Dog health advocacy

Mast Cell Tumor Treatment: JD’s Mast Cell Tumor— Surgery and Pathology Report

JD had his mast cell tumor removed last week. Everything went well and I will go into more detail on all his procedures next Thursday. Since then we were tending to his surgical sites and waiting for the pathology report. Diagnostic results The pathology report came today. That is much faster than we expected, which is great. Who likes waiting…

by Jana Rade

Mast Cell Tumor Diagnosis: JD’s Biopsy Results Revealed Mast Cell Tumor—You Don’t Know What the Bump Is Unless You Look at the Cells

Nobody, not even a veterinary oncologist, can identify a bump just by looking at it. There is no point in guessing and there is no point to watch potential cancer grow. Don’t wait. Aspirate. JD’s story We found three bumps on JD which we had checked out last week. One of them, looking like a skin tag, is a skin…

by Jana Rade

Working with Veterinarians: A Reflection on a Year of Working with Our New Vet

Every time you make a choice it bears evaluation down the road. It might have been the best decision at the time but does it still hold up? It’s been over a year since we moved to Jasmine’s ranch and started working with our new vet. One thing life taught me is that there are awesome vets out there but…

by Jana Rade

Canine Lumps and Bumps: It’s That Time of the Year Again—Annual Wellness Exam and JD’s Bumps

Many health issues can be brewing under surface long before they show up outwardly. Wellness exams are a way to peek inside for what problems might be hiding from plain sight. We take our guys at least for one wellness exam a year; usually two. There is no particular rule when during the year this should be done but we typically choose…

by Jana Rade

Elevated Calcium Levels in a Dog: Too Much Calcium in the Blood Is a Diagnosis?

Describing a problem is not an explanation of a problem. When interpreting your dog’s blood work, don’t hesitate to insist on an explanation of anything out of normal range and what can be the potential reasons for it. Juno’s story Last week, a friend contacted me, concerned about her dog drinking like there was no tomorrow. Of course, a dog…

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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