DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Benign hematoma or deadly cancer, what most commonly leads to death around the time of the operation in the 8 percent of dogs who die in the hospital is either bleeding in overdrive or clotting in overdrive. If theres bleeding in overdrive, its not just in the spleen but also all over the body. The bleeding at the site of the spleen consumes the dogs clotting factors in an all-out effort to staunch the flow of blood, so the dog now becomes prone to bleeding in other areas of the body. Its called coagulopathy.

One of the most common things we see is dogs who are brought in with splenic masses, says John Berg, DVM, a Tufts veterinary surgeon with a particular interest in certain types of cancer. Hes talking about masses that develop in the spleen, the abdominal organ (in both dogs and people) whose major function is to store emergency supplies of red blood cells as well as other components of blood. And the masses Dr. Berg is talking about can be huge - volleyball-size, he notes.

They said it couldnt be done. Okay, we said it couldnt be done - me, my wife, and Franklin. Soon after Rosies arrival when Frankie was already three years old, he starting packing on the pounds, going from a svelte 49 pounds to a rather astounding 74 in the course of just a couple of years. And there appeared to be no turning the tide.

Your dog cant go to the fridge for a nosh if hes bored or rummage through the kitchen cabinets to see if theres anything good to eat in the house. That is, how much your dog eats and whether he maintains a healthy weight or becomes overweight is entirely in your hands. Thats a lot of responsibility, but it also completely empowers you to make sure your dog stays trim enough to be as active, pain-free, and happy as he can.

I noticed that the pupils of my Siberian huskys eyes were uneven. The right one was constricted almost to a pinpoint while the left was fully dilated! I immediately took him to my veterinarian. After the exam, I was told that in some dogs this was somewhat common and not to worry because my dog showed no signs of neurologic upset. After a while the pupils evened out. There was no change in his personality, appetite, or anything else. Your thoughts?

Think shunt, and perhaps a medical solution comes to mind, as in a shunt implanted in the brain that allows fluid to drain and thereby decrease swelling in that organ. A cardiac bypass is a shunt, too. Its a new route for blood to flow from one part of the body to another when the old route is blocked and needs to be gotten around. In medical terms, a shunt is simply a passageway that allows the movement of fluid from one part of the body to another.

When you bring your dog to the veterinarian for his annual or semi-annual exam, the doctor may very well ask you whether there have been any changes in your pet since his last visit. But the phrase any changes is rather vague, and besides, sometimes changes come so gradually that theyre hard to detect until they have become quite dramatic. Thats why paying attention to your dogs habits and lifestyle variations is critical in advocating for his continued good health. As we frequently say, you are the most important partner on your dogs health care team, the one who is most intimately familiar with his day-to-day life and therefore in the best position to make the first clinical assessment about whether something might be amiss.

This becomes particularly important as your dog reaches over from middle age into his geriatric years. Noticing changes in his behavior or demeanor that you can bring up to his doctor may help you stave off illness - or treat it at the outset, when its easier to keep symptoms in check and sometimes even reverse a health problem. Treating a disease at the outset rather than after it is far gone tends to be much less expensive as well.

Even if you have been providing proper oral care for your dog, you cant prevent gingival hyperplasia, an overgrowth of the gums surrounding the teeth that affects some of our canine friends. While the abnormal proliferation of gum tissue is not cancerous, it can prove painful, particularly when a dog eats. And it can lead to periodontal, or gum, disease. Specifically, it causes deep pockets to form between the surface of the teeth and the surrounding gums, which in turn allows plaque and tartar to build and can lead to infection, loosened teeth, and if it goes far enough, teeth falling out.

My friend Scott Leaver was 32 when he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor the size of an apple. After surgery, the oncologist told him that the cancer had a 75 percent chance of returning within five years - more aggressively the second time around.

A lot of dogs dont look bloated from the outside, says Tufts emergency and critical care veterinarian Claire Sharp, BVMS, DACVECC, referring to a life-threatening condition known in the vernacular as bloat, in which a dogs stomach twists on its axis and fills with gas. She speaks of people who contact the animal hospital when their dog doesnt seem right, saying, Im sure my dog doesnt have bloat because his belly doesnt look big.

My 11-year-old dog has pretty debilitating arthritis, and someone has suggested physical therapy. But that sounds ridiculous to me. How can a dog do physical therapy?

For creatures with such a sensitive nose, dogs seem happiest when they reek. This is particularly true of dogs who romp off leash, picking up bits of detritus in their fur and, if lucky enough, rolling about in something unidentifiable and rank, often the remnants of a dead animal.