Common Health Problems In Beagles

One of the most common problems that beagles suffer from are eye diseases. Therefore, make sure that you perform regular eye checks to ensure that your beagles eyes are in healthy condition. Among these disorders are the following:

• Microphthalmia: occurs when an eye is abnormally small, reducing field vision. It can affect one or both eyes.
• Cataracts: opacity of the lens that causes blindness.
• Retinal dysplasia: is an abnormal development of the retina. Retinal dysplasia predominantly affects a dog’s night vision and can result in complete blindness.
• Glaucoma: consists of an increase in ocular pressure, which results in a gradual loss of vision.

Common beagle skin problems include:

• Cutaneous Asthenia: it is a disorder caused by abnormal thinness in skin, resulting in easily injured dermis.

• Alopecia: is disease characterized by hair (coat) loss, either generalized or by areas. The causes are diverse, and usually appear along with dandruff and skin irritation.

• Pyoderma: caused by bacterial action, is manifested by the development of infections in areas such as the genitals, around the tail, lips and folds of the fingers.

• Atopic dermatitis: is a pathology caused predominantly by allergies and environment. The signs of dermatitis manifest in the skin.

• Mange: although it can affect any breed of dog there are a couple of breeds that are more prone to it. Mange appears as a result of tiny mites and is characterized by localized red and itchy skin areas.

A beagle’s large ears not only add to its cuteness, but if not cleaned and cared for correctly, can result in problems. Due to their large size, these ears are a perfect candidate for ear diseases. These problems occur from ear infections, as a result of accumulated bacteria in the ear canal. Such ear problems and infections can cause extreme discomfort and, in serious cases, result in deafness.

For this reason, it is incredibly important to visit your veterinarian regularly and make sure that your Beagle’s ears are cleaned appropriately.

Pulmonary stenosis is a heart disease which consists of a decrease in the size of the ventricle channel of the heart. As a result of this, the heart uses more effort to pump blood, increasing its size and subtracting it’s quality of life. Fatigue, shortness of breath, sudden fainting and death can result as a consequences of this disease.

There are two common diseases that can affect a beagle’s spine. Their origins are genetic. In general, it is advisable to avoid crossing dogs which suffer from these ailments in order not to propagate this gene;

• Multiple epiphyseal dysplasia: this disorder originates in the spine: damaging the hind legs thereby causing discomfort and pain. This spinal disorder is easy to notice as you will see that your dog will walk differently.

• Intervertebral disc disease: This disorder originates when the invertebral discs are damaged (wear, a violent fall, appearance of a hernia). This disk damage places pressure on the vertebrae, causing severe pain and in some cases paralysis.

• Steroid responsive meningitis: Otherwise known as Beagle Pain Syndrome, is an auto-immune disease which affects the dogs nerves within their nervous system (inflammation). This condition is genetic^[1].

• Epilepsy is another of the common disease that beagle dogs can suffer from. Epilepsy manifests not only as a form of convulsions, but also as: a loss of consciousness, mouth foaming and muscle tremors, specifically during epileptic episodes. Although its primary origin is genetic, it can also appear as a reaction to: a drug, heat stroke, poisoning, among others. In the case of epilepsy, we recommend consulting a veterinarian in order to preserve your dog’s quality of life.

Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid stops secreting the necessary amount of hormone that they body needs. Therefore, hypothyroidism will impair the natural metabolism of a dog. A dog suffering from this disorder will experience fatigue, appear clumsy and gain weight^[2]. In addition, hypothyroidism can promote the appearance of alopecia.

Beagles have an insatiable appetite and due to this, it is common that beagle guardians overfeed their dogs. In the case of a beagle, it is important to manage their food portions. If not, a beagle can suffer from obesity. In addition, obesity can result in: circulatory problems, diabetes, fatigue, heart and liver diseases, among other ailments. A quality meal, both in ingredients, proportion and frequency, accompanied by physical activity, are what your beagle requires to remain healthy. For more information on how to feed a beagle, take a look at our article on: how much food does a beagle need?

One of the most commonly asked question by beagle owners is, what is a beagle’s life span? This answer however varies between different factors. When discussing how long beagles live, we need to take into consideration a couple of things, including:

• Whether the beagle is purebred.
• How good is the quality of your beagle’s diet.
• Does your beagle do enough exercise?
• Do you visit your veterinarian regularly?

All of these factors will contribute to your beagle’s well-being. On average however, a beagle can live from 10-15 years.

This article is purely informative. AnimalWised does not have the authority to prescribe any veterinary treatment or create a diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian if they are suffering from any condition or pain.

If you want to read similar articles to Common Health Problems In Beagles, we recommend you visit our Prevention category.