Pleasant Hill Animal Hospital

03/15/2023

Parvovirus can spread quickly among unvaccinated dogs at crowded animal shelters, so every dog brought to the Kentucky River Regional Animal Shelter is vaccinated against parvo, says veterinarian William Hagans, a member of the shelter's board. Parvovirus can be carried into homes on shoes and cloth...

03/15/2023

Two dogs in southern China were found to be infected with different strains of influenza C virus, which is common in humans and typically causes mild illness. Genetic sequencing showed the viruses had mutations near host cell binding sites that indicate dog-to-dog transmission, says study co-author....

03/08/2023

Four different direct-to-consumer canine DNA tests reached largely different conclusions on samples from two mixed-breed dogs, one purebred Great Dane and one news reporter. One test listed the Great Dane as 100% Chihuahua, two confirmed it was 100% Great Dane, and one found it was mostly Great Dane...

08/16/2022

The CDC recommends assuming that any mammal is susceptible to monkeypox virus, and veterinarian Michael Oglesbee, director of the Infectious Diseases Institute at Ohio State University, says the recent case of a dog that was probably infected by its owners shows

03/09/2022

A study led by Assistance Dogs of Hawaii found that dogs can be trained to detect people infected with SARS-CoV-2 and differentiate between it and other viruses. A pilot project at a Maui school now has four trained Labrador retrievers sniffing cotton pads wiped on volunteers' necks to check for the...

02/18/2022

Vaccinating pets against SARS-CoV-2 is not recommended or necessary, but that recommendation may change if a variant starts making pets sick or becomes transmissible from pets to people, says Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Allison Arwady. People can transmit SARS-CoV-2 to pets, and...

02/18/2022

Two cases of salmonellosis in adults and one in a child in Essex County, Mass., were traced to dehydrated treats made by The Dog Gone Dog, and state officials ordered a halt to further production and sale of the products. Dog owners who bought the treats should watch for signs of salmonella poisonin...

01/12/2022

A 16-year-old male and a 7-year-old female Malayan tiger at ZooTampa that had signs of mild respiratory illness tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and veterinarian Cynthia Stringfield, the zoo's senior vice president of animal health, says tests are underway to identify the virus variant. The tigers ar...

01/12/2022

Coronaviruses that affect dogs have been circulating for years, and while dogs could get infected with SARS-CoV-2 after close contact with an infected person, the likelihood that a dog will get sick is extremely low, writes AVMA past-President Dr. John de Jong. Nonetheless, people should take precau...

12/23/2021

Great News!!!

AVMA President Dr. Jose Arce has given Santa's reindeer the green light to fly! It's an annual tradition for AVMA's president to give Santa's team the

12/23/2021

Giraffes, lions, primates and echidnas are among the zoo animals in London and Sydney that have enjoyed unwrapping holiday presents. Handlers stuck with the old gift standby: food.

12/23/2021

Ensuring Dasher, Dancer and the rest of Santa Claus' reindeer are disease- and illness-free and up to date on vaccinations requires several trips to the North Pole each year, but veterinarian Jose Arce, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, is happy to make the trek so animals ar...

11/19/2021

Cats' body postures, facial expressions, vocalizations and behaviors give clues to what they're thinking and feeling, but situational context is also important when trying to interpret signals, experts say. A swishing tail signals contentment when accompanied by purring or relaxed whiskers, but it m...

11/19/2021

Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, a lecturer and assistant professor in animal-computer interaction at the University of Glasgow, has invented a device embedded in a dog toy that enables her dog to video call her by picking up the toy. The dog can also answer an incoming call by picking up the toy, but seemed...

11/17/2021

Guidance released by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services recommends hunters wear a protective mask while field-dressing deer and avoid cutting into the respiratory tract to avoid exposure to SARS-CoV-2. There is no evidence that infected deer can transmit the virus to people, but the USDA is...

11/17/2021

COVID-19 remains primarily a human disease, and while various other species, including felines and canines, are also susceptible, infections are rare, clinical signs of illness are usually mild, and recovery is typically swift, says AVMA President Dr. José Arce. It's possible that infected animals ...

11/15/2021

Three snow leopards at Lincoln Children's Zoo in Nebraska have died of COVID-19 despite receiving supportive care, but two Sumatran tigers that also fell ill and tested positive

11/11/2021

Scientists are concerned that white-tailed deer are becoming reservoirs for SARS-CoV-2 after finding a significant number with antibodies to the virus. Researchers now want to know whether deer can pass the virus back to humans or transmit it to livestock and whether the virus will mutate into a new...

11/08/2021

The National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections in two samples from hyenas at Denver Zoo, where 11 lions and two tigers have also had confirmed infections. Zoo officials said the hyenas had been experiencing mild lethargy, nasal discharge and coughing.

11/04/2021

Five African lions at Akron Zoo have SARS-CoV-2 infections that zoo officials believe they caught from an infected staff member. The lions were tested when some began showing signs of illness, including mild coughing, sneezing and loss of appetite, but tests on the zoo's Sumatran tigers, snow leopar...

11/04/2021

The CDC and Louisiana Office of Public Health are supporting a program at Louisiana State University's School of Veterinary Medicine to test pet dogs and cats in the state for SARS-CoV-2 at no charge through the end of 2021. People who think their pet might have been exposed to the virus can ask the...

11/02/2021

A child who lives in Medina County, Texas, near San Antonio, has been hospitalized with rabies after being bitten by a bat, and people who may have had contact with the child or the bat are being assessed for possible post-exposure prophylaxis, according to the Texas Department of State Health Servi...

11/02/2021

In a study published in One Health, researchers used genomic sequencing to determine that a man and his dog and cat were infected with identical strains of SARS-CoV-2, and as the owner began showing signs of illness before his pets did and the pets had little to no opportunity for exposure elsewhere...

10/29/2021

A 1-year-old golden retriever has posed for his owner's social media posts wearing a different Halloween costume each day in October, including one of his namesake, the affable Friends character Chandler Bing.

10/29/2021

A video purportedly showing a dog react in fear when its collar mysteriously comes off racked up more than 9 million views on TikTok. The video's caption claimed a ghost had removed the collar -- a claim rated as false.

10/29/2021

Superstitions about black cats probably date back to 1233, when Pope Gregory IX issued a papal bull declaring that black cats were an incarnation of Satan, and women accused of witchcraft were often compared with aloof felines, says Meghan Henning, an associate professor at the University of Dayton....

10/29/2021

Some pets will tolerate being dressed up as a pumpkin, hotdog, superhero, bumblebee or other being for Halloween, but no mask of any kind should be put on a pet, the costume should allow urination, and it shouldn't fit too tightly, impede movement or have easily chewed components. All chocolate is t...

10/29/2021

Halloween presents myriad hazards to pets, from candy and lit jack-o-lanterns to toxic glow sticks and easily swallowed costume pieces. The AVMA's Halloween offers seven tips for keeping pets safe and advises pet owners to keep their pets in a secure place indoors, ensure microchip and identificatio...

10/20/2021

Authorities in Spain granted permission to a drone operator to attempt to catch three emaciated dogs on La Palma island by dropping nets on them and lifting them from the abandoned yard near a volcano, where they have been stranded for weeks. Packages of food for the dogs have been dropped by drones...

05/25/2021

Mosquito season can make being outdoors difficult. Check out our Mosquito Forecast to learn how to get ahead of the season.