We feed twice a day- that’s it. Dogs and cats in our house get their food at 4/4:30 am and then the cat gets a 2:30/3 pm meal and the dogs get a 7 pm meal. We train with treats -dogs and the cat-throughout the day as well. It took everyone about a week, maybe a little less to get in tune with the schedule, but now it’s very routine and works for our household. My point is, perhaps setting up a feeding schedule of some sort will be helpful. This way there isn’t food out unless it is time to eat. (Ignoring the cries for food for a few days can be challenging, so toys help redirect here.) Best of luck?
My 6 year old shar pei/golden retriever mix has a mysterious bump on her lower leg. It appeared out of nowhere on Jan 1. She doesn’t seem bothered by it, it just looks like a pink bump really. I took her to the vet who took one look (barely a look at all because it had all of the fur covering it) and said it was either a cyst that maybe was a little infected or a pappilloma. She said to put neosporin and aloe vera on and cover with a sock daily. I have done that for more then a week and the bump looks the same (I trimmed the hair to get a better look). Do you think I should be concerned or push for a further look or is something like this just that easy to diagnose as she seemed to think?
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Our 8-9 month old cat is a stray adoption from the humane society, but he is a total pig! You would think he is starving all the time. We have another cat in the house, but if he’s not at his dish during feeding time Jimmy will eat his own food and the other cat’s food. I have tried feeding him several smaller meals throughout the day or a large one in the morning, but nothing seems to satisfy him. He is on his way to being too fat. Any suggestions for satisfying his appetite or giving me some peace with his constant begging?
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Starr Henry I often rescue strays and it seems the longer they’ve been on the street the more likely it is they do this. Most likely because they are used to not knowing when the next meal is coming from and when it’s coming. I have one cat that will beg for anything with pasta sauce on it. You just have to try to show them they will have food all the time it might be easier because he’s young but there’s really no telling how a cat will delve lip with time.
Hi, I brought my cat to the vet on Thursday. She has been straining to urinate since Wednesday night. She had also been throwing up her food and had had diarrhoea on the Thursday morning. The vet prescribed antibiotics for cystitis and I am brining her back after a week for a recheck. She had quite a lot of blood in her urine before she started the antibiotics but this has stopped since. She is still frequently going to the litter tray and is still straining and doesn’t seem to be able to get much out. She has stopped getting sick and is eating and drinking as normal. Apart from a little bit of diarrhoea on the Thursday morning she has not defecated at all and prior to that it had been at least 4 days. Could you give me some advice on when I should begin to see improvements?
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E Thank you for your responses. I rang the emergency vet today and she told me that it would take a few days until she is urinating normal again and as long as she is eating and drinking she should be ok. She no longer has blood in her urine, however I am still quite worried as there doesn’t seem to be much improvement in the volume of her urine output and she seems to be straining a lot with only a a little dribble of urine each time. She is also licking the area after every time she tries to urinate. Other than this her temperment seems normal and she is lively.
We just adopted a rescue cat and he is very timid. Hides under furniture, won’t come out. Is this normal? He has barely eaten and has not urinated or had a bowel movement. It’s been about 24 hrs since we got him.
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Anonymous Yes, this is normal. The rescue didn’t explain a proper introduction to your home? I would keep him in one room, with the door shut, for at least a week, but ideally longer, especially if you have any other pets in the house. Keep a litterbox, his food, and his water in there. Go in for chunks of time each day, and totally ignore him – take a book and read, or do some other quiet activity. This gives him a little time to acclimate to the new home and new people in his life. Rehomed animals, particularly adults, NEED a significant period of time to adjust.
My 5 year old bob tailed cat has a new Pomeranian roommate that he didn’t quite hit it off with. We tried a very gradual introduction. He’s a big cat and she’s a tiny dog and we’re afraid he thinks she’s a squirrel. He got along with my old roommates’ dogs fine after a time, so I’m hopeful this could be the case.
She’s very energetic and he’s friendly and playful for the most part but gets reserved around her. Any advice?
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Hi Dr. Mag,
My 12 week old puppy had vaccines DA2PPV & lepto 1 of 2; bordetella booster and strongid this evening at the clinic. He is now excessively urinating which is new behavior tonight. Is this normal or cause for concern?
Thank you,
Jessica
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I have a 6 month old, female border collie. We are having a hard time with food aggression, especially towards our two year old daughter. What can we do stop the food aggression?
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Anonymous I would involve a professional, someone who understands the breed quite well. If you’re in the US, I would go to the nearest chapter of the breed club: http://www.bordercolliesociety.com/affiliate-clubs/
I would also search Google for “Border collie club $YourState.” They’ll be able to refer you to a GOOD trainer for the breed.
Feed your dog in the crate, to prevent stress at meals. If you don’t have a crate, now’s the time to get one. Step up your obedience training, too – remember, you have THE smartest breed on the planet, and your dog needs a job or she will become a neurotic mess. If you haven’t worked on anything beyond basic obedience, start. BCs need to herd, or they need a sport that fulfills their need to work.
my dogs has been poisoned, 3 weeks ago, 6 puppies died as well. 2 puppies survived and one of them started showing a lump on his back last night. they are 6 weeks old. the mother did scratch them – not sure if the scratching could have infected the little ones please help
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I’d love to hear you opinion on the corporatizing ( making that word up) of veterinary clinics. Personally I’ve had mixed results with both small independent clinics and with one of the large corporate players.
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Last Christmas our kitty snacked on our live Christmas tree. We found the needles in her stool. This also coincided with her being diagnosed with lymphoma. She is amazingly still with us, although life seems to be a series of ups and downs. As she has has digestive issues from lymphoma I certainly don’t want to cause any further irritation this holiday season. We are debating putting up an artificial vs real tree, however I wonder if ingesting the artificial matter (ie plastic) could be more iritating than organic matter. Thoughts?
If we had a room to simply close the tree in to we would, however we have an open floor plan….and if we didn’t have children we would skip the tree altogether!
Hi Amy, If you are concerned then go back to your Vet…or see another one if you were not happy with the initial examination. I enlarged the photo and there seems to be a mark in the middle of the lump. I wonder if it could be a bite of some kind? If so she would probably need antibiotics. If she were my dog I would definately take her back to the Vet for a more in depth examination.
I agree. I would call my vet and explain that there has been no improvement and you are concerned. Have them take a closer look.
Hello,
I agree with Julie and Sarah. If you are worried about it and it isn’t resolving express your concerns to your vet. It does look like a mass, per se, it looks more like an injury, but I would have expected it to be better by now if it was. It is so hard to diagnose via a photo. You are better off with your vet looking at it in person. Please let us know what happens.
Finally after I stopped put on the neosporin and the aloe vera and just let it alone for a few days it seemed to start getting smaller and smaller. Now it is just a tiny scab! Thanks everyone for your advice.