Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.
Severe or chronic GI disease can be challenging to treat. Dogs with severe chronic problems without a clear cause often don’t respond to treatment. The underlying factors can be genetic, environmental, immune, or involve the state of intestinal bacteria. In fact, the disruption in intestinal microbiota appears to be the key. Probiotic therapy can prove helpful. However, there is a…
Diseases that require surgery to reach a definitive diagnosis are frustrating to deal with. No matter how persuasive I try to be, owners are understandably reluctant to think that biopsying some internal bit of their sick dog is a great idea. Now the shoe’s on the other foot, so to speak. I recently adopted a pup with just such a…
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get. Inflammatory bowel disease is a form of auto-immune disease in which the stomach and/or intestine become overwhelmed by inflammatory cells. The resulting chronic inflammation leads to changes in the lining of the digestive tract, messing with passage and absorption of food. At the…
Inflammatory bowel disease in dogs is as nasty as it is difficult to diagnose conclusively. Often, the diagnosis is made by eliminating other issues. That’s because the only way to properly diagnose it is by biopsy of the gut. Which means getting in there and grabbing a chunk. That is about as far from non-invasive as it gets. And it’s…