7/22/2023 0 Comments Pica in cats licking bed sheetBoth of your dogs becoming suddenly lame at the same time in one back leg can mean one of two things: The vaccine was improperly injected and caused damage to the sciatic nerve, or the vaccine caused a gradual-onset inflammatory reaction, causing your dogs pain. M.K., Clinton, Md.ĭEAR M.K.: The answer that the veterinarian gave you is totally unacceptable. They have a hard time walking and both limp - a back leg seems to be the problem for both of them. Is this just a coincidence, or could the shots have been tainted? The dogs are 12 years old. The vet said they probably had arthritis. Two weeks later, neither could stand, and they dragged their rear ends on the floor. FOX: In October, we had our two beagles get their rabies shots from a veterinary house-call service. I explain these remarkable navigational abilities in my book "Animals and Nature First." But as yet I have only a theory - what I term the empathosphere connection - but no concrete explanation for the rare, documented instances of animals finding their human companions in a new home to which they have never been.ĭEAR DR. I would be happy to hear from other readers who may have had similar experiences with lost pets. Holly was soon reunited with her owners, who lived just a mile away. The good Samaritans had the vet check her for a microchip, which she had. She was weak, staggering, emaciated and with worn down back claws and nail beds. She traveled some 200 miles and was taken in by a caring family who found her in their West Palm Beach, Fla., yard on New Year's Eve. If your dog is a toy rather than standard poodle, her teeth and gums may need immediate veterinary attention.įour-year-old tortoiseshell cat Holly became separated from her human companions at a recreational vehicle rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., in early November 2012. Chewing and swallowing things may help relieve discomfort in the mouth or a stomachache because of worms. I would have a veterinary checkup done soon because such behavior (abnormal appetite, called pica) can be associated with inflammation in the mouth (tonsillitis, gingivitis, etc.). Is she playing and needs more suitable and safe chew toys? Perhaps she developed this behavior out of boredom or having been confined in a crate/cage with newspapers on the bottom? What can I do to stop this, and is she trying to tell me there's something wrong? C.B., Bethesda, Md.ĭEAR C.B.: The set response to your common complaint is to keep newspapers away from your dog, but one should always wonder why dogs sometimes do odd things like yours chewing the newspaper. Her only problem is that she chews newspapers! She had been neglected in her previous home. FOX: My new poodle, a rescue, is sweet, shy and adjusting to her surroundings. Relocating the litter box and whatever else is in the basement for the cats to one of the upper floors is another option.ĭEAR DR. You can drag this outside, hose it down and let dry as needed. Temporarily, after cleaning or treating the floor with a sealant, I would cover it with thick plastic sheeting. Most cats will stop soiling the floor when it is sealed with a few coats of epoxy resin-type paint. I interpret this behavior as being triggered by the earthy and sometimes moldy scent of the cement floor. Many cats develop a habitual place-fixation of evacuating outside their litter boxes on the basement floor. You have really done all that you can to solve your cat's unwanted behavior, and I commend you for your endurance! LouisĭEAR C.P.: I always appreciate feedback from readers who have found my advice helpful (or not) in dealing with health or behavioral problem in their dogs and cats. We would welcome any suggestions or ideas you might have to stop this behavior. We tried a pheromone spray, added extra litter boxes, tuck-pointed the walls (we were afraid that the slight crumbling of mortar was confusing and might be seen as cat litter) and repainted the floor. We also used a pheromone room diffuser, which made the problem worse. We used a black light to try to detect and clean up after the urinating, but this did not help. We cleaned the entire floor with a safe, homemade cleaning solution that we read about in your book. We took the cat to the vet to have him checked for any urinary tract issues. The concrete floor was painted when we first moved in. We lived in this house for four years before the problem started. Our other cat developed a problem of urinating in our basement. There is no recurrence of the bowel issues with either the canned or dry food. We used the green pea and chicken variety. We were feeding him Friskies, but after reading your book on why cats have trouble processing many dry cat foods, we switched him to Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance. The first cat had a bowel problem, and you asked us to write back with the type of food we switched to that fixed it. FOX: I recently wrote in about our two cats.
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