By 
First time dog owners may be surprised by the cost involved in taking care of one. Dog food alone steadily eats up part of the food budget, and vet checkups and shots need a whole other budget category.
This is why most newbies don’t understand why dogs need groomed hair, skin, teeth, and paws.
Simply put, it’s a matter of HEALTH.
Here are 5 things that can go unnoticed if you don’t regularly groom your pet:
Table of Contents
If you don’t brush its teeth: gum infection
Just like humans, dogs have teeth and gums. With this comes all the bacteria and the diseases they cause.
One leading illness caused by lack of teeth brushing is gingivitis. It’s an infection that affects the gums. If left unnoticed, the infection could slip into the bloodstream and travel to vital organs, which could cause a host of more serious problems.
Worst case: death.
If you don’t brush its coat: matted coat
This is especially important for breeds with long coats. If left unbrushed, just like humans, they will have “matted” hair. Parasites like ticks and lice can hide within the clumps and cause severe itchiness, which will prompt your dog to scratch, and that could result to wounds and lesions.
If you don’t trim its nails: paw pain
Since dogs’ feet are almost always in contact with the ground, unclipped nails would hit hard floor or dirt, causing pain in the paw. This would be very uncomfortable for your pet, especially if they like to run around a lot on hard surfaces.
If you don’t clean its ears: ear mites
Just like human ears, dog ears also develop wax. While it can be protective, too much wax buildup can attract ear mites – parasites that eat the ear wax.
Symptoms include really smelly ears, and dark ear secretions. Too much hair in the ear could also cause irritation and swelling.
If you don’t check its skin: flea bites
More common than getting lice, fleas feast on a dog’s blood through its skin. If you don’t check your dog’s skin regularly, you wouldn’t notice the small red bumps – flea bites.
If left untreated, not only could flea bites contain harmful elements that could get released into your dog’s bloodstream, the excessive scratching could result into open wounds that can get infected.
Not only that, the crazy itching would definitely agitate your pet and make him or her miserable.
Comments