Owen entered my life when I was 19, a sophomore in college. I had lived with dogs most of my life, but the brunt of the responsibility for their care fell on my parents' shoulders. Owen was the first dog that depended solely on me. I think I did a pretty good job, even as a somewhat unfocused teenager. I got my first veterinary scare as a "grown-up" dog owner when Owen was a year old or so. We had been through all the routine puppy vaccines, neutering, etc. with no drama. But one day, while gnawing on a rawhide, he all of a sudden stood up, hunched his back, extended his neck and said... RELATED: An Early Start To Allergy Season SNORK! SNORK! SNORK! This seemingly went on forever (in ...

Next in our "How to" series, dealing with minor scrapes or cuts at home ... emphasis on the minor! Any injury that fully penetrates the skin (e.g., a bite wound) and/or involves a large portion of the body or an especially sensitive area should receive immediate veterinary attention. We are talking about the equivalent of a scraped knee or shallow cut here. Even minor wounds should be dealt with promptly, before infection sets in. If the skin around the wound is inflamed or pus is visible, more aggressive treatment than what you can provide at home is probably needed. If you have any doubts as to the severity of your pet's injury, play it safe and make an appointment with your ...

A 14-month-old dog in San Diego, Calif., almost died after eating a sago palm plant, according to KGTV News. Lily, a Jack Russell Terrier/Beagle mix, grew curious and ate part of a sago palm plant. When Lily's owner, Mitchell Woolsey, noticed her becoming lethargic, he immediately brought Lily to the emergency vet. Lily's life was saved after a three-day stay at the emergency clinic, but vets say that if her owners had waited any longer to bring her in, her liver would have failed due to the poisonous plant. "They basically told us this is deadly," said Woolsey. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals lists the sago palm as toxic to dogs, cats and horses. Signs ...

Veterinarians diagnosed Kermie with cancer very shortly after her owner, Eric Ralston, was deployed overseas for eight months serving the U.S. Navy, according to the Daily Mail U.K. Though the 11-year-old Lab/Beagle/Chow Chow mix was not given much time to live, she beat the odds and survived to welcome Ralston home. Only a month after Ralston was deployed to Guam, his wife, Jennifer, noticed that Kermie had developed unusually foul breath. An examination led to a devastating diagnosis: Kermie had mouth cancer, and the vet estimated that she had only two or three months left to live. The news of Kermie's cancer broke her family's hearts, not only because their beloved dog was going to ...