The most common and clinically significant heart condition seen in dogs is congestive heart failure (CHF). This is a syndrome in which the body retains fluid due to weakened cardiac function.  This fluid may accumulate in the lungs (usually seen in left-sided heart failure) or in the abdominal or thoracic cavity (usually seen in right-sided or generalized heart failure).  In dogs, the most common underlying cause of CHF is degeneration of one or more of the heart valves; this occurs more commonly in older patients. Other potential causes of heart failure include congenital, genetic and developmental defects, infections, immune-mediated diseases, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal abnormalities, heartworm infestation, cancer, poisoning, electrical shock, trauma and the physiological stresses caused by other diseases in the body.

The upcoming holiday season will bring many festivities and gifts of chocolate are certain to be a part of the celebration.  What many folks may not know is that while chocolate can be a tasty treat it can also be toxic to our pets.  Chocolate contains caffeine and another substance called theobromine both of which are methylxanthines.  Methylxanthine substances are stimulants and when eaten in larger quantities can make our pets seriously ill.  Dogs are the most common patients that we treat for chocolate toxicity because most of them (like their human companions) have a sweet tooth!

The amount of toxic theobromine and caffeine varies depending on how dark the chocolate is.  White chocolate contains very little theobromine.  Milk chocolates contain approximately 6mg per ounce of caffeine and 50mg per ounce of theobromine.  Darker chocolates contain higher concentrations of these toxins.  Unsweetened dark baking chocolate contains the largest amount per ounce (40mg of caffeine per ounce and 400 mg theobromine per ounce).  Symptoms of toxicity can be seen in a 20 pound dog with as little as 4ounces of milk chocolate or 2/3 of an ounce of baking chocolate.  The larger the amount of chocolate ingested, the more serious the symptoms of toxicity become.

Environmental allergies (known as atopic dermatitis) are extremely common in our pets.  Offending substances include both indoor and outdoor allergens, such as pollens, dust, dust mites, mold spores, and animal dander.  These allergens can be inhaled, absorbed through the skin, or ingested during self-grooming.  Unlike humans, where the majority of signs are respiratory in nature, animals only rarely have symptoms such as “runny” eyes and noses or other respiratory signs. Dogs and cats with environmental allergies lick, chew, bite and scratch themselves, leading to red, irritated skin and ears. This can be an inherited disease, and is seen more commonly in certain breeds of dogs. Labradors, golden retrievers, German shepherd dogs, and Chinese Shar Peis are some of the most common breeds affected.

Your dog may be sick of ticks, and for good reason. Ticks are irritating, blood-
sucking parasites that can carry and transmit serious diseases, such as Rocky 
Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, babesiosis and ehrlichiosis. The effects of 
tick-borne diseases on your dog can be devastating, including anemia (blood loss), 
lameness, weakness, lethargy, organ failure, even death.

The least appetizing food dilemma that I am asked to give advice on is one faced by many dog owners. There is no nice way of saying it, it’s “poop eating.”

A lot of dog owners face this problem with their pooch and are beyond boggled by it. Most of these owners do not seek advice on the issue because they are either embarrassed that their dog does it (naturally unaware of how common it really is) or they assume that it is simply a bad habit that their dog has developed for whatever reason. 

However there is most likely a legitimate reason for your dog’s not-so-tasteful desire for that “backyard brunch” or frequent trips to the “cat box buffet”. In fact the most common reason for dogs eating their own or other’s poop is based on instinct.

As pet owners we do often forget that although our pets are domesticated and cared for by us, they are still animals with very active instincts. When it comes to “poop eating” instinct is quite often the base of the issue. Dogs have a vast array of instincts but possess two main or basic instincts; survival/self-preservation and procreation of the species. In a sense they go hand in hand but more specifically the survival instinct is comprised of the instinct to hunt and eat, the instinct to compete for rank or order within a pack, as well as the instinct to know when to simply turn away also known as the “fight or flight” instinct.

When I’m counseling dog owners on the nutrition and health of their pet, one of the most frequently asked questions I hear is “How do I know if my dog has allergies?”

Well there are several answers to that question. There is always of course the expensive blood test that completely maps out all allergies and “sensitivities” both nutritional and environmental but there are more reasonable ways to narrow down your pooch’s allergy issues.

Insulin is normally produced by an organ in the abdomen called the pancreas. It is required for the cells of the body to utilize glucose, which is a necessary source of energy for cell metabolism.  Diabetes mellitus usually occurs in middle-aged and older pets. There are two types of diabetes, which are classified by the patient’s need for supplemental insulin therapy:  non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDM) and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM).  IDDM is the most common form of diabetes we see in small animal practice; NIDDM is extremely rare in the dog and occurs in only about 30% of diabetic cats. 

Inflammatory brain disease is the general name for a group of immune-mediated diseases that dogs get – some of which are known as GME, Pug-dog encephalitis, Necrotizing encephalitis and other breed-specific diseases.  These “named” diseases are confirmed by biopsy – unfortunately, this is not something that we typically want to do or need to do in dogs, so we do our best to diagnose and treat what we know.

No dog owner wants his or her pet to be in pain. But when a dog is in obvious discomfort, it’s not always easy to identify the source of the problem. One way for dogs to show discomfort is through scratching. Seemingly healthy dogs may begin to scratch themselves constantly, chew their paws and rub the hair off their face and joints. These are typical signs of a condition often overlooked or mistreated – a condition known as  atopica.novartis.us/understanding/understanding1.shtml” canine atopic dermatitis, which is caused by a hypersensitivity to indoor and outdoor environmental allergens. As with humans, dogs can have allergies, but instead of a runny nose, red eyes and sneezing, dogs react differently to the various allergens in the environment.