Articles with conditions

What Would You Do If It Was Your Dog? Seizures in Dogs: Winston’s first seizure.

Winston, a neutered male Boxer, got his first seizure when he was 12-years-old. Winston started seizing in the middle of the night, which landed him at a local veterinary emergency clinic. Why do emergencies always happen after hours or on weekends? Our experience confirms that that seems to be the rule. The ER veterinarian ran a bunch of tests on…

by Jana Rade

Unexplained Weight Loss in GSDs: Beaner’s Weight Loss. What Would You Do if It Was Your Dog?

Beaner was a 10-year-old German Shepherd mix. When Beaner started losing weight, her mom didn’t think much of it because she was trying to get Beaner a bit thinner–weight loss was what they were trying to accomplish. Weight loss, however, was soon followed by other symptoms. Beaner started shedding more than normal and her skin was becoming dry and flaky.…

by Jana Rade

Canine DCM Symptoms: What Would Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) Look Like in Your Dog?

Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) has made it on everyone’s radar lately. The reason is the emerging pattern of increased incidence of the disease both in higher numbers than usually as well as in breeds where you wouldn’t expect so many cases. Moreover, the prime suspect at this time is diet. FDA is investigating whether that is the case and what exactly…

by Jana Rade edited by Dr. Joanna Paul BSc BVSc

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Dogs: Athena’s Thrombocytopenia

My regular readers know that I am a big proponent of alternative therapies, old and new. I am fascinated by what regenerative therapy can do; we used it more than once and couldn’t say enough good things about it. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is one of the treatments that are on my radar. This story is based on a case study…

by Jana Rade

Is Ingestion of Grapes an Emergency?

Grape toxicity for dogs is poorly understood in a way that nobody knows why they are toxic to them. There are stories out there of people who insist that they give their dog the odd grape and their dogs are fine. Some dogs seem to handle that with no problems indeed. There are people who jumped or fell from great…

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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