Nordic Naturals® Inspires Support for Nonprofit Paws and Stripes | Dr. Justine Lee
“Buy One Bottle. Help Two Heroes.” Initiative Kicks Off October 1 Watsonville, CA (September 30, 2015) – Nordic Naturals is kicking off “Buy One Bottle. Help Two Heroes.”—a fall initiative to benefit Paws and Stripes, a nonprofit organization that pairs combat-wounded military veterans with shelter dogs, which the veterans train at Paws and Stripes. By integrating service dog training and education with mental health support, Paws and Stripes helps our nation’s heroes live...
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Pyometra: Why you should spay your pet! | Dr. Justine Lee
Should I get my dog or cat spayed? Most veterinarians advocate spaying and neutering for several reasons: To help reduce pet overpopulation To help prevent certain types of cancer (like breast or prostate cancer) To help reduce certain unwanted behavioral issues (like aggression, dominance, sexual characteristics like humping, etc.) While these are all excellent reasons for spaying and neutering, as an emergency specialist, I have my own additional bias on why I want owners to do it. I’m a...
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Cancer: The #1 killer of dogs | Dr. Justine Lee
One of the toughest parts of working in the ER is the constant barrage of bad news that one has to deliver. Unfortunately, cancer is one of the top causes for presentation to the veterinary ER, and the leading cause of death in dogs in the United States. Having lost my own beloved pit bull, JP, to a brain tumor, my heart now breaks whenever I tell pet owners that their dog or cat has cancer. In the emergency room, the most common type of cancer that I see is hemangiosarcoma. This is a very...
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Allergic reactions in dogs | Dr. Justine Lee
Ever have an allergic reaction? The same can happen to dogs too! Allergic reactions are a very common cause for midnight visits to the emergency room for dogs. Allergic reactions are often secondary to exposure to some type of antigen (an allergen). Unfortunately, we often never know the cause for the allergy reaction, but it can be due to numerous causes such as the following: Drugs (like vaccines, medications, antibiotics, etc.) Chemicals in the environment (from household cleaners like...
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Summertime trauma: The Hit-by-car (HBC) dog | Dr. Justine Lee
As an emergency critical care veterinary specialist, I spend most of my time working in the ICU and ER. Unfortunately, in the ER, I see a huge spike in trauma to dogs and cats during the summer…particularly on days with nice, sunny warm weather. (As an FYI, NFL football Sundays and full moons seem to be particularly busy shifts in the ER too!) Some examples of common summertime trauma? The hit-by-car (HBC) dog or cat “Big-dog-little-dog” (BDLD) attacks Cats attacked by predators...
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Why does my cat stare at me? | Dr. Justine Lee
We love cats, and in the United States, 1 out of every 3 homes has a cat, with other 74-96 million cats owned. But when it comes down to it, we really know that It’s a Cat’s World… You Just Live In It, right? While we’d like to think that we’ve domesticated cats, they likely domesticated us. While we think we’ve domesticated cats, we haven’t been able to take the predatorial drive out of our feline friends. If you’ve ever noticed an outdoor cat, they are able to stalk and hunt...
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