Your Questions Answered
Having problems with your pet’s health, behaviour, or just have a question? Write to our panel of expert vets who will endeavour to answer as many questions as possible. Send your questions and a photograph of the ailment, if possible, to: Animaltalk Vet's Advice, Private Bag X4, Kyalami, 1684, email: animaltalk@panorama.co.za.

QUESTION: Dogs – Neutering (Photo: FotoJagodka)
I want to get my young Poodle spayed but I've heard she'll get fat. Is this true?

 

ANSWER
While the hormonal changes that accompany spaying can certainly contribute to weight gain in a dog, many simply become overweight as they age due to genetic predisposition, inappropriate diets or insufficient exercise. The majority of dogs are spayed while they are still puppies, around six months of age, when they require higher energy diets to allow for good growth and development and they are also much more active.

After spaying, a dog will continue to age and her activity levels and energy requirements will decrease, so if her diet and exercise regime remain unchanged, it is only natural she will gain weight. This leads people to the assumption that the spaying has caused this weight gain. Spaying gives a dog, or for that matter a cat, certain health advantages, including protection against several cancers of the reproductive system, most notably cancer of the ovary, breast and testicles, as well as protection from life-threatening infections of the uterus.Neutering a male dog has also been shown to slightly prolong life in several studies. Spaying dogs does not, in itself, cause weight gain. Rather it is the continuation of feeding high energy diets to dogs with reduced energy requirements that leads to the deposition of excess fat in the body, and a fat dog. Small animal veterinarian

Sterilisation
Neutering refers to the sterilisation of a male dog, and spaying refers to the sterilisation of a female dog. In this question we address spaying, but please note that the same would apply with neutering.

QUESTION: Cats – Eye infection? (Photo: Eric Isselée)
I have a question regarding my four-year-old cat. Her right eye has been watering for about a week now. It has not been constant but at least twice a day I see that it is wetter than her left eye. Is this something of a concern?

ANSWER

You do need to keep an eye (no pun intended) on your cat’s eyes as they can get worse very quickly. The most important thing is whether the eye seems red and painful and if she is blinking it a lot. If any of these apply, then there is something wrong that needs checking by your veterinarian soon. If the eye is open wide and does not seem sore or inflamed at all, then she could have developed a bit of a ‘chill’ in it, something may have irritated it, or there are certain infections that can make cats’ eyes water. (Is there any sneezing?) She may also have a blocked tear duct, which means that the tears will overflow on that side.
If she seems fine otherwise, it would be worthwhile bathing her eyes gently with warm water and cotton wool to wipe away the tears to see if that helps. If it still persists after a few days of this treatment, it would be better to be on the safe side and get it checked out by your vet. Small animal veterinarian

QUESTION: Dogs – Soil eater (Photo: Eric Isselée)
I wonder if anyone can tell me why my elderly male Border Collie has suddenly started eating soil out of my garden tubs. He is also eating soil that I have used to fill dead patches of grass in my lawn. The soil I used was out of a new compost bag. He is very well fed each day with a dry complete food so he cannot be hungry. I would be very grateful if someone could help me solve this problem.

 

ANSWER

There are several possibilities why an elderly dog will start to exhibit strange behaviour such as eating soil. The first is that old animals, like humans, also undergo 'senile' changes and this can manifest itself in confusion and odd types of behaviour such as soil eating. There are several other possibilities. One is that the soil eating is due to a deficiency of a mineral substance in his diet. From the diet you describe feeding your dog, I think that this is unlikely. Any diet that is labelled as a complete dog food should contain all the nutrients required by a dog.The final possibility is that although his diet is not lacking any nutrients, your dog has a problem with his metabolism that is preventing absorption, preventing the use or increasing the loss of these minerals. Although not an emergency, I would suggest that he is taken to your veterinarian. Some useful parameters to find out before you go are the amount he drinks – has it changed at all (increased or decreased)? Is his appetite normal? And also any other changes in behaviour.
Small animal veterinarian

QUESTION: Hamster – Squeaking (Photo: Anna Subbotina)
I am very concerned about my pet hamster. She occasionally makes squeaking sounds. Is there anything wrong with her to make her squeak or is this common? I have had a hamster before and he never squeaked. Also, I have noticed my hamster scratching quite often. I have checked her for mites but I can’t find anything on her. Her belly has pinky marks on – is this because of her scratching? Should I take her to the vet or is there anything I can do to prevent her from doing this?

ANSWER

I would not worry too much about your hamster making squeaking sounds if it is only now and then, and she seems okay at the time. While some hamsters are very quiet, like your last one, some will be a bit more vocal. They can squeak if they are objecting to something, or in pain, or for no obvious reason.

The scratching could be a bit more significant. While all hamsters will normally scratch a bit, if they are doing it excessively it could be because of a skin problem. Mites are the most common skin problem that we see, but they are usually so small that you cannot see them with the naked eye. The mites are terribly irritating to the hamster and they will scratch themselves so hard that they develop bald patches and scabs quite quickly. They get worse and worse until they are treated. Luckily, it does not sound as if your hamster is scratching as much as I would expect with mites. Keep an eye on her and if she is scratching so hard that bald areas and scabs develop, take her to your vet.
Small animal veterinarian

Animaltalk would like to point out to its readers that the pictures used on the Vet’s Advice pages are used for illustration purposes only and, unless stated otherwise, are not the actual animals mentioned in the questions.

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