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Ask the Vet!
Lauren Mascola is the veterinarian at Petcare Veterinary Services in West Hartford. She studied at UConn for undergraduate and Tufts for Veterinary Medicine. She has over 10 years experience and 2 dogs and 3 cats of her own. She is excited to answer your questions!
Q: Dear Dr. Mascola,
We are thinking of getting a new puppy after the holidays. Do you have any advice about what to expect in the first few months?
Thanks, Susan
A: Dear Susan,
Congratulations on deciding to get a puppy. I hope he will bring years of love and happiness to you and your family. Here are a few basics to consider early on.
Be prepared for housebreaking. You should decide before you bring your new pet home how you will go about training him to go to the bathroom outdoors. Whether you research online, in a book or consult your veterinarian for their opinion, is up to you.
Puppies begin getting their adult teeth at about 16 weeks of age and will not have a full set until they are 7-months-old. You will need a variety of appropriate chew toys to keep him busy. If he tries to nip your fingers (which many do because they think fingers are toys), put a chew toy in his mouth so he learns what is ok to sink his teeth in to!
It is never too early to start training your pet. Socializing and obedience training will be very important for your pet's well being. Dogs are pack animals by nature and will try to be the "top dog" if you do not assert dominance (training) over them. If they think they are at the top of the totem pole, they will develop undesired habits. It takes a lot of patience and hard work, but will pay dividends once they become an adult, at about 1 year of age.
Finally, bring your new pet to your veterinarian within a few days of bringing him home. They will provide you with information about the vaccination and deworming schedule. Discuss what and how much you will be feeding. A good quality diet is very important, especially in the first year of life, when puppies do all of their growing. Your vet will also help you with any basic behavioral issues you might be having early on as well as any other puppy questions you may have.
Your puppy will love you unconditionally and deserves the same from you! Best of luck and have fun! (and take lots of pictures because they grow fast)
Dr. Mascola
Guinea Pig Expert!
Whitney Potsus has owned guinea pigs for nearly a decade. She is Vice President of The Critter Connection, Inc., a Durham-based non-profit dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of abandoned and neglected guinea pigs. You can find the rescue on the Web at www.ctguineapigrescue.org. Please direct all your Guinea Pig questions to Whitney.
Q: Hi Whitney,
I’m taking in a pair of 3-year-old guinea pigs from a co-worker who is relocating and doesn’t think the pigs could handle being transported halfway across the country. She’s given me a list of the things I need to buy — like a bigger cage, food, cage accessories, vegetables, etc. — but I’m wondering if there’s anything else I should get? Something that owners don’t know they should have?
Thanks, Melinda
A: Hi Melinda,
What a great thing you’re doing for those pigs! Congratulations on your new roommates!
There are two things that most owners don’t realize they need until they’re in a jam.
A hard-sided travel carrier. This is the only way to safely transport guinea pigs, to the vet or any place else you may need to go with them. (You can find three of our favorite carriers listed at www.ctguineapigrescue.org/adopt/travelgear.html.)You’ll need a towel or two to line the bottom of the carrier, and another towel or fleece snuggle sack for them to tunnel into and stay warm.
I keep my carriers under the table that my cages are on, so I can quickly grab them and get the pigs transferred into them in case I need to evacuate (as in the case of fire). The carriers have towels, fleece sacks, extra water bottles, small food dishes, and small bags of food pellets in them; this way, if I have to evacuate, I have the necessities on hand immediately.
A scale. Monitoring your guinea pigs’ weight is important. It gives you a baseline for your pigs’ normal/healthy weight, and lets you monitor any weight loss that occurs if they get sick. Most owners purchase a baby scale, which is heavy and sturdy enough to weigh pets without tipping over. You also could use a food scale, but it has to be very sturdy, capable of weighing up to five pounds, and have a weighing tray/container that’s big enough to hold a guinea pig.
Good luck! Life is never the same once a guinea pig takes hold of your heart.
Whitney
Ask The Cat Lady!
Sally Bahner is a member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants and has a private feline consulting practice. She is the "Dear Sally" on Tracie Hotchner’s Cat Chat Radio (www.catchatradio.com), found on Sirius, the Martha Stewart Living channel. She is a longtime editor and writer on everything feline.
Q: Dear Sally,
I have three adopted Siamese mix cats, 3 years old. We are about ready to give them away. I have always been a cat lover, but I am at the point where I cannot tolerate their behavior. The behavior that has put us over the edge is that they chew through our electrical cords no matter how well we hide them. We have spent hundreds of dollars replacing wires and appliances to compensate for this problem. They keep us up every night, digging in whatever they can get their hands on or chewing things, including shoes, baskets, boxes etc, if left out. They are costing me thousands of dollars just replacing the things they chew.
Emily
A: Dear Emily,
Siamese are known to be chewers – the term is "pica," though the target is often wool or fabric. You need to make a concerted effort to cover up everything. Run cords under carpets, tacked along wall then covered with half-round molding or PVC pipe from Home Depot. Office supply stores have gadgets that let you bundle computer cables. Also, how about wrapping the cords in sticky tape, either by Sticky Paws (the tape now comes in rolls) or regular double-sided tape.
There’s also basic housekeeping – putting away target items. Create a safe retreat for the cats at night in a spare room or bathroom with all their cozy stuff or in a large kitty play pen (see KV Pet Supply).
Here are several online sources that may be helpful:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=16608
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753521&cp=2767033.2768983&sr=1
http://buy-ferret-product.shopppr.com/660003-229.html
There’s also Spirit Essence (www.spiritessence.com) Obsession remedy that can be placed in the cats’ drinking water and/or rubbed on the inside of their ears or paw pads. It couldn’t hurt to have a veterinarian check-up and make sure they are eating a high-quality, meat-based diet.
Sally
Reptile Man!
Ron Wulff, the Reptile Man, has worked for one of the big retail pet stores for 6 years as a reptile and aquatic specialist. He rescues reptiles and runs www.nopaws.com, dedicating his time to educate people on exotic pets. Direct your exotic pet questions to Reptile Man.
Q: Dear Reptile Man,
I was looking at baby Leopard Geckos in a pet store. There were over a dozen of them in the tank, and there were a bunch of different colors. Do the different colors mean they were different types of lizards?
Cherrie
A: Hi Cherrie,
The lizards were most likely just different color morphs of Leopard Gecko. Breeding Leopard Geckos is one of the great successes in the reptile industry. The original imported Leopard Geckos were pale yellow and heavily spotted with black, which is where they got the "leopard" from. Occasionally a very bright or unusually patterned lizard would be found and these animals would be paired up for breeding. As more people began to breed them, more unusual colors showed up. Albino (whitish with yellow spots), patternless (no spots) and leusistic (all white) to name a few.
If you went to a reptile show, the lizards would have probably each been in a separate cup, with its morph name on the label and some of them might have cost 5 to 10 dollars more. I have found that the selection of animals in the big pet store chains is very good. If you know what to look for there are some beautiful animals available and they are all the same price.
One thing to remember when choosing an animal is that baby Leopard Geckos are banded. As they grow the bands turn into spots. If the bands are irregular then the spots will be too. If the band is real dark, there will probably be a lot of spots. If the bands are turning lighter with just a few darker areas, you will have a brighter yellow to orange lizard with just a few spots. The base color usually remains the same. So if you pick a real orange baby, the adult will be a very impressive animal.
People are still producing some wild Leopard Gecko morphs every year. Some of these animals sell for over 1000 dollars. I see beautiful babies all of the time and have been tempted to try making something special. No one has come up with an all black one yet… Something to think about.
Ron
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