Dear Doctor – How old is old?
Q Is it really seven human years for every dog year?
Dave Rhodes
Dearborn Heights, MI
Myth or Fact? Test your canine mettle
Teeth Brushing, Yes. Hair Cutting, No Longer.
Dont be wary of close contact with your dog
[From Tufts January 2010 Issue]
Ever since most dog lovers can remember, theyve heard that kissing a dog - and being kissed back - is risky. The dog has germs, mothers would say.
If you let him lick you, youll get sick.
Thats a contention that Scott Shaw, DVM, a specialist in emergency and critical care at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and head of the schools infection control committee, disputes. In most cases, the risk of contracting anything from close contact with a dog is very low, he says.
The American Veterinary Medical Association has reported that about 60 percent of the 1,461 infectious diseases recognized in humans developed in other species and that animals have transmitted about 75 percent of emerging human infectious diseases in the past three decades. The report didnt specify the extent of dogs role, but they account for only a small fraction of those numbers, Dr. Shaw says. People should not be afraid of their dogs.
Dogs can contract only a few diseases from us, but antibiotic-resistant MRSA is one...
The dosage for an antibiotic for my dog?
[From Tufts June 2010 Issue]
Yesterday my dog had his teeth cleaned by a vet, who has prescribed 100 milligrams of Amoxicillin twice a day for 10 days. I am concerned about giving him too much Amoxicillin over that period of time. What is the correct dosage after teeth cleaning?
Control Your Dog’s Barking When Company is Over
A vaccine reaction in dogs?
[From Tufts August 2011 Issue]
I was eager to read the article in your March issue by Edie Jarolim concerning vaccination choices [Vaccinations present an array of choices/The vet can help determine the best course based on health and life stage, March 2011] but was disappointed that no mention was made of the possibility of auto-immune encephalitis as a reactionto vaccinations.
I got my beautiful little Annie, a Maltese, at 4 months of age in August 2009. In November of that year, about two and a half weeks after her booster shot, she was diagnosed with auto-immune encephalitis. After a month-long battle that included an MRI, hospitalizations, seizures and more, I had to put her to sleep at only 8 months of age. It was a devastating loss and I am immensely concerned that it could happen again.
Let sleeping dogs lie next to you?
[From Tufts May 2011 Issue]
An article in a scientific journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made headlines nationwide when it warned that people can - and often do - get too close to their dogs. Bruno B. Chomel of UC Davis and Ben Sun of the California Department of Public Health, writing in Emerging Infectious Diseases, said that about 50 percent of owners in the U.S. allow their dogs to sleep on their beds, but doing so puts them at risk for health problems.
