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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:How do I get my cat to get along with new black lab puppy (9 months old)? My cat is hiding under the bed and won't come out, The puppy is very sweet and well behaved.
A:You have to look at this situation from your cat's point of view. Your cat previously ruled your house and now a dog has invaded! Labradors are lovely dogs, with a gorgeous personality however your cat doesn't understand that the dog is friendly and playful. The mere presence of the dog is threatening to the cat. So based on this, there is really nothing you can do to make your cat like the dog as per your question. You just need to give it time and try to introduce them slowly. There is a product called Feliway that can be used to manage stress/anxiety in cats so you could ask your vet about this - but note this product won't help manage fear - only stress! Some cats never adjust to such a big change so you may need to accept that your cat will never be happy about a dog being there! Best of luck!

Q:I like to feed Grisut, my 4.5 month old kitten as much home-cooked or natural (as opposed to canned) food as possible. Is he old enough for raw chicken wings yet? He's about 4.5 months. I am on the right track with his diet?
A:It is actually very difficult to prepare a homecooked diet for cats (and dogs) that has all the correct nutrients they need, in the correct balances and ratios. To achieve a well balanced diet, the diet should be at least 90% dry food (premium quality such as hills, eukanuba, walthams). these dry foods are perfectly well balanced so if you fed nothing but these, your cat is getting the correct (and best) diet. If you want to feed a bit of variety, I'd hive 90% dryfood, with a bit of fresh meat/veges as a supplement (I would avoid canned food). In relation to the chicken wings, I'd wait till he's a tad older - maybe six months of age, and only give him one or two a week.

Q:Hi Glen, my dog is a 10 year old Bluey cross. In the last couple of weeks he has started to moan a little when doing a poop. He is on Sashas blend for arthritis and shows no signs of his age. I was wondering why the moaning has started. Is there something in his bowel that I need to get checked. He is the love of my life and I can't think of life without him. I was planning to go to my local vet (Country Victoria) but i was hoping I could have some advise as to know what I am dealing with and suggest to the Vet. Your advice will be so much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
A:The 1st thing I would say is that you don't actually need to advise your vet of anything - if you tell him/her exactly what you've told me, they will ask you further questions and examine your dog and then either have an answer for you or advise of appropriate tests to find out an answer for you. To give you an idea of a few possibilities that could be causing the moaning (which I assume is your dog displaying pain), which highlights the importance of a full history and examination, we could be dealing with a vast range of things such as (& not limited to): - constipation due to dietary issues - lower back problems - hip problems - prostatic disease - diseases of the colon or rectum or anus Best of luck! Glen

Q:Grisut, my kitten is 4.5 months old. He hasn't been desexed yet and I've been told I should get him done as soon as possible. I've never had a male cat before. Lately he does seem to be slightly more aggressive in his play behaviour and wondering if this will subside with him being desexed?
A:Different vets have different rules for minimum desexing age. Generally that age would be accepted by most vets. I would strongly advise getting a male cat desexed. Aside from preventing aggressive behaviour, it will stop him from urine marking/spraying, it will reduce his likelihood to go off wandering and help reduce the stray animal population.

Q:My dog has a small pea-sized lump that has just appeared on her head. It is slightly movable and does'nt hurt when it is rubbed. Should I be worried?
A:Skin lumps on dogs can range from being completely harmless (such as warts or cysts) through to being extremely aggressive cancers. It is impossible to determine whether thay are a "good one" or a "bad one" based on looking at/examining them. Any lump on your dog should be assesed by a vet and have some tests done on them to ascertain what they are, with view to surgically removing them if need be.

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