Albuquerque Journal Articles
Balloons Fiesta is a great spectacle for us, but it’s not much of a wingding for pets who freak-out from those cosmic monsters leering and looming over them. Even the far-off hiss of a propane burner or a multi-colored speck in the distance can trigger overwhelming terror for dogs who’ve logged a few frightful fiestas. Phobias like this are not logical. Dogs with this irrational fear haven’t been physically assaulted by balloons but like humans with unfounded anxieties, they need special consideration. Hiding, trembling, and nervous panting indicate serious misery. Simple avoidance will reduce the risk of a balloon-phobic dog’s…
Quality of Life is Central Question: My cat Kayla just turned 23 years old and suddenly went blind. When do I know that it’s too much for her to handle and make the choice to put her down? My heart is breaking. Dr. Nichol: You must have given Kayla wonderful care for her to have enjoyed such a long life. Her sudden blindness is a serious problem. There are several possible causes in a senior cat; chronically high blood pressure tops the list. All elderly kitties face the reality of gradually failing kidneys. Besides filtering the blood these essential organs…
Breed-Specific Work is Necessary Question: How can you stop heelers from eating their feces (and that of turkeys, geese, plus dirt, plants, etc.)? My friend’s 7 month old heeler is a planet eater! She’s also super hyper and uncontrollable to the point of not being an enjoyable dog. Dr. Nichol: Coprophagia (stool eating) is certainly disgusting but in most cases it isn’t a genuine behavior problem, at least not in dogs. That’s because consuming feces seldom reflects an abnormal behavioral motivation. Exceptions are those who eat stool because they have an internal disorder that increases their appetites. Severely compulsive dogs…
Moving is Painful & Stressful Question: My fiancé and I are having a house built. I have an enormous 20# tabby male cat named Tortellini. Should I kennel him for a couple of days? He hates going into his carrier; I have never kenneled him. Tortellini has peed on me in my bed and on my futon. How do I best help him adjust to the new house and the new furniture without him peeing on it? He rarely plays with toys and hardly ever climbs his cat tree. Dr. Nichol: Tortellini, like his namesake pasta, is round and stuffed.…
Improve Life to End Complaining Question: Do you do debarking or bark softening? I have about a 20# Sheltie. Dr. Nichol: I’ve considered debarking a few people (politicians, mostly) but for noisy dogs, there are better ways. Barking is actually a normal canine communication. Punishments, like verbal reprimands and electric or citronella collars seem simple but they often create worse behaviors because they fail to address the cause. Surgery would be just another symptomatic treatment. Improving a dog’s quality of life is the best route to peace and quiet. Your dog has stressors that his free-living brethren don’t. Like any…
Question: I recently moved to Albuquerque from Colorado. I have two yellow Labs. They have always shed hair, but it seems to have gotten worse since the move. I brush them daily. Do the supplements advertised in pet supply catalogs actually work to minimize shedding? Dr. Nichol: Naw. A supplement would help if you fed a poor quality diet (sawdust, dirt, cheap food, generic). The shedding is more likely due to stress from the move. Give your two good Labs lots of love, exercise, and extra brushing. As working dogs they will do best with scheduled activities every day. Obedience…
Set Tiger up to Choose to Snuggle Question: We adopted Tiger as a kitten 3 months ago. At first he was very affectionate with me and my husband. Suddenly, when he was 18 weeks he became terrified of my husband. We have 3 other cats, no problems. Tiger jumps up and runs when he even hears my husband coming. He is very affectionate with me. My husband is upset that Tiger is afraid of him. Dr. Nichol: It’s possible that your good man is the victim of a feline smear campaign. Actually, it’s more likely to have started with him…
Food & Airborne Allergens take their Toll Question: Pippi, my 4 year old Maine Coon cat first suffered with indolent ulcers at six months of age that has been controlled with z/d diet. Since January Pippi has formed stools for weeks and then reverts to “little cow pies”. Lately, she startles with itching and then frantically grooms her lower abdomen and the insides of her legs and arms. I know the excessive grooming and diarrhea can have an emotional component. We love this girl and want her to be comfortable. Dr. Nichol: Emotional component? I can only imagine the horror.…
During Luna’s earliest weeks of life, long before being left at the shelter, she missed out on gentle social exposures, causing her to be afraid when approached by anyone. Well-meaning human attempts to make friends triggered defensive lunging and snapping. She got lucky with her second family; they were committed to teaching her a better way. Luna is a calmer dog now; her fear-driven aggressive reactions rare. There were gifts in this come-from-behind story. Luna’s people, Hope and Brian, grew closer from their shared mission of investing themselves in another creature. They knew they were Luna’s last chance. In the…
Remember Luna from last week? She actually liked people, despite her panic and potentially dangerous freak-outs. She desperately wanted to be free of feeling trapped, ample reason to repeat her reactive lunging and snapping. These aggressive displays had chased off so many “scary monsters” that they became her default reaction. Setting Luna up for success would mean avoiding her fear triggers. Abandoning these situations would be essential because every time her arousal ramped-up the responsible neural circuits in her brain became stronger and more thickly networked. With more repetition she would react even faster and inch closer to her threshold…