Diseases Affecting Multiple Species

Brain tumors usually occur in older animals. They are more common in dogs than in cats. These tumors often metastasize from other cancers in the body. The most common brain tumor is called meningioma. It is slow-growing and gets its name from the meninnges, a membrane which covers the brain and spinal cord. Other types […]

Kidneys play a very important part in keeping our pets healthy. They filter the blood, removing toxins, excreting them through the urine. The kidneys also maintain the water and electrolyte balance and produce some hormones which stimulate red blood cell growth. If your pet’s kidneys are not functioning properly, the waste products that remain in […]

The lens of the eye is normally transparent, allowing light through to the retina in back of the eye. A cataract causes the lens of the eye to become cloudy or opaque, decreasing or eventually blocking light to the retina, causing impaired vision and eventually blindness. Cataracts can be hereditary or caused by disease such […]

Bartonellosis is a bacterial disease in pets which can also affect humans. It is caused by a bacteria known as Bartonella and is sometimes called Cat Scratch Disease, although not always transmitted that way. Dogs become infected with bartonellosis through fleas, ticks, sand flies and lice. Dogs that spend a lot of time outdoors such […]

Blastomycosis, while not common, is a serious fungal infection which primarily affects the lungs and the skin. Dogs are more susceptible to it although other animals, cats and humans as well, can be affected. The Blastomyces (spores) can be found in soil that is acidic, moist, filled with rotting, organic debris mixed with bird droppings. […]

There has been an outbreak of a deadly horse virus – herpes virus-1. It is highly contagious and can be fatal. The virus was discovered at the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah. There were 400 horses participating in the events lasting from April 30 through May 8. Since the event, […]

Incontinence in pets can be caused in a number of ways. Young animals may have a birth defect with one or both ureters which carry urine from kidneys to the bladder. Dog breeds prone to this defect are Siberian Huskies, Miniature Poodles, Collies, Labrador Retrievers, West Highland White Terriers, Welsh Corgis, Wire-haired Fox Terriers. It […]

All unborn mammalian babies have a large shunt, a blood vessel that carries blood around the liver instead of through it to the heart. This shunt, called the ductus venous should close down just before or after birth. Sometimes it does not stop working and is a defect known as an intrahepatic (hepatic referring to […]

Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (IMHA) or Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA) is the destruction of red blood cells. Antibodies which target germs, attach to the cells causing the body to react and destroy them. The cause may be unknown or the result of a reaction to a drug, cancer, virus, toxin, parasite.It can occur in the […]