All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

cat eating at table

How to keep your cat from jumping on the table while you’re eating

Pet Connection, ,

So, what do you do if your cat demands you let him join you not just at the table, but on it, during meals? That was the question a reader asked, and I turned it over to my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker, for an answer!

Q: Our 10-year-old cat has recently begun demanding table food. When we sit down to eat at the dinner table, he jumps on top of it. I immediately pick him up and put him on the floor. This is repeated several times. Today, I was eating soup and ignored him, so he pawed my ear. What do you suggest for behavior modification? I’m thinking of putting him in the bathroom while we eat.

A: You are fighting a battle on two fronts: the feline love of being up high, and your cat’s desire to share your food, which is obviously more interesting than his own. You’re on the right track as far as being consistent about putting him back on the floor right away when he jumps up on the table. Don’t do it in an angry manner; be matter-of-fact, but don’t let him get away with it. I have some other suggestions as well.

One is to feed him before you sit down to eat. If he has already eaten, he may be less interested in checking out your food.

You may also try teaching him to go to an alternative space, such as a nearby perch — where he can be up off the ground and still see you — or the sofa or his bed. Reinforce your cat being in this spot by rewarding him intermittently with a treat, attention or play.

Conversely, make the tabletop unpleasant by covering it with aluminum foil. Cats don’t like the feel of it beneath their paws.

There’s also nothing wrong with putting your cat in a different area, such as the bathroom, while you eat. It’s a valid way of managing the problem and can be a great strategy until your cat learns to stay off the table during meals. — Mikkel Becker

Read more, including how to help pets fight the battle of the pudge, in this week’s Pet Connection!

How the washing machine can make your dog itch

Veterinary Medicine,

Is there such a thing as too clean when it comes to washing your dog’s beds and rugs?

My wife, Teresa, is a self-proclaimed neat freak, from whom dirt, dust, bugs, and germs run in terror. Teresa saw an article in a magazine that talked about a new laundry detergent guaranteed to clean throw rugs cleaner than a surgical prep site. She couldn’t resist.

The throw rugs the dogs slept on came out of the washer looking bright and clean, and smelled really good (to us humans, anyway). Of course, she’d bought into the marketing hype and just knew that this new way of cleaning was going to better for pets and people.

It wasn’t.

Less than 24 hours later, two of our dogs were scratching like they’d been colonized by thousands of fleas. There were no parasites involved, however. It was something we veterinarians call contact dermatitis, which is basically a localized allergic reaction to an offense substance which can be a detergent, floor cleaner, lawn chemical, insecticide, or a product you put on your pet. Out two affected dogs were beet red on their bellies and the parts of their legs and faces that touched the carpet.

If you find yourself with pet who gets a rash or starts itching like you would with a hundred mosquito bites, take these steps:

  1. Wash away problems. Give the dogs a bath using an oatmeal, aloe, or tea tree oil shampoo; rinse and repeat.
  2. Toss or tumble the offending objects. If they are old rugs, maybe you can use it as an excuse to get new ones. At the very least, wash them twice in old detergent.
  3. Stop use immediately. My advice, if you think a product caused an intense allergic response, is to toss it or give it to somebody without pets. Don’t risk trying it again and putting your pet at risk of misery or worse, in the name of being “sure.”
  4. Visit the vet. If the problem doesn’t clear up in a couple of days or if the misery is too intense, you should take your dog to the veterinarian. She may have to give a medication to stop the itch and prescribe bathing products for sensitive skin.

After learning her lesson, Teresa went back to the product she’d used successfully for the almost four decades we’ve been married, and promised to stick with the tried and true from now on.

The real truth about getting rid of pet tear stains

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

One of the top questions I recieve is about how to remove tear stains from the fur of white dogs and cats. Far less frequently do people ask a far more important question: why their pet has these stains in the first place!

Here’s how I responded to a reader:

Q: I have a 7-year-old female poodle-bichon frise, and I have to clean beneath her eyes every day because they tear so much. The staining eventually turns dark brown. What can I do to stop the weeping?

A: This is a common question asked by owners of white or light-colored dogs. Bichons, poodles, Maltese, Shih Tzu and Lhasa apso are among the breeds often seen with reddish-brown tear stains beneath the eyes, but any dog can have this problem.

The stains can have many possible causes. They include blocked tear ducts, ingrown eyelashes, dental issues such as retained baby teeth, or eye or ear infections.

Sometimes eyelashes grow where they’re not supposed to, emerging from glands within the eyelid, rubbing against and irritating the cornea. This condition, called distichiasis, can be hereditary. Depending on its severity, dogs may need eye ointments or surgery to relieve the irritation. Ointments help to lubricate the eye while surgery destroys the hair follicles. Your veterinarian can pluck the hairs, but this is only a temporary fix and must be repeated every month or two.

Eye infections or dental infections can cause excessive tearing. Your dog may need a course of antibiotics or surgical removal of an abscessed tooth or baby teeth that didn’t fall out.

Note that eye stain removers contain low levels of antibiotics. The FDA issued a warning to the manufacturers in 2014 about these products because the drugs are not approved for removing tear stains in dogs and cats and have not been reviewed by the FDA for safety and effectiveness.

This is usually much more than a cosmetic issue. The best thing you can do is to take your dog to the veterinarian or a veterinary ophthalmologist to get to the root of the problem.

Read more, including why cats love boxes, in this week’s Pet Connection!

After waiting two years in the shelter, abused dog finds her hero

Rescue

Can a shy dog who has waited two years in a shelter after coming in horribly abused find love and a home? Of course!

A couple of months ago I shared the story of a shy dog who had come into a Connecticut animal shelter with terrible injuries probably sustained in a dog fight. After the shelter nursed her back to health, she waited for two years without anyone wanting to adopt her.

One of her advocates at the shelter reached out to the Shelter Pet Project for help, and they asked me if I could feature her on my Facebook page. I was glad to — especially glad because a man named Steve saw it, and become Charity’s hero by adopting her!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACharity was not a dog you just adopt and that’s that. She’s needed a lot of gentle training and guidance to adapt to her new life. But there are some things she knows for sure: Steve loves her, and she loves him, and they’re a forever team.

Steve has named her “Molly,” and the two of them inspire me to keep advocating for the power of the human-animal bond to transform lives.

Thank you, Steve, for making Molly part of your life.  You’re a hero, and I’m honored to have been part of your story!

 

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Amazon parrot

Avian obesity is a plus-size problem

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine, , , ,

We all know about the obesity epidemic in pet cats and dogs, but our feathered pets suffer from it as well. Here’s what I told a reader.

Q: My veterinarian says my bird is fat. Is that really something I need to worry about?

A: You bet! Obesity is as much an issue in pet birds as it is in dogs and cats. An overweight bird can be predisposed to metabolic diseases such as diabetes. He can also become arthritic or develop fatty liver disease.

Certain species tend to be more likely to grow tubby — Amazon parrots, parakeets, canaries, cockatoos and Quaker parakeets — but any bird can gain too much weight if he’s allowed to eat whatever he wants. Pet birds may start out on good diets but become choosy with age, deciding they are going to eat only one or two types of food.

Don’t let your bird get away with that. He’s most likely to have a balanced diet if he eats a variety of foods. A pelleted diet supplemented by healthy food from your own plate is the best way to feed him. Birds can and will eat pasta, cooked chicken, scrambled eggs, beans and most fruits and vegetables. Avian expert Scott Weldy, DVM, says that most birds do well on a diet of 70 to 80 percent pelleted food and 20 to 30 percent fresh or cooked food.

Avoid giving birds avocado, onion, mushrooms or chocolate, all of which have toxic effects. Highly salted foods are a no-no as well.

What’s the key to determining if your bird is overweight? Birds with cleavage rivaling that of a Hollywood starlet are too fat. Birds should be lean and sleek, with no cleavage at all, Dr. Weldy says. If you can’t feel your bird’s keelbone because it’s covered by a layer of fat, talk to your veterinarian about ways to help him get back to a healthy weight.

Read more, including holiday “pet-iquette” tips, in this week’s Pet Connection!