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My cat has lost weight and hes still eating and drinking. His third eyelid is visible and his urine in an orange color and foamy.
I have a year old blue heeler mix who is usually pretty good with walking, and she won’t pull, but she does walk at the very end of the leash so that it’s pulled tight, but she won’t be pulling exactly. I’ve tried everything I can find online- the stop and wait method, and the one where you turn and walk away, but she’s not exactly pulling. Any advice? Thanks.
Work on a formal heel and reward for that specific behavior. Keep the leash short so she understands what you’re asking. In conjunction with this, I would stop dead every time she goes to the end of the lead. By continuing the walk, you’re rewarding the undesired behavior.
I am a BIG fan of tab leads for this.
I think a lot of dogs enjoy having some tension in the leash because it allows them to “zone out” on the walk and enjoy sniffing around without focusing 100% on their owner. If the owner turns or slows down it is easier for the dog to immediately feel the change in the tight leash than it is for them to suddenly hit the end of a really loose leash which probably hurts their neck. In a way this makes sense because it is impossible for anyone, dog or human, to pay attention 100% of the time (think about day dreaming in school).
There are a couple of tricks you can try. One is to train the dog to walk on 2 different pieces of equipment. For example, if they have a buckle collar on they must keep a loose leash at all times (could be used for busy sidewalks, vet visits, ect) and if they have a harness on it means you are on a more casual walk and you don’t mind them leaning on the leash as long as they aren’t yanking your arm out of socket. You could also use different commands (“heel”- walk at attention by my side and “walk on”- we are just walking for enjoyment so slight pulling or sniffing around is fine). One thing nice about using commands is that you can alternate during a walk. For example, you can practice “heel” every time you cross a street and then allow the dog walk casually during the rest of the walk. Your dog will give you better attention during the heel because they know it will be over soon, as opposed to you trying to demand perfect focus for the whole walk.
If you want the dog to always walk on a loose leash when wearing its buckle collar, make sure you only put that collar on when you are mentally ready to train and have sufficient time. Don’t use it during quick walks around the block before work when you are distracted/ in a hurry and not paying attention. Start out by having the dog practice sitting for you a few times indoors for a treat. Proceed outside and as soon as you feel tension on the leash stop and wait! Don’t move at all, it helps to have your hands holding the leash at your waist so you don’t accidentally give more slack when the dog pulls. Wait for your dog to sit automatically (without a command), then give a treat, and take one step forwards. A lot of dogs will explode to the end of the leash with excitement so be ready to stop and wait again. Allow the dog to pull, jump up, bark, paw you, ect without punishment. Just wait for the sit, give a treat when they sit, and walk forwards. See how many steps you can take on a slack leash. When the leash is tight, stop and wait for the sit again. Soon the dog will be really focused on you because they are ready to sit every time you stop. Once you begin walking along on a loose leash, you can periodically reward the dog with a piece of kibble for looking up at you. Remember, reward the dog when it does something you like.
Sophia Yin has some great training videos related to this on YouTube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2vZusiOzJg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUCl6ndLN7Q
https://drsophiayin.com/philosophy/
Ian Dunbar also has a variety of great videos on this subject.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U92mG5-V26M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkapxaexrBA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLERx9XR8pU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InJD18Zxudc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Saa13XvCdlI
http://www.dogstardaily.com/book/export/html/2131
I also recommend Grisha Stewart’s book “Behavior Adjustment Training”.
6 yr old cat vomiting and urinating a lot but she still has her appetite
If she’s vomiting frequently and urinating frequently, I worry about something like an infection. Please get her to the vet now.
Frequent vomiting is not a good sign in any animal and I recommend getting her to a vet before she completely loses her appetite.
HI THERE, MY DOG HAS EPILEPSY. HE IS ON POTASSIUM BROMIDE AND PHENOBARBITAL. GERMAN SHEPHERD. SINCE STARTING MEDS HE HAS GAINED 45 POUNDS. HE HAS ATAXIA, WHICH IS GETTING PRETTY BAD. WE DECIDED TO SWITCH HIM TO A DIET DOG FOOD TO HELP HIM LOSE WEIGHT, SO THAT WE COULD ULTIMATELY LOWER HIS MEDICATION DOSAGE. OUR VET CONCURRED. SHE DID NOT MENTION THAT CHANGING HIS DIET WOULD INTERFERE WITH THE SALT LEVELS BECAUSE OF THE BROMIDE HE WAS TAKING. AS SOON AS WE SWITCHED HIS FOOD HE STARTED SEIZING. HE HAS HAD ABOUT 7 OVER THE LAST 2 DAYS (HE WAS SEIZURE FREE FOR ALMOST 3 MONTHS). WE LIKE THE NEW FOOD WE PICKED BECAUSE IT IS BETTER QUALITY (FROMM) AND DOES NOT HAVE ROSEMARY EXTRACT, WHICH HAS BEEN LINKED TO SEIZURES. BUT WE DON’T KNOW IF WE SHOULD STOP IT AND GO BACK TO HIS OLD FOOD, OR HOW TO TRANSITION BACK/FORWARD. HE WAS PREVIOUSLY ON NUTRO LARGE BREED ADULT FOOD. I CANNOT FIND THE CHLORINE CONTENT FOR NUTRO, BUT THE CHOLINE CHLORIDE CONTENT FOR FROMM IS 2887.63 IU/KG (71.47 IU/100 CAL). I DON’T TRUST MY VET ANYMORE TO ASK HER, AS THEY HAVE NOT TOLD US ANYTHING ABOUT BROMIDE AND SALT LEVELS. I HAVE HAD TO RESEARCH ALL OF THIS ON MY OWN, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE NO VETERINARY TRAINING. APPARENTLY, GOOGLE IS MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE THAN MY DOG’S VET. IF SOMEONE COULD ADVISE US ON NEXT STEPS WE WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT. WE WANT A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR OUR DOG, ONE WHERE HE DOESN’T SLIDE HIS BACK LEGS DOWN THE STAIRS AND FALL DOWN BECAUSE HIS BACK LEGS ARE TOO WEAK. SO WE KNOW THAT A DIET AND LIFESTYLE CHANGE IS IMPORTANT. BUT WE NEED SOME ADVICE ON HOW TO MAKE THE CHANGES, AND HOW FAST/ HOW TO TRANSITION, BECAUSE EVERY TIME WE CHANGE HIS DIET IT APPEARS TO TRIGGER SEIZURES (WE SWITCHED HIM TO LIQUID BROMIDE BACK IN MARCH AND RIGHT AWAY HE GOT CLUSTERS AND ENDED UP IN EMERGE AND SEVERELY MEDICATED FOR A FEW DAYS). WE DON’T WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN, SO WOULD PREFER TO FIX THIS ON OUR OWN. BASICALLY, I’M ASKING, SHOULD I GO OUT TOMORROW MORNING AND PICK UP HIS OLD DOG FOOD AND SWITCH HIM BACK COLD TURKEY? OR SHOULD WE STICK WITH THE NEW BETTER FOOD AND SEE IF HE GETS USED TO IT AND THE SEIZURES STOP? OR SHOULD I BUY HIS OLD FOOD AND MIX IT WITH THE NEW FOOD FOR A WHILE, AND WILL THIS EVEN HELP? IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE CAN DO? THANK YOU KINDLY FOR YOUR TIME. “
My question would be whether it’s the change in itself or something else present in the food triggering the seizures. I do agree that rosemary extract seems to be suspect in contributing to seizures. I also agree that putting on weight isn’t good for anything. My best recommendation would be to work with an integrative vet at this point. I know a number of people who used this modality for managing seizures with great success. An integrative veterinarian can also be of great assistance with diet and actually food therapy, as well as acupuncture and herbal therapy, all of which can be quite helpful. If it was my dog this is the direction I’d go in from here.
She also is refusing to eat her food we got puppy replacer formula that and water is all she will take besides wanting her beggin treats is this ok
None of this is OK. Get both her and her pup to the vet, please. Consider this an emergency.
Hi, my dog’s face is very swollen looking, he keeps leaving the room where people are, and rubbing his face on the ground and itching his face. He keeps getting up and moving constantly and has a pink rash. Any idea what might be wrong?
It sounds like an allergic reaction of some kind. Was he outside or came inside and it started happening? Did he receive any medications recently? If it gets bad it can progress. Benadryl may help but if it’s bad, but he may really need injectable medications so I would recommend taking him to a vet near you. Make sure he is breathing ok.
Hi, I have a 16 year-old female Chihuahua/Lhasa-Apso who has been prone to seizures for several months and has been taking medication to prevent this. However; several days ago she had a convulsion – and since then, she has had an increase in jitters, seems mostly unresponsive to petting, has lost appetite, her tail is nearly always limp, and she appears lethargic.
On top of this, she also sounds as though she has fluid/mucus in her lungs, as she takes raspy deep-breaths every now and then. Since this morning, she has begun coughing up clear/bubbly + thick fluid every so-often, is refusing to drink/eat/ take seizure medication.
Her last check-in with the vet indicated that cancer was not present (At least, in her organs) and her blood did not indicate high cholesterol or diabetes.
Given the symptoms listed, what do you believe my dog is suffering from, and is there any medication/preventative measures I can treat my dog with to combat this illness?
Thanks 🙂
Dog has almost made a full recovery over the last few day. After discussing with my vet, this can occur if she doesn’t take her medication or vomits it up, as well as if she had eaten food that is high in protein. I think that she must have vomited her pill up, and as such we’ve been increasing her dosage until we’re certain she’s completely well again. On top of that, we’ve changed her diet slightly by removing kangaroo meat from her food and only using white meat. The food we give her is always home-made and has been approved by the vet. Sadly, due to my dog’s conditions and already prescribed medication, if this were to occur again, the best they could prescribe is either antibiotics or, if it gets very bad, we may have to have her put down.
However, like I said earlier, she is back to her normal and happy self, demanding food and is playing madly with our other dog. Thanks for your comment 🙂
my dog is vomiting yellow mucus has a dry nose, no appetite is drinking some water but not a lot and is moping. what should I do?
I would head to the vet.
My dog Lucky is having her heat soon but we are having her spayed on Tuesday what do we do?
Hello,
I’d talk with your vet, many vets won’t spay a dog in heat, but if she’s just close to it should not be a problem. Good luck!
-kelly
I agree with Kelly. Communicate this with your vet.
I just found a tiny lump behind the right shoulder of my 3.5 month kitten. How worried should I be?
He was vaccinated a clue of weeks ago and he doesn’t have any kind of parasites.
Would he still have a bump a couple of weeks after getting vaccinated?
Would he still have a bump a couple of weeks after getting vaccinated?
It sounds like he needs to go to the vet to be examined. Dependent on his age and other health issues he may need blood work, x-rays and/or have his urine checked.
Good Luck
Dr D