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Dogs and Ticks

A tick-free dog is a healthy dog.Learn more than you wanted to know about tick disease, prevention, treatment from this great educational website: http://www.dogsandticks.com/index.html

“Ticks can be present any where from the deep woods to urban parks. This Web site is filled with tips to educate you about Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, as well as other diseases carried by ticks and mosquitoes. You’ll find pictures of ticks, information on how to protect your dog from ticks and how to recognize symptoms of tick disease in dogs. With tick education and awareness, you can help keep your best friend happy and healthy.” Continue reading Dogs and Ticks

Top dog household toxins

1. NSAIDs (e.g., ibuprofen, naproxen”Topping our list are the common household medications called non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), which include common names such as ibuprofen (e.g., Advil and some types of Motrin) and naproxen (e.g., Aleve). While these medications are safe for people, even one or two pills can cause serious harm to a pet. Dogs, cats, birds and other small mammals including ferrets, gerbils, and hamsters may develop serious stomach and intestinal ulcers as well as kidney failure. Continue reading Top dog household toxins

Bone Cancer & Neutering

Read the full text of the article or the Abstract and Excerpts below:

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org

Abstract:

Although experimental and clinical evidence suggest that endogenous sex hormones influence bone sarcoma genesis, the hypothesis has not been adequately tested in an appropriate animal model. We conducted a historical cohort study of Rottweiler dogs because they frequently undergo elective gonadectomy and spontaneously develop appendicular bone sarcomas, which mimic the biological behavior of the osteosarcomas that affect children and adolescents. Continue reading Bone Cancer & Neutering

Effects of spay or neuter on behavior & performance

Effects of Gonadectomy on Health, Behavior and Performance of Pets
http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/reprod/petpop/proscons.html
Are there reasons to recommend castrating or spaying pets other than to feel good about not contributing to the pet overpopulation problem and avoiding the hassle of having a litter in your home? Like any other medical procedure, gonadectomy decreases the risks of some conditions while increasing those of others. Continue reading Effects of spay or neuter on behavior & performance

Possible Effects of Ovary Removal

http://www.gpmcf.org/index.html

A Healthier Respect for Ovaries
David J. Waters, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVS
Director, Center for Exceptional Longevity Studies
Gerald P. Murphy Cancer Foundation

A recent study by my research group appearing next month in Aging Cell reveals shortened longevity as a possible complication associated with ovary removal in dogs (1). This work represents the first investigation testing the strength of association between lifetime duration of ovary exposure and exceptional longevity in mammals. To accomplish this, we constructed lifetime medical histories for two cohorts of Rottweiler dogs living in 29 states and Canada: Exceptional Longevity Cohort = a group of exceptionally long-lived dogs that lived at least 13 years; and Usual Longevity Cohort = a comparison group of dogs that lived 8.0 to 10.8 years (average age at death for Rottweilers is 9.4 years). A female survival advantage in humans is well-documented; women are 4 times more likely than men to live to 100. We found that, like women, female Rottweilers were more likely than males to achieve exceptional longevity (Odds Ratio, 95% confidence interval = 2.0, 1.2 – 3.3; p = .006). However, removal of ovaries during the first 4 years of life erased the female survival advantage. In females, this strong positive association between ovaries and longevity persisted in multivariate analysis that considered other factors, such as height, adult body weight, and mother with exceptional longevity.

In summary, we found female Rottweilers who kept their ovaries for at least 6 years were 4.6 times more likely to reach exceptional longevity (i.e. live >30 % longer than average) than females with the shortest ovary exposure. Our results support the notion that how long females keep their ovaries determines how long they live. Continue reading Possible Effects of Ovary Removal

Omega-3 Fatty Acids For Dogs With Arthritis

Studies Detail Possible Benefits Of Omega-3 Fatty Acids For Dogs With Arthritis

A series of studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) offers new insights into the possible benefits derived from feeding foods containing high omega-3 fatty acid concentrations to dogs with osteoarthritis.

The studies, published in the January 1, 2010, and March 1, 2010, issues of JAVMA, included 274 dogs with osteoarthritis that took part in clinical studies at dozens of privately owned veterinary clinics and two university veterinary clinics. The researchers focused on three areas: the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on clinical signs of osteoarthritis in dogs; the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on weight bearing in dogs with the disease; and the effects of omega-3 fatty acids on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) dosage in dogs with osteoarthritis. Continue reading Omega-3 Fatty Acids For Dogs With Arthritis

What Really Prompts The Dog’s ‘Guilty Look’

ScienceDaily (June 14, 2009)’ What dog owner has not come home to a broken vase or other valuable items and a guilty-looking dog slouching around the house? By ingeniously setting up conditions where the owner was misinformed as to whether their dog had really committed an offense, Alexandra Horowitz, Assistant Professor from Barnard College in New York, uncovered the origins of the guilty look in dogs in the recently published Canine Behaviour and CognitionSpecial Issue of Elsevies’s Behavioural Processes. Continue reading What Really Prompts The Dog’s ‘Guilty Look’