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Dear Paws,
Hi I read your sign on Calgary Trail as I drove by this morining, you say you can help with shedding...Please tell me!!

- Shelley

To answer your question, we would need to know a bit more about your pet, for instance, is it a dog or cat, how old is it, what brand and formula of food do you feed it and what type of grooming regimen do you currently follow ? It also helps to know whether anyone in your household is allergic or suffers from any respiratory ailments, i.e. asthma.

The amount of shedding that a dog or cat will experience falls into two basic categories: seasonal and non-seasonal. Generally, pets that live outdoors experience more subtantial hair loss through seasonal shedding in the spring and fall than pets that live indoors. There isn't much that you can do about seasonal shedding beyond grooming your pet with a tool appropriate to its coat type and hair length. This can help to "slough off" the dead winter coat more quickly than waiting for it to fall out on its own. Non-seasonal shedding is the type of shedding that people have to contend with throughout the year and is, frankly, the one that people can affect the most (i.e. increase or decrease) through their choice of diet.

Here, you will want to take a good look at the type of pet food that you are feeding your pet.

The main things to look for include: the primary ingredients in your pet food (are they derived from meat or cereal sources? ), and, most importantly, the amount and source of the fat in the pet food.

The fat in your pet food supplies your pet with calories for energy as well as "fatty acids" which are essential for healthy skin and coat quality. Among the best sources are chicken fat (found in super-premium pet foods like ANF, Nature's Recipe formulas containing chicken as their meat source, Hill's "Science Diet" and Iams "Eukanuba" formula foods) and vegetable source fats. Here we need to know if you are feeding a dog or a cat. Cats are, on an evolutionary scale, more primitive than dogs and require arachadonic acid as one of their "essential" fatty acids (that is, one which they must get from their food and which they cannot synthesize). Chicken fat and certain other animal fats supply arachidonic acid, while vegetable fats do not.

Dogs make their own arachidonic acid from other fatty acids and so can do quite well on foods which contain vegetable source fats.

A superior adult formula dog food will typically contain 13% to 15% fat and will list a highly useful meat source such as chicken meal or, preferably, a high quality chicken by-product (i.e. organ meat) meal as the meat source. Although some people who sell pet food really promote the products that use "no by-products", and use "chicken meal" instead, there is little merit in this preference. Chicken meal typically consists of chicken necks and backs, being left-overs from the chicken rendering industry. While these have muscle meat attached to skeleton, they often deliver a significant amount of ground bone with the meat. Furthermore, muscle meat has a slightly lower "biological value" than organ meats, meaning that even if you compared "clean" (de-boned muscle to ground up hearts, livers and gizzards, the latter would provide the cat or dog with a consistently more useful food product (in terms of what useful nutritive components the animal can actually extract from the food).

With all of these foods you will find a significant reduction in the feeding volumes required to properly nourish your dog or cat (usually half of the volume of cereal-based food required), giving your pet a more useful source of nutrition while producing much less stool volume for easier clean up. It would be really good to know what type of pet food you are currently using as well as a few other points. Hopefully the above gives you a place from which you can start in your search for a pet food that will not only improve your pet's coat quality and cut down on the amount that your pet sheds, but also improve its over-all health and well being. Come by one of our shops and we will be happy to go through the various concerns and alternatives with you.

Thanks again for your question.
Paws

Dear Paws,
How can I get my 6 year old deaf male poodle from "marking" my livingroom rug, chairs, and anything else he can lift a leg on?
I'm at my wits end, HELP!!!

- Wet all Over

We'd like to give you a short answer, but there may be more to your situation than meets the eye. You will want to ask yourself a number of questions that wil help you narrow down the probable cause of the problem. Is there a particular time of day or night when your dog is "marking" your home ? Is anyone present to witness the event, i.e. will your dog lift his leg in your presence (and dispite your objections) or does he "do his thing" when no one is at home ? Is your dog intact or neutered ? Is this a new behavior or has he been doing this for a long time ? (If so, for how long ?) There can be many causes for this type of behavior, assuming that your dog is otherwise healthy and not suffering from incontinence.

"Lifting his leg" suggests that your dog is actively marking territory. This behavior is, to a large degree, motivated by his hormones and is one way to assert his dominance over the others who happen to live there. Neutering helps, as marking territory is a behavior that is more likely to occur with an intact dog.

If your dog is marking territory, he probably has his "favorite" spots which he likes to "freshen up"from time to time. To break the cycle, you will have to identify these spots and effectively deodorize them. The best products on the market contain enzymes that "eat up" or modify the urine so that your dog cannot readily recognize the smell. Bearing in mind that your dog's sense of smell is millions of times more sensitive than our olfactory senses, the job has got to be done right, or it will be largely ineffective. Products such as "See Spot Go", "Rub Out" and the "Out" series are all quite effective. A word of caution: try to resist the urge to steam clean your carpet ! Usually this just succeeds in spreading the scent over a larger area if you haven't effectively deodorized the urine first !

Once you have deodorized the areas, you may wish to apply a non-ketone based indoor repellant to discourage your dog from re-visiting these areas. We usually discourage people from using repellants indoors because so many of them use ketones in their formulas. These are usually as offensive smelling as the urine. Try "No Go" by Pet Organics. It smells quite delicate and inoffensive and most dogs hate it.

If something has changed in your household to disturb your dog's sense of his position in your domestic hierarchy (i.e. new addition to the family or someone has moved in or out of the household), refresh your dog's obedience skills. Take him out every day for 20 to 30 minutes to practice (drill) heeling, sit-stay and down on command (and so on). The idea behind this is to reinforce your position as "Alpha" to your dog. The message back to your dog is that you will simply not tolerate dominant behavior like marking YOUR territory !

You may wish to read "How to be Your Dog's Best Friend" by The Monks of New Skete. They are very in-tune with those things that make "your dog tick" and how to use your dog's own instincts to get him to behave civilly. Don't forget to discipline your dog if you catch him in the act. This should be done IMMEDIATELY after your dog has lifted his leg. Verbally scold him, take him by the scruff of the neck and take him to the spot and verbally discipline him. DO NOT "rub his nose" in the mess. Instead, use your voice, together with physically holding your dog by the scuff of the neck, to express your displeasure. It is very important to lower the pitch of your voice to a "growl" rather than using a higher pitch voice. The "growl" is associated with a dominant animal, while a higher pitch (even if you yell at the dog) is associated with a submissive animal. If your dog resists, apply a firm "shake down" or "alpha wolf roll over" as described in the Monk's book and their video. You may also want to check with a professional dog trainer as to how to properly discipline your dog. The key is to do it effectively but not excessively. Bear in mind that "one effective correction is better than fifty ineffective corrections". With a small dog, however, a quick, gentle but firm shake can work wonders.(This type of physical discipline emulates what the dog's mother would have done if he was misbehaving as a puppy).

If your dog does his "marking" during the night or while you are away from home, put your dog in a dog crate, i.e. a "Furrarri" or similar crate, for the duration of the night or your time away from home. Apart from making it impossible to wander around the house marking the place, a crate will reinforce your dog's subordinate position to everyone else in the household (which is highly desirable).Remember not to feed the dog or give it water in the crate, although giving him a treat for going in is OK (keep it fun !). If you have any particular questions or concerns regarding the use of a dog crate, let us know and we'll address them separately.

If you're in Edmonton, we would invite you to come down to any of our shops or to our head office (10442-169 Street, just behind CompuSmart) and we would be happy to go through the alternatives with you.

We hope this helps you out.

Good luck and let us know your success !
Paws

Dear Paws,
My three year old Lab is chewing on the corner of our cedar deck while I'm at work!
Is there anything that I can do?

- Splinters in Red Deer

Your dog may be bored and looking for something to do. Labs are a highly intelligent, active breed , having been bred for the rigors of retrieving. This means that they both learn quickly as well as become bored easily.

You can spray the edges of your deck with Grannicks Bitter Apple (outdoor "horse" formula). This is a highly effective product designed to discourage cribbing in horses. Its formula is unique in that it adheres to wood andactually bonds stronger when exposed to water (i.e. it won't wash off in the rain). Or you can use a regular dog formula BitterApple, or similar chew-deterrent spray, although you may have to re-apply it when it gets washed off in the rain.

You can help relieve some of your dog's boredom by making it's environment more stimulating. Try making some agility-type obstacles in your back yard like a balance beam, a tunnel made from heavy cardboard tube and a couple of half buried tires.
If you can't put that kind of stuff up, then try a "BestBall" by Heuter Toledo. Looking like nothing more than a heavy, hard plastic ball, this is a great device that uses the natural "chase" instinct to give your dog a terrific work out!

Speaking of work out, don't forget to take your dog for a daily walk or run! If you are not into running yourself, you can run your dog using a bicycle. Be sure to keep your dog's leash short so that he doesn't run in front of you!

Last, but not least, try some retrieving games.Rope toys, flying disks, and toys like Phydeaux's "ChewGrenade" all work great for retrieving. Good Luck

-Paws

Dear Paws,
My cat bites me when he is on my lap and sometimes when I pet him longer than a few minutes. I'm not sure if he is biting to hurt, but it does hurt! What should I do about this problem?

- Jennie

How old is your cat ? Has he been doing this for long or is this something that your cat has just started recently ? How long have you had your cat ? Does your cat bite hard (like he's hurt or protecting himself; has he ever broken your skin ? or is it more of a playful response ? Your answers to all of these questions should help to understand what is motivating your cat's behavior.

Sometimes a biting response is simply an instinctive response to certain types of stimulus, for example, rubbing a cat's chest or scratching its belly. In that situation, it is simply the way your cat would respond to prey (i.e. a mouse) that it might be holding in its claws. Often, this behavior is accompanied by kicking with the cat's rear legs. This type of biting should not be very severe and can be avoided by simply stroking your cat's back as opposed to its tummy or chest.

Assuming that the cat is healthy and otherwise well socialized, biting should not happen and should be discouraged by choosing handling techniques that do not elicit the biting response. The key is to keep things calm and soothing for the cat. Make sure no one else in your household is roughhousing with your cat as this may predispose your cat to responding agressively when someone else (i.e. you) handles the cat.

Another thing you can try (it has worked for me with puppies who like to chew on your hand or bite, albeit playfully, is to spray some Bitter Apple (chew deterrent spray) on your hand before you handle the animal. If the animal chooses to put its open mouth on your hand it will get a very bitter taste and will usually stop right away. This is a humane way to teach your pet that your hands are off limits for biting or chewing. (In Nature, bitter skin secretions protect certain types of lizards and toads from being eaten by predators.) Make sure you wash your hands before eating, though !

If the behavior persists, or if you think that the cat may be hurt or sick, take your cat to the Vet and get your Vet's opinion. There may be an explanation for the behavior that has to do with the state of the cat's health, in which case your Vet should see the animal.

Good Luck !

Paws

Dear Paws,
My dog is currently on Science perscription diet c/d. I use to work at a dog supply store and Im sure there use to be a neura dry dog food that was the same as Science diet c/d Can you let me know where I could buy it , maybe Petco or from you.

- Valerie

Regarding your question about a Canine c/d equivalent food under the "Neura" brand name, we can advise that although Neura has a feline c/d equivalent product, they do not produce a canine version. We have checked with our Old Mother Hubbard rep and he has advised that their company only produces four of the most popular therapeutic diets: a low fibre diet (formula 100), a low protein diet (formula 300), low sodium (formula 200) and low fat (formula 400)diets. These emulate the Hill's i/d, k/d, h/d and r/d formulas.

According to Small Animal Clinical Nutrition (3rd edition) by Lewis, Morris and Hand, published by Mark Morris Associates (1987) Topeka, Kansas, Prescription Diet Canine c/d has the following nutritional characteristics:

One of the interesting points made about the food is that it is "beneficial for the maintenance of active adult dogs as part of a preventive medicine program to delay or reduce the incidence of renal or cardiac diseases." To this end, you may want to ask your Vet whether you can use either Canine k/d or h/d as an alternative to Canine c/d. Sometimes other foods can be used if, for example, a dog finds one formula unpalatable and refuses to eat it. Both of the latter diets have equivalents within the Neura brand name.

Another option is to ask your Vet about using a vegetarian diet. Many dogs who have difficulties excreting uric acid (certain Dalmations, for example), do very well on foods such as Nature's Recipe Vegetarian formula due to its particular blend of amino acid sources. Again, your vet should be able to give you some alternatives.

One final alternative is to cook your own food. There are recipes for several homemade therapeutic diets in Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, and you used to be able to get a sheet from the Vet (printed by the Hill's company) setting out the various recipes. If you would like, we can fax you some of these. Even though it may be impractical to cook for your dog, at least you should know that these diets have specific ingredients that make them work.

Anyways, not to run off too much, try the above. If you'd like the "homemade" info, let us know.

Good luck,

Paws

Dear Paws,

Neighbor pets defecate in my yard. Is there any "home remedy" I can mix and spread to keep them off my grass?

I have grandchildren and a family member who is immune suppressed due to chemotherapy and don't want pet litter to threaten their health.

Subject to any comments that our vet has, you may want to try a product called "Reppers", made by a Dutch company called Beaphar.

This company makes a series of products, including a product called the "Reppers Repellent Grains and Evaporators" kit. The kit consists of six plastic dispensers ("evaporators") that look like olive-green colored mushrooms.

Each evaporator holds about a third of a cup of Reppers repellent grains and has holes around its side to dispense the repellent odor across a radius of 6 to 9 feet (2-3 meters) on your lawn. A wide brimmed cap protects the grains against the rain.

We sell the kits for $44.99 CAN (approx. $30 US) plus postage. Replacement repellant granuals sell for $18.99 CAN (~$12.60 US) for a 100 gram bottle and will last for 3-6 weeks in the dispenser.

You may want to check with your local specialty pet supply stores and garden centers for this item.

While no system is perfect, we have carried this item for the last two years and have received uniformly good reviews from the people who have used it, including unsolicited endorsements from the host of a regionally syndicated home improvement radio program. We hope the above information helps you out.

Good luck,

Paws

Dear Paws,
I have a six month old cat. He loves dirt and to take a roll in the kitty litter before it has been used. How often can I safely wash him? He tolerates this treatment well and I use a recommended cat shampoo.

Bathing cats is always an interesting subject. Most cats keep themselves quite clean grooming themselves. Actually, its what cats spend a large portion of their waking hours on (considering that they sleep two-thirds of the day).

I am curious whether your cat uses a "scoopable" litter. Very often cats enjoy vigorously digging in scoopable litter, especially when first introduced to it.

Regarding the question of how much you can bathe your cat, there really are no hard and fast rules. The best rule of thumb is to only bathe the cat when it "gets dirty", for instance, from getting into mud, motor oil, tar, etc. This avoids unecessarily stripping your cat's coat of its natural oils.

Cats have a very strong instinct to keep clean and are very well equipped to do so. It is a very good idea to regularly brush the cat's coat to cut down on hair "dropped" through shedding. Brushing will also remove dirt and dust out of your cat's hair. Using a grooming spray is OK.

When you do shampoo your cat, make sure you dilute your pet shampoo with water before applying it to the cat's coat. Many of the better pet shampoos are quite concentrated, for example, most of the "Groomer's Edge" products are 15 to 1 concentrates. So, one ounce from the bottle makes 16 oz. of shampoo. This is great for economy of use, but really hard to rinse out if applied directly to the animal from the bottle.

If you rinse the coat with plenty of warm water your cat will end up with a very clean coat and will avoid the skin irritation that can arise from shampoo reside left in the coat following inadquate rinsing.

So remember, brush regularly, dilute the shampoo with plenty of water and rinse well.

Good Luck !

Paws

Dear Paws,
I'm pregnant and due very soon. I have two cats that I love but don't want them in the baby's room. Is there something out there that will discourage my cats from going into the room? Maybe radio frequency equipment, etc. I really need some advice. I have already gone to my local pet stores with no help at all.

There are a couple of things you might want to try.

First, try spraying a "line" of Pet Organics " "No, Stay - Cat" at the entrance to your infant's room. No, Stay - Cat is a solution of all-natural organics and herbal extracts (such as citronella and oil of lemongrass) that cats absolutely hate.

It is designed to keep cats off furniture while being harmless to both pets and people. Although this is a bit of a unique application, creating a "boundary" beyond which the cats are not allowed might work to keep them out of the room.

As a word of caution, avoid conventional pet repellants. Most use ketones which are noxious and extremely unpleasant to both pets and humans !

A 16 oz bottle of No, Stay - Cat will run you about $14.99 Canadian (about US $11.00) for a 16 oz bottle plus GST, shipping and handling.

If you don't have success with the spray, you might try "Radio Repel", from Radio Fence. This is an electronic device that you place in the area that you want your pets to avoid. Each pet has to wear a special collar (the same one used with the Radio Fence pet containment system or the new "ultra-light" version).

You can adjust the range on the Radio Repel transmitter from 2 feet up to 20 feet. When your pet gets near the control area (your infant's room) a warning beep sounds on your pet's collar.

If your pet continues to approach a mild correction similar to a static shock is given by the collar. With a little training, your pet quickly learns to avoid areas where Radio Repel is installed, but has unlimited access to areas of your house where Radio Repel is not installed.

This solution will run about $229.95 Canadian (US$170) for the Radio Repel unit ( which includes one "ultra-light" receiver-collar) plus $99.95 Canadian (US$ 74.00) for a second "ultra-light" receiver-collar (for your second cat) plus GST, shipping and handling.

Good Luck !

Paws

"Always consult your own veterinarian with questions concerning your pet's health or behavior. Your vet can examine your pet, we cannot. All questions posed to us are treated as representing a hypothetical set of acts. Your own vet may come to a different conclusion."

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