By Dr Diane Wilshaw
Q) I have a 9 week old kitten who has just had her first vaccination. I have noticed that she has some fresh bright red blood in her poo. Her poo is soft so I don’t think she is constipated. What could be causing this..
A) The vaccinations given to animals are a small dose of the actual disease that the vaccine is designed to prevent. By injecting the pet with this vaccine it stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies which will help to ward off the disease in the future. Initially when an animal is vaccinated it can cause the animal to be ‘poorly’ for a couple of days and exhibit the symptoms you describe. If the symptoms continues for more than a couple of days have your pet checked out as it could just be co-incidence that it has occurred following a vaccination.
Q) My cat has just given birth to kittens. How long should I wait before having her neutered?
A) A cat can get pregnant as soon as eight weeks after giving birth so we would recommend having her neutered as soon as she has stopped producing milk.
Q) I have a 6 month old spaniel who has broken a tooth when he was chewing a stone. At the time it bled a bit but doesn’t seem to be causing him any problems now. Is it OK to leave it?
A) I would certainly suggest that you have your dog examined by a vet. The dog could have just broken a tip but could have done more significant damage and left an exposed area of the gum. If this gets infected it could lead to an absess which is quite serious.
Q) I have a female Lhasa Apso who wees when she gets excited, for example when visitors come to the house and make a fuss of her. I have been told that she will grow out of this – is this right?
A) Many puppies will go through a stage of weeing and grow out of it but this sounds like it is behaviour related. Some dogs will wet when they are excited or anxious so the solution is to try to avoid these situations. Ask visitors to ignore her when they first enter the house as fussing her will just compound the problem. Do not chastise your dog when she wets as this could cause more anxiety.
