DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

One of the most common questions people ask veterinarians as their dog gets older is whether she still needs her vaccinations. In fact, a lot of people with dogs skip the vaccinations in later years, figuring that their pet has already been vaccinated against various illnesses a number of times and has gotten sick to that point, so why put the animal through more shots? It's a grave mistake. Older dogs need their shots even more than when they were young and middle-aged. The immune system, like other body systems, slows down in old age, making a dog more susceptible not only to diseases such as cancer but also to infections. She simply cannot mount a sufficient immune response to illnesses she might have been able to ward off in her younger days.

On paper, human nutrition requirements shift a bit as an adult ages. For instance, while the vitamin D requirement remains same from ages fifty-one through seventy, the need for that nutrient increases afterward. That does not mean, however, that on a person's seventy first birthday, he automatically begins to prepare breakfasts, lunches or dinners any differently from the way he has been for years. Chances are that if someone is healthy and has been eating…

Eleven-year-old Tate, a German shepherd, has started to have anxiety attacks, usually at night, says her owner Sharon Nevins of Berne, New York. When they occur she pants, shakes, and is unable to settle down. It happened twice last winter and then three times in November. It takes three to four hours before they pass. Tate has been seen by her vet, who performed...

When it comes to letting you know about pain, dogs are a piece of cake compared to cats, says Alicia Karas, DVM, Director of the Pain Consultation & Referral Service at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Cats are secretive by nature, she says, and will not disclose everything from I just dragged in a mouse from the street …

If your veterinarian has used all the tools at her disposal to give your dog relief from pain but your pet is still in significant discomfort, you may want to seek the services of a veterinarian who specializes in pain management. There still is no board certification for vets wanting to provide relief from pain. But more and more veterinarians are becoming trained in pain mitigation, with a number of them receiving certification from the…

You sit anxiously in the waiting room while your dog undergoes surgery to remove a cancerous mass. Finally, after what seems like forever, the doctor comes out in his scrubs and tells you he was able to excise the malignant tumor and that he believes he got it all. Relieved but not yet out of the woods, you wait for the pathology report. Sure enough, it confirms the surgeons belief that he excised the cancer in its entirety. There are clean margins.

Why, then, does the tumor grow back in the exact same spot some months later?

Says soft tissue veterinary surgeon John Berg, DVM, who operates on cancerous tumors …

When removing a malignant tumor, a surgeon can't see a single cancer cell left behind with the naked eye — or even 10,000 cancer cells. That's a microscopic amount, which is why excised tumors currently get sent to pathologists. They can look at a few small sections of an excised tumor under the microscope and get an idea of whether the cancer was removed in its entirety. But what if a way were developed that allowed cancer surgeons to see right in the operating room, before the patient was closed back up, whether any cancer cells remained?

Your Dog editor-in-chief John Berg, DVM, is involved in cutting-edge research that will allow surgeons to do just that. In an investigation he conducted with fellow scientists at…

We once had a client who thought he was causing his dog to urinate in the house because she was picking up on his anxiety and depression. The man had lost his job and thought maybe his best girl was responding to his mood and therefore not even bothering to wait to pee until she got outside.

Frostbite in dogs most commonly occurs as a result of prolonged exposure to subzero temperatures. It usually affects extremities of the dogs body such as the tips of the ears, tail, feet and toes. Those areas, while highly exposed to the elements, lack insulating muscle and fat. The worst cases of frostbite can cause dogs considerable pain and put them at risk for infection. Frostbite should be avoided at all costs; however, accidents do happen, says John Anastasio, DVM, a resident in emergency and critical care at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. It is most likely to happen in extreme cold, but is fairly unlikely on the typical winter day. Beware of it if a newsworthy cold snap is anticipated.

[From Tufts May 2012 Issue]

To many people, the smell of baking bread evokes recollections of home cooking. But if your dogs ears emit a similar odor, its cause for concern: You need to put in a call to his veterinarian. Its a sign that he may have a yeast infection - a condition that, if left untreated, can lead to significant discomfort, complications and even partial deafness on those rare occasions when a persistent infection results in rupture of the eardrum.

Ear infections are the No. 1 reason for veterinary visits in one pet insurance companys review of nearly a half million claims. A particular kind - yeast infections - is extremely common in dogs, but the term is actually imprecise, according to dermatologist Lowell Ackerman, DVM, adjunct professor of clinical medicine at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

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[From Tufts June 2012 Issue]

My 4-year-old shih tzu, Piccolo, gets tear stains frequently. When he develops conjunctivitis a few times a year because of his unspecified allergies, the stains drip onto the hair underneath his eyelid. His black hair then becomes matted and turns an unsightly pink. He scratches the stained areas while I'm not around to catch him in the act until he reaches the skin, which becomes tender. I can live with his appearance but not the itchy eyes and irritated skin.

The Internet has all kinds of "remedies" from vinegar to Tums. I've also read that a popular over-the-counter product is verboten because it contains the antibiotic Tylosin. I don't want to practice medicine on my little guy. Piccolo's veterinarian said to clean the stains with hydrogen peroxide, which works well, except while…

Like detectives piecing together clues, veterinarians conduct blood tests when they suspect a health problem. Equally important, the tests can uncover diseases even when signs arent evident. A complete blood count and basic blood chemistry panel are especially important for middle-age and older dogs - beginning at about 5 to 8 years old.