Dr. Laura Dayton

Laura Dayton, DVM

What Is Iris Atrophy in Dogs?The iris is a muscle in your dog’s eye that controls the size of the pupil. It’s helpful to think of the eye as a camera, and the pupil is the opening that changes to allow light in. When there is a lot of light, the iris will close the pupil to allow less in. When light is low, the iris will open the pupil to allow as much light in as possible. You can see the...

Laura Dayton, DVM

What Are Dog Tumors?Tumors occur when a cell continues to multiply out of control instead of following the natural cycle that ends in cell death. There are two broad categories of tumors: benign and malignant.Benign tumorslack the ability to spread or invade other healthy tissue. Although they may need medical attention, these are not cancerous.Malignant...

Laura Dayton, DVM

Click to jump to Dog Stool Infographic There are few things that will bring an animal into the vet quite as quickly as a bout of diarrhea. For most small animal veterinarians, it is something we see on a daily basis. Sometimes, dog diarrhea cases are easy with quick fixes. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Chronic or extensive dog diarrhea cases can be frustrating for both the pet...

Laura Dayton, DVM

Can puppies get heartworms? Adopting a new puppy means you’ll have plenty of questions and a lot of information take in. It can be overwhelming, but you should understand the risk of heartworms in puppies. Puppy heartworm prevention is an important aspect of new puppy care, alongside flea and tick prevention. Here’s what you need to know about heartworm disease and when to start heartworm...

Laura Dayton, DVM

Heartworm disease is not a new problem for dogs and cats, but it certainly has lots of myths and misunderstandings that surround it. These are a few of the major questions: “Can humans get heartworms from dogs? Are heartworms contagious to other dogs?” This article will help clarify how heartworms are contracted, whether heartworms are contagious to other dogs or people, and how they can be...