Dear Fisher,

My name is Shiloh, I am a 1.5 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and I love to pick up things off the floor.

Usually they are things my owners can’t see, and I pick them up so quickly they can’t get it back from me! I find great fun in this! This makes my owners very upset! They do try and catch me, and when they tell me to drop it, I swallow it instead. I think this is a fun game, but they worry that I’ll choke, or worse, get poisoned. How can I break this addiction!? HELP!

Shiloh

Dear Shiloh,

I can tell from your letter that you like to have fun and are quite impish at times. That is all well and good, but causing worry to those who care for you is not in your best interest. You are not alone in your addiction to picking things up off the floor and swallowing them, but you do stand out in that you seem to know this is a very bad idea.

I have seen stories of dogs swallowing multiple pieces of underwear, flip-flops, cartons of butter, and even knives. One of the scariest is the ingestion of a human’s medication. Because you are on the small side, you may not go for the larger items, but all things being relative, small items can be just as destructive to your internal systems. Pathogens and bacteria are found in all sorts of very clean houses. Ingestion happens without your even knowing it, but if you have ever witnessed one of your humans going through the “throws” of flu, you know what you can expect. That could cure your addiction in a hurry!

Your first task is to take time out and consider the source of your behavior. Are you stressed, bored, or just in need of attention? Remember, there are both negative and positive types of attention. If you are bored or stressed, extra long walks and more play time could help. If that does not help, your humans may just resort to confining you to a pen, allowing them to go about their day with a lot less worry.

There are other ideas that are much more fun. Lore I. Haug, DVM, MS, DACVB, of Texas A & M’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital wrote a paper entitled, “Environmental Enrichment for Dogs”. Dr. Haug states, “Pet dogs on average spend less than 15 minutes per day eating because they do not have to forage for food.” Aha! Do you see the problem here? I vote for boredom!

Now, read on for some of Haug’s excellent suggestions and share them with your humans:

*Feed the dog from a Buster Cube or Roll-A-Treat ball.
*Divide portions of the dog’s meal into small Tupperware containers and hide them around the house for the dog to find.
*Build the dog a sand box either by sectioning off a 4-5 foot square area in your yard or buying a child’s wading pool and filling it with sand and dirt.
*Buy the dog a child’s wading pool and fill it with water. If the dog enjoys both water and digging, you can alternate the substrate in the pool each week.
*Place vegetables or fruits (e.g. melons, apples, lettuce, squash, watermelon, carrots, celery, etc. out in the yard or you can bury them in the sand box or float them in the wading pool.

If that does not help you, I encourage you to visit The Most Shocking Things Ever Found Inside of a Dog’s Stomach. This is for you to read. Your humans already know the risks.

Your friend,

Fisher

published in tbt* Tampa Bay

Dear Fisher,

My folks brush me all the time and they still talk about all the hair on the new sofa where I love to take my morning nap. When I get up to get a little snack or do my daily duties, I always seem to leave a pile of fur behind on the upholstery.

I think this is just natural, but they get a little tired of it, especially when they get unexpected company. My human dad had a businessman call on him and the man sat on the sofa because it’s very comfortable. When the meeting was over and the man left the house, my dad watched him walk away to his next meeting with my hair all over his nice suit. That didn’t go over very well. Any suggestions?

Isabella

Dear Isabella,

You are absolutely right when you say shedding in cats (and dogs) is perfectly normal. Shedding is most prominent when the seasons change. Going from a winter coat to a summer coat, even in Florida, is your way to lighten the load of fur so you will be cooler. This is especially true for outdoor cats, who are a little more tuned into the weather changes. As an inside cat, shedding is just something that goes on pretty much all year.

But, while the “insiders” do not have to experience the whims of Mother Nature, they are subject to the whims of their caretakers. Even the use of more lighting on a dark day or air-conditioning on a hot day can cause a little ebb and flow in your shedding. So it is not something you are doing wrong. I suspect your humans know that and are not blaming you. They just would like to know what to do about the seemingly endless fur extraction.

Cats (and dogs) under normal conditions will shed in order to rid their bodies of dead hair. Dead hair is perfectly normal in just about any hairy species and can cause skin irritations and itching. If one should happen not to get a proper daily brushing, the animal will handle the matter themselves with a proper “hair be gone!” attitude. Hence the emerging new look in upholstery and business suits.

There are also underlying conditions that could cause abnormal shedding. Allergies or hormone imbalance could be a cause, and your veterinarian will know how to help you. Your humans can do a quick double check first by pulling lightly on some of your fur. If a few strands come out, you are most likely within the normal range of shedding. If large tufts of hair come out, I suggest they get thee to the clinic for evaluation. A very good web site for more information is Cat Health.

If your health is good, daily brushing is really the best answer. I would advise your humans to check on the many choices at the pet stores and purchase a brush specific to cats. A simple exercise of brushing the hair all in the one direction, specifically downward from the neck to the tail will do wonders to solve your problem. If you are extremely hairy and massive amounts of fur are exorcized during brushing, they may even want to take you outside for the event.

I have not done any research on the subject of hair falling on tomato plants, but maybe I will look into it. This whole problem could be a win-win situation. If there is a benefit, or re-use for good, to your shedding hair, I will let you know.

Your friend,

Fisher

published in tbt* Tampa Bay