Ruptured Cruciate Ligaments And Early Spay And Neuter

by Dr. Robert Foley, DVMThe data has been compiled. I went through our patients over the last ten years who are over the age of three years old. A summary of the data shows that while 2.1% of our spayed and neutered patients had to undergo ACL surgery, only 0.3% of the intact animals had to have the surgery.  This represents a seven fold  increase for animals that have been spayed and neutered before the age of 6 months to have to...

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Dog Cartoon Of The Week: Actually, I'm A Labrador

*** 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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Really Angry Vet: Winston's First Seizure

by Dr. Robert Foley, DVMA wonderful client of mine brought her 12 year old Boxer to see me.  Last night, the dog had his first seizure and the owners found themselves at a local 24 hour veterinary facility because we were closed.  They were in today to see me to discuss what had happened last night, to have me examine their pet, and to get my opinion as to what was the next step to take.I typically subdivide my seizure dogs into one...

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Adoption Monday: Inky, Labrador Retriever, Clovis, CA

Inky came from a small rural shelter where he came in as a stray. This beautiful guy gets along with other dogs, loves children and is ok with cats too! He likes going for car rides.Inky is about 3 years old, house trained, needs a little leash training, but he's learning. Inky has a beautiful black shiny coat and loves to be by your side especially if you pet him.Inky is a sweet guy and we can already tell he’s going to make a wonderful...

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Making Your Own Dog Treats: Our Home-made Jerky Treat Production

I haven't met a dog that didn't love jerky treats. I think, and the dogs I know concur, that jerky is the best kind of treat going. Buying jerky treats for you dogs, though, you can run into major safety issues. Jerky treats made in China are behind numerous dog illnesses and even deaths. I can only imagine how it would feel to hurt my dogs while thinking I was doing something good for them.FDA has been issuing warnings since 2007 but failed...

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Getting On The Pet Health Insurance Wagon: Does Being Insured Equal Being Covered?

To get a pet health insurance or not to get pet health insurance, that is the question. It's been a dilemma for us for a very long time. The main reason? We don't like insurance companies and we don't trust them.Insurance companies are not charity organizations.They are businesses; they are in it to make money. And as they say in Vegas, “the house always wins.” So why would anybody ever pay for any insurance?We were struggling with this dilemma...

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Veterinary Highlights: New Hope For Dogs With Fatal Heart Disease?

An international study revealed a clear survival benefit associated with the administration of pimobendan (Vetmedin) in the preclinical phase of canine dilated cardiomyopathy.Photo by channahDilated cardiomyopathy is a condition in which the heart becomes weakened and enlarged. As a result, it cannot pump enough blood. This condition is the most common cause of congestive heart failure CHF).The study concluded that treatment with pimobendan (Vetmedin)...

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Gastric Dilatation And Volvulus (GDV): What Did The Latest Study Reveal?

Gastric dila-what?Ok, you're probably more familiar with the term bloat. And if you don't know that one either, and own a large, deep-chested breed, you better do your homework quick.Gastric dilatation and volvulus is as deadly as cancer, except it kills way faster. So What is it?gastric [gas-tric]; from Greek gaster - stomach(btw. the word stomach itself comes from Latin stomachus, which is derived from the Greek word stomachos)dilate [dahy-leyt];...

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Dog Cartoon Of The Week: Fire Station Dog

*** 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 Whole Picture: When The Test Results Don't Match What's In Front Of You

by Nancy Kay, DVM     As is true for all health care professionals, veterinarians sometimes develop tunnel vision. Now and then, they become so focused on test results that they fail to consider whether or not these results actually make sense in relationship to the animal sitting atop their exam room table.When the patient’s appearance says one thing and test results indicate something different, astute veterinarians know to...

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

Check out this wonderful girl at Mary's Dogs Rescue & Adoption!Cookie is a southern sweetie for sure. At 7 years old she is a mature and well behaved girl. She's been a faithful companion to her dog mom but now she need a new home as her mom must give me up through no fault of mine or hers. Cookie is a great size, at 35 pounds and she is a healthy girl.Cookie is sweet, social and gets along with people, dogs and cats. She walks...

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Don't Skimp On Vet Visits

This is something I am quite religious about, even with Jasmine, who sees her vet all the time. Going in with a specific problem is one thing, a comprehensive wellness exam is another.You won't catch me skipping regular wellness exam.Skipping one appointment may not seem like a big deal, but regular checkups are extremely important in preventing certain conditions and catching serious diseases early.According to the American Animal Hospital Association,...

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NEVER Feed Your Dog Cooked Bones Unless...

Feeding Jasmine home-cooked diet, one of the things I always regretted was that I could not include bones in her food.Yes, we use a mineral supplement, but I always thought I'd feel better being able to include actual bones.Feeding your dog cooked bones is a big NO.Unless...Just recently I found a tip at Dog Dish Diet, which got my attention. (Actually I saw a video too, which I now cannot find)Slow cooked bones.Dr. Greg uses chicken or pigs feet,...

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Veterinary Highlights: Nutriscan - Dog Food Sensitivity Kit

"Nutrition is the key to a healthy immune system and resistance to disease."Does your dog suffer from non-seasonal skin issues? How about irritable bowel syndrome?Food allergies are the talk of the decade and elimination diets, hypoallergenic diets, novel protein and limited ingredient diets are a topic of every other dog conversation.Is the problem food allergies, or food sensitivity and intolerance?Why split hairs? The fact is, that the problem...

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What’s In the Vomit?

by Jennifer Coates, DVMDogs are built to vomit. No, I’m not kidding. A part of the brain named the “vomiting center” is especially well developed in dogs, and they have a layer of skeletal muscle throughout the length of the esophagus that essentially allows them to vomit at will.So, if your dog occasionally throws up but you can point to the reason why (e.g., he ate too much, he ate too quickly, he ate something yucky, you’re driving on a curvy...

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Dog Cartoon Of The Week: We'll Have The Homework

*** 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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Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA): Reader Stories (Part II)

Our 10 year old rat terrier Ralph was diagnosed with IMHA last December.He was not acting like himself for a couple days, then he stopped eating, and was very warm. We took him into the vet the next morning. They suspected IMHA and started him on predisone, while we waited for the labs to come back. The labs confirmed the IMHA and we admitted him to a hospital with an autoimmune specialist. After six days in the hospital, three blood transfusions,...

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