All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

The dog who made a miracle happen

November 29, 2022Healing Power of PetsDr. Marty Becker

Imagine being a 5-year-old type 1 diabetic or her exhausted parents. What would it be like to be a 19-year-old college student struggling to develop independence when your health, and even your life, often depend on others to help you? Can you feel what it would be like to be the spouse or family member who never gets the chance to sleep without worry that their loved one will have a diabetic crisis in the night?

Let all that sink in, and then imagine that a trained diabetes alert dog came into your life and made all that struggle disappear!

That’s what happened when Monique La Bomme found Early Alert Canines (EAC) and was matched with her first trained diabetic alert dog (DAD), EAC Waimea, who passed away in 2021. Today, Monique is partnered with her new dog, EAC Jolo.

Monique was recently hospitalized for Diabetic Keto Acidosis (DKA), which is a serious complication of diabetes that can be life-threatening. The day before she went to the hospital, EAC Jolo spent the day constantly alerting and refusing to leave her side. Monique did her best to correct her blood sugar but was unable to regulate it.

“The next morning I was headed to the hospital,” she said, “Without EAC Jolo’s constant concern I may have ignored my symptoms longer, but we caught it early, resulting in a much shorter hospital stay. Hospitals are depressing, DKA will change your plans in a second, and having the sweetest and most loving dog at your side definitely helps.”

She continued, “These dogs are trained to help us identify blood glucose changes faster than most of our technology and to help prevent the numerous complications that come with the disease.They do not necessarily train the dogs for emotional support, but I promise every last dog is proficient in providing love and understanding. You can’t cuddle with your insulin pump after a long day. Their work is truly unmatched and for a fraction of the cost these dogs are truly guardian angels.”

Friends, if you can, please support this important work and help EAC raise $5,000, the cost of adding one trained dog to their program. Other than a small training fee, the dogs are provided free of cost to type 1 diabetics, so your support is crucial.

Please donate here.

You can even create your own Facebook fundraiser here.

Thank you, my friends, for your compassion and generosity!

Giardia in dogs is more common and more complicated than you think

November 22, 2022Pet Connection, Veterinary MedicineDr. Marty Becker

If your dog has diarrhea on and off and you can’t figure out why, a tiny single-celled culprit may be to blame. Here’s what I told a reader.

Q: My dog doesn’t seem to keep on any weight and has been having occasional diarrhea for no apparent reason. I took in a fecal sample and it showed that he had been exposed to giardia. What can you tell me about this?

A: Giardia is a tricky parasite. The single-celled protozoan can infect most domestic and wild animals, as well as humans, although the canine form is not transmissible from dogs to humans.

Infection with giardia has been reported in up to 39% of fecal samples from both pet dogs and cats and animals in shelters. It’s most common in puppies, but it can also affect older dogs.

Animals become infected with giardia when they ingest water contaminated with feces. The whiplike protozoans then take up residence in the small intestine, attaching to mucosal surfaces and absorbing nutrients that come through. When they reproduce, cysts pass in the feces to contaminate the environment and further spread the infection.

Giardia transmission occurs by what we call the fecal-oral route — ingestion of contaminated feces in water or other substances. Even a small amount is enough to give giardia a foothold in the body. High humidity helps ensure that the cysts survive in the environment, and overcrowding, whether in a shelter or kennel, aids transmission.

Many dogs with giardiasis show no signs, but others, like your dog, may lose weight or have chronic diarrhea. Vomiting can also be a sign. The parasite doesn’t always show up in stool samples, and veterinarians may need to do blood work to rule out conditions with similar signs, such as exocrine pancreatic insufficiency or other causes of intestinal malabsorption.

Your veterinarian may prescribe a dewormer or antibiotic — or a combination of the two — followed by a recheck of a stool sample.

There’s more in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet feature I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker.

Destructive cat? Here’s what you need to know

November 14, 2022Pet ConnectionDr. Marty Becker

One of the reasons I suggest adopting an adult or senior cat is that young cats can be a handful. If you, like this reader, have a kitty who loves to knock things off shelves, scratch the furniture, and more, here are Mikkel’s and my thoughts on what will help restore peace and serenity to the family.

Q: My cat lives to tear up my stuff. She’s always scratching the furniture, eating houseplants and knocking things off shelves. She’s 2 years old and has lots of toys. Help!

A: With their sharp claws and teeth and active curiosity, cats — especially young ones — have the potential to be destructive. They exercise paws and claws on prominent pieces of furniture; taste-test plants (and then upchuck the greens); and bat a paw at that knickknack your Aunt Ruby gave you just to see what will happen. Sometimes cats are just being cats, but often a little sleuthing will help you figure out why they behave in destructive ways.

Consider setting up a “cat cam” to see what goes on when you’re not at home. It can help determine what time of day your cat is most active or if something’s going on that triggers her destructive behavior. You may discover that another pet chases or teases her, causing her to jump up where those breakables are, or soothe her injured feelings by scratching the sofa or nibbling on a plant.

She may not find her toys entertaining enough. Offer new ones with brainteaser capabilities. A window perch with a view of squirrels and birds outdoors is another option. Institute 3 to 5 minutes of playtime with her a couple of times a day. She’ll enjoy the attention as well as the physical and mental exercise. Place a tall cat tree next to the item she enjoys scratching, and reward her with treats and praise for using it.

A veterinary exam may also be in order. Cats who eat plants or lick or chew fabric or carpet may have a gastrointestinal disorder. If she gets a clean bill of health, you may just have to give her time to outgrow her youthful enthusiasm.

There’s more in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet feature I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker.

The best place to get a kitten

October 27, 2022Pet ConnectionDr. Marty Becker

My trainer daughter, Mikkel Becker, and I teamed up to answer a reader who wasn’t sure where to get a kitten. Here’s our advice.

Q: My neighbor’s Siamese cat just had kittens, and she’s giving them away. Seems a lot easier and less expensive than getting one from the shelter. What do you think?

A: We don’t deny that it can be hard to go to the shelter and choose from among many kittens. Getting one from your neighbor could work out, but there are several factors to consider before you make your decision. We call them the “ifs.”

If you like the personality of your neighbor’s cat. If your neighbor’s Siamese is in good health and your neighbor can show records of regular veterinary care. If your neighbor is raising the kittens in the home and giving them lots of socialization. If you don’t care that the kittens won’t have registration papers. If those “ifs” are all OK with you, then this could be a convenient way for you to have a new BFF (best furry friend).

But wait! You should also consider all the benefits of adopting a kitten from the shelter, especially if your local shelter has a great foster program. The adoption fee may be $150 or more, but the kitten you take home will already be spayed or neutered and microchipped. That’s a big chunk of change right there. And if the kitten has been in a foster home, he or she is used to being handled and already accustomed to life in a house, with all that entails: the sounds of blenders and vacuum cleaners, and maybe the presence of a dog, another cat or kids.

What we don’t recommend is getting a kitten who is being given away or sold at a grocery store or flea market. You have no way of knowing how the kittens have been raised, whether they’ve been socialized, what veterinary care such as vaccinations or deworming they’ve received or what their parents’ temperaments are like.

There’s more in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet feature I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker.

What’s the best kind of cat litter?

October 20, 2022Pet Connection, Veterinary MedicineDr. Marty Becker

There are a lot of cat litter options out there. Which is best?

Q: What kind of cat litter is best?

A: The short answer to that question is whatever they’ll use. But as with anything cat-related, there are nuances. Factors that affect a cat’s preferences include scent and texture. Most cats prefer unscented litter.

A 2018 study looking at feline litter preferences found that the 18 participating cats had a significant preference for clay or silicate types of litter over wood pellets. In the second phase of the study, in which 12 cats took part, clay and silicate litters were compared. That time, cats preferred clay.

But the reason there are so many different types of litter is to appeal to specific cat and human preferences. Take clay litter. It’s inexpensive, absorbent, widely available and — at least in this study — cats like it. Clumping clay litter is easy to scoop, and cats like the sandy texture.

But clay litters can be dusty, and cats tend to track it through the house. That’s where litters based on paper, wood and plants come into play. They’re great for people who have allergies and need to keep dust levels low. They’re also biodegradable and flushable, if a “green” litter is important to you.

Silica-based litter, which resembles little crystals, is also biodegradable, absorbent and dust-free. As the study showed, though, not all cats like its texture.

If you have a new cat or want to swap litters for some reason, run your own experiment by choosing two or three litters and giving your cat a choice. You’ll be able to tell which one he prefers.

The most important thing to remember is that your cat’s opinion is the only one that counts in this matter. Forget trying to buy whichever one is on sale. When you find a litter your cat likes, stick with it.

There’s more in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet feature I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker.