Did you know that dog vaccination guarantees protection against disease?... Well that is at least what the pharmaceutical companies marketing departments would like you to believe and it certainly is working on some people... Here is an excerpt from her blog Dog Health Information about dog vaccination - Dog vaccination guarantee protection from diseases and your pet can develop strong immunity thus making vaccination a vital factor of your dog health care... A quick look at the research shows that vaccines protect anywhere from 85% to 95% of the time, which of course is good but it is definitely not a guarantee... Because of this it is important to protect your dog in other ways, such as proper nutrition, exercise, and annual exams and blood tests from your veterinarian to supplement a proper vaccination protocol for your dog... … View Post »

I have been busy on an unrelated project... The project is completed and I will be back posting dog health articles on a regular basis... Also be prepared for a complete overhaul of this site as well as a book coming soon... If you want to check out something totally unrelated to dog health check out what I have been doing at http://www.conservative-options.com Not the typical expertise found in a veterinarian but it is something I am passionate about... … View Post »

OK here is an interesting take by some experts on the topic of pet health insurance and their claims that it is rarely needed and could be a waste of your money... Heres the link - Pet insurance rarely needed, experts say a reprint of an article from the Washington Post by Amy Orndorff... The average dog owner spends $261.30 per year in vet bills Less than 4 percent of American pets are insured, though that number is growing... There s a greater variety of life-extending procedures and higher demand for them... So the question that was asked at the beginning of the article - should you shell out hundreds of dollars a year for puppy insurance just in case he needs an expensive life-extending operation?... For the majority of dog owners that have a dog that is a family member that they would do anything for, pet insurance gives them the peace of mind that they can pay a little now and over a long period of time just in case something happens to their family member... It is you betting against the insurance company... The problem they have is that they are so new of a company here in the states that they are not even offered in the state I live in, which is also the state I practice small animal medicine, and the state in which I would have my clients purchase pet insurance... … View Post »

One of the biggest contributors to poor dog health is obesity... About 35 to 40% of dogs are overweight and almost 25% are obese and just as in people this really increase health problems such as joint issues, diabetes, liver disease, and other health issues... Well one creative veterinary clinic, New River Animal Hospital in West Virginia, is starting a Biggest Loser Pet Contest, similar to that of the TV Show the Biggest Loser... The contest will last three months and first prize is a basket full of items worth $200... Here is the new article on the contest - Biggest Loser Pet Contest to begin Monday This might be a good idea for our own clinic and it certainly is a good idea if your own dog has a weight problem... I repeat your dog will love you even if you do not give it a snack every time it goes potty outside... It is best to take multiple short walks a day vs one long walk... Do not feed crappy diet dog food - unless you want your dog to be bloated and have a large amount of gas do not feed the fit and trim dry dog foods... … View Post »

It is no secret that your vet bills are increasing... Dog health care costs are on the rise... Some of the reason is a shift in focus of veterinary medicine... It used to be, go into your vet once a year for shots and heartworm prevention and one time in your pets life a spay or neuter... We have discovered that annual vaccinations are no longer necessary and in fact may be harmful to your dogs health - Is your vet still overvaccinating your dog?... Vaccinations were very profitable as they could be purchased for a small amount and sold for a great profit... In fact many times a veterinary clinics gross income consisted of 33% vaccination income... Veterinarians were more on a product based business by selling products and medications vs a service based business like they should have been... Now the shift is going to a service based business which means more services are going to be offered and the prices for those services are no longer going to be given away... Some vets are still providing a cheap cost spay for a couple of reasons one to help control the pet population and two in hopes that that client will return for other business... Another perspective on the rising costs of vet care can be found in this article - Vet care becoming doggone expensive which discusses what can be done about dog health care costs rising by incorporating a pet insurance plan to help defray the higher costs of veterinary care... One thing that I would recommend is checking out pet insurance companies as they are not all the same... At this point in time I am actually leaning away from VPI the largest pet insurance company and looking to promote Embrace Pet Insurance I ll give my final decision and reasons in a future post... … View Post »

It appears that ticks are going to be a serious problem this year... They are already present in this area of the country ( Midwest - Chicagoland ) I was actually shocked to see a dog come into my clinic with three ticks on it already... I also went to a clients house to work on her horses and her dog had a tick on it... Frontline seems to be the best medicine for the prevention of a tick infestation and more importantly to prevent the spread of Lyme disease as a tick will need to feed on a dog for a minimum of 24 hours before passing on Lyme disease... However for those of you more open to alternatives and do not want to be poisoning your dog with chemicals that last in the lipid layer of its skin for 40 days... With tick education and awareness, you can help keep your best friend happy and healthy... It turns out that nutritional yeast alternative health, dog health, ticks addthis_url = ' http%3A%2F%2Fhealthyasadog.com%2Falternative - tick - control - for - your - dog ';... … View Post »

Osteosarcoma is a very common cancer in large breed dogs... It is a bone cancer in which the tumor produces a hard solid mass on the bone usually in a leg... Once the tumor is seen and diagnosed with no treatment a dog will usually only live 1 to 2 months as the majority of the time the cancer is malignant and rapidly spreads to the lymph tissue and to the lungs... Take Hanna here Hanna is a Newfoundland with mild hip dysplasia... She had a bone tumor growing on her right shoulder... She is a very large dog with a lot of weight taking the front leg off would cause her to put more weight on her hind legs which were also damaged... So the owner decide to just provide Hanna pain relief and treat her holistically using the raw food diet... In fact this picture was taken in February, and she was living with her cancer at that time and obviously living quite well notice her weight was good, her hair coat was decent, and her attitude was excellent... … View Post »

Many of you know that as far as pet insurance is concerned I have been recommending VPI;... however, I have found some interesting tidbits from a couple of clients and some internet research, as well as a Twitter connection from Laura Bennett, CEO of Embrace Pet Insurance and fellow blogger, that has definitely changed my opinion of the company and my recommendation... I am going to give you a couple of links that helped me in my search for a better insurance policy for your dogs Pet Insurance Review - http: / / www.petinsurancereview.com Invisible Voices - http: / / invisiblevoices.wordpress.com / pet - insurance - post - series - research - and - links / You really need to read this information before you buy pet insurance and even if you have pet insurance if you are not with the right company I would suggest you read this and switch ASAP... It is well written and has very good information on a variety of subjects, not just pet insurance... I am considering applying for their affiliate program because I think I am going to be promoting Embrace all over the place... In the meantime I am going to have to ask Laura how I can be listed on the AllTop pets blog list, but maybe this blog doesn t have what it takes yet!... … View Post »

Those two emergencies were limping dogs, which ended up being anterior cruciate ligament ruptures or cranial cruciate ligament ruptures... The first dog I had seen before with the same limp unfortunately now it had gotten worse... My initial visit with the dog, a 100 lb Bullmastiff, he was still using the leg but had a noticeable limp on the right hind... Palpation and flexion showed minor discomfort in the knee... Attempts to exhibit a drawer sign on the dog were met with a relatively painful but stable joint... However today the poor thing was only toe touching his leg and barely using it... I sent the dog to an orthopedic surgeon for repair, the same orthopedic surgeon that had fixed the left hind knee a couple of years ago... So we sedated the dog, upon sedation and examination of the knee a complete drawer sign was noted... This means the dog has a complete tear of the cranial cruciate ligament allowing the tibia to slide back and forth along the femur... Here is a picture of the normal knee of a dog taken from Hills Veterinary Atlas... You are looking at the knee from the front... For the Anterior or Cranial Cruciate ligament the top part of the ligament attaches to the femur at the back of the knee and the bottom part of the ligament attaches to the tibia at the front part of the knee... Treatments such as underwater treadmill therapy ( Underwater Treadmill info ), passive range of motion exercises, electrostimulation, chiropractic, acupuncture and eventually quadricep muscle building exercises all play a role in helping heal a partial tear... Here is some more info on Cranial Cruciate Ligament Tears TPLO Surgery - Repairing Your Dogs Bum Knee Big dogs have knee problems, too Anatomy of the Cranial Cruciate Ligament Surgical Repair Options for Cranial Cruciate Ligament Repair Canine Cruciate Injuries in Dogs Some Common Human Injuries Also Common In Dogs acl, ccl, cruciate ligament, cruciate rupture, cruciate tear addthis_url = ' http%3A%2F%2Fhealthyasadog.com%2Fanterior - cruciate - rupture - in - two - dogs ';... … View Post »