Samba’s Story: Samba, a little Miniature Pinscher, had a couple of conditions that are sadly super common to a lot of dogs. She had 3 surgeries doen to fix these problems! She had breast tumours. Dogs have a scary high incidence of breast tumours if they are not spayed – by middle age, about 6 … Read more
So you are finally getting to escape winter for a retreat in the heat! The boarding kennel says your dog needs vaccination for Kennel Cough in order to stay with them. So, what is Kennel Cough? Most of the diseases we give vaccinations against are life-threatening, such as rabies or parvo. Kennel Cough, or Bordetella, … Read more
The recent news of the Lyme Disease being found in the Rouge River Valley has a lot of people worried. We’ve heard how awful this disease can be for people – what does it mean for our pets? What is Lyme Disease? Lyme is caused by a bacteria called Borrelia, and it is spread by … Read more
The word “Bloat” strikes horror in the hearts of many dog lovers – particularly those who have had to deal with it, and maybe even lost a good friend to it. However, “Bloat” is a bit of a misnomer – the problem is not so much that the stomach filled up with gas, as that … Read more
How annoying is a cold sore? Now imagine having one on your eyeball. The class of viruses known as Herpes are tricky; they play a great game of hide-and-seek. They retreat into and set up camp in the nerve endings, where the immune system can not find and fight them. This is why people afflicted … Read more
A lot of us are minding our blood pressure, and maybe even on meds to manage blood pressure. Not many people, however, realize that blood pressure can be an issue for pets too. Blood pressure can be too high or too low; high blood pressure in particular is a concern, because of the risk of … Read more
So far we have looked at what allergies in dogs look like, and how to get some relief. For a long-term solution, we need to address what is causing the allergic symptoms. If you can, avoid what triggers the allergy. This is do-able in the case of food allergies – don’t eat that food. The … Read more
OK, you’ve figured out your dog has allergies. The itching, the hair loss, the rashes and infections… so what now? Whatever the cause of the allergic symptoms, we want to give our poor itchy and rashy friends some relief from their symptoms. Here are some tips: Cleanliness is our friend Bathing can remove allergens such … Read more
Ah-CHOO! Is that what you think of when I mention allergies? How about scratch-scratch?… In humans, the organ of allergic expression is the respiratory tract. We get hay fever, asthma, all sorts of respiratory symptoms from our body’s over-reaction to allergens. Well, in dogs, the organ of allergic expression is skin. The parts of the … Read more
Did you know that a lot of chronic vomiting and diarrhea in pets can be traced back to a leaky gut lining? When the gut lining has gaps between its cells, it means proteins from the diet can get presented directly to the immune system cells. The result can be that the immune cells can … Read more