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My 7 yr old #@!#er spaniel is a pet UNTIL visitors call or leave. Then she gets so hyper, Barks its impossible to calm her. Then I get agitated also. I was thinking of buying a whistle, might this help to ground her. I tried a Kong filled with treats which worked initially but no.
My 10-yr old Tonkinese cat has a seroma on his throat from fighting with his brother (littermate), who bit him in the neck. This happened over a year ago. The vet did full test panel (no cancer), etc and drained it. It refilled within a week. I took him back to drain again, it refilled again. I did NOT want to repeat this cycle for fear of infection (not to mention cost). The seroma is still on his throat and I know bothers him, but does not affect his appetite. All the vet suggests is draining it again. He does eat more slowly than he used to, and doesn’t purr quite as much as he used to. I was hoping it would have shrunk by now, but it hasn’t. Any advice? I am extremely interested in holistic, alternative ideas, if possible. Thank you!
Hello,
I am not a holistic vet but if you were my client I would inquire about doing a culture and sensitivity of the fluid or cytology making sure it isn’t infection or a mucocele or salivary gland abnormality. I would be curious to see if there is more to this than a seroma. I hope this helps.
Hello all,
My German shepherd is getting older and has a lot of trouble jumping into the back of the car now. Friends of ours have been lovely enough to loan us a ramp for him. While I have been able to train this dog to do tons of things, I am having a hard time teaching him to use the ramp, and I can’t figure a way to make this work. So far I have used treat rewards for each time he puts his front paws onto the ramp, I have had our other dog Dierks go up and down it to show him, I myself have also gone up and down the ramp to show Butch. I have also tried lining the treats up the ramp in an effort to get him to follow his nose. Lastly, I have laid thenramp flat on the ground and tried to get him to walk on it… all of this to no avail. We have been working at it for about a week now. I never go more than 10 minutes at a time and I always end our little ramp session with something I know he can already do so that it ends on a happy note. Any and all suggestions on how to help him understand the concept of the ramp would be greatly appreciated!!?
Hello my dear Pawbly friend.
Ok. Here’s my advice from my experience. Start with just the ramp. Put it on the floor in a high traffic area. The goal is to see if he will use it on a flat surface. If he uses it on the floor it isn’t the ramp that’s the issue it’s the incline, or the flexibility (some are flimsy and cause anxiety), or it’s the transition from floor/ground to floorbed. my experience is that most dogs hate the surface feel. So then try to add a carpet strip to add better traction. If he will walk on it after carpeting you need to try to decrease the angle (by lengthening or starting higher off the ground or add sides to it to spare them the fear of falling.
That’s my tips. Let me know what you think. Xoxo
Krista
Dr. M said everything I would have said. The combination of a strange surface AND a weird way to get into the car can be very confusing. Introducing it as a flat surface first, then working up to an incline is the best way to help your dog gain confidence with the new device.
Yorker poo, 2.5lbs. She is whining/crying as tho she’s in pain when she gets up to adjust herself as she sleeps, she spent most of the day outside with the family, laying out by the pool. She had plenty of shade, water and food. She is eating drinking and going to the bathroom normally, the whining did not occur until later in the night after dinner. No one has any idea what could be causing her pain. Any ideas?
Of course, it’s impossible to estimate what might be wrong over the internet. Dogs generally don’t advertise pain so if she vocalizing there would be a lot of it. The only way to find out what’s happening and fix it is a hands-on veterinary examination.
I sure hope you’re getting her to the vet first thing this morning.
I have a 3 1/2 year old Coonhound that I just can’t seem to completely housebreak. He knows that if he goes outside he gets praised and a treat. As long as we are home, as a general rule (he has a few times), he won’t go in the house. However, if we leave, he always craps and pees in our basement. We had him go stay with a trainer and he was really good there. He was great the first week we had him home, now he’s back at it. I’ve cleaned the area he goes in with an enzyme cleaner, ammonia, vinegar, and even put cayenne pepper down as I read it was supposed to keep him from going there. I’m not sure if it’s just really bad separation anxiety or what the deal is. I try keeping him distracted with something when I leave but that doesn’t seem to be working any more. Now, he even has my other dog, a 3 1/2 year old Chorkie, reverting and she’s been going in the house even though she has been housebroke for years. I really hate to have to take him back to the shelter because of this, but it has been 3 months and I can’t seem to break him. ANY SUGGESTIONS OR HELP AT ALL?!? (We have to be able to leave him alone for 8 hours because sometimes our work schedules over lap) Also kenneling is not an option with him as he severely hurts himself and even the vet and trainer said he will never be able to be kenneled.
How long are they left alone without the opportunity to eliminate? that is one important criteria to consider. Nanny cam to determine whether separation anxiety is involved. Veterinary checkup to make sure nothing medical is going on.
I would find another trainer and block access to the basement.
I have been through 3 trainers already. He does really well for them, is good for the 1st week, then back to the same issue. I have no way of blocking the basement off as the last time I tried that, he tore down the door which led to him tearing down half the wall so we had to tear it out. Right now he is only left by himself for maybe 1 hour, however, I would like to be able to leave him for 8 and have no problems, which should be doable. The vet said everything was fine with him and he’s healthy. I just don’t know why he always does this. It’s within the first 10 minutes of him noticing no one is around.
Nanny cam would tell you how much anxiety there is. And if that’s the case, you’d need to work on that.
Okay. Do you have any tips or suggestions on how yo work on the anxiety?
Help me determine my kitten’s gender?
I adopted Joey 4 months ago and the vet determined that he’s a boy. We never really brought up his gender afterwards during his vaccination.
He is around 6 months old now and I don’t really see his ‘scotum’ growing. Compared to the kitten nearby where I live (which is around 2 months old), his ‘male parts’ look less prominent.
I don’t have the time to visit the vet this week, so can someone help me determine his/her gender? I’m a little confused.
Hello,
That kittens look like a female to me :). You should get er spayed soon, otherwise she will get pregnant if there are intact males around.
Why does my dog lick me after a shower or swim in the pool
LOL I couldn’t say I know why but Jasmine used to do that too when she was little. Maybe she was trying to dry me off seeing I was wet. 😉
Because he loves you? Because you taste yummy? Because they are inquisitive, sweet, adoring beings far more wonderful than humans? Just my professional thoughts on the question.
I have a 5 year young border collie lab and she has these episodes where she starts licking/salivating, sometimes lip smacking occurs. Episodes last about 1-2 hours. Her heart rateia normal 69-80 bpm. Her breath doesn’t stink. I brush her teeth daily. Pupils are responsive (no epilepsy or seizures, she doesn’t lick the air just her mouth) She has had a general blood test done. Her kidney/liver function, electrolytes, thyroid, hormones, and her Red and White blood cell count were all normal. Test results were all normal.
I would discuss conditions like megaesophagus, reflux, seizures, and neurological issues. This is a condition that very likely needs a vets assistance to diagnose.
Sunday, After groomed in a petshop, my cat can’t stand right, tremble when he walks and his head turn to left and can’t turn back. His appetite still good, doesn’t have trouble in peeing or pooping. Eyes roll well. I have gone to clinic performed x-ray and see 3 different vets. But no vets has the same answers. One said axis and atlas bone dyslocation, other said fracture and muscle neck inflammation and the last said otitis interna. what happened to my cat actually? Can he fully recovered?
I’m sorry to hear about your cat. This cannot be answered without an in person exam and review of the radiographs. I strongly recommend that you seek a specialists help and give her rest in a cage so she cannot hurt herself further.
I know that. But here in Indonesia, we don’t have any specialist. So idk what to do again now.
maybe you can help me to interpret these xray results? I add another xray from different position. So i hope you can help me by giving a good interpretation of my cat’s results here
My Serbian Husky is throwing up constantly. Today she has at least throwed up 20 times. I just recently got her 3 days ago. She’s 5 years old. Her stomach cringes and she will stop gagging then a puddle of slimy clear liquid with a little foam like substance will come out. After she eats she throws it up and you can see the food and it looks like it hasn’t been chewed up. When it does this, it’s ALOT. It’s really white and foamy. I have no clue what it is and I’m freaking out!
Has she ate anything new? Like change of food or new treats? Human food? Are you feeding her the same foods her last owner fed her?
She has parvo.. 🙁 I got her medicines today!
She should go immediately to the closest emergency clinic. They will examine your dog, provide injectable anti nausea medications and even sedate your dog so the vomiting stops and the tissue can begin to heal. I also get extremely concerned that these cases might be something like gdv/bloat, obstruction, toxin, or disease. Any dog who vomits more than a few times, or has intractable vomiting needs a vet immediately.
I’d get to a vet as soon as possible. Simply because if she isn’t keeping anything down at all, dehydration will become a serious issue. The vet can get fluids into her and then better assess the situation. Good luck.
These things don’t have a quick solution and need to be worked on gradually. Find out about clicker training. And then you need to work on changing the way she feels about things step by step. Probably starting from the knock on the door/doorbell ring … get your friends work with you on these sessions. Only when you change she feels about things you’ll change the behavior successfully to everybody’s happiness. Look up Donna Hill’s YouTube channel, she has some very good instructional videos. Other things to do is to give her a safe place she can retrieve to as well as curb the amount of visitors in the meantime.
Thank you Jana. I would say she has become worse since my last little grandchild was born come to think of it. She was always uses to the others coming in and out but not as young babies. She is very gentle with the children and when she has had enough retreats to her own corner. Do you think the little stranger who made strange noises may have something to do with this.
Something like that certainly can be playing a role. Kids are quite stressful for most dogs unless they get used to them. I know Jasmine, who loved kids, would get upset if a kid started screaming or shrieking, for example. It’s easy to get stressed over things one doesn’t understand.
There could be other things at play, such as more attention taken away from her etc. I always wondered what I’d do to get my dog be okay with baby crying and screaming if I had to. I always wondered whether a recording of such could be used in the same manner as desensitization soundtracks to deal with noise phobias. I never had to test it but logically it would make sense to me. Having a recording of all the noises little kids make, and expose the dog to them gradually (first low volume and short duration) and using a similar game as the Look at That (Donna has videos on that), where the sound would become a predictor of something great such as a treat or play or whatever the dog really loves. And gradually increase the volume and duration etc. I’m sure somebody more focused on training (my focus is health advocacy) might have some proven technique which you might be able to find.
The bottom line with these things, though, always is this formula: “Change the feeling, change the behavior.”