DOG HEALTH AND MEDICINE

In Australias Perth and in San Diego, Portland, and Nashville here in the states, dogs owners all say the same thing: having a dog not only insures that they get some physical activity but also increases their chances of making more friends in their neighborhood. When surveyed by researchers at the University of Western Australia, some 2,700 adults in all four cities said they got to know people where they live because of their dog…

In dogs as in people, cancer does not generally start affecting lifestyle in all-of-a-sudden fashion. More often, signs of the disease progress gradually and can be rather insidious. There are 10 common warning signs that a dog may have cancer and should be taken to the veterinarian for a workup. …

Pantyhose, golf balls, socks, rocks, underwear, baby bottle nipples, peach pits, plastic gadgets, wood glue, magnets. No, its not leftover refuse found in a pile at the town dump. Its just some of the items swallowed by dogs and then retrieved from their GI tracts by Tufts veterinarians - on a regular basis! …

While contrary to popular belief, chicken bones are not likely to hurt your dog, other types can. The one kind of bone people should definitely keep dogs away from are large beef vertebrae, says Tufts veterinary surgeon John Berg, DVM. People get them from the butcher, he says. Theyre not long. Theyre roundish, with a lot of prominences on them. The issue is that when a dog chews one, he has an urge to swallow…

A dog would make a candidate for braces if he had whats known as a malocclusion causing trauma- his upper and lower teeth dont line up properly when he bites, which in turn causes trauma to various part of the mouth.

For some dogs, depending on the exact nature of their orthodontic problem, its possible to use invisible, removable retainers to realign their teeth rather than attach composite material to their upper canines for 2 to 3 months. Made by a company called PetAlign, theyre constructed for a dog after a veterinary dentist takes an impression, or mold, of his teeth. That way, the pressure they exert moves the teeth just where they are supposed to…

Weve all heard of the illness commonly referred to as kennel cough, a hacking cough born of an upper respiratory tract infection that is particularly contagious when caused by a type of airborne bacteria called Bordetella bronchiseptica. Thats why many kennels require that owners show proof of vaccination again the illness before boarding their dog. …

Last month we talked about the fact that most chemotherapy drugs have to be given by injection under the care of a veterinarian whereas targeted molecular therapies that attack cancer cells can be given in pill form by owners at home. But there is a new type of chemotherapy that can be administered at home - and works differently from conventional chemotherapy to destroy cancerous tumors in dogs, proving less hard on the body. …

Letters to Tufts Veterinarians - Owner worries over aging dogs protein requirements; Howling, but not at the moon

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A category of drug that goes under the broad heading of targeted molecular therapy is showing great promise as a cancer fighter. It is being investigated in major scientific laboratories and, in some instances, is already being used to treat both dogs and people. Unlike chemotherapy drugs, which attack rapidly dividing cells whether theyre cancerous or not, this newer class of drugs interferes with cancer cells internal signaling mechanisms for cell division and proliferation.

Your dogs veterinarian is her PCP - her primary care practitioner. He or she can handle all the routine exams, shots, and illnesses of her life. But cancer is not routine. Should your dogs usual vet be the one to treat her? It depends. Some primary care veterinarians feel quite comfortable handling certain types of cancer treatment. But sometimes a referral might be made to a veterinary oncologist. Veterinarians who specialize in diagnosing and treating cancer…