All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

What to do when cats reject the litter box

Pet Connection

My daughter, Mikkel Becker, and I teamed up to tackle one of the most frustrating aspects of cat ownership: litter box problems.

Q: One or both of our otherwise healthy cats has been occasionally pooping on the sofas in our den and sun porch. How do we stop them?

A: Your cats may seem healthy, but if you haven’t taken them to the veterinarian to rule out underlying health problems, such as impacted anal glands or irritable bowel disease, that should be your first step.

If they get the all-clear, the next step is to make sure your litter box maintenance is up to par. Scoop at least once daily, and clean the box and change the litter every week or two.

Do you have enough litter boxes? The “rule of paw” is one litter box per cat, plus one extra. In a perfect world, each litter box is in a separate place, because to a cat, a row of litter boxes just equals one giant litter box. It may be that one cat is guarding the litter box area so the other can’t use it, so he uses the sofa instead.

Your cat may dislike the texture or smell of the litter, or the placement of the litter box. Try switching to an unscented litter or a different type. If possible, move the litter box to a quieter or more secluded area.

Note the circumstances surrounding the poop on the sofa. Does it occur when a family member is traveling or working long hours, when there are visitors in the home or during some other unusual event? Cats don’t always like change, and this may be their commentary on your work schedule or the presence of guests. Is the sofa near a door or window where outdoor cats may be marking? If you can connect the poop to a stressful event, you may be able to take steps to relieve your cat’s anxiety. — Dr. Marty Becker and Mikkel Becker

All this and more in last week’s Pet Connection!

green-eyed cat lying on bed

How cats catch ‘pinkeye’

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Cats have beautiful eyes, but pink just isn’t their color! Conjunctivitis, or pinkeye, has several causes in cats, but it can usually be treated with antibiotics.

Q: My cat has conjunctivitis. What can you tell me about this eye disease?

A: We don’t see as many eye problems in cats as we do in dogs, but conjunctivitis — inflammation of the light pink mucous membrane that lines the eyeball and eyelids — is probably the most common one. Cats with conjunctivitis can have the condition in one or both eyes, and they may have accompanying respiratory signs, such as sneezing. Clues that a cat has conjunctivitis (often nicknamed pinkeye) include squinting, redness, tearing or a yellow or green discharge.

Conjunctivitis can be infectious — caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi — or noninfectious. Infectious cases are usually caused by chlamydophila, mycoplasma or feline herpesvirus (which can be transmitted to other cats, but not to humans). These cats may have respiratory infections as well.

Noninfectious causes of the problem can be eye defects such as eyelids that turn inward. Persian cats sometimes have this condition. Allergies and irritation of the eyelid by sand or dust are other causes of noninfectious conjunctivitis.

It can take time to determine the cause of conjunctivitis, but in the meantime, your veterinarian may proceed on the assumption that it’s infectious and prescribe a topical or oral antibiotic. Always give the complete amount of medication prescribed. Don’t stop if you see improvement, thinking you’ll save the antibiotics for the next flare-up. The infection can worsen if you don’t give it the old one-two punch. Some cats have chronic (recurring) conjunctivitis, but reducing stress and providing good nutrition, preventive care and treatment as needed may help to keep it under control.

If conjunctivitis doesn’t improve, your veterinarian may recommend certain diagnostic tests or refer you to a veterinary ophthalmologist for more in-depth treatment.

All this and more in my weekly Pet Connection newspaper feature!

A lifetime reflected in the dogs I’ve loved

This and That

As Christmas draws near and the year comes to an end, I find myself drawn back in time to all the dogs who have defined and enriched my life.

I was born in Twin Falls, Idaho, where they grow the famous Idaho potatoes,  and grew up on a small family farm. My very first memory is as a toddler walking beside a Australian Shepherd named Shep, using her as a slow-moving set of training wheels. We had Shep until I was about eight years old, and then we got Skeeter the Toy Manchester Terrier, who was the first house dog we had, and the first dog allowed to sit in her own chair at the kitchen table and sleep in my bed at night.

Tragically, Skeeter was mauled by a much bigger dog and killed when I was about twelve.

It wasn’t long before my brother, Bobby, and I found out about a litter of Labrador Retriever puppies and came home with two brothers. Bobby’s was a light colored Lab he called Sam, whereas mine was a black Lab I named Luke after Cool Hand Luke.

Luke was my shadow. My loving, loyal, tail-wagging friend through all of the tough times in junior high and high school, on the farm, even after I left home for college. I must admit, I was always more excited to come home and see Luke than anyone else, including my parents!

I met the love of my life, my beloved wife, Teresa, at college in 1978 when I was a 24-year-old veterinary student. The next year we bought our first dog, an incredible salt-n-pepper Miniature Schnauzer we called Bode after a favorite teacher of Teresa’s, Mr. Bode. Bode was literally and figuratively our first child, and was there for the birth of our first human child, Mikkel, in 1985.

When Mikkel was about five years old, she used money she’d been saving for a few years and bought a Wirehaired Fox Terrier she named Scooter. This was the same year our son, Lex, was born. Scooter was our sole family dog for almost 14 years. Lex wanted a bigger dog to roughhouse with, so one time when I was on a trip, Teresa and Lex went to a great local breeder and brought home a super-loving Golden Retriever we called Shakira (after the stunning Columbian singer with the beautiful golden tresses).

Teresa’s dad died in 2002, and it hit her really hard. We didn’t have a small house dog for a year, because Teresa didn’t have the heart for one, as she was grieving over the loss of both her dad, Jim, and Scooter. But in one of those twists of fate, we found out about a litter of canine cocktails needing homes, and Teresa came out of the darkness in about a day after we brought Quixote home.

That was 2003, and Mikkel was off to college and Lex entered high school. About two years later, Mikkel surprised us with a wonderful young female canine-cocktail named Adora, who she found at a PetsMart adoption event. A Pomeranian/Shar Pei/Cairn Terrier, she was the same size and color as Quixote, and they were instant buddies. We changed her name from Adora to another “Q” name, Quora.

After both kids were out of the home (Mikkel married and Lex in college), I felt love at first sight when I first met an incredible Lab/Pit mix at a Santa Paws event at our local Second Chance shelter. Her name was Gracie and I kept it, adding only one word to make it Amazing Gracie.

Teresa and I both turned 60 in the past year. Traveling over 75 percent of the time as part of a mission to create Fear Free veterinary visits, we most certainly weren’t looking for a fifth dog. We also considered Mikkel’s two Pugs, Bruce and Willy, as our Grand-Dogs.

But God had a different plan. After I diagnosed and treated a litter of puppies at North Idaho Animal Hospital with deadly distemper, three were so sick we paid to have them sent to the veterinary school at Washington State University. Two didn’t make it, but we followed and prayed for two-pound Sam to survive, and he did! Feeling incredibly bonded with him, we both knew he was coming Almost Heaven Ranch. Everyone who saw this little guy, all 2 pounds of him, kept saying, “He’s such a cutie!”

Well, cue up the “Q” names, and he was dubbed QT. Actually, QT Pi (as in Cutie Pie). And now he’s our Granddaughter, Reagan’s, best friend — even above her other human family members! Seeing him be there for her as our Grand-Pug Bruce lost his battle with cancer just last month has only proved to me that one day Reagan will be telling her life story through the lives of her dogs, too.

So there you have my lifetime as reflected in the dogs I’ve been blessed to know, from my toddler days to some of the most wonderful and painful moments of my life. Who are the dogs who marked the milestones of your years?

Resolve to protect your pets from disasters

This and That

Disasters can strike at any time. We try to prepare for fire, earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes by packing supplies and creating disaster kits. We teach our children what to do and where to go in case of an emergency, but all too often we forget to plan for our pets. Here’s what you can do to include your pets and their needs in your emergency plans.

  • Make sure your pet has ID. Most pets survive disasters, but they’re never reunited with their families because they don’t have ID. Get tags and collars for your animals, and don’t forget to microchip them!
  • Stock up on food and water. Keep several day’s worth of food and water in your emergency kit, and don’t forget to include a can opener for canned food.
  • Keep pet prescriptions handy. If your animal has a chronic condition that requires regular medication, then you’ll need to make sure you keep a supply of their medicine available.
  • Prepare for bathroom breaks. Make sure you have a disposable litter box and some litter on hand for cats, and plastic bags for cleaning up after dogs.
  • Crates and carriers are a must. Being able to transport your pet safely during a disaster is essential, so make sure you have enough crates or carriers for all your animals.

Follow these tips to make sure that when the worst happens, you and your pet can get through it together!

 

 

The tragedy of post-declaw pain syndrome, and how to help cats who suffer from it

Veterinary Medicine, , ,

As a veterinarian, I was taught early on that while declawing cats wasn’t without its drawbacks, it was a valuable tool in preserving the human-cat bond, and kept cats out of shelters. I no longer believe that today.

As I’ve learned more about the negative effects of pain and fear on our companion animals, I’ve become a firm opponent of surgical declawing — and like the AVMA, a believer that we should call it by its correct name: amputation.

I’ve also learned that the pain caused by this procedure often lasts long after the surgery is over. It can last the life of the cat, and even cause worse behavior problems than the one it supposedly set out to solve, destructive scratching, such as litter box avoidance and biting. After all, declawed cats come into animal shelters all the time, and are also trapped in feral cat colonies. I think we as veterinarians have fallen back on the “keeping them in their homes” rationalization for far too long.

To understand the issue of chronic post-declaw pain in cats, I turned to my personal veterinary pain guru, Dr. Robin Downing of the Downing Center for Animal Pain Management in Windsor, Colo.

Dr. Downing has a string of credentials longer than the driveway leading up to our Almost Heaven Ranch (and definitely long enough to give this veterinarian an inferiority complex), including:

  • Diplomate, American Academy of Pain Management
  • Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation
  • Certified Veterinary Pain Practitioner
  • Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner
  • Certified Pain Educator, American Society of Pain Educators

My first question for Dr. Downing was to confirm whether what my clinical experience has shown me, that some cats, perhaps many, develop persistent pain after being declawed, was accurate.

“Cats most definitely can suffer pain after having their toes amputated — the appropriate description for the procedure,” she told me. “Unfortunately, as the latest survey conducted by DVM360 revealed, a huge percent of cats do not receive appropriate post-operative pain management.

“If post-op pain is not managed aggressively and comprehensively, the pain can become chronic.  Because the nerves to the toes are actually cut, the pain can become what in people is called ‘neuropathic’ pain. People with neuropathic pain report various sensations in the affected area of the body — they may feel tingling, burning, electrical pain, throbbing, and more.”

This happens, she said, because the nerves are actually cut during the surgery, which damages them. “With nerve damage, there are changes that occur in the transmission of signals along the nerve fibers,” she explained. “The damaged nerves can set up a pain syndrome that is self-perpetuating. This means that the toes can become hypersensitive, or may even develop the sensations that humans with neuropathic pain experience.”

I’ve seen many declawed cats in my years as a veterinarian, and expect to continue seeing them, so I asked Dr. Downing what signs might suggest to an owner or veterinarian that an already-declawed cat is suffering from a post-declaw pain syndrome.

It depends on the cat, she told me. “Some cats with neuropathic toe/foot pain limp all the time,” she said. “Some cats limp when they walk on some surfaces but not on others.  I knew a cat who only limped on tile floors, never on carpet.  Another cat would only limp on carpet, yet not on smooth floor surfaces.  It is impossible to predict the outcome.”

One of the most interesting things Dr. Downing has observed in working with these cats is that when their feet and toes are touched and manipulated, they don’t object. That’s because, she said, this pain can be presumed to be neuropathic in origin — in other words, nerve pain. Given that, I asked her, what should owners of already-declawed cats do if they suspect or discover their cat suffers from this condition. Is there any hope?

“Absolutely!  Because this pain is neuropathic in nature, gabapentin is the treatment of choice,” she said. “Gabapentin targets a receptor in the spinal cord that helps to modulate peripheral pain.

“Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are useless against this type of pain, as there is no inflammation involved.  Gabapentin is a true game-changer for these cats, restoring them to normal life.  It is possible that gabapentin may have to be given for the rest of the cat’s life, but every cat is different.”

I know many veterinarians believe as I used to, that this procedure has its place. But I took an oath to prevent and relieve animal suffering, so today I work with clients to train their kittens and newly-adopted adult cats to only scratch on appropriate surfaces, and use deterrents such as sticky tape on the side of the sofa or soft claw-covers that need to be replaced every 4-6 weeks for the few more serious cases.

I don’t hesitate to refer clients whose cats are possibly suffering from this pain syndrome to a pain specialist for help.

And to my fellow veterinarians who feel they won’t have tools to help people struggling with destructive scratching if this surgery is taken off the table, I say: Stop selling yourselves short!

As a recent study in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior showed, the greatest power we as veterinarians have to help cats and humans live together in peace is to provide our clients with reliable, informed behavior advice — and for them to follow it!

We can help both cats and their humans by offering them expert advice that will cement a lasting, beneficial bond among pet, owner, and veterinarian. Isn’t that better than risking lifelong pain or behavior problems in our patients?

So let’s embrace this new wave of concern over the practice of declawing. Just as our profession once held a belief that animals don’t feel pain, and more recently thought it was acceptable to leave animals in pain if we needed to keep them quiet, let’s put this one into the history books where it belongs!