Lyme disease is caused by a type of bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi, and is spread by the bites of ticks. Borrelia is a cork-screw looking bacteria, that has a remarkable ability to change its protein coat to hide from its host’s immune system. It wears one coat to hide from the immune system of a … Read more
So, you just know your cat is going to resolve to get more fit in the New Year. Yeah, that’s not going to happen… You get to be your cat’s conscience. And if your cat is packing a few extra pounds, here is why you should make the resolution to do something about it. Why … 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
I seem to have had a toenail-themed week this week. Not only have I been helping a lot of my pet parents with their pet’s nails, I had an issue with my own dog’s nails. My little dog, Isora, got an overly-long toenail stuck in the heating vent – she ended up pulling up a … Read more
Tis the Season to get Busy – very busy! And for many of us, that means travelling to reconnect with friends and family. So, what does that mean for the four-legged members of our family? Here are some tips and suggestions to ensure out fur-friends have Happy Holidays too. The Jet-Setter Pet Planes, Trains and … Read more
Yesterday, I was running around delivering medications to three patients, and it occurred to me that all three were heart patients. So, I thought I would discuss heart disease in pets with this blog. Now, we all know how important heart disease is in humans. Well, for people, it is all about the cholesterol plaques. … Read more
Do you know what I would like? I would like to have a Star Trek Tricorder. You know, one of those fancy boxes you where you wave a probe over a patient, and it tells you everything you need to know about what is going on in that body. Much of what I do … Read more
“Innappropriate Elimination” is a sadly common complaint in cats. It is also one of the top reasons for a cat being surrendered to a shelter. No one likes having to deal with stinky messes around the house. So, if you cat is among the messy, where do we go from here? Well, the first step … Read more
There is so much more now that we can do for arthritis than we used to be able to. When I started practising over 2 decades ago, we had one approved anti-inflammatory for dogs, that was it. If a dog did not respond to “bute” (phenylbutazone), or got an upset stomach on it, too bad … Read more