Dear Dr. Forsythe:
I have two small dogs that are scheduled to be debarked at your office next week. I made this decision after trying every other solution, including training and collars. The problem I’m having is that someone has called my home and threatened my pets if I don’t keep them quiet. Now I am scared. Do you have any suggestions for me prior to the surgery date? Maybe if you print this the person will at least see that I have scheduled the surgery in good faith. Thanks.
Roger, Sonoma
Dear Roger:
Thanks for being a responsible pet owner and stepping up to the plate to get your pets debarked. Since your pets aren’t having the surgery for another week, keeping them indoors unless they need to potty is the safest thing I can recommend. I’d also drop a flyer off to all the close neighbors apologizing for ongoing noise and letting them know that you have made tremendous efforts to curtail the barking noise and are now getting the pets debarked in an effort to keep everyone happy.
If the person who made you feel threatened is reading this week’s column, perhaps reading in print that the surgery is scheduled soon will help calm things down and let everyone go about their business again.
Dr. F
Dear Dr. Forsythe:
My cat has been a diabetic for five years now, but last week he started acting strange and weak like he was groggy. The vet said he was in a diabetic shock and his blood sugar was really low. The tests showed he isn’t a diabetic any more. I love my cat, but how can he be a diabetic for five years then suddenly stop?
Marianne, Glen Ellen
Dear Marianne:
Cats are the most wondrous creatures, and they do like to keep us all on our toes! It is not unusual for diabetic cats to “cycle” in and out of diabetes from time to time. This means that your well-regulated cat that has been receiving a certain dose of insulin twice a day for a couple of years and has been doing well at all his checkups can suddenly change drastically and not need any insulin any more.
The special food you’ve probably been feeding has been helping him tremendously, and your veterinarian will probably want to keep him on this low-carb diet and monitor him in the future to see if he returns to a diabetic state. The up side of this is that you won’t have to be giving him insulin shots for a while, but the down side is he may just as easily turn into a little “sweet pea” again in the future – with little to no warning! Thanks for your question and give him a little tummy rub from me, please.
Dr. F
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