Do you have a Siberian Husky? I am a veterinarian and I will explain to you which symptoms and diseases to watch out for

A fairly rustic dog breed, not excessively selected and belonging to the Nordic and primordial dog breeds is the Siberian Huskies. However, despite all this, the Husky can also develop diseases, both acquired and congenital and/or hereditary throughout his life. As owners it is good to know about the existence of these diseases so that you can notice their possible appearance from the first symptoms.

The most common acquired diseases of Siberian Huskies

Often confused withAlaskan Malamute (which is much bigger, hairier and has a differently shaped tail), the Siberian Husky is also part of the Nordic dog breeds. These are Primitive dog breedsthat is, not excessively selected and very similar to the original wolf. Despite being a medium-large breed, compared to others in the same weight category, the Husky is quite robust. (READ also: Siberian Husky: everything you need to know before adopting this dog)

There Average lifespan of a Siberian Husky it is around 12-16 years old, therefore older than a German Shepherd or a Golden Retriever. But that doesn’t mean he can’t develop several diseases throughout his life. Here we will look at the main acquired diseases of the Husky, it being understood that some of these pathologies can have both acquired and congenital/hereditary causes. See, for example, cruciate ligament rupture or cataracts: there are traumatic forms, but there are also hereditary forms.

But here are the most common acquired diseases of the Siberian Husky:

The most frequent congenital diseases of the Siberian Husky

Like all dog breeds, even the Siberian Huskies is not exempt from the presence of congenital diseases (i.e. those present since birth) and hereditary (i.e. those with genes inherited from parents, grandparents, ancestors…). These diseases can appear as early as a few weeks or months after birth. However, there are some that develop over time, visible even after months or years.

Furthermore, for some of these diseases they are available genetic testing which allow us to establish whether that dog is sick, a healthy carrier (i.e. he has a diseased gene that he can pass on to his offspring, but he himself does not develop the disease) or healthy. This is important to be able to exclude sick and carrier dogs from breeding, so as to avoid having them breed and generate continually sick puppies.