My Dog's Symptoms : Page 168 of 176 : Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.

Stem Cells At Work: From Zero To Sixty In Four Days

Regenerative therapy is high on our list of treatments that were most beneficial for Jasmine. On a gut level, this approach made sense to me from the first time I’ve heard about it and I couldn’t be happier we decided to take that path. Jasmine received stem cell therapy repeatedly and we treated Cookie’s partial CCL tears with platelet-rich plasma.…

by Jana Rade

What Is A Healing Crisis: First Time For Everything—Is That What This Was?

In theory, a healing crisis is a temporary worsening of the patient’s symptoms during stage(s) of treatment. Is healing crisis really a thing? Is that was Jasmine experienced? Frankly, I don’t know but it surely looked like it and it was our working theory to explain what happened. The fact is, that after the initial worsening of her symptoms, Jasmine…

by Jana Rade

Canine Hip Dysplasia and Prolotherapy: From The Case Files—Hunter’s Hip Dysplasia Was Nearly A Death Sentence

Sometimes you hear a word so often that it loses its meaning. Hip dysplasia is a common orthopedic issue in dogs. That doesn’t mean that it cannot be debilitating. There are still dogs who are euthanized because of the severe effects of hip dysplasia. Thank you, Dr. Mark D Newkirk, for sharing Hunter’s story. Hunter’s story Hunter, a one-year-old yellow…

by Jana Rade

Acute Front Leg Lameness: Jasmine’s Sore Leg

Front lameness can be challenging to diagnose and treat. There are straightforward causes and daunting ones too. The causes of front leg lameness include anything from: nail injuries paw injuries and foreign bodies insect bites and stings snake bites infections elbow injuries, arthritis or elbow dysplasia carpal injuries shoulder injuries neck and spinal injuries Lyme disease (shifting lameness) Shoulder injuries…

by Jana Rade

Lacking Diagnosis Frustration: What Doesn’t Kill Her Will Make Her Stronger? Koda’s Story

If you need a quick second opinion, start with VetLive. JJ is my dear friend. Her dog, Koda, is almost two years old, adorable Australian Shepherd girl. Koda has already had more struggles with her health than most old dogs ever will. Since a very young age, Koda had pee problems. Koda’s story When trying to get to the bottom…

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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