Grooming isn't just about appearance--it's an important part of your dog's health too. If you don't have your pooch groomed regularly, he could suffer a range of health problems, from bad skin to internal issues. One such internal issue is the intestinal blockage. Read on to find out more about it and how you can prevent it.
What Is an Intestinal Blockage?
An intestinal blockage is an obstruction in your dog's gastrointestinal system that stops everything from flowing through as it should. This leads to waste fluids and solids building up in the stomach, which will make your dog sick. Vomiting, lethargy, dehydration, acidic bile, loss of appetite, weight loss and constipation are just a few of the symptoms your your pup might face if his intestines are blocked.
If left untreated, these issues could make your dog seriously ill; remember that symptoms like dehydration and refusal to eat have the potential to be fatal. Even if you catch the blockage early, diagnosing and removing it can involve endoscopies, biopsies and surgery--none of which are a pleasant experience for your dog.
How Does Lack of Grooming Cause a Blockage?
Intestinal blockages are common because they have many possible causes. Sometimes an intestinal blockage is caused by a tumour or a swallowed foreign body. However, blockages can also be caused by large amounts of ingested fur. When your dog cleans himself, the loose fur he sheds ends up on his tongue, travelling through to his gastrointestinal system. If there's a lot of fur, it can ball up and become a thick, dense blockage in the intestines, which leads to all the aforementioned symptoms. While this is unlikely to happen to a well-groomed dog, dogs who haven't visited a groomer for a while will have more loose fur to swallow, making a blockage far more likely.
How Can You Prevent a Blockage?
Aside from keeping your dog away from small objects and taking them for regular checkups, you can prevent a fur-related blockage by having your dog groomed regularly to remove excess hair and manage shedding. Many owners neglect to take their dog to a groomer because of a busy schedule. If this is the case for you, consider calling in a mobile pet washing and grooming service. Mobile groomers can visit you in your home to keep your pet neat and trimmed, allowing you to fit grooming appointments into your daily life with ease.
Share26 September 2017
My son is a bit nervous. I thought a pet would be a good solution for him but I knew that we needed to find a pet with the right temperament so that it didn't stress him out anymore. Originally I didn't know much about how to assess animal temperaments so I spent some time looking at different ways of assessing animal 'personalities' and talking to some animal experts about the most calm options for pets. This blog has some of the information that I have picked up over my search as well as pictures of our beautiful new pet cat!
