ask a vet

I love animals. They are my life’s work and my passion. So naturally, I feel that no one’s life is complete without the pitter-patter of paws. There may be some nay-sayers, but fortunately, I have some heavy hitting research to back me up. Consider these, and keep these facts in your pocket for the next time you meet someone who doesn’t understand all the great ways dogs benefit the people who love them. 1. Animals Promote Faster Healing and Improved … Read more

Even the thought of worms inside your dog is pretty sickening, but with TV shows like Monsters Inside Me creating alarm, I get questions like “Can my dog give me worms?” a lot. If I go into the exam room with a new puppy and announce the results of my fecal exam to a mom and kids, for example, the mom’s eyes often widen as she glances at her children cuddling the puppy. When I was little, my mother did … Read more

Most people have suffered a stomach bug, also called viral gastroenteritis. Most of these infections in humans are attributed to norovirus. Extremely infectious among humans, it makes most who are exposed ill. According to the CDC, norovirus is responsible for 19-21 million human cases per year. Over 90% of the cruise ship incidents in which large portions of the ship’s crew and passengers fall ill with stomach bugs are attributed to norovirus. (1) In essence, norovirus is not your friend. … Read more

I hear this question frequently and sometimes I am the one that notices the odor myself when the dog and owner are enclosed in my exam room. Sometimes I catch a whiff of my own dog from the back seat of my Jeep. Everyone that has dogs knows that occasionally there are… well, odors. Not all smells are abnormal. When I was in college, I dated a guy who told me that he had adopted a Labrador Retriever because they … Read more

Most dog people have heard of the shocking outbreak of Canine Influenza in and around Chicago. Some veterinarians and pet related media have been instructing people to avoid taking their dogs to areas where other dogs gather, such as dog parks and boarding kennels. Five dogs have died and over 1000 have been reported ill. In addition to shunning multiple dog situations, people were being advised to vaccinate their dogs for canine influenza as soon as possible. The American Veterinary … Read more

Any living thing with bones and joints can get arthritis. Osteoarthritis is irritation of the joints and is a painful and common disease among dogs. I usually diagnose it in middle age to older dogs or even in younger dogs that have sustained an orthopedic injury earlier in life. It can occur from normal wear and tear on the joints, excessive repetitive motion (like racing Greyhounds) or from an old injury. Active dogs and working dogs are certainly at risk, … Read more

Trust me, I know how it is. My dog is watching me right now because I am sitting at the table. She is hoping that I am eating and that I will share with her. Dogs are a part of our families and they are right there with us all the time. We want to include them in everything. We feel like we are not being fair if we do not share what we have. It makes us happy to … Read more

Does your dog do strange things? Repetitive behaviors that seem to have no purpose? People wonder and ask me why their dogs do many things. Many of them have an explanation that I can elucidate for the owners, but some things really are not that simple. I get a lot of questions in my inbox, on social media and from my clients about this type of conduct and each case is individual and complex. Some of the behaviors that I … Read more

Does your dog shake his head and flop his ears from side to side? Does he ever cry or pull away when you touch his ear? He could have an ear infection. Ear infections (otitis externa) are the second most common reason that dogs see a vet, according to a study done by VPI pet insurance in 2013. Most of the ear infections that we see at my practice are secondary to skin allergies (the #1 most common reason pets … Read more

Is your dog throwing up? Dogs vomit frequently and not all causes warrant medical intervention. Some will be self-limiting and not life threatening, but some are dangerous and it is important to know which causes can be an emergency and which can tolerate a “wait and see” attitude. Here are some of the common reasons that dogs throw up. Foreign Body Ingestion When your dog eats something that is not a food item, like a ball or a toy, you … Read more

My dogs watch me frequently. Sometimes the stare is somewhat piercing and searching and I wonder what is really going through their minds. We know that dogs communicate with each other by gazing. In fact, an article in PLOS One (June 2011), looks into the idea of gaze communication in grey wolves (canis lupis), a close relative of dogs. My research indicates that dogs are trying to communicate several things when they stare. Your dog is trying to read your … Read more

Why do dogs eat grass? It is common question and there are lots of guesses. It seems to be a commonly held belief that dogs eat grass when they feel nauseated and many of my clients mention this to me upon presentation of a vomiting dog. Other people think that it is an indication of a dietary deficiency. When I looked into this phenomenon further, I discovered that not much research has been done on the subject. One group of … Read more

Sometimes in the evenings around my house in Tennessee, we can hear the plaintive cries of neighborhood dogs and coyotes. Many times they seem to be responding to sirens or the howls of other dogs. I have heard people say that the sirens may hurt their sensitive ears. My dogs join in and I wanted to know what science says about why dogs howl. Many animal species use long-range calls to establish their use of space and their relationships with … Read more

Dog owners would find this question to be ridiculous in the face of what they see from their dogs that seems to be jealous behavior. I have always heard about dogs’ jealous guarding of a special human or a resource from my clients so I wanted to look into this more. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard from a wife that the dog growls at the husband when he approaches or touches the wife when the … Read more

I think we can all agree that barking is a form of communication. I always thought that my dog was barking to converse with me in her own “dog language” like someone who speaks a different language might try to talk to me. Could it be more than that? When someone new arrives on the scene at my house, my dog barks. When she wants me to know that she heard a noise, she sounds the alarm. Dogs at my … Read more

Recently my article Why Does My Dog Lick Me? generated some great conversation that I think bears some additional analysis. One of the reasons that I discuss for licking is social bonding, i.e. familial or friendship love. Part of the buzz was a debate whether the love is so obvious and apparent that it goes without saying, but as a scientist, I like proof and facts. Researchers were able to prove that the hormones associated with the positive feelings (in this … Read more

Has your dog ever hidden a treat or bone? Have you ever wondered why? The answer lies in who your dog is and where he comes from. My staff members and I frequently give treats to the pets boarding or dropped off for treatment (We are not above bribery!) I would estimate that maybe 1 in 10 will then proceed to bury the treats in his or her bedding. It is really quite cute and endearing. I can think of … Read more

Have you ever come in the door to a poop pile and your dog sees you notice it and gets the guiltiest look on his face? Or you open your door to a blizzard of pillow stuffing and your dog instantly slinks away? Clients tell me almost every day that their dog “knew he did wrong.” I know (trust me, I completely KNOW) how easy it is to humanize your pets’ expressions and emotions. I laugh just like you do … Read more

You love your dog, right? Why would it matter where she came from? Are there lasting repercussions of your puppy’s origins? Let’s set aside the ethical question about puppy mills and look at what it can really mean to love a puppy mill dog. The ASPCA says that a “puppy mill is a large-scale commercial dog breeding operation that places profit over the well-being of its dogs—who are often severely neglected—and acts without regard to responsible breeding practices.” Since puppy … Read more

Our dogs communicate with us and each other using non-verbal communication. As the leader of our dogs’ pack, we must try to understand their cues. Communication with dogs is like trying to understand an alien species with whom we share our world and the responsibility falls to the humans to try to make “first contact.” Better appreciation of what your dog is trying to tell you helps improve your relationship and your bond as best friends. Even if lip licking … Read more

Dogs cough for a variety of reasons. Just like people, they can cough to clear their airways of debris or mucous, but a persistent cough should be checked out by a vet. All dogs cough sometimes but only a veterinarian can help you rule out some of these causes to pinpoint why your particular dog is coughing and give you a plan for treatment. Whenever I see a coughing patient, I think through these possibilities and then apply what I … Read more