health issues: What plagues the chow
Unfortunately, the Chow is known to have quite a few health concerns. Common ailments of the Chow include:
- Entropian: skin surround the eye (eye lid) turns in towards the eye. The hair on the outside of the eye lid rubs against the cornea of the dog and ulcers can form. If left untreated, the ulcers can form scars on the eye leading to partial or full blindness in the dog. This condition requires surgery to tack the eye lid so that the hair is not touching the cornea .
- Glaucoma: the intraoccular pressure resulting in pain, headache and eventually blindness
- Juvenile Cataracts: the lens of the eye is no longer transparent. It becomes cloudy or opaque. May lead to partial or full blindness
- Lymphoma: cancer of the lymph nodes
- Hip Dyslasia: abnormal representation of the hip joint
- Diabetes Meilitus: deficiency of insulin resulting in the inability to metabolize sugars and starch
- Gastric Cancer: stomach Cancer
- Auto-immune Disease: diseases involving the abnormal functioning of the immune system
- Dermatitis: irritation of the skin, very often resulting in infection
- Hypothyroidism: abnormally low activity of the thyroid gland
- Patellar Luxation: the knee cap is able to dislocate put of the normal position in the joint
Due to the ailments listed above, the Chow is known to have a shortened lifespan.