Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.
Your dog having to undergo surgery is scary. Anesthesia is scary. No matter the veterinary advancements, you will always worry about your dog having to go under; I do. There is always some degree of risk. With age, the risk does increase. Risk versus reward assessment Every time I’m making a medical decision for my dog, I do my best…
Fungal infections usually don’t get much attention. Yet, they can be just as bad as cancer. You’d expect a fungal infection being a skin problem, such as yeast infection or ringworm. Things get really serious when a fungal infection attacks the inside of the body, such as sinuses or even lungs and elsewhere. The top 5 common fungal diseases in…
The American Heartworm Society recommends annual heartworm testing for all dogs. The recommendation makes perfect sense to me, and I would do it even without being told. When I called to make the appointment, I was surprised to be told that Cookie had the test last year, and I didn’t have to do it this year if I didn’t want…
Diagnosing is a process. Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct one and sometimes it is not. Be relentless and don’t settle for a diagnosis that provides neither relief nor a proper explanation. BooBoo’s Story It’s the start of tick season here in the Northeast. I’ve been reflecting on last year’s tick season and how we almost lost our sweet…
Dogs normally get tapeworm infection by ingesting an intermediate host—a flea. Cookie never had fleas, though. So how did it happen? Cookie’s story Hunting and snacking on rodents has backfired. Cookie has tapeworm infection. In theory, we knew this could happen. In practice, this is really our first experience with intestinal parasites. Jasmine did have roundworms once when she was…