"I felt that my husky's belly was very hot last night. Does it have a fever? I gave it some Enric to drink, but now its belly is still very hot. Why does the dog have a fever? What should I do if my dog ​​has a fever?”.

1. What diseases cause dog fever?

(1) High fever: Most acute infectious diseases will cause high fever, such as canine distemper, canine infectious hepatitis, etc. In addition, heat stroke, acute poisoning, acute pneumonia, acute pyelonephritis, puerperal fever, sepsis, pleurisy, acute pancreatitis, anal cystitis, etc. can also cause high fever.

(2) Persistent low-grade fever: seen in otitis externa, chronic bronchitis, chronic nephritis, gingival abscess, chronic periodontitis, hyperthyroidism, endometritis, etc. Most viral infectious diseases, such as canine distemper, canine infectious hepatitis, canine parvovirus, etc., will also continue to have low fever when they become chronic.

(3) Lowered body temperature: more common in failure, shock, massive blood loss, etc. In addition, organophosphorus poisoning, extreme dehydration, and hypothermia during convulsive attacks of neurological distemper, tetanus, epilepsy, etc.

2. How to recognize dog fever? What are the symptoms of dog fever?

Dogs are endothermic animals. The normal body temperature of dogs is 38.5 to 39 degrees Celsius for puppies and 37.5 to 38.5 degrees Celsius for adult dogs.

There are many reasons for a dog’s temperature to rise (fever), which can be divided into two categories. One type is physiological fever, such as strenuous exercise and eating; the other type is pathological fever, such as the effects of many viral and bacterial infections and their metabolites; tissue inflammation and necrosis; the effects of certain drugs and poisons; epilepsy , calcium deficiency spasm; hypermetabolic diseases (hyperthyroidism, etc.); heat stroke caused by high temperature in the external environment; pathological changes in the central nervous system, especially the temperature regulation center and its surrounding tissues, etc.

Essentially, a dog’s fever is its own defensive response. It manifests as accelerated blood circulation and enhanced ability to remove pathogens, metabolites, toxins, etc. from the body.

Therefore, there is no need to panic when a dog is found to have a fever, and it is not advisable to give the dog antipyretics when he sees a fever. Instead, he should see a veterinarian immediately to find out the cause of the fever.

3. What should you do if your dog has a fever?

If a dog has a fever, dog owners are advised not to delay and go to the pet hospital for diagnosis as soon as possible. Because there are many reasons for dogs to have fever, do not give your dog random doses of human antipyretics. Generally, as long as the fever is not caused by canine distemper, the pet hospital will give the dog an intravenous drip or infusion, and the dog will recover quickly. If the dog owner has limited time and cannot make it in time, the following physical cooling methods are also good.

1. Ice compress: Use an ice pack or soak a towel in cold water and wring it out, then apply it on the dog’s abdomen to help reduce their fever. Soak a towel in a diluted alcohol solution to use the alcohol's effect to make the temperature drop faster.

2. Cold bath: Soaking in cold water can help lower the body temperature. As long as the pet is in good physical condition, pet owners can let it soak in ice water for five to ten minutes.

3. Towel wrapping: For smaller dogs, you can wrap them in a large towel soaked in cold water. Most of the little ones who have a fever will stay in the towel obediently and enjoy a rare moment of coolness.

The most important thing to note is that dogs will lose more water when they have a fever. If they don’t get enough drinking water, they may be in danger of dehydration. It is very important to replenish water at this time! If your dog is unwilling to drink water, you can Put some ice cubes in its bowl, and a dog with a fever will be willing to lick this cold stuff.