Category Archives: Veterinary Medicine

Giardia is a very difficult parasite to cure in dogs. Here’s what I told a reader who asked me about her dog’s diagnosis. Q: My dog doesn’t seem to keep any weight on and has been having occasional diarrhea for no apparent reason. I took in a fecal sample and it showed that he had […]

Dogs probably don’t eat glass by choice, but when it’s in the form of a ball, as it is with many Christmas ornaments, dogs may not be able to resist. What should you do if they ingest glass? That was the question a reader asked; here’s what I had to say. Q: My friend’s American […]

Can dogs eat grains? That was the topic of a frustrating conversation I had with a pet owner recently. Dogs, she informed me, can’t digest grains. When I assured her they can, she insisted that they can’t, adding, “Besides, they make them fat.” I started to explain that those two things are mutually exclusive, because […]

Are there secrets to health and happiness locked in your pet’s poop? While I was researching an article on the possible link between anxiety and the bacteria living in our pets’ digestive tracts, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Gail Czarnecki-Maulden, who holds a PhD in animal nutrition and is a senior research […]

Most of the things people “have heard” about cats are myths and urban legends. But a reader wrote me about one that’s true! Q: I’ve heard a cat’s whiskers are as wide as their body so they can fit through certain areas. If the cat puts on enough weight, do the whiskers also grow? A: […]