DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Making Sure Your Dog Puts Her Best Foot Forward – Literally

A number of the surgeries I perform involve removing tumors from dogs feet, says John Berg, DVM, a soft tissue surgeon at the Tufts Cummings School and the editor-in-chief of Your Dog. Likewise, veterinary dermatologists often say that the feet are among the main areas where dogs are affected by allergies. Lots of diseases strike the foot pads also: liver disease, some autoimmune diseases, even an illness that hinders blood flow to the foot. Another way of putting it: a dogs feet can carry a heavy load.

When to Issue a Do Not Resuscitate Order

With all the television dramas centered around hospitals, its hard not to pick up some medical lingo. Many Americans know, for instance, that Code Blue means a patient has gone into cardiac arrest. The only chance for the patient recovering is CPR - cardiopulmonary resuscitation performed with the crash cart and paddles.

Are Some Dogs Autistic?

Emotional remove, repetitive (sometimes self-injurious) behaviors, unexplained and often aggressive outbursts, trance-like staring. These are some of the hallmarks of autism, a disorder currently identified in one in 59 children, according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For Dogs Used in Research, a New Leash on Life

Its a particularly fraught conundrum. On one hand, using dogs in laboratory research has led to improved cancer treatments, the discovery of insulin, the development of the pacemaker, more effective pharmaceuticals, and the heart-lung machine used in open-heart surgery - advances that in many cases have helped dogs themselves as well as people. On the other hand, the sturm and drang has intensified between the 44 percent of Americans who live with dogs as pets and the researchers who depend on them to improve health. No matter how much medical good lab dogs do, more and more people see their dogs as family members and do not like the idea of their pets species mates having to live in cages and be subjected to possibly dangerous, toxic, and sometimes painful treatments - even for the noble cause of medicine. Perhaps thats part of the reason that in 1979, some 211,000 dogs were used in biomedical research and in 2016, 61,000. (For perspective, more than 3 million dogs enter shelters each year, according to the ASPCA.)

Its Tick Season – Every Single Month of the Year

First the bad news. The geographic distribution of ticks that can infect dogs (and people) with Lyme disease is spreading. The Northeast has had the problem from the outset, and no area of the U.S. is completely Lyme disease-free, but the Companion Animal Parasite Control Council now says theres going to be an increase this year, with Lyme disease making its way to areas that have not been of particular concern, like the Midwest and the Southeast.

Dear Doctor: White Coat Hypertension?

I just took my dog to a new veterinarian for the first time, and he said she has high blood pressure. He wants to check it again in a few days. Im concerned. She is only 3 years old and has never had high blood pressure before, but the doctor thinks it might just be white-coat hypertension - transient high blood pressure resulting from anxiety because she has never been to this office before. Can a dog really get white-coat hypertension?

Overheated Cars, by the Numbers

The number of dogs who died in overheated parked cars during the last week of May 2015: 11, according to Veterinary Pet Insurance.

Advances – and Challenges – in Anesthesia

The risk of death for dogs under anesthesia used to be one to two deaths in 100 patients, says Lois Wetmore, DVM, an assistant professor of anesthesia and pain management at the Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Now were down to about one death in 2,000, Dr. Wetmore says. Were headed in the right direction.

Blood Test for Skin Disease May Help with Both Prevention and Treatment

Too many dogs end up with skin disease in the form of atopic dermatitis (inflammatory skin disease associated with allergies); pemphigus foliaceus (pustules and crusting on the skin surface); or perianal fistulas (which causes straining during defecation and often, a decreased appetite).

Dear Doctor: Why is a much lower dose of medicine now doing ...

Q. Our dog, now almost 7, has been on daily Proin since she came to live with us as a puppy. She had been dribbling urine without actively trying to, and we were told she needed to be on the medicine for life since the sphincter in her bladder was weak/slack, perhaps as a result of being spayed, and the drug would keep it more taut. Originally, we tried slowly increasing doses in order to…

The Other Opioid Crisis

In one of our countrys most unfortunate contemporary ironies, while opioids are destroying peoples lives and the lives of their family members throughout all strata of society - rich, poor, urban, suburban, rural - they are in short supply in hospitals around the country. This is true both for hospitals that serve people and those that serve their pets. Reports are coming in that in some hospitals, elective surgeries for people - gall bladder removal, hernia repair - are being postponed, while some people in postoperative recovery are said to be receiving less potent pain medication than they need.

Dear Doctor: The Lipoma is now as Big as a Football

Q My 11-year-old golden retriever has lipomas all over, as many of that breed have, but one on the inner rear thigh has gotten quite large. My vet has told me to leave it alone because surgery to remove it would be problematic with potential infections and possible involvement of the muscle. The dog has had it for a year or more, and although it has not limited his mobility and doesnt seem to bother…