Overactive mousers, dish licking dogs and pregnant poodles
Dear Dr. Forsythe: Our cat Rusty has been acting peculiar lately. He has been a mouser about once a week for years. But this past week he has been bringing in one mouse day. Starting on Saturday night during the storm, every time he would bring one in, we’d dispose of it and he would go out and bring in another one to us! He brought in three that night. Why is he doing this? Is he mad because we yelled at him and he has a snotty attitude? Is he doing this because he is trying to please us MORE by bringing more in? We can’t figure this out. Also, is there anything we can do to make it stop? Thanks for the advice. – K and M, Sonoma
Dear K and M: There are a few things that have been going on recently. First, preceding this recent storm there was a full moon. Maybe THAT’s why he was acting so strange. I know from personal experience that bizarre things begin to happen with a full moon. People, pets, you name it: the bizarre and the baffling seem to creep out from the cracks in the walls. I have long lost clients walk in with strange animals such as opossums or a Gila monster. Secondly, there is a large mouse population in Sonoma and since your Rusty is a good mouser, he may simply have decided to “up his game” while the getting is good. There may also be some truth to the fact that by yelling at him, Rusty thought that you were giving him attention, and he may have misunderstood this to be something positive which did cause him to catch even more prey. I suggest that a large bell on his collar would be useful, but I would NOT put any mouse poison out—remember that this material is toxic to dogs and cats—and tastes very good to them. Good luck with this hunter. – Dr. F
Dear Dr. Forsythe: My boyfriend always complains when he sees my dog Ruby licking the plates from my open dishwasher. I don’t see what the big deal is; she is just doing “prewashing” in my opinion. How bad can that be?
– VCS, American Canyon
Dear VCS: Sorry for breaking your bubble, but pets that are allowed to lick the plates in the dishwasher are at risk for injury. I remember having a dog come in COVERED in blood and near death once after cutting his tongue while licking a pizza slicer from the utensil holder in a dishwasher. The thing spun and carved the tongue in half!!! Please avoid letting Ruby lick the dirty dishes anymore. The risk is too high!! – Dr. F
Dear Dr. Forsythe: My Poodle is pregnant and will have puppies in about a month. I am not sure how many there are, but I do know that she is pregnant because she is getting larger now. My question is, should I just set up a planned caesarean section for her? I don’t want her to go through any pain during delivery. Also, since she is a Standard Poodle, I worry about her in labor. Are scheduled c-sections common in veterinary medicine? – Allison, Santa Rosa
Dear Allison: Yes, scheduled c-sections are common in veterinary medicine in certain cases and generally with specific breeds (such as bulldogs and pugs). However, with the Poodle, this is generally not a prearranged surgery and is not done typically unless there is a problem with the mother’s health, she is not progressing well through labor, or there is a “fetal/dream” disparity (large puppy, large breed-sire and small dam). Speak to your veterinarian about examining your pet thoroughly to try and determine the number of actual puppies inside your Poodle. Then I would make sure to wait until she is in active labor and give her at least 12 hours to push her babies out. In my opinion, this is natural and should be attempted before you have her go through an operation. I hope you enjoy this wonderful litter. – Dr. F
