Symptoms

Allergic Reaction in a Dog: How Can A Routine Walk Turn Into An Emergency: Juno’s Story

Did you know that dog allergic reactions can become life-threatening? In fact, allergic reactions are one of the common causes of emergency vet visits. The cause is often not discovered—anything can be an antigen for your dog. Juno’s story You take your dog for a lovely evening walk and suddenly you notice some bumps around the muzzle. The bumps turn…

by Jana Rade

Canine Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: Clara’s Story

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is one of the infectious diseases transmitted by ticks. Even though the microorganism resembles bacteria, it behaves like a virus. It attacks and damages blood vessels, tissues, and organs throughout the body. That’s why the symptoms can be all over the place. It is most prevalent in the east coast, midwest, and plains. Even though it…

by Jana Rade

Foot Wounds in Dogs: Cookie’s Plantar Paw Pad Injury

Dog paw pads are tough but they can still be cut by sharp objects. Cut pads take their sweet time to heal because the edges are pushed apart with weight-bearing. Cookie’s paw pad injury The new territories we’ve been exploring include neighboring fields that are open and far enough from the swamp. They are surrounded by woods and we walk…

by Jana Rade

Canine Garbage Gut Diarrhea: Bad Dog: JD’s Garbage Gut And Diarrhea

Dietary indiscretion is an extremely common cause of diarrhea in dogs. Dogs are perfectly happy to eat anything that fits in their mouth, particularly when is smells good. Note: what smells good to a dog and to a person may or may not be the same thing. Garbage gut diarrhea is often self-limiting, meaning it resolves on its own. There…

by Jana Rade

Canine Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Jasmine’s IBD—Undiagnosed For Five Years

Inflammatory bowel disease is a syndrome caused by an immune reaction to chronic irritation of the GI tract. The cause is poorly understood but the result is immune cells infiltrating the tissues of the gastrointestinal tissues. The common theorized causes are chronic parasites, bacterial infections, or food allergies. Symptoms can vary in severity but commonly consist of chronic vomiting, diarrhea…

by Jana Rade

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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