Top Veterinary Articles of the Week: Thanksgiving Dangers, Herbs for Joint Pain, and more ...

Thanksgiving holiday dangers to avoid in your pets

Dr. Justine Lee

Up here, in Canada, we already made it through Thanksgiving safely. Our dogs do get their turkey breast, but that's the only thing we share. In order to avoid holiday trip to the veterinary ER, get a refresher on how to make it through the feast safely.

4 Herbs for Joint Pain and Inflammation in Pets

petMD

When you think about joint pain, the first things that come to mind are fish oil, glucosamine, and chondroitin. Fish oil is highly beneficial. The usefulness of glucosamine and chondroitin supplements has been questioned.

But what about herbs? If you haven't heard of them, you'll be happy to learn that there are herbs that can indeed help your dog a great deal. If your dog is having joint issues, consider researching turmeric, Boswellia serrata, and Hawthorn.

Boswellia Serrata. Photo Home Remedy

Hawthort. Photo nutrawiki

Histiocytic Disease in Dogs – A Challenging Complex

Dr. Christopher Byers/CriticalCareDVM

I remember the days when I had no idea what such things mean. Was I happier then? Maybe. But having some general understanding of things is always useful.

Histiocytic disease sounds scary. When it comes to lumps and bumps, though, histiocytoma is the word you do want to find on the biopsy report. When Cookie grew a lump on her belly, I was very happy that it was just a histiocytoma. It was a benign bump, one of those that often go away on their own. Though Cookie's was removed, but that's a long story.

There are more than one type of this disease, a couple of them are malignant, and one of them is quite a bad news too. A simple histiocytoma, though, is what you're most likely to run into.

Check out Dr. Buyers' informative article on histiocytic disease.

4 Reasons Not to Ignore a Pet's Broken Toenail

Dr. Ann Hohenhaus/vetSTREET

You would think that a broken toenail isn't a big deal. But it can mean a serious problem. Dog nails are quite tough and well-equipped for about anything a dog can throw at them. Unless they are too long, which can facilitate brakes or cracks, there can be a bigger issue behind it. A simple problem of a broken toenail can mean your dog has an infection or even cancer.

If your dog breaks a toenail, be on your toes. Have it checked.