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From a naughty bulldog to a parrot losing his feathers – your pet queries answered
HE is on a mission to help our pets. . . and here to answer YOUR question.
Sean, head of veterinarians at tailor-made pet food company tails.com, has been helping answer owners’ questions for ten years. “If your pet is acting funny or unwell, or you want to know about nutrition or exercise, just ask,” he says. I can help keep pets happy and healthy.”
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Q: My 10-month-old English bulldog Mabel is wonderful and very naughty, but lately he’s been taking his socks, shoes and clothes and running after them.
She started out very naughty, like biting my sofa or my husband.
It’s all a big game for her but how can we stop this?
She walks and is active and always gets attention, but if we’re talking etc., she doesn’t like it and will bark until we notice her.
Tracy Humberstone, Milton Keynes, Bucks
Sean says: She’s ten months old, Tracy. Think of it as the equivalent of “twice terrible” in children.
All those trainings are gone, they’re no longer listening or paying attention to you, they’re driving you around, doing all sorts of mischief and really testing your limits.
It’s all fun and games for them. They are exploring boundaries.
You just have to be consistent and fair with Mabel, and hope that by the time she’s 20 months, things will be fine.
In the meantime, if things are a bit overwhelming, enlist the help of a qualified animal behaviorist.
Ask: SOME people tell me that larger rabbits have more laid-back personalities. Is this right?
I wanted a pair of family friendly pets for my eight year old daughter.
Liz Emmerson, Glastonbury, Somerset
Sean says: I’m not sure if that’s accurate, but I have my doubts about the origin of this myth.
For example, dwarf rabbits, especially Dutch dwarf rabbits, can be a bit nervous and sometimes aggressive.
And some giant breeds are usually lazy and extremely docile old dogs.
So there are breed-specific examples where that’s true, but I don’t think you can say as a general rule that larger rabbits are more laid-back than smaller ones.
Ask: I HAVE a male parrot named Tinks, about 20 years old.
He was originally from a small company in Devon where he could fly free and return to his master.
He loves coming out of the cage, sitting on my shoulder and he is very attached to me. I spend as much time as possible with him.
In the past few months, it has lost all hair on its body, and there is no hair on the bottom of the cage. He has a healthy diet of nuts, fresh fruit and soft drinks.
I sprayed it and its cage by the window so it gets plenty of light and sun. I have tried an herb spray, which is also a spray that tastes horrible and will stop it from plucking.
But, like I said, no feathers were plucked in its cage or on its floor.
What can I do?
Sheila Robbins, Chichester, West Sussex
Sean says: Hair loss or plucking in parrots can be difficult to deal with or even diagnose the cause in the first place.
But there is a good clue in your description of his diet. Believe it or not, a mostly grain-based diet is not good for parrots.
Long-term or chronic nutritional deficiencies can develop over time, even years, and eventually lead to signs such as poor coat health, shedding or shedding.
Fruit in moderation is fine, but you really want to feed your parrot a variety of colorful beans and vegetables.
Especially dark green, red and orange vegetables.
You should also try to move him away from the nut mix and switch to a complete pelleted diet as his main food.
Seeds should only be a treat. I highly recommend Harrison’s parrot food. They provide great information about dietary changes on their website.
When he is 20 years old, it will be a good thing to have a health check and blood test at a specialist poultry veterinarian.
star of the week
Newborn kitten BIFF is growing healthy after being rescued from a recycling bin filled with ready-to-crush cardboard.
Employee from Makro wholesaler in Liverpool called the RSPCA after hearing a meow coming from the container.
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RSPCA Inspector Vicki Brooks led a five-hour campaign to find him.
Biff, who weighed only 200g when rescued, is believed to have been stranded for several days.
He has now doubled his weight and is being raised by charity.
“It was the most extraordinary rescue I’ve ever been in,” Vicki said.
“I don’t know how he can survive.”
WIN: Litter box
WE’ve partnered with PetSafe Brands to give one reader the chance to win a ScoopFree self-cleaning litter box with lid, worth £279.99.
Contains crystalline litter for ultimate odor control, 99% dust-free – and won’t need shoveling, cleaning or refilling for weeks.
Send an email subject to PETSAFE to [email protected], including your name, address and phone number by July
9. See anh.petsafe.net. T&C applies.
THEIR WORD IS A ‘CHANGIN’
DOGS likes jazz and folk music, but dislikes hip hop and heavy metal, a new study has revealed.
Online gambling company Betway has asked owners to use dog fitness trackers to monitor how relaxed their pets are when listening to different genres of music.
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The FitBark is also kept on the dog’s collar overnight to record how well they sleep.
The results showed that folk music, including Bob Dylan hits, was best for keeping dogs calm.
They spend an average of 46 minutes listening to this genre.
Jazz came in second (42 minutes) and pop was third (41 minutes).
FitBark used a points system to grade dogs every hour on their activity, play, and rest levels.
In a typical evening at home, the average dog’s anxiety level is 87 points.
However, when listening to heavy metal music, the average score increased to 166 points.
Classical music was also high with a score of 141, followed by hip hop with a score of 115.
Jazz has the highest score of 66, followed by folk with 90.
When it comes to helping dogs sleep better, it’s best to let your dog listen to folk and classical music before bed.
The full findings of the study can be found at tinyurl.com/2s397tvc.
