Good information on dog panting. Had never heard about sweat glands on the ears.
Gloria -----Original Message----- From: Joan Croft <[email protected]> To: Chihuahuas <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, Mar 2, 2011 11:06 pm Subject: RE: [Chihuahuas] Freaked out... Very interesting…the day before and the morning that Desi threw up – no food or anything, only a yellow liquid – he was shaking real bad. I didn’t know if he was just cold on the tile floor, but he is always on the tile floor and he doesn’t shake all the time. When he shakes now, it is very slight and not all of the time. Then…I don’t know which one had the diarrhea, but they were both just sitting in the recliner all day long…even when I got up…they just stayed there and stared at me and didn’t try to follow me or anything. Earlier today, when writing about the oleanders, I started to wonder if they had some oleander flowers that got blown over here in the wind. If Monster has had diarrhea, then he has most li kely lost a lot of electrolytes also. I mix about an eighth of a cup of Pedialyte to a complete bowl of water. Sometimes if mine are just so out of it that it is hard to get them up and walking, then I give them a syringe or two of pure pedialyte. You may want to give him a little bit of nutracal also. Shaking…Dolly shakes when she is in pain. So maybe he had a tummy ache with that diarrhea inside of him and now he is literally ‘pooped out’ and laying there until he feels better. Most likely you put the blanket around him because he was shaking (could be pain in his belly) and then you made him too warm and then he started panting to cool himself off. Here is something that I found on the internet about panting: Unlike a human sweat system, a dog's body can only cool itself mainly through an evaporation system that involves the dog's tongue. Although a dog's body does have sweat glands located on the pads on a dog's feet and ears, the dog's body is cooled off mainly through its tongue. As a part of its cooling system, the dog cools its body by cooling the fluids in its mouth by providing a steady stream of air against the tongue. This cools the blood vessels in the dog's head area. Although a dog's cooling system is adequate for its needs, a dog may suffer from heatstroke or too much heat. A dog that needs to be cooled will start to pant more than usual. A dog's body needs lots of water so that its cooling system will run efficiently. A dog that does not receive enough water is prone to illness caused by the heat. The more water that a dog has av ailable to cool, the better the dog can cool its body. Other reasons that can cause a dog to pant are excitement, stress and exercise. Some dog breeds with a shortened face will tend to pant more than other breeds of dogs. Seizures, lung and heart disease may also cause a dog to pant. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 8:46 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Chihuahuas] Freaked out... Monster isn't feeling well. It started a few hours ago and all he did was throw up except nothing came out. I figured it was because yesterday I gave him this treat that he hadn't had in a while. But not too long ago I was holding him for a little while and I noticed he was shaking really bad so I wrapped him in a blanket, thinking he was cold but it didn't seem to help. Then all of a sudden he started panting and breathing really hard. That is what's freaking me out. He also just had really bad diarrhea. But now he's laying on his bed just looking like he doesn't feel good but he's not shaking or panting anymore. I don't know what to think... I'm so worried about him. I called my vet when he started panting and got the emergency vets number but then he stopped. What do yall think happened? Has anyone ever had this happen to your dogs? Lorena Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
