News Feed

Enjoy reading news about Dogs and Cats around the world...



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

Question:

Email:



Q:what is the best way to introduce a cat into our home, we already have a dog ?
A:It partly depends on how your dog reacts - some are fine with cats and some not. For some dogs their nose is put out of joint as they are no longer the king of the castle. The main thing is to introduce them slowly. Keep them supervised at all times initially so no injuries occur to either the dog or cat (surprisingly, cats often win fights against dogs!!). If the dog accepts the cat, the cat will still be scared initially and will want to hide until he/she feels comfortable - allow this to happen and the cat will sooner or later become more inquisitive. If the dog is unaccepting initially, make sure you give the dog plenty of fussing so he/she doesnt think they are being replaced. If the dog is outright aggressive towards the cat (or vice-versa) then give them plenty of time to get to know each other and NEVER leave them in the same room unattended until you feel comfortable that they look like they will get along. Some dog/cat households have a permanent hate/hate relationship and they will merely tolerate each other's existence and never become friends.

Q:my dog meg is from a dogs home 2 weeks ago, rather than bark she whines at other dogs, but the home says she is a stray and has been in the home since june this year and has no past history. any ideas why she does not bark?
A:Without knowing her history, I would be leaning towards thinking that she may have been previously punished for barking. Either that or she may have been a problem barker and had proper training to prevent barking. On the other hand, some dogs just are not barkers (and if this is the case, it's a blessing in disguise!!!)

Q:Can you give a dog too many raw bones?
A:Yes, if the dog actually chews up and eats the bones, too many raw bones may lead to constipation. As a general rule, 2-3 bones per week is plenty. If however the dog doesnt eat the bones (ie: he/she just chews on them, then more than that is ok.

Q:Should I worm all my pets (dogs and cats) at the same time? My dogs play with other dogs at the park so it made me wonder if it made a difference at all?
A:All of your pets should be wormed every 3 months. I do not think it is critical that they all get wormed at the same time, so long as each is wormed once/3 months. In saying that, you might as well do it all at the same time for sheer convenience sake. If the worming times for each pet is staggered all over the place, there is more chance of forgetting a dose now and then.

Q:I have had an adult dog for a couple of months and wanted to check if something was normal in the poop department. When she passes a motion, the motion is fairly firm but to finish there are often a few softer smaller droppings that are almost diareah(ish).
A:This could be caused by a number of things such as worms, dietary intolerance, bowel infection etc). The best thing would be to bring your dog to the vet for a checkup. Bring a faecal sample in too in case the vet needs to do some tests on it.

Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next

16-20 of 107 items