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Due to holidays and the like, answers to Vet Questions will be delayed. We apologise for any inconvenience and we'll do our best to respond within two weeks - but please bear with us as we take a few well earned weeks break.



Vet Advice

Glen Kolenc has been a practising vet for just over 10 years. After working in several veterinary hospitals in Sydney along with a four year working holiday in the UK, he now owns the Petersham Veterinary Hospital in Sydney's Inner West, along with its onsite boarding cattery. Glen's love of animals stems back to his childhood, which prompted him to study veterinary science at the University of Sydney. After graduating in 1997 with honours, he has spent over a decade doing "the most rewarding job in the world".

Glen is our resident Internet Vet here at Dogs and Cats and would like to remind visitors asking him questions that some medical problems can be extremely difficult to diagnose. A certain set of symptoms may be caused by several possible ailments. Therefore nothing can replace a veterinarian obtaining a full history, and performing a thorough examination of your pet. This Q + A segment though does allow for more general queries to be addressed.

http://www.petvets.com.au
http://www.petershamboardingcattery.com.au

Please note that due to the volume of questions we receive here at dogsandcats, we cannot promise to answer all of the questions posted here. We will select the questions we feel will be most helpful for a majority and the vet will answer these on a regular basis.
Glen and Kahlua

Glen and Kahlua

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Q:A dog I know has arthritis badly and also some cancers on his back and mouth. He`s eating well but has trouble getting on his feet. He`s 17 and I don`t want him to suffer if he`s in pain. He seems happy . Do you think he should be put to sleep? We don`t want him to go unless it`s necessary as we all love him . What do you think?
A:The decision to euthanase a dog (or not to euthanase a dog) is a major decision that is not to be made lightly. There are a lot of factors that would influence that decision. However, without the benefit of being able to examine a dog, I cannot and will not recommend euthanasia nor keeping a dog alive, even with the description you have given. The only comment that I can make is that if you are concerned about your dog's overall quality of life to the point where you are questioning whether euthanasia is the best option, you really need to take your dog to your vet to discuss your concerns and so he/she can examine your dog and give appropriate advice.

Q:How do I get my dog to take a tablet. Having a lot of trouble.
A:Some dogs can be troublesome to give a tablet to to say the least!!!! Administering the tablet straight into the dogs mouth and pushing it over the back of the tongue is the quickest method but some dogs will not allow that. It is also something that takes practice and confidence that will build over time. So assuming your dog simply will not allow a direct "tabletting" the next thing is to resort to a dogs best friend....food! First try hiding the tablet in a small bit of food and giving this as a 'treat' to your dog. My clients have come up with some great ideas for this (but would partly depend on what your dog likes). The sorts of food my clients have used to hide a tablet in to give their dog include a small amount of mince or chicken, ham, liverwurst (most dogs love liver), a blob of vegemite, or even a small piece of dog food with the tablet in it. You can be creative here! Maybe you will find this method useful with a different food to what ive mentioned here....if so please let us know - there is always a dog out there that wont fall for our usual tricks but there's always a person out there with a new idea to try! If this fails, you can try putting the tablet into a bowl of the dogs food (either whole or crushed up) but if you do this you MUST watch to see that the dog eats all the food (some dogs will smell the tablet in the food and not eat it [dogs sense of smell is 1 million times more sensitive than humans!!!], or eat all the food except for the bit that has the tablet). So this method is less preferable to putting the tablet in a small piece of food and trying to trick your dog into eating it. Next.....some medications come in a liquid form as well as a tablet form so depending on what tablets you need to give your dog, this could be another possibility. Another option is to use a "pill popper" - which most vets will sell so if all else so far has failed this is something you can look into. The next suggestion is that some animal medications can be compounded (in a human pharmacy) into a paste that can be applied onto the skin of the dogs ear and absorbs through the skin. Your vet will need to organise this for you. The major downside to this is cost - because you will need to pay for the cost of medication plus the compounding fee. Lastly, if i have a client that has bought medication from my clinic, and every trick in the book has failed and they cannot get the medication in, I offer for them to bring their dog to my clinic as often as the tablets need to be given and we will administer the tablets free of charge. You might ask your vet if they will do this for you. Best of luck....and rest assured you are not alone!

Q:My 2 yr old papillon just died - they said internal bleeding in the stomach but had no evidence to support this (bruising, organ damage ect) any ideas?
A:I'm sorry but I am a bit confused by this question.... if it was reported that there was internal bleeding in the stomach then I can only assume that that is what was seen - I cannot see what other evidence needs to go hand in hand with visualising internal bleeding to confirm this diagnosis. My only suggestion is to question the vet that performed the post mortem about this if you are not satisfied with the answer you were given.

Q:A cat adopted with house had infected top lip on side which has now taken over the whole top lip, swelling. It is an old outdoors cat of which can't be taken to a vet. What can I do to assist recovery, like vitamins in food etc? She is very unwell, any advice greatly appreciated. Thankyou
A:There are two issues here - First of all, from your description of an "infected lip", that could really encompass many different possibilities in terms of a diagnosis so that makes it impossible to offer advice as to what you might be able to do at home to help. This leads me to the second point - this cat sounds like it needs veterinary attention. If you cannot take this cat to a vet, can a friend/relative help you take the cat to a vet? If not, most vets offer a housecall service so you should ring around to see which vets in your area can do this for you. There are also pet ambulance services available.

Q:Is it ok to give a kitten/cat low fat cheese?
A:No, it is not ok to do this. Cats should not be given cheese or any other dairy product (whether low fat or not) for two reasons. The first reason is that a lot of cats are lactose intolerant. The second reason is that cats simply do not have a dietery requirement for cheese (or other dairy) so there is no need to offer this to them in the first place. You will most likely create problems that wouldn't have otherwise existed if you give them cheese/dairy.

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