Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.
How many circles does it take for a dog to settle down? Yes, it is kind of a trick question. Going around in circles isn’t normally an effective way of accomplishing anything. Circling, may or may not be normal–and from your dog’s point of view–useful behavior. How do you tell which is which? It is a test of your observation…
Potential causes of cloudy eyes in dogs are mostly of the scary kind. Noticing cloudy appearance in your dog’s eyes is scary. Is my dog losing their sight? Is it cataracts? I’d rather rush to a vet thinking my dog is having cataracts and find out it is nuclear sclerosis than figure it’s nuclear sclerosis and leave my dog hanging.…
Dog skin comes in a variety of colors; yellow is not one of them. Jaundice (also known as icterus) is a term describing yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, caused by deposition of bile pigments. The easiest areas to spot jaundice are in the mucosa (such as the gums) and the sclera (whites of the eyes). The…
“A cough is a natural reflex to clear the airways: just as most humans cough from time to time, so do many dogs.” When your healthy dog coughs every now and then, you’re not likely to worry about it. That’s how Smudge’s cough started. Every now and then. It could have been caused by anything. But then Smudge started coughing…
Atopy, or atopic dermatitis, is the equivalent of human hay fever. But dogs don’t get a runny nose and sneezes, they get itchy skin. Very itchy skin. So itchy they are willing to scratch the flesh right off themselves. There are many potential treatment options but they don’t always do much to help the poor suffering dog. Immunotherapy is the one…