Every pet has a lifespan but how you take care of yours can either extend or shorten his lifespan.
So, this article discusses the lifespan of a long-hair chihuahua, what can shorten its lifespan, and how to take care of the dog breed so that it can live a healthy and long life.
What is the lifespan of a long-hair chihuahua?
The lifespan of a long-hair chihuahua is of about 14 to 20 years. However, if the dog is not well cared for, he may not live up to 14 years, and with proper care, he may even exceed 20 years.
What can shorten the lifespan of a chihuahua
The primary causes of early deaths in chihuahuas are medical conditions. This is why you need to be observant.
Some conditions can be tackled easily at an early stage. If they progress to a critical level, the chances of survival of your dog may no longer be slim.
Here are the common causes of shortened lifespan in chihuahuas.
Distemper
This is a contagious disease that affects the respiratory system and the gastrointestinal tract of chihuahuas.
If not tackled early, it may affect the central nervous system, the spinal cord, and the brain of your dog. It is needless to remind you that when the brain is affected, death is near.
This disease may also cause seizures and paralysis in dogs. However, if detected early, it may not get to the stage of causing seizures and paralysis.
Cardiovascular Illness
This is another illness that has caused the death of numerous chihuahuas. Examples of these diseases are heart failure and arrythmia.
Generally, this disease is an age-related disease among dogs, so chihuahuas that have this condition are believed to be nearing their lifespan. Unfortunately, this is not always true.
Parvovirus
Like other viruses, this one is highly infectious. It causes your dog to vomit. It also causes severe diarrhea.
The virus attacks the gastrointestinal tract and weakens the immune system. When an infected dog comes in contact with other dogs, the virus could spread.
One of the most important things to do to protect your chihuahua is to get him the parvovirus vaccination.
Sepsis
This is a serious bacterial infection. If not well treated, it can cause kidney problems and liver failure in your little dog.
Leptospirosis
This disease can be caused by drinking water that has been contaminated by the urine of another animal. It can also lead to kidney problems. The liver of the dog may also be affected.
Apart from these five diseases, there are other medical conditions that can threaten the life of your little pet.
The silver lining in the situation is that all of them can resolve completely if they’re detected early. So, you need to be observant.
Chihuahuas are super-active dogs. When your dog becomes sluggish or when he stops eating, something must be wrong with him. See a vet.
Physical Injuries
As you may already know, a chihuahua is a small dog. That means it is easy for bigger dogs to run over him.
In fact, it is possible for a vehicle to run over him. That’s why you should never allow your chihuahua to play around without being there.
The bones of the dog are relatively more fragile than the bones of the other dogs. So, the impact of a fracture could be hard on chihuahuas.
Now that we have discussed the factors that could shorten the life of your chihuahua, it is imperative that we also fill you in on how to take good care of this dog breed to be able to extend his lifespan. You can find a few tips below.
5 Tips on how to take proper care of chihuahuas
Regular Medical Check-ups
Since chihuahuas are vulnerable to medical conditions, it is logical that you take their check-ups seriously.
During these examinations, potential health issues may be detected and averted. Prevention is always better, cheaper, safer, and smarter than cure.
Proper Dental Care
Although it is not listed among the conditions above, this kind of dog is also susceptible to dental problems.
You need to clean his teeth and the entire mouth properly. After brushing it, you can also rinse the mouth with a food-grade mouthwash for dogs.
The mouthwash will get to corners that the toothbrush cannot reach. In addition, during health check-ups, ensure that attention is given to the mouth too.
Proper Diet
Some breeds of dogs can eat anything and stay healthy, but these breeds don’t include the chihuahuas.
Their system can quickly react when they are fed the wrong type of food. Furthermore, they are also susceptible to allergies.
You should feed your little dog with only the foods manufactured for them. These foods are not only balanced, but they also contain all the necessary minerals and nutrients for the healthy growth of your dog.
Regular Exercises
This is not peculiar to only chihuahuas. All dogs need to carry out vigorous activities regularly to keep them fit and shield them from being overweight.
You can take your chihuahua for a long walk or jogging. You can be sure that he has enough energy to expend.
Also, you can play vigorous games that will see him jump to catch hanging toys. One other benefit of daily exercise is that it makes it obvious when your dog isn’t feeling fine.
He either refuses to go for a walk or he does so sluggishly.
Vaccination
Vaccination is as important to dogs as it is to humans. Find out all the necessary vaccinations for dogs, especially chihuahuas, and make sure he takes them. Don’t try to cut costs on this. The consequences could be serious.
Conclusion
To recap this article, here are the points to remember. A long-hair chihuahua’s lifespan is about 14 – 20 years.
Living up to 14 years is not guaranteed and exceeding 20 years is possible. It all depends on how healthy he is and how much you take care of him.
If you have to stick with only one of the care tips, stick with the first one – Regular medical check-ups are very important.
If you want to know more about chihuahuas read on how big does my chihuahua get or how to stop chihuahuas from barking.