heart%20disease - search results

See Whole Dog Journal's top dog accessories of 2015. We cover reflective gear for your nocturnal hound, artisan leather collars for the posh pup in your life, indestructible dog toys, biodegradable waste bags, a treat dispenser that does more than your smartphone, paw cream for salty winters, and much more!

I'm the owner of two middle-aged dogs. I'm also a friend to many people with senior dogs with serious medical conditions. I've started worrying about my middle-aged dogs, especially Otto, my 70-pound wonder mutt / heart dog." (Small dogs live longer

Three of the most knowledgeable and experienced advocates of well-formulated raw diets for dogs have joined forces to explain how to evaluate commercial raw diets. We described them in the inaugural installment of this column last month: Dr. Karen Becker, a leading holistic veterinarian; Steve Brown, one of the founders of this industry; and Mary Straus, one of the most dedicated canine nutrition researchers and writers. This month, we've asked them to address the state of the commercial raw diet industry, starting with diets that are labeled as complete and balanced" or "AAFCO-compliant" (formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials).Their executive summary? More and more dog owners and veterinarians are learning that well-formulated raw diets are the best food for most dogs most of the time – but the commercial raw dog food industry has problems. They are disappointed with the apparent lack of basic nutritional knowledge demonstrated by many companies – as evidenced by the formulation of their products – despite the manufacturers' good intentions.They hasten to add

Professional human athletes never skip a proper warmup. That's because research has proven, repeatedly, that preparing your muscles for upcoming physical activity reduces the risk of physical injury. And for them, an injury could impact their wallet with down time.

Dogs find summer's high temperatures challenging. That's largely because they don't sweat. Sure, you've read that dogs have sweat glands in their paws, but veterinarians agree that's not much help. A dog's primary means of cooling himself is through panting – and our goal is to make this process more efficient.

My Border Collie Duncan solves all 10 of his interactive puzzles within five minutes; it takes me longer than that to fill them with treats! So when CleverPet announced its Kickstarter campaign for the development of a next-generation pet-learning console, I signed right up. Thirteen-year-old Duncan has pretty severe arthritis so I'm constantly searching for low-activity ways to engage him. This eagerly anticipated device features three durable yet sensitive touch pads that interactively light up and are designed to be touched by a dog's nose or paw, triggering food to be dispensed. CleverPet adjusts learning levels based on your dog's performance, which can be monitored through the website and an app-based program.

Four veterinarians from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, published a study in the June issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, entitled “Evaluation of recipes of home-prepared maintenance diets for dogs.” I don’t think any WDJ readers will be surprised to hear that their findings were not exactly positive. The study analyzed 200 recipes. Of those, 133 were obtained from 2 veterinary textbooks and 9 pet care books (two of which were also written by veterinarians), and the remaining 67 recipes came from 23 different websites. Of all the recipes analyzed, 129 were written by veterinarians, and 71 by nonvets.

As a canine behavior specialist, I've seen my share of dogs over the years who suffered from separation anxiety. The vast majority of my clients have been able to modify their dog's distress when left alone, and I felt confident in my knowledge of the issue. Then my husband and I adopted a two-year-old Husky-mix from our local shelter, and everything changed.

Several raw feeders contacted me after reading my homemade diet guidelines (“You Can Make It”) in July’s Whole Dog Journal issue. While their diets varied considerably, each had problems that are common with raw diets – but most are easily fixed. For example, many raw diets are high in bone, which provides calcium and phosphorus. Excess calcium can lead to serious orthopedic conditions in large-breed puppies, especially before puberty. High-calcium diets are not dangerous for adult dogs, but calcium binds other minerals, including zinc and iron, so a diet high in bone may lead to other nutritional deficiencies. Too much bone can also cause constipation.

Gertrude Stein might have thought that a rose is a rose is a rose, but with over a hundred species and more than a thousand named cultivars, the genus Rosa has been among the world's most appreciated plants for millennia. And they can be appreciated by dogs, too, with numerous applications for medical, emotional, and behavioral afflictions. Roses grow, with and without thorns, as compact or miniature varieties, trailing vines, climbing plants over 20 feet tall, and impenetrable shrubs. Their flowers range from large to small in white, pink, yellow, orange, and every shade of red. Most roses are native to Asia, while some originated in Europe, Africa, or North America.

Sometimes life-threatening illnesses develop so slowly that no one pays much attention. An older dog who's always thirsty drinks huge quantities of water. He's hungrier than usual and has developed a thin coat and pot belly. He pants all the time, and now his hind legs are losing muscle tone and getting weak. Many owners dismiss these as normal signs of aging, but they are classic symptoms of Cushing's disease, which affects an estimated 100,000 dogs in the U.S. every year.

Cancer. My heart dropped to my stomach. In February 2010 my Border Collie Daisy became one of an estimated six million dogs diagnosed with cancer each year. Chemotherapy. My stomach tumbled to my feet. The diagnosis was scary enough; how could I possibly consider chemotherapy? I had visions of a treatment worse than the disease itself. As it turns out, my preconceptions of chemotherapy were far worse than its reality. Chemo hasn't cured my dog – more on that later – but it's given us more than 18 months (and counting) of joyful, quality time together.