In almost every family, sooner or later a pet appears. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cat or a dog, a parrot, a canary or some kind of rodent, or maybe even spiders, snakes or turtles. Everyone has their own passions, but all the owners have one desire in common: to create the most safe conditions for their pet and to preserve his health. Undoubtedly, cats and dogs are considered the most common pets. Unfortunately, very often various threats lurk them, for example, such as rabies in dogs, the symptoms of which the owners simply must know.
In general, rabies is considered one of the most dangerous diseases. Its causative agent is a virus that affects the central nervous system of the patient. As a rule, the animal dies as a result. The most unpleasant fact is that each of the warm-blooded representatives of the fauna is at risk and can become infected. Also susceptible to infection and people. Most often, rabies virus infects young animals that have not been vaccinated at one time.
To prevent the owner from becoming infected from his pet, one should know how rabies manifests itself in dogs, the symptoms and signs of infected cats or other animals, because they are dangerous. As a rule, a pet can become infected from a sick wild or homeless beast. Most often, the virus is transmitted through saliva through any contact. Rabies in dogs, the symptoms of which do not begin to appear immediately, but some time after being infected by the virus, is a huge threat to society. The incubation period of the disease can last from two weeks to several months.
Rabies in dogs, the symptoms of its manifestation depend, as a rule, on the form of the course of the disease. Distinguish violent (aggressive), paralytic (silent), abortive and recurrent varieties. The aggressive form consists of three stages. The first lasts about four days and during this period there are changes in the behavior of the animal, namely, inactivity or, on the contrary, excessive sociability. Next comes the second stage, in which the pet is overexcited, grabs objects with great fury, and can bite the owner. Within two to three days, the animal has laryngeal paralysis, accompanied by a hoarse bark. Strabismus also develops, a strong release of saliva and vomiting occurs. In the next three days (the last stage), the pet paralyzes the limbs and he dies. In general, the duration of the disease is about ten days.
The paralytic form is much shorter. It lasts no more than five days and is characterized by the complete absence of any aggression with the rapid development of paralysis of the muscles of the pharynx and lower jaw, as well as the hind legs. Saliva flows abundantly; it is very difficult for an animal to swallow something. When moving it, as a rule, noticeably staggers.
With an abortive form of rabies, pets have typical signs of the disease, but there is a considerable chance of recovery. Unfortunately, this form of the disease is quite rare.
The relapsing, or remitting form of the disease is different in that at a certain stage the disease seems to go away. But this is only at first glance. In fact, it fades for a while, and then returns again. As a rule, breaks are several days or weeks. There can be several such attacks, but most often no more than three.
There is also an atypical form of rabies. The disease in this case lasts several months, and the infected pet suffers from various problems with the gastrointestinal tract. It is very difficult to diagnose an ailment with such symptoms, in addition, with this form, there is no stage of strong excitement and aggression of the animal.