Health and Wellbeing | PETS
http://www.petsmagazine.com.au 71
WATER-
DRINKING
PROBLEMS
Q:
Dear PETS, my six-year-old
Siberian cat, Goblin, has
started to drink a lot more water
than usual. She’s also urinating
pretty frequently (probably
because she’s drinking so much
water!). Do you have any advice on
whether this is a problem and what
the reason behind it could be?
Ben, via emailA:
Hi Ben, you most certainly
need to get Goblin to see
the vet as soon as possible as there are many
things that can cause a cat to drink and pee
more. Unfortunately they can include some nasty
conditions like kidney failure, diabetes mellitus,
hyperthyroidism and liver disease, just to name a
few. You will need to recall Goblin’s history. How
long has this been going on for? Also, has Goblin
lost weight recently? Is she eating like a horse
and what condition is her fur in? A good history
will help your vet narrow down what needs to bedone. They will most likely take blood
and urine samples to check what is going on
inside Goblin and help diff erentiate the range of
possible conditions. Don’t get too distressed just
yet as many of these conditions can be controlled
if identifi ed early enough. Often appropriate
diets, adequate hydration and occasionally
medication can go a long way to helping the
situation. Hopefully this gives you a bit more of
an idea, and your vet can get Goblin on the road
to diagnosis, management and treatment.SCOOT, SCOOT!
Q:
Dear Dr Jo, I have a four-year-old Aussie
Kelpie and I’ve noticed that recently she’s
started to scoot along the fl oor, like you see dogs
doing when they’ve got worms. But we treat her
regularly and make sure her tablets are up to date.
What could be the cause of this strange behaviour?
Freddie, via emailA:
Hi Freddie. it’s great to hear you do the right
thing by worming your dog regularly — just
be sure to check the brand of worming tablet you
use on her. Not all medications are created equal (just
like home-brand foods often are not quite as good
to taste!). Cheap wormers don’t always cover all the
worms in your dog. Reliable products include Drontal,
Milbemax, Interceptor, Sentinel, Panoramis, Nexgard
Spectra, Revolution and Advocate. If one of these iswhat you use regularly, then worms are less likely to
be the issue. So unfortunately, anal glands are likely to
be the problem. These are two glands located in the
wall of a dog’s anus that produce a scent that comes
out with your dog’s poo, or when she is distressed.
They use these scent glands to mark their territory.
When a dog is fed a good-quality largely dry-food diet,
these glands get expressed when they pass a nice
fi rm motion. But dogs getting fed too much human
food, a constantly changing diet, or lots of soft, sloppy
tin food/dog roll often don’t have nice fi rm motions
to help express these glands. As a result, the glands
build up, get enlarged (sometimes painfully so) and
cause the dogs to drag their bottoms around to try to
express them themselves. It’s probably best to take her
to the vet and get the glands checked and expressed
if needed ... and if diet is the problem, correct this as
soon as possible. Good luck.Always monitor your pet’s eating and drinking habits to ensure they don’t
have any drastic changes that could hint at an underlying health problem.PLF071_pg070-071_Ask your vet.indd 71PLF071_pg070-071_Ask your vet.indd 71 8/22/2017 10:29:48 AM8/22/2017 10:29:48 AM