Swallowing things they shouldn’t – and things “hanging out” the other end! Dogs do tend to wolf down anything and everything – and not all the things they try to consume are good for them! Sometimes they manage to swallow the most inappropriate of things ranging from socks and pants, through to needles and thread […]
Cut Paw Pad: It’s not always obvious when a dog cut’s his paw and often it might not be unless you actually see him limping or spot blood on the ground. Often it’s not until he comes home or you give his muddy paws a rub over that you notice the problem. The important thing […]
Poisoning is scary and it’s serious. There are five entry routes by which a poison can enter your dog’s system: * Ingested (swallowed) It might be that the poison is physically eaten by the dog or perhaps it was on his coat and he has licked himself to clean it off and swallowed it in […]
Ocular Compression is a technique hoped to help dogs with epilepsy. We have covered fits and epilepsy in a previous blog (here’s the link to it:- Fits & Seizures) Many people try very hard to minimise the amount of drugs or chemicals they use with their dogs, be that in the form of vaccinations or […]
Undescended Testicles is also known as Cryptorchidism. When a male puppy is born, his testicles will still be within his abdomen. As he developes and grows, they will slowly start to “descend” down the tubes until they arrive at their permanent place in his scrotum. It is important for mammals to be able to keep their sperm […]
Eating Poo (or coprophagia to give it its medical term) causes an awful lot of revulsion for the owners of dogs who, for whatever reason, like to eat poo. Because faeces are an easily digestible source of protein or vegetation (mine do love a sneaky mouthfull of horse-poo!!) many predatory species will do this. Here […]
A lot of problems with our dogs can be caused or exacerbated by our dog’s weight so, Is Your Dog Too Fat? As a rule, people who show their dogs in breed dog show competitions such as Crufts here in the UK and the Westminster Cup in the US see other examples of their breed regularly […]
Licking the paws …….. Why? . This is one of the most common questions I get asked and in all honesty, there is no simple straight-forward answer. First we need to establish whether the dog is licking his paws because there is a medical condition causing his discomfort or whether it is simply a behaviour he’s […]
Causes of Excessive Dog Drooling As the owner of a very “drooly” dog, I can tell you for sure that ALL dogs drool (its just that some do it a hell of a lot more than others and some take it to a whole new level!) Usually with the prospect of food, the flood gates open […]
There’s not much of a worse insult than the term “dog breath”, but your dog really shouldn’t have bad breath just because he’s a dog. Bad breath may be a sign of many different problems from tooth decay, gum disease, an upset stomach or perhaps its just that he has consumed something far from palatable to humans […]
Hot Spots & Wet Eczema are the same thing. Dermatitis is “doctor-speak”. If you break down the parts of the word you get derm which means skin and itis which means inflammation therefore if you or your dog are suffering from dermatitis, it simply means inflammation of the skin. In dogs, it can be caused […]
Diarrhoea After Eating: Usually, when your dog gets an upset stomach or a “runny bum” it’s down to them eating something undesirable that they’ve managed to find on a walk, picking up a bug of some sort or it may be that they’ve eaten something new that doesn’t quite agree with them. Often, when we try to change our […]
Heart Disease & Failure: Seen in middle and old age, this is the most common problem to affect our beloved canine companions. This disease is particularly prevalent in small breeds such as Chihuahuas and even more frequently in Cavalaier King Charles Spaniels, but that is not to say we may not come across heart valve […]
Vaginal Discharge & Pyometra: Vaginal discharge is not actually a condition in itself, but rather the indication that something is wrong with either the reproductive tract or the urinary tract. There are many possible causes for this problem: Uterine Problems: * Uterine infection called pyometra – in bitches who have not been spayed. (this is […]
Facial Paralysis: Oh My Goodness! My dog has a droopy face on one side, whatever can have happened? Scary right? Sometimes, you may notice that your dog’s face is droopy on one side – perhaps he can’t blink properly or maybe one of his lips is saggy. There may be excess drooling from that side and […]
Cheyletiella Mites (or walking dadruff as they are often known) are Zoonoses. Zoonoses are diseases that can be transmitted between vertibrate species, including man, which means they are not restricted just to our furry friends. As with the Harvest Mite, “walking dandruff” lives on the surface of the skin and feeds on skin cell debris. […]
The most recent information suggests that there might well be a link between Harvest Mites and SCI (Seasonal Canine Illness). With that in mind, I thought we’d take a look at what they are and what to do about them. Harvest Mites (known as chiggers or berry bugs) appear, as the name suggests, around harvest […]
Conjunctivitis can be caused by several different things including:- * allergies, * irritation (dust or smoke), * foreign bodies like grass seeds, * hairs or eyelashes facing the wrong way and poking inwards, * infections * poor tear production. Symptoms * most common symptom is redness of the eye, * may also be discharge weeping from the eye […]
When we refer to a Stroke in dogs, this is not actually the same as what we understand as a stroke in humans – it’s just a kind of shorthand that vets sometimes use to help us understand. In actual fact, it is Vestibular Syndrome, which is caused by damage to the inner ear or […]