For many of our compatriots, the dog is not just a friend, but a real member of the family. They love her, groom, pamper her. But sometimes the owners have unpleasant situations associated with pets. For example, a question may arise: why does a dog drool? Immediately call the veterinarians and do not panic - you need to approach the issue carefully and carefully.
Is it always worth going to the doctor?
Unfortunately, today many private veterinarians are not honest and may well prescribe an expensive treatment even without good reason for this - just to get the maximum profit. In addition, for many dogs, a visit to the veterinary clinic turns into real stress. Unpleasant odors, unfamiliar surroundings, suspicious people - all this makes even courageous, healthy dogs worry, get under the feet of the owners, tremble and whine.
In general, in a healthy medium-sized dog, about 1 liter of saliva is released per day. Part of it enters the stomach with food, part of it moistens and disinfects the oral cavity, and part of it remains on the face and hands of the owners when the happy dog ​​climbs to play.
Therefore, before you go to the veterinarian or call him at home, it makes sense to find out if this is not a very pleasant phenomenon, quite ordinary and normal. Consider the main such situations.
Breed features
First you need to understand if this is not a characteristic feature of a particular breed. If you observe such an unpleasant phenomenon year after year, but your pet feels great at the same time, then you should not worry, puzzle over why a dog is drooling from his mouth. Unfortunately, in some breeds, as a result of selection, as well as decades of closely related crosses, this has become commonplace.
For example, if you decide to have a St. Bernard, an English bulldog, a dog, a boxer, an English mastiff, a basset hound, then you will have to put up with this phenomenon. This cannot be cured simply because it is not a disease at all, but a feature of the breed. So think in advance whether it is worth having a pet that floods everything around you with liters of saliva, or does it make sense to give preference to another breed that is more beneficial in a hygienic sense.
Drooling Before Meal
Some owners are interested in why a dog drools a lot several times a day, when it’s time for food, or she just sees the usual food.
It is also not a cause for excitement. As already mentioned, dogs need saliva (like any other mammal) to better absorb food in the stomach. It also envelops feed, making it easier to pass through the throat.
Therefore, there is nothing strange in the fact that before eating the glands of external secretion begin to work more intensely, no. Conduct an experiment - imagine how you eat a lemon. Feel your mouth fill with saliva? The dog has the same process. Remember the experiments of Pirogov, which perfectly illustrate this problem - when the dog believes that they will feed him now, the amount of saliva produced increases. Thus, the existence of conditioned reflexes was proved.
This is especially noticeable in dogs, which the owners always feed at the same time. The dog and his body are accustomed to this and react, as expected. This is most pronounced in cases where the basis of the diet is dry food - the dog will drink a lot and secrete a large amount of saliva so that dry granules do not scratch the throat.
Drooling while traveling
Often, the owners ask themselves why the dog is drooling in the car. At home, there is no such problem, but after half an hour of travel, such an unpleasant process begins. Most often, such problems arise in puppies, but sometimes it persists for life.
You should not worry here either. After all, people do not all equally easily endure long trips - the vestibular apparatus is not always as perfect as we would like. But usually with age, the problem is solved by itself. This is exactly the case with dogs.
With a long journey, she is rocked, nausea begins, which often develops into salivation, foam and even vomiting. If this does not work out with age, and you have to travel quite often, you can go to the veterinarians or the veterinarian - you can freely buy Barbamil, Aeron, Reisfit or Serena. These are special medications that soothe a dog. Their cost is quite high, but the reviews left by the owners of the animals that used these drugs are mostly positive. They say that these tools make it easier to endure a long journey. Therefore, sometimes you can spend money, providing comfort to your pets and peace for yourself.
But this does not always help. Sometimes a dog fills the entire car seat in the summer, and in winter travels with pleasure, without experiencing discomfort. Most likely, the matter is in the usual heat and stuffiness. Dogs do not sweat, unlike people. Instead, they simply stick out their tongue - saliva liberated liberally evaporates from it, cooling the entire body. Of course, part of the saliva will fall on the seat and clothes of other passengers. Alas, nothing can be done about this. Turn on the air conditioner or open the windows to provide coolness. But in general, reviews recommend reducing the number of trips on such hot days - they negatively affect the heart of the dog. This is especially true for individuals with a short muzzle: bulldogs, pugs, boxers.
Inspect the jaws of a pet
If before such problems never existed, but suddenly the dog's saliva begins to actively stand out, and without any reason, the first thing to do is examine the oral cavity - tongue, teeth, gums.
In some cases, such a problem arises simply because a bone, a piece of food, or something like that is stuck between the teeth. If a small bone (from chicken or fish) is stuck in the gum, the consequences may be the same.
An infection gets on the affected area, and the canine organism, knowing that saliva has bactericidal properties, increases its production to reduce the intensity of inflammation. Usually, after eliminating the cause, the problem goes away in a matter of days. If you're wondering why a dog is drooling and not eating, then this is almost certainly the case.
At the same time, remember if you gave your pet pills that have an unpleasant taste. A few crumbs of a bitter anthelmintic medicine, stuck between the teeth, will cause discomfort to the dog. And she will try to get rid of him, drinking a large amount of liquid and digging everything around with saliva.
If none of the described cases suits you, then the matter is more serious - at this stage it is already worth using the services of veterinarians.
Oral diseases
Very often, the amount of saliva produced increases significantly due to diseases affecting the oral cavity. In this case, the veterinarian should carefully examine the gums, teeth and tongue - a trained eye will allow him to notice symptoms that even the most attentive owner may miss.
Stomatitis - light pink spots appearing on the lips, tongue and gums. The reason is an infection. It is treated in a few days if you use special drugs.
Caries - usually salivation is accompanied by bad breath. Most commonly found in older dogs. In some cases, the only way to stop torturing the dog is to remove the tooth.
Periodontal disease is another disease that affects old dogs. And at the same time an unpleasant smell is also observed. With periodontal disease, gums become inflamed, but in most cases it can be cured.
Poisoning
A very dangerous situation. If it is important for you to find out why the dog whines and drools, mixed with foam, and sometimes vomiting, you need to act immediately. Head to the veterinary clinic, remembering along the way if the dog could eat something. Fresh food, poisoned food, foreign objects such as household chemicals - all this can cause poisoning. Sometimes this is due to malnutrition. Fatty foods, lots of sweets, inappropriate fruits, certain condiments - many of the foods that people eat with pleasure (though not always with health benefits) may well pose a serious threat to the dog’s life. Additional symptoms include rumbling in the stomach, severe burping.
The consequences are most unpredictable - sometimes gastric lavage quickly puts the dog on its feet, but sometimes the outcome may well be fatal.
Possible virus
Another option explaining why a dog is drooling profusely is a viral infection. And here the scatter is enormous, starting from harmless inflammations that pass within a few days themselves, ending with rabies, in which it is easier to euthanize a pet so that it does not suffer.
Often saliva and foam flow in the dog, it becomes very aggressive, rushes even at the owners. But sometimes, additional symptoms may be different. For example, apathy, a complete lack of appetite, the consumption of large amounts of water, fever.
In any of these cases, you must urgently deliver her to the clinic, not forgetting to take a muzzle. There, they will take her blood for analysis and carry out all the necessary tests, after which they will be able to say exactly what is the cause of salivation, to make a diagnosis and, if necessary, to prescribe treatment.
Conclusion
As you can see, a dog's saliva can flow for a variety of reasons. In some cases, it is enough to adjust their diet and leisure to get rid of such trouble. In others, more effort is needed to solve the problem. And sometimes even the best doctors can do nothing. So love your pet and give it as much time as you can.