Karen's Best Friend, Maisy

Maisy, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is eighteen months old.
She is absolutely my best friend in the entire world. I couldn't be without her. She has been my support system during a long period of ill health, and my doctors agree that without her I would have ended up back in hospital, so she is, quite literally, a life-saver!

Thanks for sharing Maisy with us, Karen - Trish

Caring For Elderly Cats

Cats can easily reach 16 or 17 years of age and with good feeding and medical care, old-age can be a very pleasant and contented time for them.

Feeding - Dry foods (biscuit or kibble) can still be fed, although wet foods (canned or sachets) are particularly useful for elderly cats who have lost some or all of their teeth.There are many proprietory brands that provide 'senior diet' foods specially formulated to cater for the nutritional requirements of elderly cats. Remember though, to keep a close watch on how much is being eaten as one of the first signs of illness will be a diminished appetite.

In cases where specific illness has been diagnosed (such as kidney disease, diabetes etc), your veterinary surgeon will be able to advise you and offer specialist 'prescription' diets that are suitable for your pet.

Warmth - It is very important to older cats to have somewhere to rest that is warm and comfortable - in the winter months, many will sleep for almost 24 hours! My own cats' favourite is a radiator bed. In summer, cats will often find the sunniest spot in the garden to bask, so they should be checked regularly as they can overheat. Always make sure they have plenty of fresh water available.

Medical Care - It is a good idea for elderly cats to visit the veterinary surgeon regularly; many vets offer 6 monthly 'senior pet' clinics where routine check ups are performed and potential problems discussed. Early diagnosis is best as even minor illness can quickly become complicated.

Troubles of Old Age

Teeth - Teeth can be a common cause of discomfort and loss of appetite and
elderly cats often require dental extractions or descaling. Although it is worrying to submit your senior cat to a general anaesthetic, you will usually find that your cat's well-being will improve dramatically once the cause of the discomfort has been removed. Your pet will find it much easier to eat with hard healthy gums than with bad teeth.

Nails - As cats get older, their joints often become stiffer. This means that claws no longer wear properly and the cat can have difficulty in retracting them. Regularly trimming off or filing the overgrown tip of the nails will help. Some examples of suitable clippers and files can be found here.

Constipation - Sometimes elderly cats can suffer severly from constipation, usually caused by deterioration of their muscle-tone, although it can also be due to lack of exercise or swallowing large quantities of hair when they are moulting or shedding (hairballs).

There are several proprietory remedies available, milk is also a natural laxative, or your vet may provide some stronger medicine to alieviate the problem. Never ignore constipation in your pet, as it can lead to more serioius complications if left untreated.

Incontinence - Unfortunately, elderly pets can lose control of their bladder and/or bowels and this can make both yours and their lives very difficult. Please never blame the animals as this is something that they cannot help. Discuss it with your vet at check-up time - there may be some medical help available. Your vet will also be able to tell you if you can expect any improvement in your cat's condition.

All-in-all, cats are much like humans as they get older. They slow down a bit, like some extra comfort and attention, are often a little fussy with food and possibly start to show some signs of elderly illnesses. However, in spite of this they will suddenly surprise you by leaping up and chasing a ball of paper or trying to catch a flying insect. Enjoy them!

Choosing Your Dog's Collar and Lead

Pet shops can stock many types of collars and leads. Generally,your choice will depend on what you prefer, but there are a few points to take into consideration.

Leads (leashes),collars and harnesses are usually made from rope, leather, chain or nylon webbing.

Choosing Your Lead
Leather and Chain Leads: If you dog is one of the large breeds, you'd be advised to select a strong lead made of leather or chain with a leather handle. Dogs that chew their leads will also benefit a chain lead.

Nylon leads: These are lightweight leads and usually washable, so they're useful to put in your pocket on a long walk or in case of an emergency.

Rope Leads: Slip leads (with a loop that goes around the dog's neck) and showing leads are often made from soft rope.

Retractable leads: Some dogs need to be kept on their lead at all times e.g young or untrained dogs, deaf, blind or elderly dogs. Retractable leads are usually made from thin nylon rope or webbing on a spool that can extend 4 to 6 metres. This allows the dog to explore when out walking and allows you to keep control.

Choosing Your Collar
Leather collars: These are strong and durable and most dogs find them comfortable as they do not chafe the neck when fitted correctly. They're available in several styles - rolled, flat, studded etc. A leather collar 12mm wide is adequate for most dogs (larger breeds, bull terriers, greyhounds etc may need a wider collar - 2.5 to 4cm is usually suitable)

Nylon Collars: Smaller breeds are more suited to nylon collars as they are less durable than leather. They can also cause rubbing on the neck, especially if the dog pulls on the lead.

Chain Collars: These are made from several rows of chain with a buckle and leather strap. Care should be taken to use the correct size as they may pinch the skin of the dog's neck if too narrow.

Check Chains (Choke Chain): I advise against using a check chain unless absolutely necessary as very few people know how to fit and use them correctly. Half-check collars (a nylon band with a chain attached) are minimally better. They are a training aid only and should only be used when walking or training.

Puppy's First Collar and Lead - Arrived at that momentous time when you buy your puppy's first collar and lead? Here's some safety points to remember

• Don't fasten the collar too tightly - make sure you can fit three fingers under it.
• Never use a check chain on a young puppy - they can damage the pup's neck.
• Keep an eye on your puppy especially at first as sometimes they try and rub the collar off and can get it caught on anything projecting.
• Even when the puppy is very young, its a good idea to attach the lead to the collar and make it into a game - the puppy will get used to the feel of the lead and it will be easier for you when the time comes to start training.

Finally, remember to check your dog's collar and lead regularly for damaged stitching or wear and replace it before it breaks.

For Skyla, My Best Friend

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals that had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers.
Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

A Sad Dog Tale With A Happier Ending

Thanks to Pet Talk member Linda for sharing your story. I lost my old dog last month and your experience really hit home. Trish

I as many other millions of people I LOVE my dogs.

I have always had English Bull Terriers and love all animals. Last year I lost two of my dogs, Bruce and Megan, Bruce died first in his sleep, at the age of of nearly thirteen, at this time Megan had breast cancer, I was devastated she was twelve at the time.

After a brave long fight by my dog and my family, three cancer op's later we had to let her go. In my life I have never felt so helpless and such pain, that was it never again would I have a dog, the heart break was more than I could take. My son told my husband that he used to hear me sobbing in bed as my dogs were everything to me.

After a lot of thought by my family, a puppy was brought home. I thought I would never be able to bond with this animal, I felt somehow I was letting the memory of my other dogs down, crazy I know.
















Now I have a strong love and bond with my dog, he is eight months old now and his name is Bubba, and I now see things in him that remind me of my other dogs and he is a joy to have.

Seven Reasons To Buy A Dog!

One of my friends sent this to me, so I thought I'd share it with you. My apologies upfront to all our cat owners (just a tongue-in-cheek look at animal behaviour - I have cats and a dog at home!) Trish

*******************

If you want someone who will bring you the paper without first tearing it apart to remove the sports section .....









Then buy a dog.

If you want someone willing to make a fool of himself simply over the joy of seeing you ..






Then buy a dog.







If you want someone who will eat whatever you put in front of him and never says its not quite as good as his mother made it ....







Then buy a dog.










If you want someone always willing to go out, at any hour, for as long and wherever you want ...












Then buy a dog.








If you want someone who will never touch the remote, doesn't care about football, and can sit next to you as you watch romantic movies














Then buy a dog.








If you want someone who is content to get up on your bed just to warm your feet and whom you can push off if he snores ....






Then buy a dog.







If you want someone who never criticizes what you do, doesn't care if you are pretty or ugly, fat or thin, young or old, who acts as if every word you say is especially worthy of listening to, and loves you unconditionally, perpetually ...







Then buy a dog.










But, on the other hand, if you want someone who will never come when you call, ignores you totally when you come home, leaves hair all over the place, walks all over you, runs around all night and only comes home to eat and sleep, and acts as if your entire existence is solely to ensure his happiness .....



Then buy a cat !

Your Dogs

Thanks Fiona & Andrew, for your cute photo - keep 'em coming!

Nine New Kittens For Maz

My beautiful clever oriental girl gave birth to nine gorgeous little kittens 2 weeks ago, and so far hasn't needed any help supplementing the kittens feeds.I'm so proud of her!

Tips For Travelling In Comfort With Your Pets

There's nothing like a good holiday and if you are taking your pets on vacation with you, its
important that the whole family (pets included) are happy and relaxed on the journey and arrive safely.

Here's a short guide to travelling happily with your pets:

Before your trip
Your pets should wear id tags with your home address and holiday destination address included

If you are travelling overseas, be sure that you understand the requirements of Pet Travel Scheme

Before you travel abroad, speak to your vet about the country you will be visiting and ask for advice on suitable anti-parasite treatment.

Plan Your Journey
Remember animals can fall victim to motion sickness. It is important that your pet does not travel on an empty stomach, so feed a small amount of food before you travel, but allow at least two hours before you set off.

Remember to include frequent stops for exercise and toilet breaks (for humans as well as pets!)

Keep pets on lead / leash when exercising...they may be nervous of strange places, sights and sounds

Check on your pets regularly and take enough food & water, litter supplies and bedding for the journey

Make sure your vehicle is well ventilated to keep it cool (especially when stationary)

When you arrive at your holiday destination, look for a vet, as you may need his services. This is especially important when travelling overseas as your pet will need a certificate for treatment of parasites within 48 hrs of your return to the UK

Packing For Your Pet
I've put together a short list of stuff you will find useful on your journey. You can find many of these items at Alphapetshop

- Bed/blanket
- Collar with tags containing holiday & home details
- Bowls for food & water
- Lead/leash
- Food & water for journey
- Poop scoop (dog)
- Carrier/transporter (cat/small pet)
- Brush/comb
- Toys
- Litter (cat/small pet)
- Disinfectant/wipes
- Pet documentation (for international travel)

Enjoy your vacation and remember - its all in the planning!

Animals Need Healthy Mouths to Remain Healthy and Happy Pets!

Animals' tooth and gum tissue reacts in exactly the same way as ours when threatened by infection and plaque so its important that we keep up a regular dental hygiene programme for their health and well-being.

Examine their teeth and mouth

If you can, gently pull back your pet's lip and look at his or her teeth (wrigglers may need some assistance!).

• Can you see yellow or brown plaque deposits on the teeth?


• Are there any other problems like chipped or broken teeth?


• Does your pet have really smelly breath?


• Check the gums - are they red or sore-looking?


• Does your pet often dribble saliva and drop food when he/she is trying to eat?
  

If your answer is "yes" to any of these questions, your pet needs some attention to his/her mouth. If not, well done - you get a gold star for dental hygiene!

It is easy to overlook your pet's teeth, but dental problems can result in major health issues. Gingivitis and the build up of plaque and tartar on the teeth may mean your pet is reluctant to eat or drops food. Infection formed in the mouth can travel through the blood stream and affect your pet's vital organs, especially the heart and kidneys causing serious illness. Eventually you'll be visiting the vet, maybe for dental work under anaesthetic, maybe for something more serious - expensive and stressful.

Fortunately, good dental hygiene is not too difficult to achieve by following a similar plan of action to mine:

• Provide hard (dry) food. there are many balanced diets on the market, many designed to help with dental hygiene and exercise the gums.


• Brushing your pet's teeth regularly will definately make a difference and believe it or not, lots of pets don't mind it at all! Use a toothbrush and toothpaste designed for animal use as it froths less, is flavoured and does not require rinsing. Start gently for a few moments and work up to a full set of teeth!


• Hard and crunchy treats to help with removal of plaque and tartar are very popular with pets. My dog loves to chew carrots (good healthy veggies!) and there are many treats available for helping with good dental care.


• Toys designed to exercise the mouth are great - happy playtime and detal hygiene rolled into one! You can find a selection here for dogs and cats


• Check regularly for constant extremely bad breath - not just 'I've been eating something nasty' breath. This could be a warning sign that your pet may have something serious going on. Never ignore bad breath and just mask it with breath fresheners.


• When you go to your vet for vaccination boosters your pet should have a professional dental check-up. Many vets now also have clinics run by trained nursing staff to assist you with your pet's dental hygiene.

Small Pets

Rabbit and rodent owners, please check your pet's teeth regularly especially if they are showing any of the signs above as their teeth grow continuosly and your vet may need to be shorten them.

If you are still not convinced, think of it this way. A cat or dog year is equivalent to approximately five to seven human years. If your pet is two years old, this is equivalent to a ten to fourteen year old human who has never brushed their teeth or gone to a dentist - Now work it out for an adult dog or cat!!

Joanne's Story - Poppy and Daisy

Hiys I was just reading about spaying and neutering cats.

I just wanted to share my story. Two and a half years ago I had a female cat called Poppy who got pregnant and nursed her three kittens very well. I had to keep hold of one of her kittens because it wasn`t feeding too well so wanted to keep an eye on it a bit longer before rehoming.

Poppy went in to be spayed when her babies reached twelve weeks. Only a few hours later I received a phone call from the vet saying Poppy`s heart had stopped while on the table and they had done all they could for her. I was so upset, in fact I was heart-broken as Poppy was my li'l baby.

I kept that kitten that wasn`t feeding to remind me of her mum although they look sooooooooo different. Poppy was a long haired tortoishell and Dasiy is a short haired mainly white beauty. Daisy will be three in March and I am finally going to have the courage to have her spayed. I have a litter of seven kittens at the moment that belong to Daisy purely because I was too scared to risk anything happening to my baby again.

The kittens are all going to their new homes at the end of january and then I will be booking Daisy in at the vet. I just wanted people to be aware that things can go wrong but not very often thankfully. I had no idea and was in shock for a long time. When Daisy goes in I will be informing the vet of Poppy`s history etc so wish me luck.

I am including a pic of Daisy with this post. Thankyou for taking the time to read this Joanne x

From Trish - Thanks Joanne. Poppy's story is very sad, but as you point out it's a very rare occurance. Daisy should be fine, although as she's related to Poppy it would be a very good idea to mention there has been a problem in the past. If you have a picture of Poppy that you'd like posted, let me know.

Vaccination & Your Pets

Should we vaccinate our pets at all?
It's worth remembering that many of the pet diseases we vaccinate against are killers.

Infectious diseases used to kill thousands of pets every year, but these days infectious disease is much less obvious - this is largely due to our safe veterinary licensed vaccination programmes.

Dogs & Cats

Provided their mother is immune, very young puppies and kittens are usually protected against disease as their mother's first milk carries immunity for them. However as they are weaned, this immunity fades.

Vets usually advise puppy and kitten vaccination courses beginning at approximately eight weeks for full immunity and then booster vaccinations every year or so throughout their lives.

There has been discussion recently about pet booster vaccinations. Are they really essential to your pets health? Or are they just a way for your vet to make money? The fact is that for some diseases, vaccine protection is much shorter. For example leptospirosis vaccine in dogs will only give full protection for about 12 months

Rabbits
Vaccinations can be started at 6 weeks of age and booster injections are recommended annually

Ferrets
there is currently no vaccine licensed for use in ferrets, although its worth discussing this with your vet as ferrets can be susceptible to distemper and canine distemper vaccine can provide protection.

Hints & Tips For Dieting Your Dog or Cat (Or The Story Of Saskia)

Obesity in pets is a very common problem and also can be very difficult to overcome.

In my years at the Vet Surgery I'd often hear 'I've tried everything to make her lose weight but nothing is working' or 'She eats hardly anything, but she just keeps putting on weight' and lots of variations on the theme!

The point is that our pets don't gain weight by magic...somehow, somewhere too much food is being eaten. Now this does not necessarily mean that we as owners are over-feeding - many pets are expert at finding those extra portions for themselves - so we need to turn detective to find out the cause of their weight gain.

I had an issue with my little collie/jack russell, Sassie (the oddest dog you ever set eyes on - long body, short legs). She's such a glutton and would steal the other animals' food, anything she found on the floor, in the garden, the bin and so on. She also has the saddest eyes when her humans have a biscuit or chocolate...getting the picture? Well the result was an 11kg dog that weighed 17.5kg - something needed to be done about it if she was to stay healthy, after all there can be quite a few nasty side-effects when pets become obese:- Heart problems, Diabetes, skin problems, breathing difficulty, Arthritis and mobility issues to name just a few.

The first thing we did was restrict her meals with a 'light' complete food and train the family not to give her treats or left-overs - family-training can sometimes be as difficult as dog training!

She was fed alone so that our other dog and two cats could finish their meals in peace. It was also important not to leave food down for them other than at mealtimes.

We walked her on a leash when going for exercise because she was very clever at finding food that people had thrown away and kept a close eye on her when she was in our own garden to keep her away from the dustbin - our garden is fairly small, but in a larger garden we may have thought about fencing off a small controlled section especially for her.


Under a strict system, Sassie lost just over 5kg and now is much fitter and looks great

- but I know lots of Pet Talk readers have similar problems and experience difficulty controlling their pets' intake of food so I've put together a short list of tips and tricks that may help:

• Put your pet in another room or in the garden while the family is eating


• All left-overs to go straight into the bin


• Use special diet food for weight loss and measure how much you need to feed at each meal


• No treats allowed (If 'family training' is not going well or your dog gives you 'sad eyes', feed low calorie treats e.g carrot, a small piece of crispbread, or take a little from the daily meal quota and give as a treat)


• If your cat 'goes next door' for an extra meal, you may need to keep him at home for a while - an indoor kennel may help


• Restrict your dog's access in a large garden so that you can control any stealing (dogs will eat windfall fruit or vegetables)


• Exercise on a lead (good for you also - it makes you walk further!) and consider using a headcollar for instant control


• Aim for a little weight loss weekly as too much too quickly is not good for your pet
  
  Lastly, remember your vet is there for advice. Many surgeries now have nurses running very successful weight loss clinics for pets.

Welcome To Our First Post!

Hi, I'm Trish (aka Alphapets) I'm an RCVS registered Veterinary Nurse here in the UK.

Since leaving practice I've found that I missed the daily contact with clients and animal patients and so Alphapets was born! We've launched this blog to give you interesting pet news, pet photographs, pet products and pet care tips and advice.

We have a growing band of pet owners subscribing to our hints and tips newsletter and sending us their pet stories, photos and asking for advice, so we felt that we could share with everyone by starting Alphapetblog. If you'd like to join us subscribe here to receive 'Pet Talk Hints & Tips' by email.