Our cat, Monster, has been diagnosed with feline AIDS. He’s 10
years old and has always been healthy until the last three weeks
when he just seemed a little sick. The vet ran some tests and found
this virus.
Q:
Our cat, Monster, has been diagnosed with feline AIDS. He’s 10 years old and has always been healthy until the last three weeks when he just seemed a little sick. The vet ran some tests and found this virus. Now he tells us that Monster has to stay indoors the rest of his life. This is going to be a problem, because he’s always been an outside cat, and keeping him in the house will be like torture. Is there anything else we can do?
A:
Your vet’s right. Monster should always stay indoors, because he can pass this infection to other cats. Not only that, remember that this is a virus that weakens his immune system. Monster needs to be kept inside, where he won’t be exposed to other diseases and parasites.
What you have here is a difficult decision. But for the sake of his and other kitties’ health, he should stay indoors. If, in fact, he doesn’t accept his new lifestyle in the house, your only other alternative might be euthanasia, unless you can find someone to adopt him (a difficult problem since most people won’t want to have a contagious animal in their home.) Talk this over with your family before you make any decisions. Good luck.
Q:
The other day, our retriever cross, Speckle, ran across a field while we were out on a walk last week. She started limping and we were worried she may have torn a ligament or fractured a bone in her leg. She’s not limping anymore but now she has a little blister between her toes in two different places. Does she have an infection?
A:
You’re right. She does have an infection, and she needs to be examined by a vet. The lesions you describe sound like entry wounds where a foxtail has penetrated through her skin and started its way up her leg. Foxtails are a weed that is insidious. Their seeds are protected by sharp awns that literally fly off their stem when they’re bumped. The seed can land on the fur of an animal or someone’s clothing.
When they get in between the toes of a dog, they can be very painful. (If you’ve ever had one of these in your socks or shoes, you know how awful they are.) Worse yet, foxtails can penetrate the skin and begin migrating up the leg and into different body cavities. Everywhere they go, they carry infectious bacteria that can cause serious health problems. If they get into the chest or abdominal cavity, the infection can be fatal.
So Speckle needs an exam and treatment right away. And anyone who takes their pooch for walks in open spaces should remember always to check their canine friend’s feet once daily for foxtails that might be caught in the fur. Getting them before they penetrate the skin can save a lot headaches and a huge expense at the vet’s office.
Q:
Our golden retriever, Harmony, is driving us crazy. She’s only 2 years old, and already she has dug up our garden at least a dozen times. Now she ruined a couch and a couple of chairs. We chose this breed because two of our friends have goldens and their dogs are mellow. We picked out Harmony at the pet store because she was the most quiet of all the pups there. Did we just get one of those “exception proves the rule” dogs?
A:
First, let’s make it clear that Harmony’s bad behavior can be changed, but it will take some work. You need to talk to her veterinarian about this behavior. And it might worthwhile for you take her for evaluation at the U.C. Davis veterinary school. There are vets at Davis that specialize in behavior modification. They do a great job helping people like you develop a more positive relationship with their pet.
Your troubles with Harmony are a perfect example of why I recommend that people never buy a puppy or a kitten from a pet store or over the Internet. The world is full of pups like her that seem cute and healthy. Unfortunately, they are anything but that. Time and again, veterinarians see these poorly bred pups that have a myriad of problems, both physical and psychological. Pet store puppies are shipped long distances by a company that makes fast and easy money. These pups come from states that have no laws preventing animal cruelty. The breeding dogs are kept in horrible conditions without any care for their health. These are the puppy mills where dogs are treated so inhumanely, that some die from lack of medical care.
The breeders that sell pups wholesale are interested only in a quick profit. So they breed their dogs over and over to get as many litters as possible. Some dogs may have as many as 10 or more litters in a lifetime. Harmony is a product of one of these puppy mills. So take her to a behaviorist at Davis and with help, she’ll start to settle and become a calmer dog.
And anyone looking for a new puppy should look at a graphic Web site that shows examples of what puppy mills are about. The Web site is www.thewrongpuppy.org. Hopefully this will change someone’s mind before they get stuck with a dog like Harmony.
