DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Fleas are prolific, producing thousands of eggs during their three- to four-month lifespan. In ideal conditions, the cycle takes just two weeks from egg-laying (the female can lay as many as fifty eggs in a single day and starts laying eggs within a day of landing on your dog) to larvae to pupae to hatched fleas capable of laying eggs of their own. And, fleas can live from twelve days to six months.Depending on where you live, flea season can be a year-round problem or limited to four or so months annually. They thrive in warm, humid weather. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimates there are more than two hundred species of fleas in this country. The American Veterinary Medicine Association estimates that flea-related disease account for 35 percent of visits to all small animal veterinary practices and 50 percent of all skin problems veterinarians see.

Its one of those conditions that, with the advent and then greater usage of MRI, were starting to figure out that dogs truly do have strokes, probably with a greater frequency than we once thought, says veterinary neurologist Casey Neary, DVM, DACVIM, who works out of the Atlanta offices of Bush Veterinary Neurology Service, the largest veterinary neurological practice in the world. To be sure, Dr. Neary says, the overall occurrence of stroke is rare, not as common as in humans.

It has already been well established that people who are obese are more likely to develop cancer than people of healthy weight. There are a lot of different theories on why, says Tufts veterinary nutritionist Cailin Heinze, VMD, DACVM. One of the main ones, she comments, is that obesity is a chronic inflammatory condition. Its thought that some inflammatory chemical triggers that shouldnt normally be floating around in your bloodstream in relatively high amounts could set things in motion by causing changes in cells that lead to the growth of malignant tumors.

Q I have a dog rescued from a neglectful situation - a Papillion about nine years old, the vet thinks. We have been together for three months, and he is coming along nicely. But he likes to hump when he plays with our neighbors dog.

Q My eight-year-old schnauzer-elk hound mix is a wonderful companion. However, I am concerned as she has chronic urinary tract infections that are expensive to treat; the vet gives her injections and antibiotics.