Ask The Vet – Dr. Travis Gray

Hi, my name is Travis and I’m a vet at TAH Rosmead in Cape Town, dealing exclusively with dogs and cats. I’m a cat-lover, and proud cat-dad to two rescues named Natsu and Falcon. In a world filled with conflicting veterinary information, Pet Prints has given me a chance to try and make sense of some of the muddle. So, if you have anything you want to ask, send it through and I’ll do my best to help you out.

Q: Hi Dr Travis, I have two cats who normally get along beautifully, but recently one has started bullying the other, hissing, blocking access to the litter box, and swatting whenever she passes. I’ve tried adding extra litter trays and feeding them separately, but the tension hasn’t eased. Could you please help me understand what might trigger sudden aggression between cats that used to be close, and how I can safely reintroduce harmony at home without causing more stress

A: This is a tricky question, but when a cat is showing sudden changes in behaviour, the first thing to consider is whether the cat is in pain. Cats don’t tend to obviously show pain, and sometimes the signs can be vague like a slight reduction in appetite or activity, but behavioural changes can be seen as well. For this reason, I would recommend having a health check done at your local vet to make sure that there isn’t a medical reason (such as an overactive thyroid, joint pain, dental disease or bladder infection) for what you’re seeing. A health check is also recommended to determine whether your cat is healthy enough to trial behavioural medication, if that becomes necessary. Before jumping to pharmaceuticals, a consultation with an animal behaviourist is also advised. Cats are famously sensitive creatures, and anything new to the household in the form of pets or people, or even a change in routine might be enough to pull their nose out of joint. This makes it challenging to figure out what the cause of their abnormal behaviour is, if a medical issue is not found. With regards to managing the new household dynamic, it sounds like you have already explored the basics of adding new litter boxes and feeding stations to reduce the competition for resources. Also be mindful of the attention that you are giving each cat if you aren’t doing that already. Calming pheromones can be very effective in promoting a calmer household, without any negative side effects. These come as collars, sprays and diffusers that are easy to order online if you want to try them. There is also a therapeutic diet that is formulated with proteins to help maintain emotional wellbeing, which could also be of benefit to you. Have a chat with your local vet if you want any more specifics about these products. After trying all of the above, you might still need some pharmaceutical help. This isn’t always a permanent solution and is often used as an intermediate term solution while working on behaviour modification with an animal behaviourist. There are several different medications that can be considered, and the choice will depend on the goal of treatment, health status and any other behavioural therapy that’s already being used.

I hope this answer helps. This is a very deep subject that is difficult to discuss in depth in this column. Unfortunately, some trial and error is part of the journey as well, so working alongside a vet and a behaviourist that you can develop a relationship with is important

Q: Dear Doctor Travis, I recently adopted a young rescue who came from a pretty rough background. She’s doing really well physically, but she’s extremely anxious during thunderstorms and fireworks. I’ve read about calming chews, pressure vests, and even mild sedatives, but I’m not sure which approach is safest or most effective. Could you please share your advice on how to help a dog with severe noise anxiety both in the short term (when a storm hits) and long term through training or desensitisation?

A: Fear and anxiety in response to loud noises is common in dogs. Unfortunately, this isn’t really something that can be trained out of them, but treatment is essential as their fear will continue to increase with repeated stressful events. Dogs in severe distress are also prone to injuring themselves, which is a common consequence of fireworks being set off in residential areas.

Right off the bat, I would recommend visiting your local vet to get short term anxiolytic drugs to use during stressful events. Medications such as Alprazolam, Trazadone or Clomipramine are most commonly prescribed. The effects of Alprazolam can be unpredictable in dogs, with some patients needing higher doses than others. For this reason, I normally start on the lower end of the dose range and advise owners to use the medication for the first time on a quiet night to gauge how sensitive their dog is to the medication effect.Thereafter, the dose can be incrementally increased if needed. Aside from medication, you can also make the home environment feel a little safer during loud noise events. Try to reduce exposure to the noise by putting your dog in the quietest room, and introducing some white noise such as soft music or a fan. You can also try to distract your dog with treats or a fun activity. There are many “natural” products and supplements which claim to help with noise phobia, many of which don’t have much evidence to support their claims. There is a 2023 review in Animals (a journal based in Switzerland) that reports that the effectiveness of these products doesn’t seem to be much better than the placebo effect.

The best performing non-pharmaceutical product in this review was the use of a pressure vest. A pressure vest is a tight fitting garment that reportedly relieves stress by exerting deep pressure on the animal wearing it. The important thing to note about pressure vests, is that we don’t want our dogs associating them with negative events. Be sure to get your dog used to wearing the vest before the stressful event, and use it repeatedly during non-stressful events to prevent this bad association. I suggest that a pressure vest is worth trying, but in combination with a pharmaceutical product and the environmental changes mentioned above. For long term management, desensitization using CDs or phone apps seems to have a good success rate. Counterconditioning during the event, by “rewarding” the loud noise with treats or games seems to work even better. In an online questionnaire about treatments used for dogs during fireworks, an astounding 70% of respondents said that real-time counterconditioning was effective in their dogs. Like with any behavioural intervention, this will take time and patience, but if the studies are to be believed, the effort will be worth it.

Q: Hello Dr Travis, I recently adopted a young cockatiel, and I want to make sure I’m giving him the best possible care from the start. I’ve read so many conflicting things about diet, some say seed mixes are fine, others say pellets and fresh vegetables are essential. Could you please clarify what a truly balanced parrot diet should look like, and whether there are any foods I should absolutely avoid? Also, how do I tell if he’s getting enough variety and nutrients to keep his feathers and beak healthy?

A: Bird nutrition is complicated, and a lot of owners are unknowingly negligent when it comes to the nutrition requirements of their bird companions. In the wild, cockatiels eat a variety of seeds, fruit and vegetation; depending on what is seasonally available. The goal is to try and recreate this in your home environment. It helps to feed the more ‘nutritional’ parts of the diet earlier in the day when your cockatiel is hungry and more likely to eat it. High quality pellets formulated for cockatiels should form the basis of the diet as this is the easiest way to make sure your cockatiel’s requirements are being met. Pellets should make up 70-80% of the entire diet. Fresh water must be available at all times. Seed mixes are fine in limited amounts and cockatiels love to eat them, but they are too high in fat and too nutritionally unbalanced to be fed as the only food source. Another problem with seed mixes is that birds can select out their favourite seeds and leave the rest, further worsening the nutritional imbalance. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be given in smaller amounts, making up about 20% of your cockatiel’s diet. There are many online resources with long lists of fruit and vegetables which are safe to feed, and these can be rotated to match the season for some variety. Ideally, these should be cut into small pieces with pips removed, and should only be left in the cage for a few hours to avoid spoilage. Also remember that fruit is high in sugar and water, so should only be fed in small amounts. Avocado and onions are toxic to birds so don’t feed those! Caring for a bird can be quite specialized, and if this is your first cockatiel, I would recommend that you schedule a health check with a vet with a special interest in exotic animals. They will be able to advise you on preventative health care and husbandry to ensure that your cockatiel lives a long, happy and healthy life.

Q: Dear Dr Travis, my daughter’s pet mouse has developed a small lump on her side, but she’s still eating and playing normally. I’ve read that mice are prone to tumours, but I’m not sure how to tell whether this one is dangerous or just a fatty lump. Could you please explain what signs to look out for that might indicate a tumour that needs removal, and whether surgery is safe for such a tiny animal?

A: It is unfortunately true that mice are prone to developing tumours, but there is no quick and easy way to know if a growing mass is dangerous or not. Some say that if the lump feels fatty, or is easily movable, then it’s probably benign. The problem with this thinking is that nothing in biology is guaranteed, and I’ve seen many nasty tumours that looked and felt benign until I investigated a bit further. Plus, even a benign growth can grow to a size that can affect the mouse’s movement and quality of life. With any lump (in any animal) it’s always best to act quickly and get the lump checked by a vet that is knowledgeable in small mammals. If the lump is big enough, the vet might be able to perform a needle aspirate. This is a quick procedure where we collect a sample of cells from the mass using a needle and examine it under a microscope. It’s not a foolproof test, and sometimes the samples aren’t very good, but it does give the vet an idea of how worried they should be.

If you have a question about your pets health that you would like to ask Dr Travis, please email us at mail@petprints.co.za