Vet’s Views
Dr Kaushlendra Kumar
The doctor has been practising in Lucknow for the past 20 years in canine and other pet animal medicine and surgery
Q: My two-year-old Spitz suffers from a tick problem. I had taken her to a vet who gave me a shampoo. I have bathed her but the ticks don't go. Is there a permanent solution to the problem? -Divya Tripathi
Shampoo and powders are some of the temporary solutions for tick management in pets. In earlier times, those were the only available options. But now we have very good quality and safe spot-ons, anti-tick collars, and also tablets that are readily available in veterinary stores and which give a minimum of one month to a maximum of eight months’ coverage. These are not permanent treatments, but they provide your pet protection from ticks for a very long time. But drug dosage should be decided only by your vet otherwise it might cause some adverse reactions too.
Q: My Labrador is two years old. She has a habit of sneaking out of doors and playing with street dogs. We have her fully vaccinated. Is that okay if she mingles with the mongrels? -RajKaushal
A mingling of pets with stray animals or mongrels is an act of socialization. There is nothing wrong with the habit. You must get lots of exercise and have fun games at least thrice a week. Though your pet is vaccinated, the transmission of infectious/zoonotic diseases remains possible because mongrels harbour many viruses and bacteria in their body which they can easily transmit to your pet. Skin infections called scabies etc are also transmissible. Therefore, avoid mingling your pets with other non-vaccinated animals.
Q: My mixed breed terrier keeps getting allergies in the belly section. At first, I was alarmed and consulted a vet. He gave me a spray that was okay but we developed an allergy to it and the dog also resisted every time we tried to spray the medicine. Anyway, I have now noticed that my pet gets allergies as a routine. Please advise me on what to do. -Shashank Dubey
Allergy itself is a very vast topic for both humans and animals. Allergy to any agent, food items, environment, and lifestyle is a great challenge to deal with. You can eliminate one by one which food could be allergic to your pet by eliminating that food for at least 7 days and so on. In the outside environment also, pets can be allergic to dust, pollution, and moisture. Once the agent is known, try to avoid that agent. Any anti-allergic agent can be used either in tablet or syrup form. But sprays are not liked by your pets. The reason is they don't like the chill gaseous sprays and their sound. Very costly but highly effective injections are available even if the exact cause of the allergy is not known.
Q: I have a five-year-old Indie female dog that was earlier very active. However, lately, she has become quite dull and prefers to sleep most of the time. Can she be ill or is she aging? -Seema Chatterjee
Five years in any breed of dog is quite a young age. If your Indie dog is dull, depressed, and lethargic, you must consult a vet and get everything checked up. Routine examination with blood, urine, and stool is a must. Apart from that see if she is into depression of any kind. Separation anxiety also becomes prevalent. But mostly, I see some serious illness in your pet. Kindly refer to your vet only. If it is a recent case, then rain invites a good number of infections too.
Q: There is a stray cat that frequents my house. She is unafraid of us and comes near us to rub her body fondly against our feet. However, of late my son and I have started noticing uneven colouring on her skin and her fur is also thinning. Is that a disease and can we treat her at home?- KK Singh
Stray pets- either dogs or cats- harbour and carry lots of infections on and inside their bodies which they are not affected by much usually. This cat might be having some external parasitic infestation and therefore changing of colour and thinning of fur is seen. Get her checked up, and follow your vet's guidelines. Probably these problems will be solved by anti-parasitic drugs and a few general tonics for cats.
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