Everyday Health

Common signs owners notice at home, and which need a vet.

10 articles

• Dog Diarrhoea: The Signs That Change It From Wait to Vet

  The question is rarely whether the stool is loose. It is what else is happening at the same time.

• A Dry Dog Nose Does Not Mean a Sick Dog

  This is one of the most widely believed pieces of dog folklore, and it does not survive contact with a normal day in a dog's life.

• Vomiting vs Regurgitation: The Distinction That Changes Everything

  Owners describe both as being sick. Telling a vet which one it was narrows the possibilities dramatically before any test is run.

• Stomach Noises in Dogs: Loud Is Normal, Silent Is Not

  Most owners worry about loud gurgling. Vets are more interested in a gut that has stopped making noise at all.

• Excessive Wind in Dogs Is Usually Swallowed Air or the Food

  Two mechanisms produce nearly all of it, and one of them has nothing to do with what the dog ate.

• Twitching in Sleep Is Normal. A Seizure Looks Different, and Here Is How

  Both happen while a dog is lying down with its eyes partly open. Everything else about them is different.

• Blood in a Dog's Stool: Fresh Red and Black Tarry Mean Different Things

  The colour tells a vet roughly where the bleeding is, which is why it is the first thing they ask about.

• Dog Snoring: Normal in Some Breeds, a Warning Sign in Others

  What matters is not whether a dog snores but whether it always has, and whether the noise is only there during sleep.

• A Dog That Stops Drinking Is More Urgent Than One That Stops Eating

  Appetite loss buys you a day or two of watching. Refusing water does not.

• A Dog Ate One Grape: Why There Is No Known Safe Amount

  This is one of the few cases where the honest answer is that nobody can tell you a safe dose, because the dose-response does not behave normally.