Treatment For Canine Mastitis
Canine mastitis is a breast infection in brood bitches, usually occuring a few weeks after whelping. It is not that common, but you should be aware of it. The breasts of a lactating brood bitch are normally warm and enlarged, but never red, dark, hot or painful when touched. Advanced canine mastitis presents as a hard, hot and almost black breast segment, which is extremely painful for the brood bitch when touched. Canine mastitis can be caused by weaning puppies too early, severe scratches from puppies claws or some other infection.
A
bitch with canine mastitis may be running a fever, be listless and possibly
be off her food. She may not allow her puppies to nurse, and if she does,
she will be "snappy" when they touch the affected area.
Treating Canine Mastitis
If your brood bitch shows signs of breast infection it may be canine mastitis, so get her to your vet immediately. He will prescribe some antibiotics and possibly advise hand feeding of the pups. However, I have found that on getting the canine mastitis fever down, she will allow the pups to nurse again, and feeding from the infected breast will not affect the pups at all... in fact I've found it helps clean the breast infection out.
Invariably
the infection will cause the breast will rupture out the side, leaving
a large open wound which must be cleaned daily. The antibiotics will prevent
further reinfection. You'll find that when she has litters of puppies
in future, she not produce milk in the breast segment that was affected
by canine mastitis.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not passing judgment on Grandma, or anyone
else. I spoil my pets as much as the next guy or gal, and take immense
pleasure in it. Truth be told, I'd rather hang out with my dog than with
a whole lot of people I know. We share a special bond, my best friend
and I. Hey, admit it... lots of you feel the same way!
The
fact is, man has always had a close relationship with animals, and has
enjoyed having pets around for companionship. Having a pet can bring great
pleasure into our lives, and is believed to have a therapeutic effect
on the owner. For empty nesters and those who've delayed or opted out
of having kids, pets almost take the place of children. We bond with our
pets especially because they don't judge us. Dogs in particular offer
the kind of unconditional love we all crave. They're always thrilled to
have us around!
Russell Savige has 18 years experience as a professional dog breeder.
He is the owner of Training Dog Breeds, which includes a massive Directory
of dog related websites, covering breeds and breeding, training, rearing
and health issues in dogs.