Amid our ongoing worries about Clover’s lungs — first pneumonia, then a possible area of collapsed lung sacs — our veterinarian also discovered significant arthritis in Clover’s lower spine. I had no idea what spine arthritis in a dog looks like in an x-ray, so during our last appointment about 10 days ago, I asked her to show me. So, now I can show you.
If anyone has a right to be nervous about rabies vaccines, it’s me — after losing our original canine heroine, Lilly, to an adverse rabies vaccine reaction. Even then, though, I did not become an anti-vax drama queen. So, the hysteria and misinformation running rampant online about the new RNA rabies vaccine for dogs is insane. It’s meant to scare you. It’s total BS on several fronts.
Grateful to Dr. Sue Cancer Vet for alerting everyone to this new dog hemangiosarcoma study via her great social media videos. I dug around to find the full paper. I read it at the very beginning of the recent 4-day power outage, thinking how heroically productive I was being despite work limitations. I’m just going to hit a few of the main points, but basically this paper looked at possible associations between the number and location of splenic masses or lesions in dogs and them ultimately being diagnosed with cancer. In all the cases, looked at retrospectively, the dogs had their spleens removed (splenectomy) and follow-up pathology to figure out what was what.
While getting through 4 straight days without electricity, internet, cell phone service, and running water due to a massive wind storm, I felt thankful that I’d already bought and downloaded Patricia McConnell’s first-ever murder mystery novel — Away to Me — for my Kindle. Grateful too that my Kindle was 90% charged when the power went out last Thursday. You probably know McConnell from her longtime work as an animal behaviorist and author of many nonfiction books.
For years now, I’ve written about my concerns with veterinary consolidation. And, now this. Two of the biggest providers of online veterinary pharmacy services plan to merge. I don’t think that’s good news for pet lovers or for veterinary hospitals. Full disclosure: I wrote for one of the companies (MWI) for a long, long time (until their new, back then, global corporate overlords gave me the boot).
My friends and former, longtime colleagues at the American Animal Hospital Association’s TRENDS magazine shared this alert online this week. Apparently, reusable migraine gel masks may pose a serious toxicity risk to dogs — with veterinary toxicologists reporting cases of dogs developing major tummy troubles, rapid onset of neurological signs, and tremors, ataxia (wobbly walking), and seizures. Yikes!
To be honest, things aren’t going great with Mr. Stix’s massive dermatology problems. It feels like nonstop failure, but that’s just how things like this are. We can keep the worst of it a bit at bay, but we’re never going to fix it for real. That’s partly because throwing everything at it could ultimately shorten his life — which isn’t an option for something that’s awful, but not deadly itself. I try to adjust my expectations and not fixate on it because it’s never going to completely heal, but things got really bad due to an infection a while back. And, now, after many, many weeks of antibiotics, his skin still looks bad. We’re trying to avoid using steroids, even short term. I felt like I got sloppy with some of his doses of supplements for dogs with skin issues, so I had to do a little math and dug into this veterinary paper called “Evidence for Nutraceuticals to Treat Dermatologic Disease in Dogs.” I debated including photos of how bad his skin looks, way at the bottom of this post. Scroll at your own risk.
Having been through a lengthy, expensive, and devastating experience with an adverse rabies vaccine reaction with our original canine heroine, Lilly, I felt a little sick when I saw reports of under reporting of adverse drug reactions. The study was based in the United Kingdom, but I think we can assume similar gaps exist in the United States too. Before you read the rest of this post, make a guess in your mind about how stark the under reporting is. I guarantee it’s worse than you think. (Also, this post includes info on how to report adverse drug reactions in pets.)
There’s a joke in the journalism world about headlines that ask questions. Why? Because the answer is almost always no. It has a lot to do with headlines being framed as clickbait. That is not the case here. The answer is a big YES. Indeed, vaping near pets can put them at risk, especially if the area is not well ventilated. Here’s why and what to look for.
If you’ve ever wondered how we ended up with the dogs we love at our sides, what we know about their unique abilities (thanks to science), and how they help us survive all the things, then I hope you enjoy this For the Love of Dog book review. The book is part memoir, part research paper, and part life stress and pet loss treatise. It’s written by Maggie Marton, who also authors “Oh My Dog!” She’s a pal and a colleague; a dog and kiddo mom extraordinaire; dog nerd and cancer survivor. She understands and reveals a lot in this book. It’s subtitle is How Dogs Think and the Unbreakable Bond That Connects Us. You will cry a little. I did. But, you will also laugh out loud and learn a lot.
