Aggression Between Household Dogs
Aggression between familiar dogs in the same household is a common occurrence and is one of the most common reasons that dogs are surrendered, rehomed, or euthanized. This aggression can be secondary to high arousal or excitement levels. When a fight occurs, damage to the relationship between the dogs can be difficult to repair. There […]
An Alternative to Clipping Nails FOR Dogs
Many dogs do not like having their nails trimmed and some are outright petrified. Dogs can be taught to file their own nails using a nail board. Dogs learn to scratch on the board using a scratching or digging motion. Nail boards can be purchased, or hand made using a board, duct tape, and coarse or […]
Dog Smells – what are normal and what smells are abnormal
Dog owners often complain about their dog’s odor. It is important to recognize that dog odors have many sources, both natural and un-natural. Natural Dog Odors Dogs naturally produce secretions that enable other dogs to recognize them by smell as dogs and as individuals. Unfortunately, people do not always appreciate these odors! Natural dog odors […]
Leptospirosis in Dogs
About the Organism Leptospira organisms are spiral-shaped bacteria called spirochetes. There are several species of leptospires, but the ones that cause disease have been grouped into one particular species. From here, over 250 strains have been named and at least 10 are important for causing disease in pets, especially dogs. Canine vaccine for dogs, however, exists against […]
THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE BREEDING YOUR DOG
So, your dog is awesome and you want to spread some of that awesomeness around by breeding your beloved pooch. But WAIT! STOP! There are a number of things to consider and medical evaluations to have done before responsibly deciding that your pooch should be bred. Factors to Consider Will your dog contribute excellent health, […]
Evaluating Pet Health Through Blood Work
What does it mean when a veterinarian says she needs to run some blood work on your pet? Blood work – presurgical or otherwise – is usually a combination of a complete blood count (CBC) and a blood chemical analysis. Blood work is a basic evaluation tool. Pets, particularly senior ones, should have a CBC […]
Wound Healing and Management in Dogs and Cats
Animals, like people, at some point in their lives experience trauma. Often this manifests itself as wounds. With early intervention, most wounds, can heal. This discussion will focus on the skin and the wounds experienced in the skin and underlying tissues. The skin and its associated tissues exist in layers: the epidermis on the outside […]
Tapeworms in Dogs and Cats
After gaining some pet owning experience, the average pet owner has heard of tapeworms transmitted by fleas and knows to watch for sesame seed-like segments around their pet’s nether regions or on the surface of stools. In fact, there is a part two to this story as there is another type of tapeworm to which […]
Skin Allergies in Dogs – Welcome to Houston!
Having practiced in different parts of the country, I have to say that Houston seems to be a real hotspot (pun intended) for inducing allergies in dogs and people alike. Here, we’ll just focus on our canine friends. Atopic dermatitis in dogs (allergic dermatitis, canine atopy) is a hypersensitivity or over-reaction to a variety of commonplace […]
COVID-19 And Companion Cats and Dogs, What You Should Know
The information documented here is from a compilation written by Mark Rishniw, BVSc, PhD, DACVIM (SA-IM), DACVIM (CA) from VeterinaryPartner.com, an online resource for pet owners. A novel coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness […]