Ask the Veterinarian!

[Xana44]

i T a k u m a c h i

Hello and thank you for considering my questions.

I have a orange and white male tabby name Taz. He is neuter and I've had him for 4-5 years. I love him to death! 3nodding Anyways, for as long as I can remember he drools. But only when he's purring, laying on or near me. He sleeps next to me when I go to sleep at night and he always has.

But my question is, why does he drool like that?

My second question is about my dog, Jay-Jay. Sometimes at night when we go out we put him on a chain. A long 20 foot chain in the middle of the backyard with trees and food and water. But the last time we did it and I went out to bring him back in he had a scratch on he's nose. I believe he was in a fight because earlier that day I had seen my neaborgier's old dog walking around near our backyard. Anyways, ever since then he has been having small coughing fits. Not loud and not hard coughs, kind of like drinking to much water. What do you think could of started it? Because I checked everywhere else and I didn't see anything else wrong. Nothing in his mouth, just a little scratch on he's nose.

Thank you. My next question will come later. Don't want to throw to many at one time. xD

Many cats drool when they are happy. So your cat is really happy being with you!

Jay-Jay may have been in a scuffle with a neighbor dog. He may have bruised his neck if he yanked at his chain. That could cause the coughing. He may also have been exposed to kennel cough from the other dog. If the coughing continues, take him to the vet.

FYI I do not recommend leaving dogs outside on chains. IF you do, be sure to use a harness rather than a collar.

[Xana44]

Xx_Flying_Cow_xX

Hi Again!
A ? about a dog that i had to get rid of for this reason:
He was about 3-4 years old and we got him and he was awesome.But he seemed to be extremely protective of me and my brother like if we where in our room and he would be in the room too and my dad would try to go the bathroom and Skeeter( the dog) would go nuts and try to atack my dad.What could of it been?

He most likely viewed you and your brother as his property and was overprotective of you. I posted about an overprotective Shih-tzu yesterday, you might check that out.

[Xana44]

xXSango_Chan13Xx

Hey, I'm Cassi. I have a cat named Romeo, he is 10 years old and recently got in a fight. He also has lost a severe amount of weight. He went from 14lbs to about 8lbs. We did take him to the vet, but I want a second opinion. After this fight, mind you, he has no wound on his eye, he lost his sight on the left side. He is walking fine now besides his head being a little lop-sided. I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help him out for now.

If his head is lopsided, there must have been some damage to his head and cranial nervous system that could have caused the blindness and changes in balance. He may also have developed an abscess on his face that could cause swelling on the head. That would need to be treated by a vet. I am concerned about his weight loss. Is he eating now? Severe weight loss and extended fasting can cause a cat to go into liver failure.

If he seems to be doing well now, there is nothing that can be done to restore vision to the eye. Cats do well with only one eye and no changes need to be made to his lifestyle other than keeping him inside.

[Xana44]

Snow_Wing456

we buy iams and he eats it with green beans or carrots like our vet said but he wont eat it by itself it has to have something on it. He's 6 years old and weighs about 90 pounds the vet told us to give him a cup of food and a cup of green beans he gets it in the morning and at night

Oh. He has trained you to top dress his food. blaugh If you just left the food and he got hungry enough he would eat it. He just wants to hold out for more. And the carrots and green beans give him more to eat.

Dogs are smarter than we give them credit for. And they will get us to do what THEY want if they can.

[Android_63]

Xana44

xXSango_Chan13Xx

Hey, I'm Cassi. I have a cat named Romeo, he is 10 years old and recently got in a fight. He also has lost a severe amount of weight. He went from 14lbs to about 8lbs. We did take him to the vet, but I want a second opinion. After this fight, mind you, he has no wound on his eye, he lost his sight on the left side. He is walking fine now besides his head being a little lop-sided. I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help him out for now.

If his head is lopsided, there must have been some damage to his head and cranial nervous system that could have caused the blindness and changes in balance. He may also have developed an abscess on his face that could cause swelling on the head. That would need to be treated by a vet. I am concerned about his weight loss. Is he eating now? Severe weight loss and extended fasting can cause a cat to go into liver failure.

If he seems to be doing well now, there is nothing that can be done to restore vision to the eye. Cats do well with only one eye and no changes need to be made to his lifestyle other than keeping him inside.

He is doing kind of well. He is trying to scavange off of our plates when he dosen't finish his food. So I guess he is doing sort of good. He is eating wet food about twice a day and he cannot eat dry food or he throws it right back up.

[Ange De Musique x]

Recently, my aunt had just gotten a puppy, and he seemed healthy and everything, but when he started to eat one night, he had a seizure, and he died. My aunt thinks he might have gotten stung by a bee, or choked on his food, are any of those situations a probable cause?

[Xana44]

NecroFaggot

Well I had no idea that too much protein could affect it. That's pretty useful information, thank you.

For my dog the best we could do was glucosomine tablets and his right hip got so bad we decided to get surgery done on it.

But also I was wondering if a diet high in glucosomine at a younger age would help prevent any joint discomfort/problems?

And if you could, I was wondering what is a good website about Shelties.

Thank you very much.

There seems to be no protective value in elevated glucosamine that has been proven, but many diets have supplements in them. It is good for helping to relieve pain that is present.

For websites, start here: http://www.assa.org/

[bellflower-chi]

Xana44

Special diets for urinary tract disease are a very important part of therapy. So I would recommend the use of a prescription diet. If you do not want to use Purina, ask your vet about another brand. I personally like Royal Canin, but it is a personal choice.

Vets do not get "kickbacks" for recommending diets. It is against the law. We are really only recommending diets for the health of your pet. We don't even really make money for selling them. It costs me more to maintain inventory and store the food than I earn by selling the food.

I hope your kitty get s feeling better soon.

Thank you for answering so quickly, Xana!

I'll be sure to look for Royal Canin tomorrow 3nodding
I'm sorry about what I had written earlier about vets. I was just worried sick since she was practally demanding we purchase it there... I didn't mean to offend or upset anyone redface especially not people devoting their time and effort to help animals.
I wanted to sincerely apologize ASAP for being a jerk!
(and) Thank you again for your suggestion!
(Maxwell Jeremiah thanks you too!) :3

Good luck! I hope you're successful in all you do for the animals you treat!

[Xana44]

Psyconotic

I could do the leash thing =/ but i cant do the keep him indoors when the other one is out...cause if i dont let him out when he wants to go out he'll do 2 things
First bark nonstop then start peeing...x.x

Well that is a whole other issue!

I posted yesterday about antibarking techniques and calming training.

Give that a look and try some of those things. Train him to stop barking and be calmer when the other dog is out.

Make sure you are training the dog not the other way around! If he gets too excited by seeing the other dog, put him in time out in a windowless room like a bathroom. Ignore him until he calms down. If he stops getting reactions by barking and peeing and starts getting negative results by getting excited if the other dog is around, he will stop.

[Xana44]

Gotta go for the night!

Will work on more tomorrow!

Three hours of questions! I may not be able to keep up this pace! xd

[Xana44]

xXSango_Chan13Xx

He is doing kind of well. He is trying to scavange off of our plates when he dosen't finish his food. So I guess he is doing sort of good. He is eating wet food about twice a day and he cannot eat dry food or he throws it right back up.

It does sound like he is doing well. It is very common for cats to vomit dry food and do well on wet.

I would continue to follow up with your vet, even if just by phone, to monitor his recovery and weight.

[Merangel19]

Xana's thread is Gaiafamous biggrin

[Xana44]

bellflower-chi

Xana44

Special diets for urinary tract disease are a very important part of therapy. So I would recommend the use of a prescription diet. If you do not want to use Purina, ask your vet about another brand. I personally like Royal Canin, but it is a personal choice.

Vets do not get "kickbacks" for recommending diets. It is against the law. We are really only recommending diets for the health of your pet. We don't even really make money for selling them. It costs me more to maintain inventory and store the food than I earn by selling the food.

I hope your kitty gets feeling better soon.

Thank you for answering so quickly, Xana!

I'll be sure to look for Royal Canin tomorrow 3nodding
I'm sorry about what I had written earlier about vets. I was just worried sick since she was practally demanding we purchase it there... I didn't mean to offend or upset anyone redface especially not people devoting their time and effort to help animals.
I wanted to sincerely apologize ASAP for being a jerk!
(and) Thank you again for your suggestion!
(Maxwell Jeremiah thanks you too!) :3

Good luck! I hope you're successful in all you do for the animals you treat!

I was not offended. And I did not think you were a jerk. A lot of people think the same things and are concerned as to the source of our recommendations. I just wanted you to know what was going on. And many of the diets we sell are not available except thru vets, because we only want them to be used with certain pets and may not be the best choice for the average cat out there. So you may not be able to find the diet your kitty needs over the counter.

[theunownone]

Hi, Xana!!! biggrin
I'm not sure if this is a major or minor question, but my dog's name is Chrissie and she's a big fat happy princess, and the majority of the day, she sleeps! It takes someone to go downstairs and open the outside door or feed her for her to get out of bed, or sometimes when she's out of bed she's sunbathing or laying behind the couch, she eats normally, and she is playful, when she is out of bed, we'll have the occasional rope toy throw/ tug o' war, and sometimes she'll get aggresively playful, and start running around the front room, then the living room, here's a piccy of her:

EDIT: She's 2 yrs old, going to be 3 in oct. but i was wondering, they said one time she had some gas in her intestines, and she had been throwing up alot before, this was about 6 or 7 months ago, i was wondering, would that affect her health in the future at any way?