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 saw your article in Pets Press and wondered if you could help us with our new 2- month-old kitten. We do not know if is a boy or girl. Any suggestions?
Renee
A: Hi Renee:
Determining the gender of a kitten can be tricky especially when they're really young. Simply, a boy kitten should look like this : (a colon) and a girl kitten should look like this ; (a semi-colon). According to Washington State University's Web site, "The color of the kitten may suggest its gender. Almost all (but not ALL) kittens of calico (black, white and orange) or tortisehell (black and orange) color are females. More orange kittens are male than female although the association between color and sex is not as strong as in the calico/tortishell colored kitten." The photos shown on this web site (http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientED/kittengender.aspx) may be helpful since they're of a kitten about the same age as yours. It can also be helpful to compare two kittens to see the difference. Of course as a boy kitten gets older the difference will be apparent!
Kittenhood doesn't last long, so enjoy it. Mollie is almost 6 months old now and growing right before our eyes!
Sally
 

Ask the Lazi Birds!

Steve and Diane Lazicki have been rescuing and working with birds for over 8 years, as well as raising them as pets since childhood. They live with over 150 birds in their "bird house," so they have a wealth of bird expertise. Direct your bird related questions to the Lazi Birds.

Dear bird lovers,
With the holidays coming up I would like to take this opportunity to offer some precautions which may be a help to you in keeping your "fids" safe and stress free. We can all agree that this is probably the busiest time of year. We have meal planning, holiday shopping, traveling, and all kinds of arrangements and physical activities to plan and execute. At times, our pet's needs can be overlooked. Unfortunately, this can and has caused devastating results. My dear mom always said "an ounce of precaution is worth a pound of cure". That being said, I'll begin.
Although your bird may not understand "holidays", they can certainly sense and feel the stress levels rise. Stress to an animal is an indication of danger. While we may be enjoying the festivities, our birds may be in a compromising position. There are exceptions. If your bird is used to a lot of traffic and activities, there are still areas of concern for them. A lot of company with the doors opening often can startle the flighted bird. Many birds have flown, for the first time, out the door. The safe alternative is to keep your bird in the cage until the company has left. Wrapping paper is another danger. Your bird can become involved with unwrapping gifts and decide to 'hide' in the paper. The unthinkable has been known to happen in such cases. If your bird is not used to a lot of activity in the home, you may want to relocate the bird in another room through the holidays. If this is your plan, please remember to 'spend time' in the room with your pet. Also, be sure there is adequate heat and light, as well as something for stimulation. (radio, TV or toys). We at Lazicki's Bird House & Rescue wish you safety, peace, love and happiness at this joyous time of year.
Lazibirds
 

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.

Dear Readers:
I get a lot of questions about multi-creature terrariums so I will share a little about one of my own this issue. I have two crested geckos and a red eyed tree frog in a extra tall 20 gallon tank. There is a large potted plant in the middle of the tank that the frog and lizards pretty much live in. I have a water bowl that fits in the corner and a small fake tree stump on my soil and seed mix, and the grass grows pretty wild with nothing occupying the bottom of the tank to knock it over. I was considering my options of what would like it down there when fate stepped in and answered my question for me.
Someone called and asked if I could take two Hermit crabs. Even though some of the products they sell for these animals wouldn't suggest it, hermit crabs are tropical animals that need a warm humid environment.
The crabs that the lady brought me had natural shells instead of the painted ones (not that there is anything wrong with them), so I decided to try them in my warm humid gecko and frog tank. Even though they are good climbers, so far the crabs have been spending most of the time at the bottom of the tank and in the pot of the main live plant. They like the hollow log so I put a soda cap of commercial hermit crab food on the far side. They have proved they can walk in shallow water without a sponge in it. It seems like they may also be cleaning up some of the grass that dies off. Most crabs are scavengers so there is a chance they will take advantage of other opportunity foods like dead crickets.
Most importantly they don't seem to bother anything else in the tank. The frog and lizards spend most of the time not moving so they would be pretty easy to bother. It looks to me that for a tall tank with arboreal animals, hermit crabs can make a nice addition. I will keep you posted.
Ron

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,
My friend has a rabbit and she says its fine for my guinea pig to play with her rabbit. I thought I read some where its not okay. Is it okay?
Thanks, Emily
A: Dear Emily:
I wouldn’t recommend it, no. For all that rabbits and guinea pigs have in common, that would suggest they’d make good playmates or cagemates, they are not a good match in the final equation. As playmates, the chief concern is those powerful back legs that rabbits have. Whether kicking up their heels in enthusiastic play, or in agitation to warn off a guinea pig who isn’t respecting a rabbit’s boundaries, a strong swift kick by those furry back feet can do serious damage to a guinea pig. Depending on where a rabbit’s feet land on a guinea pig’s body, and how hard they do so, the injuries inflicted can include:
- scratched corneas — can lead to sight-impairing permanent scarring and/or slow-healing ulcerous infections. With competent veterinary treatment, and proper support at home, these injuries can be overcome. Guinea pigs instinctively learn to "see around" the scars.
- eye damage — injury so severe it creates the need to remove the eye or, more likely, euthanize the guinea pig. While this kind of surgery is technically possible, it offers no guarantees and opens the risk of life-threatening or ultimately fatal infection. This kind of injury exposes a guinea pig to just about the greatest pain it can experience, and the added trauma of surgery and stress of healing only increases that pain — even when accompanied by pain medication and antibiotics.
- head trauma/brain injury — injury that creates neurological problems that seriously impair normal function and behavior; veterinarians invariably recommend euthanasia.
- broken bones — may or may not be something that can heal (depending on the bone that’s broken), when accompanied by pain medication, but generally doesn’t offer an optimistic prognosis.
- spinal cord injury — injury that leads to great pain or some degree of paralysis; veterinarians inevitably recommend euthanasia.
Many guinea pig and rabbit experts strongly endorse separation of these species — sharing a "back fence" between two side-by-side cages is okay, sharing space is not. When both camps say that one swift kick by a rabbit’s back feet can too often kill a guinea pig, it’s not a matter of extreme, hystrionic, overly cautious over-reaction. It’s a statement of fact. If death isn’t instant, it’s inevitable (within a matter of hours or a couple of days) because some injuries are so severe that the only humane course of action is euthanasia.
If you’re thinking your guinea pig could use a friend, and your friend is thinking her bunny could use a buddy, you both would better serve the needs of your respective pets by contacting specialty rescues and finding new pals within their own species.
Hope this helps,
Whitney