Veterinarian, Speaker & Author
With more and more people using essential oils to enhance their own well being, it is also spreading into veterinary medicine. Unfortunately, most essential oils are toxic to dogs and cats. People who use them for treating or training their pets may, in fact, be unintentionally harming them instead. Birch Oil: Birch oil is often used for scent training dogs. Researchers at …
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Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI’s) are no fun. The frustrated dog licks and urinates frequently in a vain attempt to ease the pain. They often keep their family members awake all night, begging to go outside. Worse yet, the dog has accidents in the house. The family comes into my exam room frustrated because the infection came back. Here …
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May 4th-10th is the 99th anniversary of “Be Kind To Animals” week. Started by the American Humane Association in 1915, this is a week to celebrate and appreciate the animals in your life. Here are some ideas: – Bring toys to a local shelter– Place a box in your house for your cat to explore– Take …
Pictured below is the vulva of a dog that is abnormal. Instead of being aligned vertically, this dog’s vulva is tilted to the left side of the picture. In addition, it is deeply set and the lips roll inward. What two conditions are dogs with this type of confirmation prone to developing? Please note the skin surrounding the …
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Calcium oxalate urinary stones are common in dogs and cats. These irregularly shaped, rounded stones show up well on x-rays due to their calcium content. Although they are more common in miniature schnauzers, bichon frise, shih tzu, Lhasa apso, miniature poodles and Yorkshire terriers, I have also seen them in many other breeds and mixes …
Apatite or calcium phosphorous stones are the least common type of stone I see in practice. These rare stones form from the same risk factors responsible for calcium oxalate stones. These include increased amounts of calcium and/or phosphate in the urine. The one big difference is pH. While calcium oxalate stones precipitate out of acidic urine, …
The Arizona Department of Health Services has placed Santa Cruz County, Arizona under a rabies quarantine due to an increase in wild animal cases. From November 2013 to March 2014, there have been 28 cases, 4 in bats and 24 skunks. All dogs and cats who live in Santa Cruz County must be vaccinated for …
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Lithotripsy is an alternative to surgery for removing urinary stones (uroliths) in dogs. For this procedure, the dog is placed under general anesthesia. Next, an endoscope is passed up the urethra to the stone. Once it is in the correct area, a laser is fed through the scope into contact with the stone. Energy from the …
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Ammonium urate or urate stones in dogs are common in Dalmations and bulldogs. Dalmations lack the enzyme needed to convert uric acid in the urine to allatoin. As a result, their urine contains high concentrations of uric acid leading to formation of uroliths (stones) in the urinary tract. Urate uroliths are also seen in dogs with …
Struvite is the common name for magnesium ammonium phosphate uroliths (stones) found in dogs. These stones may occur anywhere in the urinary tract including the kidneys, ureters, urinary bladder and urethra. Struvite stones often form when the dog has a urinary tract infection with bacteria that produce urease. This enzyme leads to over production of …