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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:My dog is coughing up fur balls – is this normal and what can I do about it?
A:Furballs is mainly a problem in cats - but I guess if a dog was to lick and swallow its fur then some might irritate the throat and cause it to cough. There is really nothing that needs to be done about this because coughing is the bodies natural defence mechanism of preventing things in the throat from entering the airways. If your dog is vomitting furballs up, then a laxative paste (available at most vets) can be used to stop the vomitting. The thing I'd get you to check - are you actually 100% sure the dog is coughing furballs up??? Or is it just coughing and you have assumed it might be furballs? If you aren't actualy seeing furballs come up then your dogs cough should be checked by a vet.

Q:My dog sleeps during the day then roams the house at night barking and whinging. Can you suggest why?
A:To answer anything useful I'd need to ask a ton of questions like the dog's age, its excercise regime, lifestyle of the family, what toys, etc, the dog has, etc, etc because the problem described could range from senility if it was an old dog, to boredom if it's young, and almost anything in between. It's also just what some dogs do!

Q:My Maltese Cross for the last three weeks has had dark tar like jelly stools with blood in it. The vet has her on two antibioctics. She has had blood test and xray. I would just like to know what could be wrong. It’s getting frustrating. Thanks.
A:The symptoms you describe could be potentially caused by a large number of different things, and not all of these things will be diagnosed with blood tests and radiographs. If I was examining a dog with these symptoms, I would also consider doing things such as testing a feacal sample, ultrasonography, bowel biopsy, dietary trial etc. The only advice I can really give is to let your vet know that with what has been done so far there is no improvement and you are not happy, and I'm sure he/she will discuss some of these things with you.

Q::I wondered whether you could explain how to get a urine sample from a cat?
A:Good question.. for you to get a urine sample, the trick we advise people is to leave your cat's litter tray empty (ie with no kitty litter in it). Once your cat urinates, you pour the urine into a jar. Unfortunately some cats won't urinate into an empty litter tray as they like stuff to scratch in(but many will) and some cats only urinate outdoors. These cats are best brought in for us to get the sample (unless you fancy chasing the cat around with a jar!)If a cat's bladder contains enough urine that the bladder is golf-ball sized or bigger than that we can easily get a urine sample. We simply introduce a needle (attached to a syringe)through the wall of the abdomen into the bladder and draw back on the syringe to get the urine. This sounds like a bit of a "nasty" procedure, but it is painless and quick (the procedure literally takes 3 or 4 seconds). Cats tolerate it quite well (we never use sedatives or anaesthesia for this procedure) and often do not notice we've done anything at all. This procedure is called cystocentesis in case you want to look it up.if a cat's bladder contains enough urine that the bladder is golfball sized or bigger then we can easily get a urine sample. We simply introduce a needle (attached to a syringe)through the wall of the abdomen into the bladder and draw back on the syringe to get the urine. This sounds like a bit of a "nasty" procedure, but it is painless and quick (the procedure literally takes 3 or 4 seconds). Cats tolerate it quite well (we never use sedatives or anaesthesia for this procedure) and often do not notice we've done anything at all. This procedure is called cystocentesis in case you want to look it up.

Q:My 35 day old greyhound x staghound puppy is unable to walk on his back legs. He was ok until yesterday morning. I have had him and bottle fed him since he was 2 days old. He was walking ok before (but a bit staggery) but now just seems to just drag his back legs around. He still plays with his toys and is eating well. He can roll over from one side to the other but just cant walk.
A:You really need to take your dog to the vet. Your dog needs to be examined to determine what the problem is. It is impossible to do this otherwise.

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