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We adopted 9 mo. old DSH who is now 1 1/2 yrs, Shady was a stray dont know his history. Out of nowhere, his pupils dilate, attacks & bites so hard he draws blood. Jekyll & Hyde. Rough play or aggression? Love him tho. Help pls???
My dog recently started having trouble jumping. He can jump up onto the couch but starts whining immediately for a second or two. He still runs to go play fetch but doesn’t want to jump anymore like he normally does. What should I do?
How do I stop my male cat from playing in the water dish? He has the floor all wet all the time. I put water in his dish then empty it as soon as he’s done drinking but I would rather leave water in the dish.,
^^ was going to suggest a fountain.
also, i don’t know if this came to mind Dr. M, but my queen started playing in her water more and more near the end of her life. she was an old street moggy who had detached retinas and had difficulty seeing some things. she’d play in the water first to make sure it was there, THEN she’d drink.
Put a plastic tray under the water dish so that you don’t have to worry about the water splash?
I have a dalmatian who has been limping on his front left paw for about 2 weeks, he still plays and runs, but I noticed he limps and when he’s at a resting point he favors it. How can I know if its just growing pains or something more?
i gather this is a puppy? has he been seen by a vet for this yet?
He is 11 months old and he has not yet seen a vet yet, considering that I was trying to wait and see if it is growing pains.
i’d get him in. better to be safe than sorry, you know? i don’t think i’d have pushed it more than a few days of consistent limping.
Our 12 week pup recently got a crate. She’s been doing great for toilet training but urinated in it today. It wasn’t much but the crate door was open and she was playing with her toys and chose to use the crate. Any advice?
assuming she’s clear of a UTI, at this point in time, you need to make sure she goes out every half hour.
yes, half hour. without fail. until she starts holding her urine for an hour, then you can back it up to every hour.
She’s urinating as usual but she is going to the vet’s in a few hours so I can ask about a UTI.
Could it be excitement from play time?
She’s urinating as usual but she is going to the vet’s in a few hours so I can ask about a UTI.
Could it be excitement from play time?
it’s very possible she’s overly excited, but i think it’s always best to rule out a UTI in cases of incontinence in bitch puppies. they seem to be prone to them when young. in fact, the only time mine urinated in her crate, she had a UTI.
good luck. 🙂
Thanks Laura, I will make sure she get’s checked 🙂
My male 8 yr inside cat was running jumping playing, suddenly he appeared wobbly, pupils huge, and howled. 30 minutes later he appears normal. This episode lasted 3minutes. What do you think happened? Thanks
maybe a stroke? i’d call your vet.
My lab/shep mix seemed to have a small swelling around his rear, a bit below and to the left of his anus that we noticed on Saturday. I thought to keep an eye on it because he seemed content, was pooping and didn’t appear to be in any pain. Today it was more swollen, but as it is Sunday, I was planning on calling the vet tomorrow. He pooped a while ago, when we were outside playing in the snow and then when we came inside. When he came in, he licked himself and then the swollen area sort of popped, like a big pimple, and has been draining puss/blood at first but now it has stopped and only seems to be draining blood when he licks himself. I still plan on calling the vet tomorrow, but should I be more concerned and take him to the emergency vet, even in this bad weather?
Hi,
It sounds very much like one of his anal (scent) glands became infected and formed an abscess, which has now burst. It is not an emergency unless he is bleeding profusely, but he will definitely need veterinary attention tomorrow.
If he will tolerate you doing it, I would gently bathe the area so there is no gunge stuck in his fur, and try to stop him licking at it too much.
Also, if you are unsure, you can usually call your emergency vet and ask for advice over the phone without charge.
Eleanor Wood
UK vet
I have a feral cat that has given birth to 5 kittens in a old shed out back. This was 5 or 6 weeks ago.
There was another cat that is much more tame that also gave birth to 4 kittens in our yard leaves. These kittens and the mother were brought inside about 1 – 2 weeks old. They were exposed to people and are pretty tame. The mother comes in and out by the cat window. We did this so that we could possibly find homes for them.
We would also like to do the same with the other 5 kittens but the mother is very feral. The 2 mother cats I believe were from the same litter and live in the woods out back.
The cats in the back began to escape and wonder. 2 were abandoned and we thought we would try to incorporate them with the other litter. It was easy and we have made sure the other mother is not overwhelmed. They immediately began to eat solid moistened kitten food. They are a little older then the others. They are all now very friendly with humans and again hoping to find them homes. They are all in a childs play pen, modified, doing well and all beginning to try solid food. Mother is still coming in to check them and feed them. Sometimes we have to remove the 2 "outside" cats so that the mother is not overwhelmed and the cats not really eating solid food have milk, the "outside" cats are at least a week older and stronger.
So.. We happened to come across the other 3 kittens under a palate of landscaping stone. The mother was still around and had not abandoned them like we had thought.
We moved them back into the sheltered shed. They hissed a lot but once we were handling them they were ok. We have been going out there and holding them whenever the mother is not around cause she gets bent out of shape and attacks us.
FINALLY THE QUESTION.
We would like to remove the kittens in the shed and put them in a crate to acclimate them to humans in hope of finding them homes. They are all very beautiful and unique kittens. So we have a separate crate for these cats and I am pretty sure they have learned to eat solid food cause the other 2 from this took to it and had learned. We did not want to put all 9 kittens in the same pen now cause we did not want to overwhelm the one mother, what are your thoughts? Should we put them in a crate where the mother cant get to them and feed them food an water, making sure they do eat?
Any thoughts?
Also, we would like to trap and get this feral mother fixed so there are no more kittens from her, any thoughts about how we should do this or a place that could do this inexpensively? When can we do this? Did not want to do it while she was nursing.
Same goes with the other mother cat. When can we get her fixed, how old should her kittens be and when can we give them away?
I live in Delta PA area.
Thank you
Hello Gary,
Thank you for your question, and thank you for being so proactive and compassionate to these kitties.
I think that in general you have a very good plan and it sounds like you are doing everything just as I would recommend. I think that 9 kittens is too much for one mom if they are all nursing (it sounds like they are not though). A mom that has too many kittens nursing can get hypocalcemia (we call it eclampsia). This can be life threatening.
By 4 weeks old the kittens should be able to be transitioned to kitten food. I would recommend leaving dry kitten food, wet kitten food, or softened dry food with kitten formula out every 4 hours. If the kittens continue to nurse I would start to rotate them so they have more individual time with you and a better ability to be encouraged to eat.
We estimate the age of kittens by one pound per month of age up to about 7 months old. A one pound kitten is about 4 weeks old.
If a kitten is not socialized and tamed by about 6 to 8 weeks old it gets increasingly more difficult. Spend as much time and attention that you can with them before this age.
Please be warned that unvaccinated cats and kittens can carry rabies. It can be deadly to them and to you.
I would also recommend that you contact your veterinarian and any local rescue groups for help in humanely trapping, spaying, vaccinating, de-worming, feline leukemia and feline immuno-deficiency testing, and microchipping. Many of the non-profits or rescues have low cost options for these.
I have included information about some local groups below.
Of course, if you would like to talk to me, or anyone else at Jarrettsville Vet about any of this you can find me at the link below.
For help on affordable pet care;
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html
Alley Cat Allies;
http://www.alleycat.org/
Animal Rescue in New Freedom Pa;
http://www.animalrescueinc.org/
Krista Magnifico, DVM
Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
Jarrettsville, MD
http://www.jarrettsvillevet.com
sounds like typical young cat behavior. i’d get him in for a general checkup to be sure, though.
Of course, the vet says he is healthy. It is a psychological or behavioral issue. Wish I knew what happened to him as a baby. Just would like to stop the biting. We had our last cat for 17 years so cat care isn’t new to us… How can we stop the biting?
He has all his shots and we had him micro chipped in case he ever gets out.
These attacks come out of nowhere! I hate to admit it but he can be scary. He attacks our legs and arms. We haven’t had him very long, but we love him and are keeping him (so cute). He can be very loving, lying down for hours, purring and we pet him. And he has a favorite toy, a cat that plays fetch!
His demeanor changes in a split second, out of nowhere….is he just too happy??
Thank you Dr. Magnifico, but that video isn’t 100% our Shady. Sometimes, he will just attack from another room for no reason.,… Not just when we pet him. It is very strange and I try not to compare him to our previous pet, I know they all have different personalities…..but the biting!!!! I wonder if it was from a prior trauma, he was homeless and underweight when he chose us at the adoption center??
He was given a certified clean bill of health from the adoption center and again in April for his wellness visit from my vet. The biting has been since day 1. I think it has been decreasing in frequency. At first he was very skittish and afraid of noises, like thunder, but has calmed down tremendously, truthfully over the past few months. I will check out J Galaxy….thank you very much. Thank you too for having this site.