Adverse reactions

Does Your Vet Listen to You? Cookie’s Post-Sedation Complications

Being able to work with your veterinarian to work out an individual treatment plan tailored to your dog’s needs is essential. It is no possible to achieve if your veterinarian is not listening to you. They might be able to use an identical process for a thousand dogs with great results. But that doesn’t mean that the same will work…

by Jana Rade

Allergic Reaction in a Dog: How Can A Routine Walk Turn Into An Emergency: Juno’s Story

Did you know that dog allergic reactions can become life-threatening? In fact, allergic reactions are one of the common causes of emergency vet visits. The cause is often not discovered—anything can be an antigen for your dog. Juno’s story You take your dog for a lovely evening walk and suddenly you notice some bumps around the muzzle. The bumps turn…

by Jana Rade

Dog Skin Reactions: Cookie’s Mysterious Bumps

Dr. Nancy Kay wrote a great article, Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There, pointing out the fact that both doctors and veterinarians often feel obligated to prescribe something even though the situation does not call for it. Why would this be a problem? It reminds me of an episode of House MD, where a teenager went to a doctor with…

by Jana Rade

ProHeart 6 Tragedy: Jack’s Story

Every medication or preventive has the potential to cause an adverse reaction. After all, you’re introducing a foreign substance into the body. Even though drugs are tested for safety and common side effects are usually mild to moderate, a tragedy can occur. Further, sometimes a drug can be safe on its own but not in combination with something else. For…

by Jana Rade

Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer by day, dog health advocate, dog writer, member of the Dog Writers Association of America, and an award-winning author in my spare time. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Endless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care into my own hands. I learned the hard way that simply seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to finally get a diagnosis for her initial issue. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to use 20 years of hard-earned experience to save others from the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way, as I did.

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