Catnip is not harmful to cats of any age unless ingested in large quantities. Catnip contains an opioid (opium or morphine-like) substance that may cause your cat to exhibit the following behaviors: • Sniffling, chewing and batting around the catnip source, salivating profusely • Shaking their heads • Rolling and rubbing themselves on the floor • Becoming ataxic, falling and stumbling • Tandem kicking forward with the hind feet • Excitement and chasing behavior Too much catnip may make your cat aggressive or may make him ataxic and stumbling when he/she walks. Small amounts of cat nip will give your cat a euphoric feeling for a short time. If these behaviors occur, you may wish to discontinue offering this particular treat.    « less

According to the Torrance Animal Control you can legally have 3 animals of one species (for example 3 cats OR 3 dogs) and a total of 4 animals if mixed species (for example 3 cats and 1 dog or 2 cats and 2 dogs). This law does not apply toward small caged animals that are housed indoors (such as small exotic animals – rodents and lizards, etc).   « less

Geriatric cats can get constipated for several reasons including: decreased water intake, increased urination, and decreased intestinal motility. You should have your pet examined by a veterinarian and consider running a geriatric blood profile to check for kidney disease and diabetes. Some cats can also develop megacolon which will result in severe constipation. Megacolon occurs when the large intestine looses its ability to move stool through the body. If no underlying problems are found, you can try to switch your pet to a canned food diet (these have increase water content) or giving her commercial feline laxatives (CatLax, Laxatone, others). Canned pumpkin is another excellent laxative.   « less

There is a law against dogs being on a leash in the back of a pick-up truck it is a very unsafe practice according to L.A. County Code Title 10, Section 10.80.010. If your dog were to get distracted and/or try to jump out of the bed of the truck, or if you were involved in an accident, your dog could be strangled to death or dragged in seconds. Even partial or brief strangulation can lead to life threatening problems.   « less

Pets who visit hospitals or retirement homes have to take special classes to receive a certification as a therapy dog. These steps are taken to ensure that the dogs have good temperments and will not be frightened of the equipment or environment in medical facilities. For instance, wheelchairs and walkers can be very frightening to a dog who has never seen them before. We do have a few clients at our clinic who have their dogs certified as therapy pets. Please contact Susan at Plaza Del Amo Animal Hospital to find out more information. susan@pdaah.com   « less

A small bit of brandy ingestion (licking it off a nose) is not harmful to either dogs or cats. However, if your pet has ingested a larger quantity of alcohol, they could become pretty ill. Vomiting and lethargy are common side effects of alcohol toxicity. Prolonged vomiting or lethargy could cause severe dehydration in any animal. In addition, they could develop gastrointestinal ulcerations. If your pet has accidentally ingested more than a few sips of alcohol and is showing any signs of problems, please see a veterinarian immediately.   « less

Home-cooking food for your dog is a perfectly acceptable thing to do. However, you must make sure that the diet is complete and balanced so that she does not develop a deficiency in any vitamins or nutrients. For clients who do not want to feed commercial diets or for the discriminating pet who does not like to eat commercial diets, I recommend going to the following website: www.Balanceit.com. This website is run by a veterinarian who specializes in nutrition and can help formulate a diet for your dog that is well balanced and caters to her particular tastes. I would still recommend having your dog examined by a veterinarian, however, to make sure there is not a medical reason for her decreased appetite. At 10 years of age, she is a senior dog and could have an underlying medical condition. If this is truly something she has done since 1 year of age, it may just be behavioral.    « less

It sounds like what you are describing is Tapeworms. The tapeworm is transmitted to dogs when the dog swallows a flea. The immature tapeworm is inside the flea and is released into the dog's intestines when the flea is digested away by stomach acid. The tapeworm attaches to the intestines and when fully grown sheds small pieces of itself out in the feces which are small white or tan segments about the size of rice. Sometimes the segments do wiggle around at first, but they will dry up and be deposited throughout the yard or house. Your dog needs to be dewormed to kill the tapeworms. In addition, you will need to place your dog on flea control because as long as there are fleas, he could become re- infected with tapeworms.    « less

There are several products you can use which can be sprinkled onto the food that give the feces a bitter taste. The product we use here is called For-bid. The important thing to remember is that you have to feed it to the dog (or cat) whose feces is being eaten, not to the one who is doing the eating.    « less

He is simply trying to find a comfortable place to lie down. Similar to how we fluff our pillows before we lie down to sleep at night.