Dog breeds are usually grouped—often arbitrarily or erroneously—into from five to ten categories based on function, superficial appearance, or geographical origin, depending on the registry organization. Just because it may make more sense to assign them to groups based primarily on ancestry and then on historical function, does not mean that such will be the …
Revised 2012 INTRODUCTION I am frequently approached by people who have bought “the love of their lives” or a show- or working-prospect puppy, only to find out it does not have what most responsible fanciers would call “breedable” hips. I am asked what should or could be done about it. Nearly half of the inquiries …
I was asked to write this article to try and clear up some confusion regarding how to interpret cardiac testing results. Many of you were sent a brochure in May, 1997 from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) entitled: “OFA Congenital Heart Disease Registry: General Procedures”. That reference, as well as others cited at the …
Revised December 2011. There is a disorder (it may actually be two or three) in the canine similar to the “wobbles” in thoroughbred horses. Much has been written on this, with various descriptions such as cervical vertebral instability (CVI), cervical spondylopathy, stenosis of the cervical vertebral canal, caudal cervical spondylomyelopathy, and even the mouthful, caudal …
Our most frequent discussions about Herpes in dogs occur because of neonatal puppy death. Herpes causes puppies to die in the first two to three weeks of life, when puppies cannot regulate their body temperature. After three weeks of age the puppies acquire the ability to regulate their body temperature, and to mount a fever …
When jumping over obstacles, dogs land with significant force applied to their forelimbs. If this is an infrequent event, then the impact is usually of little concern, but repetitive jumping over many years may have significant consequences. Repeated impact loading has been documented to cause some overuse injuries in human athletes. The effects of jumping …
There is no question that if this were a human disease penicillin prophylaxis would be near universal. Imagine sending a healthy child to school in the morning, being called because of collapse and high fever around noon, and having the child die on the way to the emergency room or shortly after arrival. As this …
Many people label any problem that appears to be inherited a “genetic disease.” However, though there are legitimate genetic diseases, there are also a variety of problems that have an inherited component but are of a fundamentally different nature. Dealing effectively with any genetic problem requires an understanding of …
Introduction Wholesome nutrition is a key component for maintaining a healthy immune system and resistance to disease. Foodstuffs ingested by animals on a regular basis may be imbalanced in terms of major nutrients, minerals and vitamins, and often contain chemicals added to the final product to enhance its stability and shelf-life. Nutritional deficiencies or imbalances, …
Continued From Part 1 62. Conjunctivitis: an inflammation of the conjunctival membrane of the eye. 63. Conus septal defect: a developmental abnormality of the right ventricle of the heart. 64. Copper storage abnormalityin liver: (see #2.) 65. Corneal dystrophy: an abnormality of the cornea usually characterized by shallow pits in the surface. 66. Corneal leukomas: …