Dear Dr. Forsythe: I am writing to you about a problem I have with my brother and the way he treats his pets. He is on his fifth dog in the last year and a half. It seems like every time I go over to his house to visit, there is a new dog on his couch. When I ask about the previous one, he always says the same thing: “Damn thing ran away. Plus I like this one better anyway.”
Then if I inquire a little more about the details of his dog that ran away or if I offer to help, he gets annoyed at me and asks me to mind my own business!
Anyway, while I was visiting, his newest dog Bocephus would not leave me alone. I was very irritated and tried to teach him a sit command. When my brother saw this, he came running over and told me to leave “his” dog alone, don’t mess around with him. I just find it really puzzling that the dogs are coming and going so quickly. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was running a dog adoption center from his house; that is how frequent the turnover rate there seems to be. – Going crazy in Kenwood
Dear Going Crazy: I agree that it seems peculiar to have a parade of dogs come in and out of your brother’s house without having even one of them stay long enough to develop into the family unit as a pet. Where do you think the dogs are going? Are they all pit bulls being used for fighting? Or, are we worried about alien abductions? Has his family suddenly started wearing a lot of fur? Do I need to call Pamela Anderson and get PETA on his case? Seriously, I’ve never seen a dog spontaneously combust. They must be going somewhere. I hope there are no bodies in the backyard. It sounds like your brother may not be the best communicator in the world and does not feel comfortable telling you the truth. If I were in your shoes, I’d ask your brother to chat with you more frequently and make a concerted effort to be in each other’s lives. Since you haven’t described any evidence of obvious animal abuse you may just be jumping the gun or “barking up a tree” on that issue. A more important topic for discussion may center around the different styles and tastes you have as brothers. It sounds by your letter that you may have some doubts about all five of your brother’s dogs going AWOL never to have been seen again. Sometimes the “why” is more important than the “what.” It would probably settle your concerns if you could get your brother to talk to you about it. I hope things work out for the better between you and your brother. – Dr. F
Dear Dr. Forsythe: I have a two-year-old Calico cat named Patches. I love her so much – she brings be great joy. We had her spayed when she was one-year-old. However, she has been acting like she has never been spayed. She is howling and meowing and pushing her butt in the air, and she will not stop. Is it possible that she had an extra uterus? Do some cats have spare parts? I also should let you know that when we had her spayed, we could not go to our regular vet due to financial constraints. We took her to a low cost spay/neuter clinic. – Madeline, Santa Rosa
Dear Madeline: While it would be very unusual for a cat to have more than one uterus in some really extreme cases, it could be possible for a mistake to be made during a rushed spay operation. If an ovary, or part of an ovary is left behind, tissue remains that can produce female hormones. These hormones, in theory, could cause heat-like symptoms. The clinical signs that you are describing do sound like a cat in estrus. And, this is the season that we see cats becoming fertile. These are the things that I would have your vet do: 1) Have your vet check for a spay scar; 2) have the vet observe the cat and do a vaginal exam; 3) there are blood tests and radiographs with or without ultrasound that can confirm or rule out the presence of any redundant reproductive tissue. It sounds like this patchwork pussy could turn out to be quite a fertile Myrtle. However, all that kitty howling at night would definitely put a cramp in my style. – Dr. F
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