Dogs — Pet Health Library

Health topics, symptoms, and conditions specific to dogs. Written or medically reviewed by Dr. Susset Diaz Castillo, DVM, PhD.

VestaSoul — My Vet At Home® is a mobile veterinary house-call practice serving select areas of Miami-Dade County and select areas of Broward County.

• Core Vaccines for Dogs and Cats: What Pet Owners Should Know — Core vaccines protect against serious, widely relevant diseases, while additional vaccines depend on age, health, lifestyle, geography, and exposure. A veterinarian should individualize product choice and timing.
• Diarrhea in Dogs and Cats — A brief episode of soft stool may be mild in an otherwise well adult pet, but blood, black stool, vomiting, weakness, pain, dehydration, toxin exposure, or diarrhea in a young or medically fragile pet warrants prompt veterinary guidance.
• Domestic vs. International Pet Health Certificates — A health certificate documents a veterinarian's examination and specified requirements, but the destination, travel date, species, route, and carrier determine which form and timing apply. International preparation may take months.
• How Often Should Dogs and Cats Have Wellness Exams? — Many healthy adult pets benefit from at least yearly examinations, while puppies, kittens, seniors, and pets with ongoing conditions often need more frequent care. Timing should reflect the individual pet rather than age alone.
• How Urinalysis Helps Diagnose Illness in Dogs and Cats — Urinalysis evaluates urine concentration, chemistry, and sediment. It can add important context about hydration, kidneys, glucose, inflammation, crystals, and bleeding, but collection method and follow-up tests affect interpretation.
• Increased Drinking and Urination in Pets — A sustained increase in drinking or urination is an important clinical sign that warrants veterinary testing. Keep water freely available, track the change if practical, and seek urgent care if vomiting, weakness, urinary straining, or other emergency signs occur.
• Pancreatitis in Dogs — Pancreatitis — inflammation of the pancreas — ranges from mild stomach upset to a life-threatening emergency in dogs. It classically follows a fatty meal, and it's a diagnosis worth confirming, not guessing.
• Parasite Prevention for Dogs and Cats in South Florida — South Florida's warm climate can support year-round mosquito, flea, tick, and intestinal-parasite exposure. Prevention should be selected for the individual pet, used exactly as labeled, and paired with testing and environmental control.
• Pet Hospice at Home: Comfort, Pain, Hydration, and Monitoring — Pet hospice focuses on comfort and family goals when disease is advanced or cure is not the plan. It requires a veterinarian-directed care plan, daily observation, reassessment, and a clear emergency or crisis plan.
• Preparing Your Dog or Cat for Air Travel — Safe air-travel planning requires current carrier and destination rules, an appropriate carrier or crate, identification, climate planning, and an individualized veterinary fitness assessment. Sedation is not routinely appropriate.
• Skin Disorders in Dogs and Cats: Causes, Symptoms, and In-Home Veterinary Care — Skin disorders (dermatopathies) are among the most common reasons pets visit the vet. In South Florida's humid climate, environmental allergies (atopy), flea allergy dermatitis, and secondary bacterial or yeast infections frequently cause severe itching, redness, and hair loss. Early in-home diagnostic testing identifies the root cause while avoiding stressful clinic trips that can worsen skin flare-ups.
• Traveling With Pets in Florida and Across State Lines — Road travel still requires destination research, secure restraint, identification, medication planning, and heat safety. State, territory, lodging, and carrier rules can differ and change.
• Vomiting in Dogs — One vomiting episode may be self-limited in an otherwise well adult dog, but repeated vomiting, inability to keep water down, unproductive retching, abdominal swelling, weakness, or possible toxin or foreign-object exposure requires urgent care.
• What Pet Bloodwork Can Tell You — Blood tests can identify changes in blood cells, hydration, organ-related values, electrolytes, glucose, and other markers, but results must be interpreted with the pet's history, examination, medications, and sometimes repeat or follow-up testing.
• What to Do When Your Dog Is Not Eating — A missed meal may be minor in an otherwise well adult dog, but appetite loss can also accompany pain, gastrointestinal illness, toxin exposure, or other disease. Contact a veterinarian promptly if it persists or occurs with other concerning signs.
• What to Expect During an In-Home Euthanasia Visit — An in-home euthanasia visit usually includes time to review consent and preferences, medication to promote deep relaxation or unconsciousness, euthanasia medication, confirmation of death, and the chosen aftercare plan. Details vary by patient and veterinarian.

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VestaSoul — My Vet At Home® is a mobile veterinary house-call practice serving select areas of Miami-Dade County and select areas of Broward County.