animalrehabilitation.com Blog

Norwegian School of Veterinary Science (2009, June 29). Pain Of Dysplasia In Dogs Relieved With Gold Treatment, Study Shows. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 29, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626084633.htm

In large breed “circles”, we’ve been hearing from time to time for YEARS now about some people trying gold therapies (on their dogs). Mixed results. This is the first double blind published research about it though.
It wasn’t in the U.S.
Do you think this would be approved in the U.S.? I don’t know.
One of the reasons that makes me wonder is the fact that the beads were implanted along acupuncture meridians; few veterinarians are acupuncture certified or work in collaboration with acupuncturists. But of those that are, this might give paws pause to think about other arthritic and congenital applications!

Evidence-based research is always welcomed vs. anecdotal studies that are posted online.

Fireworks are tantamount to big raging thunderstorms. Trying to console your dog might be a wasted effort. CLICK HERE!

Gayle King, of Oprah [...of course], recently interviewed author Michael Schaffer about some of the lifestyle trends involving us dog-crazy folk!
He said it is projected that we will spend some 45 billion on our dogs this year!
(i.e.; high quality dog food, doggie day care, groomers, pet clothing, pet beds, pet toys, speciality services such as training and massage, supplements, pet sitters, burial…)

I can’t help but think that at the other end of the spectrum are people who cannot afford to keep their dogs with them. Personally, I know 2 friends who very recently had to find other families for their dogs! Just today on the adopt-a-pet segment of the local news, there was another dog up for adoption because the family had to let him go.

Here’s the link

hopefully THIS will lead to more advancements in treatment, which will lead to less pain and overall better quality of life and functioning!

…this subject is everywhere now. Witness the latest posting from DogAge: CLICK HERE

Statistics are always interesting. Your thoughts??

And congrats to new mom Lori!

May the pups live long, healthy, happy lives!!!!!!!

Attention medium and large -sized dog owners: Have you ever flown your dogs with you somewhere (meaning you up top and them below in cargo)? READ THIS
Come back and tell us your thoughts!

Attention owners of dogs that are…getting up there in years: Have you been affected (& your dog, of course) by canine cancer? Last week we posted about PINK PAWS. Today comes the information that dogs have been previously treated by human means (usually it’s the other way around: some of our orthopedic surgerical techniques were originally done on dogs, etc.) for CA will now have canine-specific medical pharmaceuticals. As you probably know, the canine pharmaceutical field is BOOMING. Drugs for arthritis, behavior, obesity…but I think a CA-specific drug is definately a welcome innovation. READ MORE HERE and then come back and tell me what you think.

This is part of a series in keeping your furkids, especially the elder variety, feeling and looking their best. It is not intended to supercede medical advice or directives.

Keeping up with your dog’s dental health is important to his/her overall health.

Regular cleaning is a must. It was explained to me this way: “…you brush your teeth and floss at least twice daily, but you still need to go to the dentist…your dog is no different.” A professional dental cleaning will remove plaque and tartar that brushing cannot.

There are pros and cons about both non-anesthesia and anesthesia type cleanings, and about who exactly has the ‘right’ to perform these activities. I won’t get into that here.
Suffice to say, keeping up with cleaning, though, will decrease the likelihood of anesthesia being the ONLY option in cases where dental disease has progressed too far.

Regular cleaning will also keep costs (& your dog’s discomfort) down in the long-run.

Put another way, no one has ever regretted keeping up with their dog’s dental health…

Fleas ‘n ticks, that is.
PetCareRx maintains that it is selling Frontline (Plus) at the lowest prices found! (If you need the URL, it’s on my homepage.) That reminds me…time to stock up.

We are entering into crucial months-though flea and tick care should be YEAR ROUND. Frontline is the only thing that I’ve found that works effectively without side effects. I haven’t found that the others worked well against ticks (at all) or mosquitos.

Remember ticks AND fleas spread disease-in dogs and humans.