Dear Fisher,
I have two very important questions about my eating habits. The first is, my owner tries to feed me in the morning but for some reason I don’t want to eat. If my beloved owner coaxes me into eating then I eventually eat. Sometimes my beloved owner will try to make me hungry by not feeding me to see if I’ll eat on my own but I’ll just sneak some of the cat’s food, hehe.
Secondly, my owner will give me a chewy treat that I really cherish. When he tries to touch me or get the treat from me I will growl at him and sometimes bite him. I don’t bite too hard so he won’t get mad at me.
What can I do; why am I this way? Please help you are my only hope!
Bubs
Dear Bubs,
First on my list of to do’s is for your owner to make sure you have a healthy check up at the vet clinic to determine if there are any underlying health reasons for your refusal to eat. Having cleared all that let us analyze your behavior a little further to determine if your refusal to eat has anything to do with your love for some extra attention. Are you just finicky, or are you focused on receiving an extra treat to compensate for not eating your breakfast? If that is the case, your owner can help change your refusal to eat by deciding you are just not hungry, and ignoring you. Probably not the result you are looking for.
Another take on your behavior, other than vying for attention, is that you are engaging in “the hunt”. As a direct descendent of wolves living in the wild, you are calling up the need to forage for food. By your actions, you are first refusing to eat food put in front of you for the greater adventure of stealing some of the cat’s food. Since cat food is not very satisfying, and the cat could give a you-know-what, your adventure moves on to finding food that you have to work for. Working to get that beloved treat is much more satisfying to you than simply munching on dog food lovingly put in your food bowl – which could be mundane and pretty darn hard to make you feel good about your “catch”.
The hunt becomes successful when your owner offers up the treat. You play out your role as foraging wild critter by growling and biting anyone who comes near your conquest. Very clever and self entertaining! But, as a domesticated canine, you really are more interested in making your owner happy.
To make your owner happy, let him “train” you. By all means, make sure he thinks it is his idea. A few simple strategies from the Sacramento SPCA are:
1. Positive Attention: Give praise when you eat breakfast out of your bowl, or when you quit munching on the cat food.
2. Interrupt and Redirect: Give a shout like “hey!” and a possibly a loud hand clap when you growl at him for touching you while you are eating on your chewy treat.
3. Ignore: If your owner ignores you, you just lost the purpose for your behavior.
4. Negative Attention: Your owner must try not to give negative attention because it is still, after all, attention.
Just remember that if your happy car ride with your beloved owner stops in front of the vet clinic, it was you who made it happen!
Your friend,
Fisher
published in tbt Tampa Bay Out There weekend edition
I’m an inside cat but sometimes I get to go out on the patio with my people. I have to be supervised. That’s what they say. I love all the flowers and plants out there, but they fuss at me whenever I try to nab a bite. They say some plants are poisonous, but how do I know which are good and which are bad? They know I don’t always remember the rules so maybe they should get rid of the poisonous plants?
Waldo
Dear Waldo,
Keep in mind that your humans buy plants because they are beautiful on the patio or in the yard, and they do supervise you so you won’t get into trouble. Sometimes severe weather conditions can cause humans to bring outside plants inside. They are usually under some stress when that happens and might forget about the seriousness of exposing you to plants dangerous to your health.
Campaign for CATNIP! When it shows up as a “special treat” on the patio, make sure to show a great deal of appreciation. Don’t hold back on silly antics that make them laugh. Cuddle up to them and show off your loving nature. That should guarantee a steady supply of catnip and then you must leave the other plants alone. And do not forget!
Several sites on the internet provide lists of poisonous plants. There are a few variations, but when in doubt, just stay away. Some plants on the list that are common in or area are:
• Castor Bean (Ricinus communis)
• Daffodil (Narcissus spp.)
• English Ivy (Hedera helix L.)
• Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea L.)
• Hyacinth (Hyacinth orientalis)
• Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)
• Oleander (Nerium oleander L.)
• Philodendron (Philodendron spp.)
• Rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.)
• Tulip (Tulipa spp.)
Go to Library UIUC Education for an extensive list of plants.
Some of the common symptoms of plant poisoning are loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, pale tongue or gums, swollen tongue, abdominal pain, or worse yet, convulsions. When in doubt, your people should call your veterinarian with as many details and suspicions as possible. They must remain calm and coherent, lest the vet will suspect they have also chewed on a few plants.
As a back up, cut this out and stick it on the refrigerator door:
The Animal Poison Control Center is a unique, emergency hotline providing 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week telephone assistance to veterinarians and animal owners. There is a $50 consultation fee paid by the animal owner, veterinarian or product manufacturer.
Animal Poison Control Center 1-888-426-4435
Your safest plan is to confine your dining to only substances put lovingly into your very own food bowl.
Your friend,
Fisher
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
