Intussusceptions are seen in both dogs and cats but in my experience it is much rarer in the cat. As a primary condition it is common in younger animals say below four months of age but where it occurs in middle aged or older animals it can be secondary to other conditions such as...
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The good news is that Histiocytomas will almost always regress on their own without treatment and leave no lasting health problems. They usually disappear in two or three months. A very small percentage may need surgical removal, while this would be a simple procedure it is as I said rarely necessary.
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While cystitis is the commonest urinary tract problem found in dogs in my experience the next most common urinary tract disease in dogs is stones in the bladder. First some terminology as this can be confusing to non medical folks, firstly another name for stones in the bladder is urolithiasis, and the actual stones...
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The cardinal signs of this disease are marked itching and the appearance of obvious hair loss and skin disease, after a while chronic cases may lose condition and become debilitated. Hair loss and skin disease frequently appears first on elbows and ears but can spread over the whole body. Secondary skin damage can then...
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Lymphoma, { Lymphosarcoma } is a fairly common malignant cancer which affects the lymphoid system of dogs. It mainly affects middle aged and older dogs and some breeds are said to have a predisposition to this disease, these include Rottweilers, Golden Retrievers and German Shepherds amongst others but any breed may be affected.
There...
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There are a number of home remedies for vomiting in the dog, these work well for uncomplicated cases, where for example a dog has eaten something it should not have out in the yard or some unaccustomed rich foodstuff, or has a minor tummy bug. Here are some examples.
An article from a qualified veterinary surgeon, Hot Spot or Moist Dermatitis in the dog, info diagnosis and treatment. This fairly common in some breeds such as Labradors and Rottweilers. while it does occur in other breeds as well it is those two breeds that I personally saw it in most.
An article from a qualified veterinary surgeon : Syringomyelia In The Dog, Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment. A common disease in the King Charles. These dogs suddenly stood still and cried out in great pain for no obvious reason and some stretched their necks at the same time, my standard treatment when presented with such...
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An article from a qualified veterinary surgeon. Heart tumours, tumors, cardiac cancers of the dog, diagnosis and treatment. Heart tumours { cancers } of the dog are quite rare, so much so that this condition often catches vets out. While in theory many cancers could affect this area of the body on a sporadic...
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An article on diabetes in the dog from a qualified veterinary surgeon. This is not a disease you will be able to handle 100% on your own, best results will come when the vet and owner approach the problem on a team basis. Over the years I have observed that dogs belonging to owners...
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Dehydration In Dogs, How To Keep Them Happy And Healthy. An article from VetBlog UK. The body mass of dogs, like humans, is approximately 80% water. Water is essential to sustain life. It allows substances to dissolve and pass through the body; it is fundamental to virtually all the processes and chemical reactions...
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The Sheep Tick Ixodus Ricinus. This article is from our guest author Sue Gilmore, you can visit her web site HERE Climate change seems to affect just about everything nowadays and the migration of a European tick, Dermacentor Reticulates, is being attributed to it as well. The national press has recently featured...
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A Concise Guide To Chronic Kidney { Renal } Failure In The Dog. Chronic renal failure is a fairly common problem in all dog breeds, usually it affects older and geriatric dogs but some breeds are said to be more prone to this disease than others. These susceptible breeds include Cocker Spaniels, Dobermans,...
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The Salmonella Bacteria. Salmonella in Dogs This is an infection you sometimes see in dogs caused by the Salmonella bacteria. In the dog it can cause vomiting and diarrhoea, abortion and wider infections in the body. It is a disease of significance as infected dogs can be a source of this unpleasant disease in...
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CDRM for short { Chronic Degenerative Radiculomyelopathy or Canine degenerative myelopathy }. Or how I became Appointed Official Veterinary Surgeon to The Principality Of Sealand. Over the last thirty years or so I have seen a lot of clients come and go, mainly they were just nice normal people of course but one...
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Not all animals in which infection has been demonstrated have clinical signs but where symptoms have occurred they have included diarrhoea, vomiting, weight loss and flatulence. This leads some vets to believe that Giardia rarely causes disease but may be a common and harmless gut inhabitant,
Cherry Eye is a fairly common problem seen in dog’s eyes, it is more properly called prolapse of the gland of the third eyelid or nictitating membrane. The owner will see this as a sudden appearance of a small red lump about the size of a pea in the inside corner of...
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As it’s name suggests acute pancreatitis results from a sudden inflammation process of the pancreas. While the pancreas is well known for it’s role in producing insulin and it’s connection with diabetes it has a number of other functions as well. One of these is the production of pancreatic enzymes and the...
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Lyme Disease In The Dog, A Concise Guide. Lyme disease is a disease of dogs and is common in the United States of America as well as other countries. This disease is so called because it was first identified in humans the city of Lyme in Connecticut back in 1975. Although we are...
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Addison’s disease which is more properly called canine Hypoadrenocorticism) is a condition in which is basically a malfunctioning of a dog’s adrenal glands. Obviously proper functioning of the adrenal gland is very important, as this gland produces many other hormones essential to your dog’s health and adrenal gland malfunction can affect many other organ...
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I have always found Cushing’s Disease quite difficult to explain to owners, perhaps because it is very rare in people { and cats } but fairly common in the dog. It commonly affects middle-aged to older dogs, and seems to be more common in some breeds such as Poodles, Dachshunds, terriers, German Shepherds,...
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Insulinoma is a rare form of cancer that affects the pancreas of dogs and to a lesser extent cats. It affects the beta cells present in their pancreas, these beta cells are responsible of secretion of insulin and many more hormones in their body. Insulinomas affect the body as they produce larger amount...
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From time to time in practice I saw dogs which had suddenly become disorientated, had rapid sideways movement of the eye, and had a head tilt. These dogs tend to be confused and stressed this is in part no doubt due to the sudden onset of the symptoms and they stagger about like sailors...
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Given half a chance most dogs will take on the role of dumpster drivers and swallow all kinds of things, often this does little harm but you have to be wary if this involves chicken bones, rib bones or any other small bone which could splinter and cause your dog problems. If you suspect...
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The symptoms of this disease are very striking and can be disturbing to watch.In its classical form these dogs appear to be staring fixedly at objects far in the distance or watching imaginary flies buzzing in front of their faces and then trying to bite these imaginary flies. When they are having an attack...
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An article from a qualified veterinary surgeon. Cystitis, Bladder Infection In The dog, diagnosis, Treatment. The above x-ray shows a dog’s bladder and points to a bladder stone. Cystitis { bladder infections / colds in the bladder } is quite common situation in female dogs. Why should this be? Well most acute cystitis episodes...
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So how would you define congestive heart failure in the dog in general terms? Basically the heart is a pump and anything which can cause problems in it's structure or function may make it so inefficient that we then say it is in heart failure. The congestive terminology will apply when normal amounts of...
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So what are the trigger factors which eventually lead to a chronic lick granuloma? There have been quite a few of these put forward : Consider boredom, a manifestation of compulsive behaviour disorder or anxiety due to stress of some kind. Other possible causes include allergies, fleas, demodex, fungal infections and bacterial infections or...
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I in common with I suspect most other small animal vets think that where you diagnose pyometra then surgery is the way to go. My experience is then that almost all such dogs go on to have a normal, happy, good quality life after the operation. As an alternative some owners want you to...
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If you are seeing maggot like objects crawling round round your dog or cat's anal area these would most likely be tape worm segments. These are not directly transmissible dog to dog but are spread via the dog or cat flea and via rodents in the case of the cat. They are about the...
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Before starting phenylpropanolamine it would be a very good idea to have a vet examine your dog and confirm the diagnosis. the problem you face is that there are other possible diagnosis which can present like this. Consider bladder infections, kidney problems, diabetes, neurological disorders to name just a few. However as I said...
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If it is at all possible it is always worth calling your vet as soon as possible in case anti-venom is available, also some dogs get in a bad way after a snake bite and will need intensive care such as drips etc. and of course this is best delivered by your vet if...
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In my experience scorpion stings are not such a serious thing as venomous snake bites such as from a cobra say, a situation I also deal with by the way. One fact which I have learned is that not all scorpions are very venomous and the bite from some species can be very minor,...
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An article from VetBlog UK concerning conditions which can affect the anal glands of domestic dogs. These include impacted anal glands, anal gland abscesses and cancer of the anal gland.
This is a very common phobia in the dog, one which every small animal vet has to deal with now and again. At the first sign of thunder, the affected dog suddenly runs for cover, hides in some place such as under the bed and is wide eyed, trembling and panting. Since there is...
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What are the symptoms? : The symptoms of this disease are variable and subtle, it could well happen that this disease is not diagnosed and is missed in it's early stages. The clinical signs could include lethargy, obesity, hair loss, changes in skin pigment and a low heart rate. A few dogs can develop...
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From time to time vets are presented with dogs which are salivating excessively, and these can be perplexing cases to resolve. Sometimes the only symptom you see is salivation which can come in quite surprising amounts but at other cases can present with an additional range of other symptoms. There are quite a...
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Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you have found it to be interesting or of value please share it with your social media using the...
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Affected puppies are usually between one and four months of age and the precise cause of this disease is not well understood. While they may well have some form of bacterial infection there is also thought to be an auto-immune component to this disease. There may be more to it than that as some...
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However if your concern is sarcoptic mange then yes it is possible your dog can contract it in your garden or in the park or indeed anywhere where dogs, foxes or any type of wild member of the dog family have been. That said the main way this disease spreads is via direct dog...
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Speed is of the essence if you think your dog may have glaucoma, the sooner these cases are treated the better and with early treatment there is a better chance that drugs will bring this condition under control. I have to say from a vet's point of view this can be a very frustrating...
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The bottom line : This is a very serious disease of dogs and can easily be fatal if not treated properly, confirming the diagnosis is relatively easy. Where treatment is successful it may have to be carried on for life but not all cases respond to treatment. Steroids such as prednisone would be the...
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The ” Sausage Dog ” appearance and the long back that attracts this attention is just what is responsible for the most major condition that this breed suffers from. Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now!...
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External ear disease in the dog a concise guide for dog owners. Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you have found it to be interesting...
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An Article From A Qualified Veterinary Surgeon. { Marcel } Mast Cell Tumours In The Dog, Grade, Diagnosis and Treatment. A short concise guide for dog owners.
The bottom line is that no single technique has been shown to result in a consistent cure … Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you...
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Kennel cough is not a serious disease in most healthy dogs, however it is extremely contagious … Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you have...
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As dogs reach the older age group one of the commonest conditions I treat is arthritis … Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you have...
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Clinical signs may vary from the very slight to the severe … Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you have found it to be interesting...
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An article from a qualified veterinary surgeon. The cause of this disease is in some way related to the shape of the dog's chest, it tends to affect dogs whose chest has a teardrop profile instead of a round profile like that of a Bulldog.
This article is from a qualified veterinary surgeon. Common sense treatment of simple diarrhoea in the dog. Dogs are quite prone to diarrhoea, this is often caused by something they have eaten, often they are otherwise bright and normal. In this situation you might want to try and resolve the situation with diet alone.
A question I am frequently asked by dog owners is that they have seen blood in their dog's faeces and they are very concerned and want to know what can be wrong. Part of this concern no doubt is because this is a symptom which middle aged and older humans should not take lightly...
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Cause: The cause of this disease is quite complex, it usually follows cystic endometrial hyperplasia which is a type of womb disease, this changes the internal environment of the womb and makes it prone to bacterial infections. Once the bacterial infection is established it goes wild and a full blown pyometra is the result....
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The first fit is an alarming experience for the owner but most cases recover and have a reasonable quality of life thereafter on medication. Idiopathic is a word you will hear thrown about when we talk about epilepsy. An idiot knows nothing and path means disease so I guess this word means we do...
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An article from a qualified vet. Nose bleed in the dog, causes, diagnosis, treatment. In a normal small animal practice a vet will be presented with a dog with a chronic nose bleed perhaps once each six months. Often the owner thinks that this is a trivial condition which will be resolved easily and...
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Today I will continue with my diseases you can vaccinate against series, we will cover leptospirosis … Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you have...
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Today we will cover another of the dog diseases you can vaccinate against, canine parvovirus Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought to you by David Ainworth. If you have found it...
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Like any other small animal vet one of the main things I did in my professional life was to vaccinate dogs and cats, I must have vaccinated a great many in my time, hundreds of thousand perhaps ....
Last week I was at the dentist myself, I confess that I have still a phobia about dentists even now at my advanced age … Not found what you were looking for? Search again using the search box below. Or have a live consult with an online vet right now! This article was brought...
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I carried out an operation yesterday on a dog which had swallowed a plastic object which turned out to have been a part of a child’s toy. Any vet who deals with dogs and cats will be very familiar with this type of surgery, it is quite a satisfying operation as it is a...
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Rabies is a viral disease commonly associated with dogs, although in recent years canine rabies has been practically eliminated in North America and Europe due to extensive and often mandatory vaccination requirements. However it is still a significant problem in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia.
David Smith.
