How to treat mastitis in a dog at home

A dog in the house is a full-fledged member of the family that needs to be not only fed and raised, but also treated. Especially if the dog survived childbirth. After the appearance of the bitch puppies, her health is very vulnerable and sometimes she can not cope with some diseases, such as mastitis, for example. Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary glands, which can be very dangerous if not treated on time.

Causes of mastitis

In order to fight the disease and prevent its reappearance, you need to know where mastitis comes from and what provokes it.

1. Often puppies scratch the mother’s mammary glands during feeding. Especially if they are more than two months old - the claws become strong. An infection, a virus, a fungus can get into an open wound. Inflammation begins, which can turn into a purulent form.
2. Mastitis can occur with false sensitivity. False puppy is a hormonal imbalance in the dog’s body caused by miscarriage or death of the embryo. That is, the dog behaves like a pregnant woman, her nipples swell, she prepares for the upcoming offspring. But there is no fruit, therefore, the accumulated milk is stuck in the ducts, the mammary glands swell and become inflamed.
3. Blockage of channels due to the lack of outflow of milk can occur after death or if the puppies are weaned improperly. Mastitis can also occur after transferring babies to the artificial type of feeding.
4. Overcooling or overheating of the mammary glands often leads to inflammation and fever. Mastitis at the same time progresses very quickly.
5. Sometimes glandular inflammation can occur if the dog has been poisoned by toxic or chemical substances.
6. It happens that the nipple becomes clogged, which prevents the normal outflow of milk. Most often, this provokes mastitis in one breast.
7. Infections of the stomach, genitourinary system, and intestines can often affect the mammary glands, causing their inflammation.

If the bitch has mastitis, you should show it to the veterinarian as soon as possible. He will accurately determine the nature of inflammation and give recommendations for the care and treatment of the animal.

How to recognize mastitis in a dog

Among the symptoms of mastitis, the following changes in the body and behavior of the animal can be noted.

1. The general malaise of the knot, which is manifested by lethargy, apathy, unwillingness to move and play. Appetite decreases, sometimes the dog completely refuses to eat. The animal becomes drowsy, hiding from people.
2. In addition, the dog may have a fever - both general and local.
3. When examining the mammary glands, it can be noted that they are enlarged, asymmetric, and various seals can be detected by touch.
4. Often the dog does not allow to touch the glands due to their pain.
5. With mastitis, swelling and redness, sometimes purulent formations, can be found at the site of the glands.
6. If the nipples are carefully squeezed between the fingers, milk begins to stand out from them with an admixture of pus and, possibly, blood. The color of the liquid is gray, yellow, white. There may be an unpleasant putrefactive odor.

If your pet's symptoms are just like that, you should start treating your pet as soon as possible.

Mastitis treatment

If the disease is at an early stage of development (without suppuration), you can try to cure it yourself. Swollen and filled with milk, the mammary gland, try to carefully express. You need to do this several times a day to restore the outflow of milk.Expressing should be done very carefully, because for a dog this is an incredibly painful process. After decantation, it is necessary to lubricate the glands affected by mastitis with camphor oil or other warming compounds and tightly bandage. Camphor prevents the development of inflammation and softens seals, and a tight dressing limits the flow of milk. You need to keep the bandage for several days until the redness, soreness and swelling subside.

If home treatment methods do not help and the dog’s condition worsens, you should definitely seek professional help. The doctor usually prescribes antibacterial therapy in such situations. The dog should take medicine orally or intramuscularly. In advanced cases, injections into the mammary glands are prescribed, due to which local treatment of mastitis occurs. Matured abscesses are opened and treated with an antiseptic.

The drug Mastometrine very well helps. Injections of this medicine should be given to the animal, according to its weight and age. Mastometrine is an anti-inflammatory drug that suppresses various infectious infections in the mammary gland and the reproductive system.

If you arrived at the hospital at a stage when therapeutic treatment is no longer useful, then the veterinarians are forced to treat the dog promptly. By surgery, the dog removes tumors and all necrotic tissue. In especially difficult cases, the entire mammary gland is removed.

How to help a dog with mastitis

After the doctor has prescribed treatment for your dog, you need to take care of additional measures that will help you alleviate the suffering of your pet.

1. Puppies with mastitis are most often weaned, they switch to artificial feeding. The owner’s care will increase - caring for a sick animal and feeding the kids by the hour.
2. Rinse the nipples of the dog with a decoction of calendula and chamomile. Pour one tablespoon of each plant in a jar and pour boiling water. Wrap and leave for three hours. After this, the broth should be filtered, moisten a cloth in it and wipe the glands with it. Chamomile will slightly relieve inflammation and redness, and calendula will disinfect the surface of the skin.
3. If the doctor has allowed, you can make warm compresses - for example, alcohol. Using a heating pad is also effective.
4. If the dog has mastitis, it can become infected again, even with sufficient treatment. It is very important to have a clean litter on which to lay the diaper. The diaper needs to be changed several times a day to prevent relapse. Wash diapers at a hot temperature, it is better to boil.
5. Make sure that the dog lies in a warm place, without drafts and cracks.
6. Do not forget to tightly bandage the mammary glands after treatment so that they are not filled with milk.

Gradually, with proper treatment, mastitis will disappear - the inflammation will be removed, and milk will simply burn out and stop being produced. In order to prevent the recurrence of mastitis in the future, you need to take care of preventive measures.

Prevention of mastitis in dogs

If you are not going to drive your dog in the future, it must be sterilized before the first estrus.

After birth, the bitch should be monitored very carefully to prevent the development of mastitis. To do this, all cracks and wounds on the nipples must be treated with an antiseptic in a timely manner. After two weeks of age, claws of puppies should be trimmed regularly. If the puppies are unwanted, one or two puppies should be left to prevent mastitis - so that they suck out the milk and prevent its stagnation.

If at the next examination you find a seal in one of the mammary glands, it means that milk stagnation formed there. In this case, you need to carefully massage the gland and try to eject the milk.If this does not work out, attach the puppy to the painful nipple and make sure that he tries to suck milk there. At first it will be difficult for him, since the duct is closed and milk flows in a weak stream. He will try to find another source of nutrition, but do not let him do this. Thoroughly sucking milk is better than any medicine to save your dog from mastitis.

When all puppies die, you need to grease the dog’s nipples with camphor oil and bandage it tightly to prevent milk from filling the mammary glands. To limit milk production, you need to reduce the amount of food and water consumed. Do not forget to make up for the lack of love and attention to your pet.

Mastitis in a dog is a serious disease that requires special care and attention. Often the owners make a serious mistake by neglecting the trip to the veterinarian for such symptoms. It can cost the health, and sometimes the life of your pet. Be prudent and merciful, do not start the disease!

Video: how a dog is treated for mastitis