Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.
A wonderful client of mine brought her 12-year-old Boxer to see me. Last night, Winston had his first seizure. Because it was after hours, the owners found themselves at a local 24-hour veterinary facility. They came in today to discuss what had happened last night. They wanted me to examine their dog and get my opinion about the next step…
In my last post, I talked about difficulties diagnosing dermatological and hormonal diseases in dogs. Now, let’s take a look at conditions affecting the bones and other parts of the musculoskeletal system. Limping If a dog has a painful musculoskeletal condition, he will usually favor his affected leg. However, if multiple legs are affected, limping may not be so obvious.…
Veterinary (and human) medicine is at least as much of an art as it is a science. What does this mean for dog owners? You should consider any diagnosis that your dog receives to be a “work in progress.” No vet would intentionally misdiagnose a dog. However, certain diseases are notoriously difficult to pin down. If your dog is not…
Cranial cruciate ligament tears are one of the most common causes of hind leg lameness in dogs. How often does it become a default diagnosis? Experience bias is a dangerous thing. If what CCL injuries are what you see most often, it is what your brain goes to when you see a dog lame on their hind leg. Yet, it…
Watching an itchy pet scratch to the point of self-mutilation is an agonizing and all-too-common experience for dog owners. The veterinary visits that usually (and should!) follow often result in a diagnosis of allergies. While allergies are extremely common in dogs, owners should be aware that this very fact can sometimes lead vets to diagnose an allergy when something else…