Thyroid Medicine. Does Your Dog Really Need It?
So many dogs get prescribed thyroid medication- not sure if it’s lack of understanding on the part of the veterinarian or if it’s simply how they’ve been trained. . Here is what we learned in Vet school: For dogs with a potentially under functioning thyroid gland ,...
My Pet Drinks Out of the Toilet. Is This Safe?
Let’s discuss the obvious and then let’s discuss what’s not quite so obvious because ultimately the question we are all asking is this: “Why is my pet drinking out of the toilet?“ So- would you drink water out of the toilet? Not unless it were the end of the world...
What’s Wrong With Using Soap on Pets?
Everyone feels like they know what soap is- but do we really? I remember making soap in high school chemistry class. We had basically two ingredients. Sodium hydroxide, which was provided by the professor. And we got to pick an oil. I’m pretty sure I picked canola...
What Is Good Poop?
I look at a lot of poop pictures, sent in by caring pet parents. I see a lot of cats and dogs with intestinal issues. So- why am I looking at a lot of poop pictures? Lots of reasons. . Probably the biggest reason is this: because people want to verify if what...
How Do I Tell If My Dog Has an Environmental Allergy?
So... I’m guessing your dog is scratching? That’s usually the first reason that people think their dogs have allergies. Scratching dogs are not because of allergies all the time. Some of the time, yes, butt not all scratching dogs scratch due to allergies. . Still,...
What Does a Cat in Heat Look Like?
I think we’ve all seen the cartoons of the cute little demure female cat in the house and the 15 Tom cats outside singing, loud cat songs. That’s the cartoons. It’s not quite the same. Cats have very different cycles than humans. (Just as different as dogs are...
What Do I Do About Pet Dandruff?
Let’s start with this: what is pet dandruff? Basically it’s dry skin. And what makes skin dry? Dryness. Dry food. Dry environment. Dry skin. Winter. What you really want to know is how to fix it and ultimately the fix comes from the inside. But first - outside...
How Do I Do an Elimination Diet?
And more importantly, why? And maybe even more importantly than that, what is an elimination diet? So let’s start there:What is an elimination diet? It’s a diet where we eliminate everything going into the mouth of your pet. Usually, it’s a dog. Simply because...
Why Surgical Margins Are BS
There I go. Bold and aggressive. Again. I cannot tell you how many times clients have said to me that their dogs tumor was cut off and the surgeon “thinks he got it all“ because they had 2 cm margins. And because of this information, the pet owner thinks that their...
What’s the Best Wipe?
Wipes. Why do we use them? Why do we like them? People like them because they’re convenient and easy. You don’t have to do any effort- you just wipe and you throw it out. And of course we all use them- because tons of us used these things on our human children....