It is pretty much universally agreed upon by vets that the best time to spay is BEFORE the first heat period. If a dog is spayed prior to the first heat, the odds of developing mammary cancer later in life are less than 1%. If spayed between th...

I don't know what the earliest age for safe neutering is. I only know that it is safe at 6 months or older. I believe the veterinarians reporting that they are having no problems with neutering as young as 8 weeks of age, but I can't support their...

The behaviour of your female usually indicates when she is in true estrus - that part of the heat cycle when the female will allow a male to breed her. Most females growl or snap at the male when they are not quite ready for breeding because they ...

Radial nerve paralysis or avulsion of the nerves in the brachial plexus, or possibly a nerve root problem at the spinal cord level considering the possible severity of the forces involved in the injury. Usually most of the progress is made towards...

Pruritis is the name for itchiness that causes pets to scratch. Several chemical reactions occur in the skin that stimulate the nerves, causing the brain to feel the itch. We treat a scratching pet by attempting to eliminate these reactions at the...

The best days to palpate (feel for) puppies are about day 28 to day 35 of the pregnancy. Usually it is best to count from the last breeding day as most dogs actually ovulate shortly before they quit standing for the male. X-rays can confirm pregna...

False pregnancy symptoms are normal in dogs that have an estrus and do not get bred, due to the way in which they cycle. It is not usually necessary to treat for symptoms of false pregnancy but they can be so close to those of a real pregnancy tha...

Pneumothorax refers to air accumulation in the chest cavity. As odd as this sounds, the chest cavity must have a vacuum (no air) to work properly. There should be no air pressure outside the lungs. This enables them to inflate when the muscle of t...

In Pituitary dwarfism / hyposomatotrophism a deficiency in pituitary stimulation of growth hormone production leads to dwarfism. This occurs most commonly in German shepherds but has been reported in several other breeds. It is an inherited diseas...

Perianal adenomas are usually a benign tumour that affects older, intact, male dogs. In male dogs these occur in tissues around the rectum that are responsive to androgens (like testosterone) and develop into benign tumours under the effect of the...