Podcast: Play in new window | Download You keep your puppy washed and brushed … but don’t forget your fuzzy friend’s pearly whites. If those chompers have lost some of their shine, periodontal disease may be to blame. After all, it is the single most common disease of adult dogs and cats. Periodontal disease starts [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download If your coddled kitty is indoors only, you’re right in thinking she’s likely to have fewer medical problems. But if you think vaccinations are not important, you couldn’t be more wrong! Rabies vaccinations are especially important for cats. In 2009, reports of rabid cats outnumbered those of rabid [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download Don’t look now, but another foreign disease has popped up in the United States. In 2011, veterinarians at the University of Florida found a parasite called Leishmania [leash-MAIN-ia]. Siamensis [sigh-uh-men-zis] in a local horse. And since then at least one other horse in Florida has been confirmed to [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download To discover one of your horse’s most important assets, you need look no farther than their hooves. If you can do just one thing to keep your horse’s hooves in tip-top shape, it should be to frequently clean out his feet… also known as picking out. This lets [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download Foals face a slim window of opportunity at birth to thrive. They’re prone to sepsis, bacterial infection of the blood. It’s the most common cause of death in newborn foals. Protective antibodies in a mare’s first milk, or colostrum (cō-LOSS-trum), are only absorbed for 24 hours after birth, [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download It’s tough to see your pet in pain. If your buddy has arthritis, as 20 percent of adult dogs and 45 percent of cats do, you may want to try anything to help the hurt. But steer clear of human drugs, some of which can be toxic to [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download Like people, dogs don’t have to miss out on a good life because of a paralyzing injury. They may be down in the back, but hounds without working hind limbs are often face-lickin’ happy up front. In fact, owners can learn to give the specialized care paraplegic pups [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download When you call your pet, does she turn a deaf ear? Deafness in pets is often hereditary and linked to white coats or certain white and dark-colored coat combinations. Dalmations are the dogs most commonly affected. Deafness can also be acquired with age or from drug toxicity, loud [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download Consider the lilies, how they grow — so lovely, but to some, so deadly. True lilies, such as Tiger, Day and Easter lilies, are incredibly poisonous to cats. The identity of the specific toxin remains a mystery. But if a cat eats just a small amount of any [...]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download Any abnormal lump or bump on your pet should be check by a veterinarian immediately. Although some lumps, called lipomas, are due to fat deposits and generally harmless, others could be signs of serious disease, such as cancer. Dr. Heather Wamsley, a board-certified veterinary clinical pathologist, returns to [...]