Wellness

“If you pet one, you have to pet them all. They get really jealous. If they think that one of them is getting more of anything, affection, food, or whatever, they turn into green-eyed monsters.”

Cancer. It’s about the scariest word a pet owner can hear. There are many different types of cancers. Some cancers will have tumours and others are cancers of the blood that do not have visible growths. Not all tumours are malignant; some are benign and are simply a tumour that can be surgically removed and your dog will recover fully. Other types of cancer are more insidious and cannot easily be treated. Fortunately, there are now treatment options for most canine cancers and those treatments are improving all the time. Thirty years ago, we never would have considered that a dog could survive a cancer diagnosis. Now, we are faced with the challenges of supporting a dog both during and after treatment.

Substantial joint damage and degenerative diseases like osteoarthritis once meant constant pain and a slow decline for afflicted dogs and cats, but a new treatment is now improving patients’ quality of life by reducing pain and inflammation and actually rebuilding healthy tissues.

Most of us have heard that giving “people food” or table scraps to dogs is not a good thing. While sharing food directly from your plate probably isn’t the best idea, there are lots of table scraps that are safe and healthy to share with your canine companion.

Is your dog scratching? It could be food allergies!

The best thing we can do for our dogs is to provide them with healthy nutrition. There are many foods that fulfill basic nutritional needs, but what about foods that actually improve health? Specific foods can have a positive impact on many health conditions. You can feed these foods in addition to your dog’s regular food, or, if you are feeding homemade food, you can incorporate these foods into your dog’s meals.

Has Fido’s coat lost its youthful luster? Or is he having trouble negotiating the step up to the couch because his back is stiff? For many of us, our dogs are cherished members of our family and, as such, we strive to give them the best life possible.

Mast cell tumours, the second most common tumours in dogs, primarily affect the skin but may spread to other areas and systems of the body if untreated.

It was the early 1980s and Nicholas Dodman of the School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University was standing next to a colleague watching a dog that had been brought into the Animal Behavior Clinic. The dog was panting furiously and pacing around the room. It cringed and trembled when it was approached.

Instead of zoning out watching SNL and absentmindedly patting your pup, focus on your dog while you pet him. Like people, your dog can tell when he has your attention. Feel free to spill about your day, even.