Archive for the ‘Educational Handout’ Category

by Dr. Elizabeth Murphy

What could more comforting and satisfying than home made bread or yeast rolls for your holiday dinner? Not many things – except maybe a healthy dog!

Many people don’t know that rising bread dough is a dangerous temptation for dogs. Most forms of bread dough contain yeast – a single-celled fungus that in warm environments causes sugars to turn into carbon dioxide (which causes the dough to rise) and alcohol (which gives flavor to the dough).  This chemical process is great when it happens in a warm kitchen within a pan, but not so great when it happens in a dog’s warm stomach. Read the rest of this entry »

by Brad Phifer, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

As humans we expect a lot from our dogs. We expect them to guard us against a burglar but not the mailman. We expect them to realize it is ok to jump up on Saturday afternoon when we are in garden clothes, but not ok Monday morning when we are in a suit. Many parents expect the dog to tolerate being jumped on, hit and/or poked with a toy without ever lifting a lip or growling to say leave me alone. While many dogs may be tolerant this kind of behavior from children, most will not and should not be expected to do so. Read the rest of this entry »

by Dr. Sara Rudwell

Do you ever notice your dog lift a rear leg off the ground as if they’ve just stepped on something painful or pulled a muscle, hop along on three legs for a few steps, and then just as suddenly return to a normal gait with all four legs on the ground?   If this is something that you see on a regular basis, your dog might have a luxating patella – or two!  Read the rest of this entry »

by Dr. David Lee

Tooth resorption is a disease process that affects more than 50% of adult cats.  This condition is also referred to as neck lesions, resorptive lesions, or FORL’s (feline odontoclastic resorptive lesions).  Tooth resorption causes defects in the crown and roots of the tooth similar to cavities in a human.  However, while human cavities are caused by decay, tooth resorption is due to the cat’s body attacking the teeth.   Read the rest of this entry »

by Dr. Bill Neumann, Medical Director

There are many types of arthritis that can occur in people and in pets, but the type that most people are referring to when they use the word arthritis, is osteoarthritis.  This type of arthritis occurs over many months to years in response to some type of physical problem with that specific joint. In most cases, this physical problem is caused by acute trauma (think football ACL tear), prolonged repeated excessive strain on a joint, or some type of inherited joint malformation such as dog hip dysplasia.

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Deficiency in what?

Our pets have thyroid glands in their neck that function just as ours do!  Interestingly, dogs are prone thyroid problems that cause a deficiency of thyroid hormone, while cats are much more likely to get a benign growth on the thyroids, causing an increase of the hormone.  Decreases in the hormone can be related to immune system malfunctions, problems in the part of the brain that stimulates the thyroid gland, other concurrent diseases that decrease the concentration of circulating hormone, tumors in the thyroid gland, or it can be related to an unknown cause. Read the rest of this entry »

by Dr. Christine Heinz

In veterinary school, I was told that roughly 70% of dogs that have ruptured one of their anterior cruciate ligaments (called a cranial cruciate ligament, or CCL, in a dog) will rupture the other one within a year.  Unfortunately, my dog, Staley fell right in line with that statistic.  While I was still studying to become a veterinarian, Staley tore his right CCL and had surgery to repair it.  Eight months later, we were repairing the left as well.  That personal experience with my own dog helped jumpstart my interest in CCL disease in dogs and orthopedic disease in general.

Common symptoms of a CCL injury are limping that worsens with exercise or over time, difficulty jumping or getting up, sitting with the injured leg out to the side, or stiffness in the injured leg.  If you suspect your dog has a CCL injury, your veterinarian will most likely look for swelling in the joint, pain or resistance on range of motion, positive tibial thrust or cranial drawer tests and possibly medial buttress.  Both the tibial thrust and cranial drawer tests demonstrate instability in the joint indicating that the CCL is not intact and holding the joint in place.  Medial buttress is scar tissue that forms on the inside of the knee in response to the instability as the body’s way of trying to hold the joint together.

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by Brad Phifer, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA

Does comforting your dog, giving him treats, or playing games with him when he is afraid reinforce his fear?  This may seem like an unusual question, but this is a hot topic in the field of dog behavior and training. The popular opinion has long been to ignore dogs when they act fearful. We have been told we will make our dogs more fearful by giving them attention or trying to comfort them.

Although this is an extremely complex question, the short answer is YOU CAN NOT REINFORCE FEAR. Fear is an emotion, not a behavior. When we talk about reinforcement, we are referring to increasing a particular behavior. Many owners become confused and feel as though they are either going to make their dogs more fearful or are reinforcing undesired behaviors such as barking, pacing, and panting.  Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that if left unprotected, your dog has almost a 100% certainty of contracting heartworm disease if exposed to infective larvae? And your cat has a 60-90% chance of infection if left unprotected and is exposed!

In the state of Indiana, there are thousands of veterinary clinics and hospitals. Each practice sees an average of 26-50 positive cases of heartworm disease each year. If you think your pet is safe because they are indoors “most of the time”…think again! We’ve all seen mosquitos in our homes in the summer months, and that’s how pets are exposed to this deadly disease….through mosquito bites.

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by Brad Phifer, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA

The study of dog behavior and training is continuously evolving. Dog training, like parenting, looks different today than it did 10 or 15 years ago. As a pet parent, it is important for you to find a professional dog trainer you feel comfortable with, as well as one who has the necessary skills to meet the needs of you and your dog.

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