If dog lovers are aware of CYP2B11 deficiency dogs, they likely think of sighthounds. The list of breeds with the CYP2B11-H3 gene mutation, though, reaches far beyond greyhounds and the like. CYP2B11 deficiency dogs pose greater risks of complications with anesthesia, including recovering more slowly. Basically, it’s because the gene mutation results in less CYP2B11, and that means their bodies are much slower eliminating certain medications.
Thankfully, all 3 of our dogs carry 2 normal MDR1 genes. We know that thanks to DNA testing. Most MDR1 dog breeds with mutations come from the herding dog group of breeds, but the top list of breeds includes some surprises. I recently came across some stats on how common MDR1 mutations are in specific dog breeds.
Let’s take a look at FHO surgery dogs sometimes need. Click through to see Mr. Stix’s actual pre- and post-operative x-rays from his FHO surgery in 2019. We have yet-another foster puppy (September 2023) who is recovering from … you guessed it … FHO surgery. Yes, I broke my self-imposed fostering sabbatical for the rest of the year to help a new little puppy-girl named STARLIGHT (~4-month-old German Shepherd puppy).
Recently, I mentioned in another dog diarrhea post about how some dog lovers and veterinary hospitals no longer recommend you give rice to dogs with upset tummies. When faced with a poopy puppers again in the last, week, here’s why I can’t stop using rice. TL/DR. It seems to work.
Most of us continue to use the same strategies we always have for dog diarrhea – out of habit or a sense of what seems to work for our dogs over the years. A new study, though, pokes a hole in a commonly prescribed dog diarrhea treatment medication and found that special tummy food works better.
Those who follow us on social media and subscribe to our site via email already know that our long-term foster dog Forest got adopted, returned a month later, and required immediate behavioral euthanasia on July 7, 2023. As a dog attack survivor in late 2021 and a lifelong dog lover, you can imagine the avalanche of emotions about his death. Let’s look at such decisions because they’re more common than you might imagine.
It turns out that sometimes the pet ownership benefits either aren’t as strong as we often believe or the drawbacks can be worse for some people. A recent (and small cohort) study in the UK looked at the “influence of animal ownership on mental health for people with severe mental illness.” The results, along with mentions of prior studies showing drawbacks, are interesting. Let’s take a look. Warning: It might challenge long-held assumptions.
I subscribe to a few veterinary news things that give me inside intel on various things. One article called “Top 5 Signs of Patient Stress & Excitement on Clinical Pathology” caught my eye. That’s fancy veterinary speak for how stressed dogs look in routine veterinary bloodwork. Note of course that excitement can cause these things too, but the idea that “chronic stress” can affect liver values means that NOT all of these end up being super-temporary changes in a stressed dog’s bloodwork.
So far, it’s a chilly and rainy summer here in Colorado, which is quite rare. Weeks and weeks of almost-daily rain mean that scads of wild mushrooms keep popping up in our yard and pastures. To keep things simple when talking about mushrooms toxic to dogs, veterinarians often use the abbreviation LBM, meaning “little brown mushrooms.” Not that other types of mushrooms toxic to dogs don’t exist, but at least here … little brown ones tend to be most common. I take ZERO chances, and I pull and dispose of everything I find.
In early May 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved a conditional license to Elanco Animal Health Inc for a new parvo treatment that uses antibodies. Until now, veterinarians only could provide so-called “supportive care” rather than an actual canine parvovirus treatment. In other words, this is pretty big news. Unfortunately, it’ll be a while before it’s available. Here’s why.
