Health

Most dogs usually gently poke a porcupine with their nose or dab at it with a paw, walking away with a sore nose or foot and just a few quills to be pulled. But some dogs do go all out, attacking and killing the porcupine, leaving the scene with a face full of quills.

Diarrhea isn’t fun for anybody. When your dog gets it – and feeding boiled chicken or hamburger with rice doesn’t make it go away...

How to care for your dog's runny nose and when to call the vet

Professional human athletes never skip a proper warmup. That's because research has proven, repeatedly, that preparing your muscles for upcoming physical activity reduces the risk of physical injury. And for them, an injury could impact their wallet with down time.

Researchers are looking at CBD from a variety of angles: Is it effective? How does the canine body absorb, synthesize, and metabolize CBD? What is the recommended dosage for different ailments in canine patients?

Why is Rover dragging his butt across the carpet? Not just annoying to watch, this behavior is usually indicative of a bigger problem - infected or impacted anal sacs. Also called anal glands, these little pouches are found on several different mammals including dogs and cats, and are not very noticeable when healthy. When they are clogged or infected, however, your dog will MAKE you notice them.

Itchy, crusty, gooey, and probably caused by bacteria, pyoderma treatment starts with medicated shampoo and meds from your veterinarian.

Water intoxication in dogs is the result of sodium levels being too low or too high. Either due to ingesting too much water in too short of time, or ingesting sea water leading to too much sodium.

Do dogs feel pain? Veterinarians didn't always think so. Fortunately, now vets know that human medications like NSAIDs (Rimadyl, Metacam) and opiates (Tramadol, Amantadine) work wonders for dogs, too!

Dogs with leptospirosis will have a decreased appetite, fever, and low energy level. Prevention through the use of the leptospirosis vaccine is important to ensure your dogs health.

Why a blood test is an integral part of your dog’s requisite annual wellness exam, and how to get the most out of the blood chemistry test results. Most of the dog’s organ systems can be targeted by one chemical analysis or another, and with proper interpretation of one (or a combination of) these analyses, I can, at least in part, assess the dog’s current health/disease status. From this interpretation then, we can often derive a treatment regime, whether it is based on Western or alternative medicines. Isn’t science wonderful?

The dog’s spleen is a highly vascular organ that sits behind the stomach. The spleen’s function is a red blood cell processing plant. It...