas are host to tapeworms. Both problems are likely to occur together in your Boxer and, therefore, the treatments are also usually given together by the vet.A bit of garlic a day may keep the fleas away from your Boxer.Heart ailments-Bradycardia or slow heart rate may be a symptom of thyroid disorder in Boxers.-Dialated cardiomyopathy constitutes a serious, emergency case.Your dog may collapse from it or the back legs have sudden pain and paralysis.It is a serious heart condition whereby the heart muscle is enlarged and thin walled. Your Boxer will experience shortness of breath, coughing and can't take to exercise.Another serious heart condition is called cardiac conduction disease that is affecting Boxer's longevity. It was previously known as Boxer cardiomyopathy but the new term is used to differentiate it from dilative cardiomyopathy.Cardiac conduction is difficult to deal with due to 3 factors.-One is many Boxers will not show any symptom (asymptotic) but will just drop dead suddenly from it.-The Boxers develop this disease later in life, often after they have been bred.-There was no good screening method for it until the one recently developed by Ohio State University researchers, called the 24-hour Holter monitor test.However, there is still no assurance that Boxers "cleared" now from cardiac conduction disease by the Holter test will remain so in the future.Many breeders and Boxer experts are now working to refine the test procedures, expand the database and come up with a guideline to select only, for breeding purposes, those Boxers with high probability of being free of the disease.There are also concerns elimination of too many dogs from the gene pool would be bad for the breed diversity and could cause more problems in the future. Some opinions hold that extensive culling should only get done after more studies on genetic diversity in Boxers.Hip dysplasiaThis is a bone disorder whereby there is an improper fit of the large femur bone with the hip socket, causing lots of pain and lameness.It occurs more in malesThis articles is available at http://www.thingsfordogs.com/dog-health3.phpPart 1 is available at http://www.thingsfordogs.com/dog-health.php
Part 2 is available at http://www.thingsfordogs.com/dog-health2.phpDaniel Lesser
Dog and Puppy Articles, Pictures and Resources
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How To Improve Your Mood And Health With Deep Breathing Exercises
How To Improve Your Mood And Health With Deep Breathing Exercises
It is relatively well known now that exercise releases endorphins that can help to pull you out of a bad mood and to aid in alleviating depression. However, mental fatigue and depression are hard moods to simply overcome. You may not wish to train for forty-five minutes to an hour. It might be too hard to even get down to the gym for this to occur!Here is a good idea, instead of looking at your workout session in terms of an hour each time, shorten it.Plan just fifteen minutes!Change the manner in which you train. All you need is your body, (preferably fresh) air, and your ability to breathe. You can do simple health and mood-enhancing routines at home in a very short time.A good tip is to avoid doing exercises that require minutes in between to recover. Make sure you are constantly doing physical activity for those fifteen minutes. This will keep your mind occupied and remove the chance of thinking about what it is that is bothering you. Those nagging problems won't have an opportunity to take hold of you training in this manner.By the time you have reached fifteen minutes of continual movement through deep breathing exercises those endorphins will have kicked in and you'll be feeling great! No need for an hour of gym based training.Now, after you have done this for just fifteen minutes, perhaps you will want to go to the gym. Perhaps you will want to do more. Or perhaps not.The point is this. If you allot fifteen minutes each and every day to simple body movement and breathing exercises you will feel a lot better than if you just go to the gym twice a week for forty five minutes and while there you train in a disjointed fashion!Essentially be your own gym. If you learn certain health and mood improving deep breathing exercises you at least have a choice. Either just do them for ten or fifteen minutes each day or do them and do a standard gym session. In essence, you utilise your breath to wake you up and get the endorphins to kick in so to speak, and this provides the impetus to do more.Beginning is half done. When you awaken yourself using deep breathing exercises you are much more likely to want to take the day by storm!Try the following examples for easy to do, and access, exercises using nothing more than your ability to breath and using simple body movements.1.Standing up straight, hands by your side, expel all the air from your lungs. Raise the hands, bringing palms together above the head, making a full inhalation at the same time. From this position slowly allow your arms to drop back down to your sides while expelling all the air from your lungs. Try this ten times.2.Standing normally swing your arms forward while rising up on your toes. While doing this inhale deeply. Then as your arms swing back and behind your body bring your heels down and exhale. Make this a dynamic movement. Perform for twenty to thirty repetitions.3.Standing normally inhale deeply while gently bridging backwards (not too far!) and then bend forwards exhaling all the air from your lungs. Come back to normal standing position and repeat ten times.Try these three for now focusing upon breath first and body movement second. Use them as a short circuit in the morning or any time you need a mood enhancer or quick increase in energy levels!Have at it!
From Savu to Infrared ? The History and Health Benefits of Saunas – Home-Improvement
From Savu to Infrared ? The History and Health Benefits of Saunas
The health benefits of saunas are not a recent discovery. The use of steam or smoke baths to cleanse the body and reduce stress has been a part of religious, social, and family traditions in numerous cultures for thousands of years. Native Americans, Russians, Romans, and Mediterranean cultures all had some sort of bathing facilities and rituals that played important roles in both private and public life in those communities. But it is the Finns who are credited with developing the modern sauna.The Finnish SavuHistorical evidence and records indicate that the Finns built the first wooden saunas over 2000 years ago. The early Finnish sauna was dug into a hill or embankment. As tools and techniques advanced, they were later built above ground using wooden logs. Rocks were heated in a stone fireplace with a wood fire. The smoke from the fire filled the room as the air warmed.Once the temperature reached desired levels, the smoke was allowed to clear and the bathers entered. The wood smoke aroma still lingered and was part of the cleansing ritual. This type of traditional smoke sauna was called a savu, which means smoke in Finnish.The Evolution of the SaunaEventually the sauna evolved to use a metal woodstove, or kiuas (ke-wus), with a chimney. Air temperatures averaged around 180F but often exceeded 200 degrees in a traditional Finnish sauna. Steam vapor, also called l