Top Veterinary Articles of the Week: Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Strategies for Handling Cost of Veterinary Care, and more ...

IBD – Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Dogs & Cats

Dr. Christopher Byers/CriticalCareDVM

We are intimately familiar with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

We are also intimately familiar with how hard it can be to get it diagnosed. We were lucky that once we did have the diagnosis, we were able to manage it quite successfully using mostly natural measures.

Chronic gastrointestinal issues - IBD or not? There are, unfortunately many things that can cause such symptoms. All those need to be ruled out. And then, the only conclusive way to diagnose IBD is to do a biopsy. Fun, isn't it?

If you need good basic recap on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), check out Dr. Byers' article.

5 Strategies To Handle The Cost of Veterinary Care

Dr. Andy Roark/Cone of Shame

Avoid Tragedy: Check Your Yard for These Potentially Fatal Growths

Dr. Karen Becker/Mercola Healthy Pets

As the fall comes, the ground gets literally polluted with all kinds of mushrooms. At least around here. Different mushrooms thrive in different environments. Some like open areas, some like wooded areas ...  Most mushrooms are harmless but some can be deadly. Though back in my country they say that all mushrooms are edible; just some of them only once.

There are articles stressing that all mushrooms are poisonous to dogs. That is not true. But could you trust your dog to discern which ones are okay and which are not? Most people cannot do that reliably. That's why it's best to keep your dog away from all mushrooms growing outside. Using some mushrooms medicinally or in food is different.

I wish I could just rid our yard of all mushrooms to keep it hundred percent safe. But with 80 acres of it, that is an impossible task. I'm trying to watch my dogs and teach them to stay away from them. They have no interest in mushrooms as such; sometimes ingesting them not-on-purpose, as with Cookie snuffing the ground for mice, could still be a problem, though.

Check out Dr. Becker's article to learn which mushrooms are really dangerous and how to keep your dog safe.