Does the full moon affect your dogs health?
September 26, 2007 by Daniel Beatty, DVM · 8 Comments
Study after study has shown that the full moon does NOT have strange effects and it certainly can not and does not effect your dogs health. However is it the same as giving kids sugar? Every mom will tell you that their kids act more wild and hyperactive when given sugar, but every study shows that giving sugar makes no difference in the behavior of children. So which is true the study or the mothers experience?
Now how about dog health and the lunar cycle? Does the full moon affect your dogs health or behavior for that matter? Experience from veterinarians who all say that yeah they are a little busier around the full moon, but the studies have disproven that saying emergency hospitals are not any busier during the full moon. That is until now…
Here is a story – Why Your Dog Gets Loopy During the Lunar Cycle telling us that Colorado State University has completed an 11 year study with 12,000 animals saying that business “significantly picked up” at the Veterinary Medical Centre around the time of the full moon.
So what do you think, does the lunar cycle, specifically the full moon, affect your dog’s behavior and/or your dog’s health?
dog health, full moon, lunar cycle Vet Directory
Well.. I had an epileptic dog who seem to suffer from seizures around 2 days before or after a full moon…
This makes sense since the moon affects people also. It is known that before or during a full moon you bleed more during surgery, and more crimes are committed during a full moon.
Great post.
While I haven’t made the connection in the past, this might explain why my dogs have always gone through certain periods when they are more unmotivated than normal.
My natural connection was that they just didn’t feel well for some reason because it generally passes after a few days.
Since they’ve always received the same dog food – no scraps or changes in diet that could upset their systems, this didn’t seem to be the answer.
Now that you’ve pointed out the possible connection between lunar stages, I’ll be more alert to these changes in future.
Thanks for the tip.
Sylvia
While there is an on going debate on wheather the moon affects the health of dog, some breeds of dogs diseases can can be mild to extream.
The phrases “genetic disease” and “inherited defect” should not strike fear into the hearts of pet owners. Many heritable diseases or abnormalities are neither fatal nor debilitating. Hip dysplasia, probably the most common and certainly the most notorious genetic problem, can be mild, moderate, or severe and may generate few problems as the pet learns to compensate for his limitations. Severe hip dysplasia can be repaired by surgery, and the development of arthritis can sometimes be slowed with nutritional supplements such as glucosamine and chondroitin. However, a dysplastic dog should not be used for breeding or strenuous sport such as agility, hunting, sledding, lure coursing, or herding.
Underactive thyroid, another abnormality gaining in notice, can be easily controlled with low-cost medication, but dogs with very low thyroid values should not be bred.
When looking for a puppy, remember that all dogs (like all other animals and plants) carry genetic defects, that not all genetic defects cause painful disorders that require Herculean efforts to cure or control, and that chances of getting a pup with fewer serious defects are enhanced if you buy from a responsible breeder who uses the tools scientists have provided.
Cindy
Lovabledogs.info
Quite an interesting article and I saw additional information on the internet which seemed to support both increased animal behaviour around a full moon and that it didn’t make any difference.
Here is another write up on this topic from a study published in the British Medical Journal
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/lunatic_dogs_010109-1.html
Wow, I’ve never heard of the full moon affecting dogs! Obviously I’ve heard about hospitals supposedly being more active on a full moon and so on, but never dogs! I’m going to have to watch now and see if my golden acts any different around the time of a full moon.