I’ve written recently (and, well, a lot in general) about risks of rabies and other infectious diseases from imported dogs. However, we have to remember that borders are political, not biological, and that rabies (like certain US presidents) doesn’t respect boundaries, whether they are borders between countries or between provinces.
Whenever we move animals or
Last week I wrote about the recently updated ISCAID antimicrobial use guidelines for canine pyoderma, specifically regarding surface pyoderma. The full guidelines are freely available online (Loeffler et al. Vet Derm 2025). Today I’m going to cover the highlights about the “big one”: superficial folliculitis. I call it the big one
Most people don’t realize the massive number of dogs that are imported into Canada every year, for all kinds of reasons: from people moving with their own pet, to importation of large shipments of dogs from puppy mills or rescues (the latter ranging from really good operations to really dodgy). Moving animals (or people)
The updated ISCAID antimicrobial use guidelines for canine pyoderma have just been published (Loeffler et al. Vet Derm 2025). This is the first major update since the guidelines were first published in 2014. The document is a bit of a monster, so I’ll break down some of the key points in my next
For the longer answer to this question, check out the latest podcast episode I just posted on WormsAndGermsPod. For those who prefer to read the summary, here it is:
If you ask people on the street “should we use the limited antivirals we have available to treat people with flu on dogs and
Canine heartworm (Dirofilara immitis) is a nasty parasitic infection of dogs that’s relatively rare in Canada, but it’s still a concern because of how severe it can be and because treatment isn’t easy. It’s transmitted by mosquitos (we have lots of those), but transmission is also influenced by temperature (which varies a lot
A recent opinion article in the Washington Post about how to protect cats from H5N1 influenza includes some good considerations, but alongside some bad information. It’s prompted me to write a bit about pet food preparation and how it does (and does not) affect the presence of infectious pathogens (but please keep in mind while
Over a year ago, I wrote a few posts about changes to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) veterinary antimicrobial susceptibility testing guidelines. When a bacterium is grown in a lab and tested for susceptibility to different drugs, the lab looks to these CLSI guidelines to determine whether they should consider the bug susceptible
I get variations of this question not uncommonly from veterinarians:
A client just came in and said they/their kid was diagnosed with Dientamoeba fragilis infection and their physician said to test/treat their dog. What should I do?
On one hand, it’s nice to see physicians thinking about animal exposures. On the other hand, it sometimes
