DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Illnesses That Your Dog Can Transfer to You – And Vice Versa

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.

Total Hip Replacement

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 in Dogs

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.

Just Because the Heart Rate Has Decreased Doesnt Mean the Blood Pressure Has

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 Best Way to Measure a Dogs Blood Pressure

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.

Smaller Dogs Now Candidates for Total Hip Replacement

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…

Chewed Stick Pieces Can Get Stuck in the Dog’s Head

Youd think if a dog chewed a stick into a million pieces, as some like to do, the pieces would get ground up in his GI tract and that would be the end of it. But once in a while, a splintered-off piece of stick doesnt even make it into a dogs throat, let alone his stomach or intestines. Instead, the splinter wends its way into the lining of the animals mouth - the oral mucosa - and from there begins to migrate.

Impalement By A Stick

Occasionally, a dog will be hurt by a stick not because he chewed it and a remnant ended up remaining somewhere in his head or neck but because he has been impaled by one. Hell be running through the woods, for instance, and a stick that is jabbed into the ground - maybe a rotted tree limb - will be sticking out at an angle, much like those protrusions at a car rental agency that dont allow you to back up once youve gone through the gate.

Where Did Lassie Go?

Who knew Reese Witherspoon had the ability to shuffle the breed cards, so to speak, shifting one breed in particular closer to the top of the deck? But she did. When her Legally Blonde character Elle Woods took her Chihuahua, Bruiser, from California to Harvard Law School, Chihuahuas began to enjoy greater popularity among those bringing a purebred dog into their lives, much as Brussels Griffons got a boost from Verdells finally stealing Jack…

Ear Infections in Dogs: When External Ear Canals are Removed

Cocker spaniel Fred, an active dog who loves to chase deer and squirrels in the field behind his home, was about five years old when his owner, Dick Moreau, noticed that his pet had been shaking his head and scratching his ears. This went on for a couple of weeks until Mr. Moreau took a close look at Freds ears and found what looked like a growth inside the left one. He took Fred…

Breed Trend Facts and Figures

Mutts, or mixed breeds, remain the most popular canine pet, with all pure breeds following behind. In the 1890s, after mutts, it was Saint Bernards that were among those breeds topping the charts. They really were used to locate and rescue freezing and helpless travelers in the Swiss Alps, not just then but for centuries. …