Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.
How can you tell whether your dog’s injury or illness calls for an emergency veterinary visit? Dogs seem to get sick or injured at the worst possible times. Of course this is not their fault, but nonetheless, it does often put owners in the position of having to decide whether an after-hours visit to the veterinarian is truly necessary. Jana’s…
Do you live in or travel to areas that are home to venomous snakes? Do you know how to protect your dog from snake bites? I’ve been neighbors with rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins, and have treated dogs that have been bitten by some if not all of these species. These cases can be incredibly rewarding or heartbreaking. It all…
Do you know what it means when your dog has pale mucous membranes, such as gums? Do you think it would be an emergency? Pale, gray or white mucous membranes can be a sign of anemia, shock, blood loss or, severe dehydration, and more. The first thing that would be on my mind is anemia, an insufficient amount of red…
Jake is a senior Labrador Retriever, and his story starts with an emergency veterinary visit. The poor boy was rushed to the clinic blue and suffocating. Jake has laryngeal paralysis–these days recategorized as geriatric onset laryngeal paralysis polyneuropathy (GOLPP). It was thought that laryngeal paralysis was just that–paralysis of the voice box (larynx). The larynx is the organ that controls…
Our guys got their share of bee stings. While painful and distressing, most bug stings indeed are not an emergency. The last time when Cookie stepped on a bee, she was very unimpressed. She was limping, shaking her foot, I could see it hurt a lot. Typically, I give Benadryl, but because Cookie was showing major signs of pain, I…