Immunity

Canine Leptospirosis Vaccination Decisions: Endemic Spread and Risk-Based Choices

Leptospirosis a zoonotic bacterial disease that affects many species, including dogs. The infection can cause mild flu-like symptoms or can turn into a life-threatening disease. Leptospirosis responds well to antibiotics—if treatment starts early. The real problem is recognizing it in time. Early symptoms often look like a mild flu—lethargy, poor appetite, vomiting—so diagnosis is frequently delayed. By then, the bacteria…

by Jana Rade

Types of Canine Splenic Tumors: Are Splenic Tumors Always Malignant?

Masses in the spleen occur primarily in middle-aged to older dogs. Splenic masses often consist of only benign hematomas or fibrous nodules. However, these masses can sometimes be highly malignant forms of cancer, especially vascular cancer known as hemangiosarcoma. The spleen The spleen is a highly vascular organ that sits on the left, in front of the abdomen. It functions…

by Dr. John A. Bukowski, DVM, and Dr. Susan E. Aiello, DVM

Dog Health and Vaccines: Problems With Canine Over-Vaccination

First and foremost, vaccinations are an important component of health care, prevention, and wellness for your dog. I am, by no means, recommending not vaccinating your dog. It is vitally important to vaccinate appropriately. For the core vaccines of distemper, parvo, adenovirus (together called DAP), and rabies, appropriate vaccination is as young puppies not before nine weeks of age and…

by Dr. Daniel Beatty, DVM

Dog Vaccination Concerns: Vaccinating Your Dog and Potential Side Effects

Does your dog need to be vaccinated? Are you pro vaccinations or do you refuse to consider them? In the past, dogs routinely received vaccination against just about anything we could think of. The reasoning was the off-chance of exposure, in which case the vaccine should protect the dog. Today, we recognize that vaccines can have a downside as well. …

by Dr. Lorie Huston

Canine Immune System: Spleen – Why Does The Spleen Get No Respect?

What does the canine spleen do and how come a dog can live without it? The spleen just doesn’t get any respect. From the point of view of a veterinarian, this occurs for two reasons: We can completely remove it and our patients typically do just fine, and When we do have to deal with the spleen, it’s generally because…

by Dr. Jennifer Coates, DVM

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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