Veterinarian Answers Pet Questions From Twitter

I'm veterinarian Dr. Molly McAllister,

and this is my dog Jack.

Today, we're here to answer your questions on Twitter.

This is Vet Support.

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@dontforgetchaos asks,

Why don't we keep squirrels as pets?

We keep rats, rabbits, mice, et cetera.

Why not squirrels? I'd like a pet squirrel.

No, you wouldn't. Squirrels do not make good pets.

They are destructive.

They have teeth and claws and they will chew things up.

Squirrels are not social animals.

In fact, they will turn on people,

including handlers who have raised them from babies.

And number three, squirrels are not able

to be litter-trained or trained

in any way, shape, or form.

All in all, squirrels don't make good pets.

Stick with your dog, your rabbit, your mouse, or even a rat.

@santeisha asks,

Where do these [beep] hairballs come from?

If you own a cat, you've certainly seen them grooming.

They spend hours of their day, quite literally,

grooming themselves by licking the fur.

That takes the loose hair,

and oftentimes they tend to swallow that.

And rather than digest it,

the cat's GI system enables them to gather that hair up

and regurgitate it.

So they do spit it back up.

And that ends up being the nice hairball

that we find probably on our nice carpet.

And that is just the nature of cats.

So @loremercad asks,

What causes obesity in cats and dogs?

It's when the calories

that they consume exceed the calories that they burn.

So it's a mismatch in how much we feed them

and how much activity they get

because we control that.

And then let's make sure

that they get lots of exercise, as well.

Because it's good for all of us.

All right, @xxuemei asks,

Why my sugar glider have so many problems? Crying face.

Sugar gliders, you know, they are an exotic animal.

They have some husbandry challenges.

They require a unique environment.

So that's number one.

Here's another big thing about them.

You know, sugar gliders glide.

Therefore, they love playing,

and you've gotta have a safe enclosure

or space for them to play because otherwise,

one of the most common things that happens

with sugar gliders is trauma.

They glide into a curtain and they break a leg

or they get strangled.

They end up somewhere they're not supposed to be,

and they get stuck, they get scratched, they get hurt.

So you've gotta make sure you've got

a safe place for your sugar glider.

The other piece

is they're pretty sensitive little critters.

They can dehydrate in a matter of hours

if they don't have access to enough water.

They're also very susceptible to toxins.

And so they eat a variety of fruits and vegetables.

And if you don't clean what you buy

from the store well enough,

you can actually poison your sugar glider

by giving them food that's contaminated

at levels that wouldn't impact you or I

but that do impact the sugar glider.

So at the end of the day,

if you're gonna have a sugar glider,

you gotta make sure you know what you're getting into,

and you gotta make sure you partner

with a veterinarian who can help you make sure

you're providing that sugar glider

with the right environment and the right home and lifestyle

to keep them healthy and safe as long as possible.

@natehankz asks,

Why are hedgehogs banned as pets in New York City,

yet people keep finding tigers in apartments?

You know Taylor Swift has at least two full jaguars

and a goose.

Now hedgehogs in particular,

they are are illegal in the five boroughs of New York City.

The reasons are because number one,

they can carry diseases that can be transmitted

to other animals.

Foot and mouth disease is the big one.

And number two, oftentimes exotic animals are prohibited

because if they were to escape,

they could do significant harm

to the native wildlife in the area.

And that's the case with hedgehogs in New York City.

Here's the thing. Exotic pets are a handful.

You gotta be careful with what you're getting

into because they have unique needs

in terms of the environment they need to live in.

So whether T Swift is doing it or not,

we all should think twice or maybe three times

before we adopt an exotic animal as a pet.

@KolourfulGurl asks, Is cat urine toxic?

I think it is.

No, I wouldn't recommend drinking it.

I wouldn't recommend injecting it.

But it's not toxic. It's just urine.

@lpush_oldpeopl3 asks,

How do dogs get cancer?

Like, I'm sorry, but are they smoking or sum?

Here's the thing with dogs.

They get cancer for a lot of the same reasons we do.

First of all, genetics. They can just be predisposed.

Certain breeds are predisposed to certain types of cancers.

For example, we know that German shepherds

and boxer dogs have a much higher likelihood

of developing a cancer called hemangiosarcoma.

We also know that, for example,

dogs with short hair can be more prone

to developing something called a mast cell tumor.

But also, just like us,

dogs are a recipient of what's

in the environment around them.

So we know people sometimes get lung cancer

even though they never smoked a day in their life.

Same thing happens with dogs.

They live in the household where someone is smoking.

They're close to contaminants or toxins.

Think about where a dog's nose is.

All day they're down on the ground.

So we don't always know why a dog gets cancer,

but what we do know is they're exposed

to the same kind of environments that we are.

And so the same things that cause cancer

in people can cause cancer in dogs, unfortunately.

Okay, for this question,

I'm gonna need to call in the expert.

Let's call in Jack.

Jack, come on!

So @ItsMeLexie1 asks,

Are you supposed to brush a dog's teeth?

And the simple answer to that question is yes.

We find that about 80% of dogs

that come into our hospitals and 85% of cats

between the ages of three and ten come in

with evidence of dental disease.

So Jack here is a great example

of a dog who will let you brush his teeth.

And it's something that you can start

with any dog or cat from a young age.

Jack, sit. Good boy.

So one way, if you've never done this before,

is to use a finger toothbrush.

So what's important is we call it flip the lip.

You flip the lip up, you take a look at their teeth,

and you do a gentle scrub.

And then with bigger dogs or pets who are used to it,

you can actually use a special modified toothbrush

that fits a dog's mouth.

You flip the lip,

and you go ahead and brush their teeth

to remove that bacteria and that early source

of dental infection or dental disease

that we might find in our own teeth.

The teeth provide a really great surface area

for bacteria to grab hold.

And as they begin to climb up under the gums,

they have really easy access to the circulatory system.

And once those bacteria get into the circulatory system,

they spread throughout the body.

So here's the thing when it comes

to taking care of your pet's teeth.

The reality is that they lead a shorter life than us,

a more accelerated life.

And so we should be taking care of their teeth

to the same degree as we take care of our own,

if not even more.

The next question from @PetsQandA is,

What's the best way to cut a dog's nail?

What's really important is that you get your dog used

to having their nails trimmed.

And this is something that you can start as a puppy

because many dogs don't normally,

don't naturally like to have their paws touched.

So to cut a dog's nail, you want to look closely

and differentiate between the pink living flesh

of their nail and the white part,

which is the same as the white part of our nails,

as it grows out beyond the blood vessels.

Now, this can be much harder to do

in a dog with a dark nail.

And it's also important to recognize

that the more often you do it,

the more frequently you trim their nails,

the easier it becomes.

They that helps the blood vessels to recede,

so you're less likely to do what we call quicking them,

which means that you've cut it too short

and you've actually cut into the sensitive tissue.

But I can show you here just a little bit where

you find just the tip of the nail,

insert it through the trimmer, quick trim.

His are so short that all I'm having

to do is just scrape off the very edge of them.

Make sure your dog gets used to you holding his paws

and gets comfortable with that idea

and do it on a regular basis.

@YubaVetTech posts a question of the day.

How is heartworm spread? And what is heartworm?

This is a fascinating question

because heartworm is preventable.

It is extremely serious if dogs and cats acquire it,

but it is preventable.

So heartworm disease. What is it?

Well, it's a parasite that's transmitted by mosquitoes.

A mosquito bites a dog,

it picks up some baby parasites,

they develop within the mosquito

and the next dog or cat that mosquito bites gets

that heartworm disease.

Those worms then spend about six months living

in that animal until they take up residence in the heart,

where they mate, they reproduce,

and they produce their own little baby parasites.

When a dog or cat acquires heartworm,

it is fatal unless treated.

It is treatable in dogs,

although quite expensive and quite risky.

It is not treatable in cats.

So the end of the story, we need to prevent it.

This is a really important question this year

because we know that because of temperature

and climate changes that are expected in 2022,

there will be a higher instance of heartworm.

So if you aren't using heartworm preventative

for your dog and cat today, go talk to your veterinarian.

Every pet should be

on heartworm preventative every month of the year.

@gracerasner asks,

Why the hell would you declaw a cat?

Do you know what declawing a cat actually is?

It's amputation of the end digits of their fingers

to remove their claws.

And that actually has been shown to result

in long term chronic pain for cats who have been declawed.

You know, the veterinary hospital that I work for, Banfield,

along with many others does not condone the practice

of declawing cats anymore.

It does not generally solve the problem

it's intended to solve, which is cats scratching or clawing.

And it is painful and harmful

to the long-term wellbeing of our cats.

So let's not declaw cats.

Let's talk to veterinary teams

about what other options are available for them.

@KJyoung428 asks the question,

What are the benefits and negative effects

of neutering a male dog?

Number one, minimizing overpopulation.

If they're neutered, they can't reproduce,

so we won't have unwanted puppies.

There are a couple of other benefits.

One being that neutering a dog causes some behavior changes.

Primarily important to most pet owners is

that it diminishes their likelihood of roaming.

The other thing that's related

to that sort of wandering behavior is

that unneutered male dogs are more likely

to be hit by a car.

That's really just secondary to the fact

that they're out wandering about.

But there are a couple of reasons like that

that make it wise to neuter a dog,

if you don't have any intentions of breeding them.

@PetMD asks,

What is grain-free pet food really?

Logistically, grain-free pet food means

that the pet food has taken traditional ingredients,

like wheat and corn,

and replace them with something like legumes or potatoes.

So the food still has a carbohydrate source,

but it's been changed from a grain to a non-grain.

Here's the thing we really have to get

at with this question is, is grain-free actually better?

And the reality is that what is most important

in any pet food is the nutrients that are conveyed

to the pet.

The fat, the protein, the carbohydrates,

the minerals, the vitamins, et cetera.

So what you wanna look at for a food

is not whether it's grain-free or not,

but you wanna look at the overall nutrient profile

and definitely talk with your veterinary team

to find the right diet

that suits your pet's unique nutritional needs.

@mooseandriosmom asks,

If I gave my horse worm medicine in June

but I do not believe it was a good brand,

can I give him another dose?

I think he needs it.

If I can find any with all the weirdos buying it.

Humans should not be buying horse medicine for humans.

It's for horses.

If you dewormed your horse in June and it's July,

for example, you don't need to deworm them again.

Horses generally need to be dewormed

in the spring and the fall.

Worse comes to worse,

your vet can run what we call a fecal examination

on your horse's feces, on their poop, on their manure,

and find out if it does indeed have parasites

and need to be dewormed.

That's a foolproof way.

You can cause harm

by deworming a horse when they don't need it

because we can actually cause resistance against

the medications that we use to deworm horses

in those parasites that do exist in the environment.

So @SurvivorKitty asks,

Okay, advice.

What's the best way to get a cat

to take its medication without being attacked?

First of all, if you're lucky enough to have a dog

or cat that will take their medication in their food,

make sure you talk to your vet

and get something that's suitable to provide

to them in that form.

They also make some great treats that you can buy

over the counter that have little holes

in them that enable you to put a pill

or a little bit of liquid,

so you can give your pet a treat as you medicate them.

And many pets will take that.

Some require the use of a little more intervention.

For example, we make something called a pill gun,

which helps you to take the pill,

get it to the back of your pet's mouth,

and kind of shoot it in so that they swallow it

without too much resistance.

So if it's not working, talk to your veterinary team,

and there's definitely alternatives out there.

So those are all the questions we have time for today.

But Jack, those were some great questions, weren't they?

Yeah.

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