There are many diseases that can affect the lower urinary tracts of dogs and cats – urinary bladder tumors, urinary tract infections, and ectopic ureters. Unfortunately, not all of them can be diagnosed via a simple urinalysis or urine culture. Sometimes we need to look inside the lower urinary tract (LUT). This can be accomplished … [Read more…]
Just like men, male dogs can develop prostatic disease, including prostate cancer. This disease tends to be fairly aggressive in our canine companions, and thus early identification is of paramount important. For this reason, I’ve dedicated this week’s post to raising awareness about prostate cancer in dogs. I hope you find this information helpful and … [Read more…]
If you’re like me, you don’t monitor every elimination your dog or cat makes. You don’t observe every urination. Yet at some point in a pet’s life, they will inevitably develop blood in their urine. This is a condition called hematuria. It’s actually pretty common, so I wanted to dedicate some time explaining this important … [Read more…]
This week I thought I would do something a little bit different. Instead of blogging about a specific disease process, I thought I would dedicate time to answering a very common question I’m asked as a board-certified veterinary internal medicine specialist: Why does my pet eat grass? To date, veterinarians have several theories about why … [Read more…]
Lameness is a common problem in dogs. Muscle injuries like an iliopsoas muscle strain and ligamentous injuries like a cranial cruciate ligament rupture are frequently diagnosed in dogs. Every once and a while, a lameness is more serious than a strain or ligament problem. Sometimes it’s cancer, specifically a cancer in the bone called osteosarcoma. It’s … [Read more…]
Every pet parent dreads “The Big C” for their fur babies. Cancer strikes fear in the hearts and minds of pet-owning families. As a board-certified critical care specialist, one of the most common cancers I diagnose and treat is called hemangiosarcoma. I wanted to dedicate some time explaining this cancer, as some encouraging news about … [Read more…]
Nosebleeds (called epistaxis) are a relatively common reason for pet parents to present their dogs and cats to a veterinary emergency room. Sometimes the bleeding is quite minimal, manifesting only when patients sneeze. At other times, hemorrhage can be profound and scary. This week I share some information about epistaxis in dogs and cats that … [Read more…]
In recent posts I wrote about two of the major cells types in blood – red blood cells and platelets. Specifically I reviewed causes of low red blood cells and low platelets. This week I introduce the last major cell type in blood – white blood cells – and discuss reasons why their population can increase. … [Read more…]
An essential component of a complete physical examination for every male dog is an evaluation of the prostate, a walnut-sized gland located between the urinary bladder and the penis. The prostate is a secondary sex gland of male dogs that adds fluid that makes up semen to help transport sperm produced in the testicles. The … [Read more…]
This is a statement I hear from pet parents almost on a daily basis. When I ask them where they heard such a concept, the response is usually, “that’s what my vet said.” Furthermore their family veterinarians have usually simply treated the vast majority of these cats symptomatically with diets for “sensitive stomachs”, hypoallergenic diets, … [Read more…]