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Remember my brother-in-law Joey and his pet epiphany? From dogless neophyte to proud buddy of a goldendoodle named Farrell, we knew we had a true convert to the dog faith. So what happens when Farrell goes missing? Or worse, when he spends a week in our hospital, sick as a dog? We got the phone [...]
There is always something new under the sun. Just when the practice of veterinary medicine seems a daily repetition of ear infections, cat neuters and the occasional broken toenail, an interesting disease crops up that you haven’t seen in a long time — or maybe never at all. This leads us to Richie the schnauzer [...]
By Dr. Ellen Friedman, DVM Your dog has been straining to urinate, and now you see blood in her urine. Your veterinarian shows you an X-ray of the abdomen, and tells you she sees a stone in the bladder. What’s going on? Bladder stones are collections of minerals that form in the urinary bladder. They [...]
Kidneys: What purpose do they serve? Why are they so important that pets need two? How do they work? Is there more than one task relegated to them? How can I protect my pet’s kidneys and make them last a lifetime? The kidney is an amazingly complicated, interesting organ. Its foremost task is filtering: It [...]
Falling asleep, losing consciousness … will you wake up again? Many humans experience fear of being anesthetized for surgery — and experience that same fear when their pet companion faces surgery, even something as simple as a brief dental procedure. In the bad old days of veterinary medicine, years ago, anesthetic drugs were not [...]
We need to talk about some serious stuff. Canine heartworm disease is a proven killer. If your dog gets bitten by the wrong mosquito and isn’t on preventive drugs, she can contract heartworm disease and become ill or even die. While intestinal worms are more familiar to pet owners, heartworms are out there, and [...]
By Dr. Ellen Friedman It’s a humbling experience: The veterinarian’s dog needs a vet. It’s true that to understand another man, you have to walk a mile in his shoes. Last week, my husband Dr. Dasaro and I took our dog Victor to a specialty hospital in New Jersey to see an endocrinologist veterinarian. We [...]
By Dr. Ellen Friedman My vet says my dog has “otitis externa.” What does this mean? Otitis is Latin for inflammation of the ear. Ear infections and inflammations are very common in dogs. We used to think that floppy-eared dogs were more prone to this problem (cocker spaniels stand out in this group), but more [...]
By Dr. Ellen Friedman If you have a female dog, she is probably spayed. What are the reasons to have this surgery — more accurately called an ovariohysterectomy — performed on your pooch? Many owners cite concerns about reproduction; some are aware that spaying decreases the chance of breast cancer, and avoids ovarian and uterine cancer [...]
OVERVIEW A dental, also sometimes called a “prophy” or prophylaxis, is a cleaning and polishing of a dog’s teeth. It is important to realize that dental disease does not reach a particular level and remain there. Dental disease continuously progresses. As dental disease progresses, the treatment becomes more involved, meaning longer and more elaborate (and [...]