DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

More than 400,000 people die each year from malaria, with some 2,000 diagnoses annually in the U.S. And the situation is about to get worse. A mosquito-born disease, malaria is once again on the uptick. The reason, in part, is that tests designed to detect malaria early are no longer working as well because mutant malaria parasites are not producing the specific protein those tests were designed to detect. But dogs might be able to do what the tests cannot.

A common concern that comes with the common cold is wondering whether your dog can catch it from you. But dogs dont get colds from people, says Tufts veterinarian Elizabeth Rozanski, DVM. Human colds are generally caused by the rhinovirus, which does not thrive in a dogs sinus or respiratory system. In very rare instances, dogs can get the flu from people, Dr. Rozanski says, but in general, respiratory illnesses are not zoonotic, meaning they dont jump species.

Obesity in dogs is a problem that veterinarians are seeing increasingly in recent years. In fact, obesity is considered the most common preventable disease in dogs in North America. Approximately one in four dogs is considered obese, with 50 percent weighing more than they should.

Heartworms are parasites that can infest a dogs pulmonary artery - the artery that brings blood from the heart to the lungs. That can result in severe illness and even death, which is why our pets need to take a heartworm preventive from the time they are puppies throughout their lives.

Ive noticed my dogs nose is black in the summer but turns pink in the winter? Why is that, and is it a problem?

My 8-year-old Bernese mountain dog has a mast cell tumor in the skin of her tail, about an inch from the tails base. Because there is so little skin on the tail, its hard to get optimal margins when removing a mast cell tumor there - wide-enough margins would leave too little skin to close up where the tumor had been. So the veterinarian is saying her entire tail should be removed to make sure the margins around the tumor are adequate to excise any cancer cells at the edges. While I can adjust to the reality of no tail, my concern centers on bleeding as well as on missing limb pain. Is there something different I should ask for? Remove the tumor but keep the tail? Add radiation to the tumor location to wipe out any stray cancer cells instead of taking off the tail? Forget all treatment, ignore the lump, and let the dog live out her life? What would you recommend?

Did you know that you likely have a few medicines on hand that can actually be used for your pet? Youll need to confer with your vet about dosages, but often whats right for you may be right for your dog.

As much as physicians warn against using a cotton-tipped applicator such as a Q-tip for cleaning debris from your ears because of the risks for puncturing an eardrum and impacting wax, using one for cleaning a dogs ears comes with even more risks. The canine ear canal is long and tapered and takes an almost 90-degree turn about halfway in, going abruptly from down to across. (See illustration.) If you insert a cotton swab, the fluffy tip will begin to fill the entire width of the ear canal as soon as it approaches that tight turn. That means you end up pushing wax and dirt deeper into the canal rather than removing it. Theres no room to do a bit of scraping along the sides and pull out the gunk. In fact, if you apply just a little too much pressure, the material you want to get rid of can be pushed right through the eardrum. Sometimes the cotton-tipped swab itself gets pushed with enough force to perforate the eardrum.

Taking your dog to the vet on a regular basis is one of the most important things you can do as a responsible owner. If your dog is scared of the vet - or worse, if your dog is terrified of the vet - youre not alone. This is a big reason why some owners put off or avoid altogether the recommended wellness checks.

Its an-all-too common question from pet owners: Whats the best flea treatment for my home? A research study discovered that in the average flea-infested house, the adult fleas represent only about one to five percent of the flea population! So where are the rest of the pests, you may ask? Flea eggs make up about 50 to nearly 60 percent, flea larvae makes up about 35 percent, and the pupae (a life stage of the flea that comes after larvae and before emergence as an adult) about 10 percent.

The ravages of bloat, or gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV), often occur extremely fast. A dogs human family will leave early in the morning, then return late in the day to find their dog extremely ill or even dead. GDV is a condition in which the stomach twists in place, cutting off its own blood supply and compromising the blood supply to other organs.

You know that a long-haired dog like a Bernese Mountain Dog or a shih tzu needs to be brushed frequently. But were you aware that short-haired breeds like beagles and boxers need regular brushing, too?