Veterinary Highlights: Probiotics And Acute Stress Colitis Study

Sym-bi-o-sis: a close association, usually a mutually beneficial relationship, between two different organismsMircobes: we work so hard to eliminate them. But while some of them really are out there to get us, the vast majority are actually necessary for life! Did you know, for example, that a human body is only about 10% actual human cells? We are only 10% ourselves, the rest are bacteria. We really just are walking petri dishes! Talking about some...

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Using Ivermectin For Demodectic Mange?

 by Simon TongIvermectin is one of the few medicines that vets often prescribe for dogs with demodectic mange. The drug is easy to administer, and results are usually seen within a short period of time. It's been proven many times over that Ivermectin is successful in treating the skin problem, but that doesn't mean it can be considered as the de-facto solution for it.Image: 2ndchance The problem with Ivermectin is that it isn't the wonder drug...

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Dog Cartoon Of The Week: There, I Said It

*** Dog Cartoon of the Week is brought to you by Andertoons. Check out the website for more great cartoons.Cartoonist Mark Anderson lives in the Chicago area with his wife, their children, two cats, a dog and several dust bunnies. You might have seen his cartoons in a number of publications including Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Good...

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The Calm After The Storm

After three weeks of challenges with Jasmine's joints and mobility, things seem to have settled down. She is looking quite good and showed no signs of lameness or pain in last couple days.The last veterinary exam determined that Jasmine's joints were quite happy now, and improving. Her muscles, though, particularly iliopsoa and hip muscles, were quite angry.On Saturday was Jasmine's appointment with her chiropractor/physical therapist. Boy, did she...

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Adoption Monday: Charlie, Labrador Retriever/Boxer Mix, Deerfield, NH

Check out this beautiful boy at Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption!Charlie is about 2 years old, very friendly dog with lots of energy. He gets along with other dogs, and people of all ages. Charlie wants to have a bed to call his own in a nice home. He wants someone to give all of his love to. Is that you? Charlie would be a great running/walking/hiking partner for a young couple, or an active family. Charlie is house trained, neutered...

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Shaping A Dog's Recall: Movement Towards You

If you think that training a reliable recall doesn't have anything to do with your dog's health and well being, think again. Reliable recall might just end up saving your dog's life one day.***Donna Hill has a degree in zoology and a teaching degree. She has 20 years experience in adult and child education and enjoyed teaching people how to observe animals in nature as a nature interpreter, field biologist and train-the-trainer for presentation skills and now applies her knowledge and skills to help people and their dogs. She helps people with...

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More Creepy Crawlies

by Jennifer Coates, DVM In my last post I talked about venomous snake bites. Today, something a little less scary (for most folks, at least)… spider bites.I should start out by saying that after the great majority of spider bites, owners won’t have the slightest idea that anything is amiss. Your dog might be a little itchy around the bite site, but rather quickly that subsides and life returns to normal. What I’m going to talk about are those...

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Veterinary Highlights: Maggot Debridement Therapy

This article on petMD generated many sounds of disgust and lead to a number of nightmares. However, this topic is very interesting to me. I am equally fascinated by debridement therapy as I am by the idea of helminthic therapy (which, sadly, presently doesn't seem available in veterinary medicine).Everybody keeps calling for natural treatments, right? LOLThe use of maggots in medicine is neither a medieval torture or a new invention. Maggots are...

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Canine Anemia and Your Pet's Nutritional Needs

by Matt MilsteadAnemia is a deficiency of red blood cells. Because the red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body, symptoms of anemia stem from insufficient oxygen in organs and muscles.A dog can become anemic as a result of blood loss (e.g. from trauma, bleeding ulcers, parasites), destruction of red blood cells (e.g. immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, some infectious diseases) or inadequate red blood cell production (e.g. due to a chronic...

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Dog Cartoon Of The Week: Botox

*** Dog Cartoon of the Week is brought to you by Andertoons. Check out the website for more great cartoons.Cartoonist Mark Anderson lives in the Chicago area with his wife, their children, two cats, a dog and several dust bunnies. You might have seen his cartoons in a number of publications including Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Good...

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From Zero To Sixty In Four Days: Stem Cells At Work

After the very rough weekend, this morning, when Jasmine first got up she did that without difficulty. She then went out and came back looking very good.After the recent roller coaster, however, we were reluctant to believe what we were seeing.We arrived to the vet's office bright an early. He came out to meet us, expecting to see a very lame dog. But that was not what what barged out of the bus to greet him.He examined Jasmine thoroughly and found...

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The Challenge Continues

Jasmine is improving—slowly—so much for 36 hours... But at least her right legs now seem fully functional, well, at least in comparison with the left side.And at least she get around well enough now.After another two days of strict bed rest we figured that she really needed to get out of the house so we all went to the farm. It made her VERY happy. It was quite hot so that helped keeping her somewhat subdued. She really is all go, no quit.When she was out there, her weight bearing and gait looked quite decent. The lameness is now most obvious only...

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Adoption Monday: Lilly, Labrador Retriever Mix, Deerfield, NH

Check out this beautiful girl at Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption!Lilly is about one year old, sweet girl. She is just blossoming! She was quite fearful when she first came to the rescue, but through careful training and patience, Lilly is learning the world is a safe place. Her forever family will continue to keep her safe and teach her the world is a good place to be.Lilly is house trained, spayed and up-to-date with her shots. Lilly is ready...

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First Time For Everything: A Healing Crisis(?)

Healing crisis – a temporary worsening of the patient’s symptoms during stage(s) of treatment.The night after her treatment, Jasmine looked very rough. Her front left leg was very sore, and her rear left was right behind it. We figured that it might have been because she was off her pain meds for that day.That didn’t, however, prepare us for the following morning, by which things went from bad to worse.Jasmine was still very sore on her left side,...

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The Day Of The Treatment

Friday was the big day of the stem cell treatment. We have high hopes that it will fix Jasmine right up.Her lameness seemed controlled reasonably well with the pain management we were using. Reasonably well meaning Jasmine moving without visible problems during the day, and only showing various degree of lameness at night. Of course she'd still want to do everything as she normally would. Getting her to take things a little easy is one of the hardest...

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Veterinary Highlights: Prebiotics And Weight Loss?

I was just seriously struggling with picking out a topic for my Veterinary Highlights, when I wondered off and came across this article.Could prebiotics assist with weight loss?I am not talking about loading your dog's food with fiber just to make them feel full. This is a different concept all together.Prebiotics are nondigestible fibers that promote beneficial bacteria in dog's intestine.Scientists are finding that supplementing prebiotics causes...

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Dog Treat Ingredients – Beware!

by Lindsay Stordahl of ThatMutt.comRecent issues with dog treats made in China aside, what is in your dog's treats?Today, many owners appreciate the importance of quality food for their dogs. They know to read the list of ingredients. They often choose to feed grain-free, raw, or homemade dog food, in order to keep inferior or unhealthy ingredients out of their dogs' food bowls.But what about treats and snacks for dogs?In the past I've thought of...

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