Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The Attack of Missy the Doggie

This is one of my best writing so far that I have done in my blogging life that is related to health. ^_^ Just thought that I would share it again with everyone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have a cute doggie called Missy and she's very hyperactive! But there are times that she's calm and just lays around sleeping. Sometimes I think that she might have Bipolar I disorder but again how would I know? A Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) for dogs doesn't exist... yet hahaha!


As I was saying, Missy has these manic times and it's quite alarming! She runs back and forth and then she jumps on you! Good thing she's not that big. One thing that is quite alarming is she loves to bite as her sign of affection. Ouch that's a painful way to say you like someone.

It's a good thing though that we have already vaccinated Missy with Anti-Rabies. Rabies (Latin: rabies, "madness, rage, fury") by the way is a viral zoonotic neuroinvasive disease that causes acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in mammals (Wikipedia).

The first symptoms of rabies may be nonspecific flu-like signs — malaise, fever, or headache, which may last for days. There may be discomfort or paresthesia at the site of exposure (bite), progressing within days to symptoms of cerebral dysfunction, anxiety, confusion, agitation, progressing to delirium, abnormal behavior, hallucinations, and insomnia. The acute period of disease typically ends after 2 to 10 days (6). Once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal, and treatment is typically supportive (CDC).

The virus is spread through the saliva so if your pet is infected and your pet licks you and you have breaks in your skin, you could be infected! You don't have to be bitten to be infected! It could also be spread through aerosol (or saliva droplets when your dog barks) or when you touch contaminated items.



Anti-rabies vaccines are always available at health centers for free so if you are bitten by any animal always consider that animal rabid! Wash the wound, apply antiseptics, and rush to the nearest health center or hospital. Don't wait until the symptoms progress and it's too late!

And also, be responsible pet owners! Have your pets vaccinated and don't allow them to stray outside (they can get rabies from stray dogs).

1 comment:

  1. Missy is a very pretty girl! She looks pretty friendly to me. :)

    ReplyDelete