What Your Veterinarian Can Do For You

Recently I was speaking with a man I met through some friends and he began to tell me about his old dog. He explained how his dog had been urinating around the house, especially at night, for some time now and he had just learned to live with it. When I told him that I thought we might be able to fix the leaking urine problem this man seemed surprised! He scheduled an appointment and through evaluation and treatment, we were able to stop the leaking. Not only was this man surprised but also very grateful. Continue reading

Hypothyroidism or Why can’t my dog lose weight?

Hypothyroidism is defined as the disease state in humans and animals caused by insufficient production of thyroid hormone by the thyroid gland. It is very common in dogs but never happens in cats. For whatever reason dogs get hypo and cats get hyperthyroid but never the other way around. It is believed to be due to an autoimmune disease but it has not been proven. Golden retrievers and Doberman Pinschers tend to have this problem very commonly but I see it also very commonly in Labradors, Rottweilers and most other large breed dog. It does occur in small breeds but it is not as common. Most dogs tend to get this disease during middle age around 7-8 yrs old but they can be younger. Continue reading