DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Most dogs start going for yearly teeth cleanings around the age of five or six. It’s at that point that enough hardened plaque (calculus)...

Urinary stones in dogs not only cause pain. In severe enough cases, they can lead to a complete blockage of urine flow — a...

Q. My dog is only 5 years old but has already been getting fatty tumors for a couple of years. The vet says they’re...

It used to be a breast cancer patient was a breast cancer patient,” says Tufts veterinary oncology researcher Cheryl London, DVM, PhD. “But now...

I recently read that the American Animal Hospital Association recommends vaccines not be given more frequently than every 3 years and that excessive vaccinations can aggravate autoimmune diseases. The veterinary hospital I visit with my dog recommends a distemper shot every year. Is there science to support the idea of vaccinating annually?

Theres no getting around it - dogs can smell pretty stinky. Some of the odor comes from bacteria and yeast in the skin that break down and oxidize oils (fats) on the skins surface. That fat breakdown releases the telltale volatile compounds that we associate with dogs un-perfume-like scent. Some of the nasty odor also comes from the waste left behind on a dogs coat by resident microorganisms, and some comes from sweat.

Has your dog been squinting more than usual? Is at least one of his eyes red? And is there some mucous discharge from one or both eyes - not the grey, jelly-like ooze that you can easily wipe away but something thicker and perhaps more yellowish as well as harder to remove? If so, get your dog to the veterinarian. Theres a reasonable chance he is not producing enough tears and has a condition called dry eye, known in medical circles as kerato-conjunctivitis sicca. Its a fairly common illness among dogs that can lead to impaired vision if not diagnosed and treated.

In the largest study to date on aging in dogs, researchers will follow tens of thousands of dogs for 10 years to gather critical information on whether canine life expectancy can be improved. They will also examine whether dogs overall quality of life can be maintained over a longer geriatric stretch. Which dogs will participate? Perhaps yours.

My cock-a-poo beagle mix Lila started having seizures a little before she turned 3. My vet put her on phenobarbital and that helped, but the seizures are now starting to occur more frequently. Should I go back to the doctor to increase the dosage?

Imagine if the time came that your dog needed an operation, and her recovery took a few hours instead of a few days in the hospital. It would result in her going through a lot less pain and could also mean less cost, since a stay in a veterinary hospital can easily run hundreds of dollars a day.

Just like people, dogs can get lupus. Its an autoimmune disease, meaning that the immune system mistakes the bodys own tissues for foreign invaders and starts attacking and destroying them. Two types of lupus strike our canine pets: systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE). The first is much more devastating, with worse symptoms that can have life-threatening implications. The second is not as dangerous but needs to be brought under control to avoid serious complications down the line.

Sometimes a dogs itchiness becomes so relentless that the incessant scratching, biting, licking, and rubbing in an effort to relieve the problem leads to hair loss, wearing away of the skin, nasty bumps, scaly red spots, crusty areas forming over scabs, and the skins thickening and hardening. In addition, as part of the itch-scratch cycle, the dog will often develop secondary bacterial or yeast infections.