How to Look for a Fungal Infection Before it’s Too Late
Recently, I was consulting with a wonderful pet owner whose dog was coughing. This dog had undergone extensive diagnostic work up by her primary care veterinarian. Bridget had fallen off the grooming table before the coughing started. One of the possibilities was that...
Special Ingredient Saturday – Green Beans
Green beans aren’t typically thought of as great pet food. But, maybe they should be. Green beans are rich in B vitamins, shown to have impressive antioxidant qualities, and are also a good source of beta-carotenes (just like carrots). Green beans have recently been...
My Dog Only has One Testicle Descended. Do I Need to Worry About This?
An undescended testicle is also called cryptorchid or monorchid. By the time most puppies go home between 8 and 12 weeks old, the male puppy will have both testicles descended into his scrotal sac. Interestingly, northern breeds and some working dogs seem to delay...
What Really is Healthy Looking Stool?
Caution: This discussion may be a bit graphic for some. Pet food manufacturers spend a lot of their research dollars making sure that dogs and cats have “good” stools after eating their pet food. Certainly, most pet owners examine their pets’ output and use that as...
Dr. Google vs. You Know, Any Real Doctor
These days we all do it - we run to the Internet to check for information. Fact checking may be as simple as checking ingredients of a favorite recipe, to something as complicated as diagnosing an unknown illness in a pet. Multiple times over the years, before my...
Health Coaching for Pets
Have you ever just wanted a second opinion, either about your own health or the health care of your pets? Books and the internet are great for general information, background, and education but usually don’t address the specific situation going on in the owner’s...
Why has my Black Cat’s Coat Turned Red?
Black coat color is produced by a pigment called melanin. Melanin is the same pigment in human skin that turns our skin brown(er) when we are exposed to sunshine. Melanin is found in higher concentration in black coated animals than other color coats. Melanin is made...
What Are the Ingredients of Vaccines?
The list of ingredients for most vaccines is proprietary information - this means vaccine companies are not required to disclose their ingredients to the consumer. Therefore, even if the consumer, or the consumer’s pet, has a reaction to a vaccine, the vaccine the...
My Dog Bit Me. Do I Need to Get a Tetanus Booster?
Tetanus comes from bacterial infection caused by a bacterium called Clostridium tetani. C tetani lives in the soil. This bacterium produces a toxin that causes the typical signs of tetanus when the environment is right. C tetani enters the body through a break in the...
Cancer: What to Do When Your Dog is Diagnosed
Statistics presented by veterinary insurance companies report that 25% of dogs will develop cancer before they die. For some reason, the cancer rate in cats is not as high as that in dogs. Therefore, this discussion will focus on dogs. However, much of what applies to...