Dear Dr. Forsythe: I am sending you this e-mail because we are having trouble deciding what to name our new kitten. She is only eight weeks old and she is a tabby. My mother got her for us at the rescue for kittens, and she had no name. Everybody thinks she should have a different name, and no one can seem to agree. Right now we are calling her Stripes, Streamer, Racer, and Gidget. Her name keeps changing every day, and I think we need help to decide. What do you recommend; she is getting bigger every minute.
Kitten Confusion
Dear Kitten Confusion: I understand your dilemma. I recently got a sweet little calico kitten as well, and at first she looked just like a Louise. A few days later she turned into a Maude, and that has been her name ever since. I realize it is frustrating and difficult to come to a family decision about the “purrfect” name for a cat, but you may want to put all the names down on a paper. Then while the little kitten is frolicking around in your presence, have a conference and settle on a name everyone can try out for a week. The trick is everyone has to agree NOT to call her by any other name for the whole week until you’ve all seen how the name fits. Don’t underestimate this task. As Samuel Butler said, “They say the test of literary power is whether a man can write an inscription. I say, ‘Can he name a kitten?’” Good luck with this one.
Dr. F.
Dear Dr. Forsythe: My Shih-Tzu is 11 years old and has really bad breath. He also has terrible teeth and I know he needs a dental, but I am concerned about the cost. My vet in the city has mentioned this for several years, but I’ve put it off. I have wanted to brush his teeth, and I know he needs to get his teeth cleaned, but I don’t like the idea of anesthesia. Is there anything else I can do? What about antibiotics?
SJS, Sonoma
Dear SJS: There are some things you can do to improve dental hygiene. There is a dental rinse you can add to the pet’s water that decreases the surface stickiness on the enamel and prevents new plaque from building up as quickly. You can give dental treats and chews to the pet in order to keep the teeth strong and discourage calculi formation. Antibiotics do help kill the smelly bacteria up to a point, and brushing pet’s teeth is still a great way to maintain dental hygiene. There really is no shortcut around thorough dental care provided in a safe veterinary environment. Hand-scaling with the pet awake really doesn’t “cut the mustard.” Sadly, it really only provides a cosmetic improvement and leaves behind a huge amount of harmful bacteria under the gum-line. What really makes a difference and benefits your pet is a high-quality dental cleaning done under safe and well-monitored general anesthesia. This involves a thorough charting of all teeth, probing, ultrasonic scaling, removing diseased teeth, and flushing out the pockets followed by a high-speed polish to smooth all the surfaces. Although you are wise to take this procedure seriously, avoiding it is not in the pets’ best interest, in my opinion. I suggest you make plans to have your dog’s mouth checked again and seriously consider having the teeth cleaned – this will likely make him feel much better. Not only that, getting rid of rotted and diseased teeth can make a pet live considerably longer by eliminating a dangerous source of infection from his body. Thanks for writing me about this. I’m sure you’ll be glad when his mouth goes from smelling like an outhouse to smelling like a mint julep.
Dr. F.
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