DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Health scares related to dogs are as old as - well, as old as America, and even older. Today, most health scares involve possible threats to dogs, not threats that dogs may present to people. One of the first examples of online-disseminated alarm, according to Tufts veterinarian Michael Stone, DVM, who is board-certified in internal medicine, had to do with the heartworm preventative Heartgard.

Rabies, a fatal, brain-damaging virus, can infect humans who have come into close contact with an infected animal's saliva through deep scratches or bites.

Letters to Tufts Veterinarians - Concerned about tooth decay

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Platelet-rich plasma therapy shows progress in reducing arthritis pain. Platelets have a lot of growth factors and molecules called cytokines that are mediators of inflammation, says Tufts veterinarian Michael Kowaleski, DVM, an orthopedic specialist who treats dogs and other small animals. Its believed that the release of the growth factors could stimulate tendon healing by bringing new, healthy cells to the site of the problem while some of the cytokines help reduce inflammation.

As many people have learned the hard way, a hernia is a defect in a body wall that allows a structure to move from where its supposed to be to where it doesnt belong. In the case of a hiatal hernia, a little piece of the stomach moves up from the abdominal cavity into the chest cavity due to a defect in the diaphragm, a tough sheet of muscle that normally separates the abdomen from the chest. Thus, the chronic heartburn experienced by some people with the condition. A hiatal hernia is a type of diaphragmatic hernia because the problem stems from a diaphragmatic abnormality.

Did you know that keeping your dog's eating utensils and bedding clean can provide the same benefit for you - and your pet? Thats right. Harmful pathogens that can compromise your dogs health are capable of spreading between you and your canine companion, too.

Hip dysplasia is a developmental problem - meaning the disease develops as the dog grows - and is an all-too-common one, tending to occur in certain breeds. A dog of any breed and any size may develop hip dysplasia that begins to evidence itself by the time the animal is just several months old. Typical signs include limping or a bunny-hopping gait.

White coat hypertension is now a well-known phenomenon in people. Some patients become nervous enough about being examined by a doctor or nurse wearing the proverbial white coat in a clinical setting that their blood pressure rises transiently in response. Research shows that dogs can be prone to the same response.

In the study of blood pressure measurements in greyhounds, while their blood pressure did not decrease with repeated hospital visits, their heart rates did. Its an important point. Many people assume that a decreased heart rate automatically goes hand in hand with a decrease in blood pressure and vice versa. But just because the heart rate slows once the feeling of stress dissipates doesnt mean the blood vessel walls respond with the same alacrity. Blood…

The most accurate blood pressure reading you can get for a dog is obtained by inserting a little catheter into one of his arteries and hooking it up to a machine called a transducer.

Cementless hip replacement is now routine at Tufts. We do one or two a week, says Michael Kowaleski, DVM, an orthopedic specialist at the Cummings School, sometimes two a day. And they replace hips on small dogs, too. Traditionally, Dr. Kowaleski explains, we had implants that fit dogs from 30 pounds up to 100 or 150 pounds. But recently a system has been developed for small dogs and even cats. Its called the micro hip…