Top 5 Myths that Vets Hear- Part 2

Top 5 Myths that Vets Hear- Part 2

By the Veterinarians at WAH

Myth #4: My cat/dog can’t have bad teeth because he’s eating just fine.

Animals don’t usually exhibit pain as obviously as we humans do. This is partially from instinctual reasons: to curl up in a ball and not move is to invite predators. But it’s also because we are just not keen enough to notice.

More often than not, they are showing us they are in pain or discomfort, but we just aren’t getting their clues.

When we do oral exams on our patients, we often find oral disease like pus along the gumline, receding gums with tooth root exposure, loose or fractured teeth, boney swelling, and erosions of the teeth along the gumline. Any or all of these would make for a very bad day for a person! But our cats and dogs show very subtle signs, like a decrease in activity, not hanging out with the family as much, chewing on one side of the mouth, or not wanting to grasp toys in the mouth. For some cats, urinating outside of the box or marking around the house is their way of saying, “I’m in chronic pain.” In most cases, unless the problem has reached a point where there’s an obvious abscess or broken jaw, the dog or cat continues to eat.

On the flip side, it is very common for us to hear from our clients that after the bad teeth were extracted, it was like they had a new cat or dog! We hear very commonly how clients had no idea that their pets were in so much discomfort and now the cat is back playing and hanging out with the owners every night, or the dog is playing tug-of-war again.

Myth #5: You can’t teach an old dog –or cat- new tricks.

Yes you can!  They just may take a little longer to learn.  When does this become important?

Many dogs, as they age, start to lose some housebreaking habits. Owners often come home to find accidents in the house, representing a behavior that had not been present since puppyhood.

The first step, of course, is to rule out or treat a medical reason for this. Meanwhile, patient re-training can be started. Just as with puppies, training involves all positive reinforcement: rewards outside for good behavior, pointing to the elimination and praising, letting the dog watch you clean it up. On the flip side, you have to ignore the indoor accidents in front of the dog- never let him see you clean it up, and don’t scold him or rub his nose in it.

Finally, don’t allow him the opportunity to do the wrong thing. This often entails confining him in certain areas of the house, restricting access to the newly minted accident areas, or even crating her.

When cats age, they often have special dietary requirements. Converting a cat that is addicted to a certain company’s flavor or texture of food, like only dry food, can be a challenge. And this challenge is magnified when other cats in the house transition to the improved diet at different rates, or when other cats have their own special dietary needs.

The good news is that you can train cats to eat in their own areas, and it will take just a few days. One of our technicians used to line up four cat carriers, each one designated for a specific cat. And they all learned within a few days to go into their specific carrier at mealtime. Dr. Epstein has three cats that eat at different paces, including one who has pills hidden in her food. At mealtime, they each go to a different location in the house (laundry room on top of the dryer, floor outside the laundry room door, and upstairs hallway).

These are just two examples of teaching old dogs and cats important new tricks. It just goes to show you that with age comes wisdom!