Collie Health Problems
Overall the Collie is a very healthy breed. As with any purebred or mixed breed dog, Collie health problems can and do occur. Not surprisingly many of the most common Collie health problems are preventable and within the owner’s control.
Monitoring your dog, regular and routine trips to the vet and knowing how to tell if your Collie isn’t feeling well are all part of being a responsible owner.
Signs of Illness
Dogs, particularly the herding and working dogs, aren’t known for playing sick or feinting illness. Often the first signs of any type of health problem are so minor that the owner may not catch the issues.
Most health issues, even the congenital health issues that may not be curable, are still more easily managed and treated if caught early.
The first signs of most types of Collie health problems include:
- Lethargy and lack of energy
- Excessive sleeping
- Generalized anxiety such as panting, salivating, pacing
- Changes in eating or going off food
- Excessive water intake
- Urinating or defecating in the house
- Hair loss
- Despondency and depression
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Changes in temperament or signs of aggression
- Limping, pain when moving, lameness or favoring one or more legs or feet
- Seizures
Subtle Changes
Although the changes in behavior and temperament listed above are obvious, there may also be slight changes in the dog’s behavior that can signal the start of Collie health problems.
Regular grooming, routine interaction with the dog and a good understanding of Collie temperament can be essential in a quick diagnosis and treatment or a much more problematic issue.
Any changes in your dogs behavior that last more than a day or two should be cause for concern. A dog can occasional get into something that disagrees with their digestive system causing them to go off their food and have digestive problems such as diarrhea or vomiting.
However, should this continue for more than a day it is important to at least call and consult with your vet. Report any other behavioral changes you have noticed.
Increased aggression or irritability or even increasing barking coupled with a physical symptom above can be an indication of pain. Collie health problems aren’t different than human health issues, the more symptoms you can outline to your vet the more accurate of an assessment they can make.
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Know Common Collie Health Problems
Breed specific problems are an important awareness issue for any Collie owner. Many of these types of Collie health problems are genetic, so knowing the kennel, breeder and the breeding line is essential.
Issues that are genetic or congenital, which means they are present at birth, include the following:
- Bloat
- Collie Nose
- Collie Eye Anomaly (CEA)
- Von Willebrand’s Disease (vWD)
- Thyroid deficiencies
- Skin conditions and allergies
While not all of these conditions are life threatening, they can impact the overall health and vitality of your dog.
Taking some time to research the symptoms of these conditions and stay alert to the factors that may predispose your dog to the disease are an important part preventing Collie health problems.
Like any bred the Collie also needs to have regular worming, heartworm treatments as well as flea and tick preventative programs.
Since Collies can be particularly sensitive to these medications and can have serious and life threatening reactions, talking to your vet before using mediations, particularly those containing Ivermectin that is used in both heartworm mediation and combination heartworm and flea medications.
All drugs in the Ivermectin family, known as the macrolide drugs, may cause this reaction in all Collie breeds. There is a simple swab test to determine if your dog will be sensitive to the medications and owners should insist on this test before any type of routine heartworm or heartworm combined with flea medications are used.