Gastrointestinal disease

PT for Dog Gastrointestinal Disorders: Can Physical Therapy Help with my Dog’s Digestive Issues?

Can physical therapy help with pancreatitis, constipation, colitis, and many other digestive disorders your dog might face? Your veterinarian is the first point of contact for help with these issues. Any gastrointestinal disorders require evaluation by a primary care specialist for diagnosis instruction on proper nutrition, medication, and supplements Physical therapy is adjunctive care for internal disorders. However, it can…

by Susan E. Davis PT

Dog Swallows a Toothpick: The Devil in the Hor D’oeuvres—Beware of Toothpicks around Dogs

Gastrointestinal foreign bodies that don’t like to show up on imaging can be the most dangerous. Did you watch the Needle in a Haystack House MD episode? A toothpick almost killed a perfectly healthy teenage boy. Not visible on imaging but punching holes through nearby organs. A teenage boy becomes gravely ill and a cause cannot be found. He bleeds in…

by Jana Rade

Persistent Vomiting and Pica in Dogs: Bridget’s Stomach Upsets. What Would You Do If It Was Your Dog?

What if your dog kept getting sick and try to eat everything in sight? What came first? Eating inedible things or the stomach upsets? It can be a hard thing to figure out. Eating the wrong things can cause vomiting and diarrhea. On the other hand, an upset belly can cause your dog to try and eat things. Potential causes…

by Jana Rade

Intestinal Lymphangiectasia in Dogs: What the Heck is Intestinal Lymphangiectasia—Leroy’s Story

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get. Inflammatory bowel disease is a form of auto-immune disease in which the stomach and/or intestine become overwhelmed by inflammatory cells. The resulting chronic inflammation leads to changes in the lining of the digestive tract, messing with passage and absorption of food. At the…

by Jana Rade

Diagnosing IBD in Dogs: New Way to Diagnose Canine Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)?

Inflammatory bowel disease in dogs is as nasty as it is difficult to diagnose conclusively. Often, the diagnosis is made by eliminating other issues. That’s because the only way to properly diagnose it is by biopsy of the gut. Which means getting in there and grabbing a chunk. That is about as far from non-invasive as it gets. And it’s…

by Jana Rade

Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer by day, dog health advocate, dog writer, member of the Dog Writers Association of American and an award-winning author. 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 in 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 how to 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 save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners . What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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