DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

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Are doggie face lifts, breast reductions and tummy tucks vanity surgeries or medical necessities? It depends on the breed and the dog. And your pet insurance can cover the procedures.

Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter, with their fat-laden meals, are high on the list of holidays that lead to pancreatitis in dogs - which, if not treated, can sometimes be life-threatening.

The holidays are a time for family and tradition. But it can also be a time for pancreatitis for dogs. The most common cause of pancreatitis in a dog is the ingestion of a lot of fat. People feed a lot of high-fat treats in the wake of these holidays, or the dog gets hold of them inadvertently. The fat then increases the production of the digestive enzymes in the pancreas, which is what gets the process going.

Most cases of pancreatitis in dogs are acute. They come, and then they go. But sometimes, instead of an acute presentation, it develops into a more chronic presentation, says Linda Ross, DVM, a Tufts veterinarian who specializes in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Palliative radiation therapy is an option for those dogs whose cancers are too far advanced or whose tumors for whatever reason will not be responsive to surgery or chemotherapy. This therapy can make the rest of their time with you as comfortable and asymptomatic as possible.

The side effects of palliative radiation therapy, as opposed to definitive radiation therapy meant to help cure a cancer, tend to be minimal because the total dose is pretty low.

Letters to the Tufts Veterinarians - A tumor in a testicle; Veterinary Information Network; Which food is right for my puppy?

I've always understood that dogs don't see as many colors as people, or don't see colors as brightly, but I read recently that they have ultraviolet vision and can see colors that aren't even on our radar. How can both things be true?

When we suggest to clients that their dog should go on a ventilator, theyll often ask, Doesnt that mean the prognosis is really bad? says Tufts emergency and critical care veterinarian Armelle de Laforcade, DVM. And the truth is, she adds, if a dog is sick enough to be on a ventilator, shes pretty sick. In fact, when we first got a ventilator years ago, we tended to put a dog on it right before she died as a last resort. So we, too, were left with the impression that it doesnt work, doesnt save lives. But we have found over time that if you think about the reasons to put a dog on a ventilator and you put her on early, it really is a useful tool to carry her over until she recovers from a bodily insult.

Youve no doubt heard the term rotator cuff. It applies to dogs as well as people and refers to the fact that the shoulder joint is supported by a cuff of muscles. If those muscles are torn, stretched, or otherwise compromised, moving the shoulder can cause great pain. And fixing the problem requires patience. In a person, for example, wearing a sling might be required for weeks to months, especially if there has been surgery to repair the injured muscle. The patient may not even be allowed to lift a glass of water because the muscle tissue, still weak, can tear all over again.

As Tufts researchers work to develop a scoring system to help determine whether a splenic mass is a deadly cancer or a highly curable hematoma before the owner makes a decision to have surgery performed, they have also confirmed that the prognosis for dogs with hemangiosarcoma is tied closely to the cancers stage. When veterinarians talk about a cancer being stage 1, 2, or 3, they are referring to where the cancer is in the body. (Grading a cancer, on the other hand, is about what the disease looks like under a microscope.)