How to Know if a Pet Wolf is Ill

By eHow Pets Editor

Instructions

Step 1:
Understand basic behaviors. One of the best ways to detect abnormal behavior that could indicate illness is to understand what is normal behavior for your pet wolf. Research the living habits of the species and learn how often they sleep, how much they eat and how often, and what their typical behavior patterns are. This will enable you to spot warning signs of sickness.
Step 2:
Interact daily. Playing and spending time with your pet wolf on a daily basis creates a bond between the two of you and lets you become familiar with your pet's normal behavior. Knowing how energetic and playful your wolf usually is makes any change in its living habits obvious. Daily interaction also lets you act early in the event of illness or injury to provide treatment right away.
Step 3:
Examine food and water sources. If your wolf is acting strangely, look around its living environment for anything that it could have ingested that would make him sick. If the wolf has eaten something harmful or poisonous, it will probably be vomiting or eating grass to induce vomiting, drinking a large amount of water, panting a great deal and not moving a lot.
Step 4:
Check the paws and nose. As with a domesticated dog, a healthy wolf's nose should be cool and wet, and the undersides of its feet should be the same temperature as the rest of its body. If the wolf is ill, its nose may become hot and dry, and the pads of its feet will become very warm to the touch. This may be an indication of a fever, dehydration or illness.
Step 5:
Listen to your pet. A sick wolf, just like a sick dog, often exhibits audible signs of distress or illness. Sick canines pant an unusual amount and sometimes be overly loud. They may also whimper or cry in a tone that sounds different from their normal barking noises.
Step 6:
Look at its stool. It isn't the most pleasant way to detect illness, but diarrhea or watery stools can indicate illness. If you suspect that your wolf is ill, watch it when it relieves itself to see if its stool is normal and its patterns of relieving itself are normal.

Resources

More Puppy Pages

How to Determine if Your Dog Needs Medical Care

Since your dog can't talk, you'll need to watch her carefully for signs of illness. Spotting the symptoms early not only reduces the suffering she endures but may also dramatically affect the outcome of her treatment, while reducing your veterinary bill.

Wolves are intuitive and free-spirited creatures that, though independent and strong-willed, make great pets. The care and feeding of a wolf, however, is different from caring and feeding a domesticated dog. It is important to know a wolf's basic needs...

Having a wolf or any exotic creature for a pet can be a fun experience, but it can also present challenges different from the basic responsibilities of owning a domesticated dog or cat. One of the primary needs is maintaining basic dietary and...

Having a pet rodent can be a fun and rewarding experience, but you should make sure that your pet is as healthy as possible. Rodents are susceptible to a variety of maladies, so use these guidelines to watch for any indications that your pet is ill.

How to Recognize the Challenges of Owning a Wolf

Since the majority of wildlife experts are against adopting wolves as pets, it's easy to recognize the challenges that you face when you decide to own one. By having realistic expectations when it comes to the care, feeding, training and even breeding of...