All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

Winning the war against feline fleas

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Can you win the war against feline fleas? Here’s what I told a reader.

Q: Help! My cat has fleas. How can I get rid of them?

A: You’re smart to want to protect your cat from these freeloading bloodsuckers.

Flea bites cause cats to be itchy and uncomfortable. (Did you know that a single flea can bite your cat up to 400 times a day?) They also transmit disease-causing bacteria that affect cats and humans, including mycoplasma, which leads to anemia in cats, and bartonella, the cause of “cat-scratch disease” in humans as well as other infections in cats. Worse, fleas reproduce like crazy. A single female flea can lay 40 to 50 eggs daily. With enough females in the right (or wrong) conditions, you could have a thousand or more fleas tormenting your cat in less than a month. So let’s get down to flea-control basics.

First, even if your cat doesn’t go outside, she needs to be on a safe and effective flea preventive. Fleas can still enter your house via your clothing or other animals. Or maybe your cat has an outdoor catio where she hangs out. Veterinary parasitologists now recommend keeping pets on a preventive year-round to prevent re-infestation.

Talk to your veterinarian about the best flea-control product to use for your individual cat and your locale. A product given monthly can control fleas as well as internal parasites and heartworms. (Yes, cats can get heartworms.) Starting a preventive when you first get a cat can help to protect her from any parasite infestations throughout her life.

Your vacuum cleaner and washing machine can complement the use of flea preventives by removing fleas and their eggs. Vacuum at least weekly, including upholstered furniture. Get beneath cushions, under furniture and in the corners. Wash your cat’s bed, as well as your own sheets, in hot water every week. That kills fleas and eggs.

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

Dr. Mark Goldstein

Facebook Live: What animals taught veterinarian Dr. Mark Goldstein about life, love, and humanity

This and That,

I hope you’ll all join me for a special Facebook Live interview with my close friend and colleague Dr. Mark Goldstein. Mark is the author of a new book,  Lions and Tigers and Hamsters: What Animals Large and Small Taught Me About Life, Love, and Humanity, and he is pretty much  the only veterinarian I know who can say he survived being kicked by an elephant, something that happened to him when he was doing an internship at a safari park in Florida.

He’ll tell you all about his adventures and experiences as a zoo director in Los Angeles and Boston and the president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA, and I’ll be asking him my own questions as well as yours.

Mark passionately believes that understanding and protecting the human-animal bond and the responsibilities that come with that is a critical thread in creating the fabric of a healthy society.

“It was experiences like these that taught me that I was part of a sacred profession that had the ability to have a positive, meaningful impact on both animals and people,” he says. “I found that people who value and love animals also hold a mutual respect for each other that transcends language barriers, cultural differences, religious beliefs, and conflicting political opinions.”

Beautiful words! Please come to my Facebook page on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, and join us. And invite your friends!

And if you’d like more information on Lions and Tigers and Hamsters, you can find it here.

Cavalier King Charles spaniel

How to manage your dog’s mitral valve disease

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

If your dog has been diagnosed with mitral valve disease, you might be feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what that will mean for your pet’s future. A reader asked me about managing the condition, and here’s how I explained the problem and its management to her. And good news: a surgical repair to the mitral valve is currently available in Europe and Japan and may be available in the U.S. soon!

Q: My dog has mitral valve disease. How is it managed?

A: The heart has four valves that open and close to let blood flow in and out as the heart pumps. The mitral valve can degenerate and become leaky, allowing blood to wash back from the lower left chamber of the heart to the upper left chamber. Called regurgitation, this action forces the heart muscle to work harder to pump that blood out where it’s supposed to go, enlarging the heart and eventually resulting in congestive heart failure.

Currently, the condition is most commonly managed with regular checkups by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist to plot the disease’s progress, as well as medication, if needed. Exams every three to six months can help your dog’s cardiologist keep tabs on the size of the heart and recommend medication before she tips over into CHF. Cardiologists at New York City’s Animal Medical Center recommend chest X-rays to determine whether the heart is normal size or enlarged, and whether fluid is building up in the lungs. Echocardiograms create a real-time moving image of the heart as it beats, and play a role in determining heart function.

When the heart becomes enlarged, the cardiologist may recommend starting the dog on one or more medications to keep CHF at bay. Medications that help include  positive inotropes such as pimobendan (Vetmedin) to improve the heart’s ability to contract and pump blood forward. Vasodilator drugs help to relax blood vessels so that blood moves through them more freely. Diuretics can remove excess fluid in the body when CHF develops.

There is no cure for mitral valve disease, but it can be managed for a time with medication. A surgical procedure to repair the mitral valve is available from veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom and Japan, and it may become available at the University of Florida later this year.

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

sad dog in car

How to help your dog’s carsickness

Fear Free, Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Your dog doesn’t actually have to throw up in the car for you to know he has carsickness. Panting, restlessness, and anxiety are all signs he’s not feeling well while on the road. Short of never leaving home, what can you do? Here’s what I told a reader who has a 12-hour drive coming up soon.

Q: We’re moving at the end of the summer, and it’s a 12-hour drive to our new home. My dog gets carsick or pants a lot even on short rides. How can I make the trip as stress-free as possible?

A: You can take several steps to help your dog have a better experience for both short trips and your upcoming move.

Start now to desensitize and counter-condition your dog to car travel. Place him in the car where he would normally ride. Since he experiences carsickness, reward with praise or a favorite toy instead of a food treat, and take him out right away. Repeat until he’s comfortable getting in the car.

Next, start the engine while he’s in the car. That’s all; don’t actually go anywhere. As above, reward and then take him out. Practice until he’s comfortable. Follow with backing out of the garage and pulling back in and eventually going around the block or some other short distance. Always pair each step with a reward to create a positive association with riding in the car.

Wearing a ThunderShirt or similar snug-fitting garment, use of a canine pheromone spray such as Adaptil in the carrier, and playing music created for dogs may also help to ease anxiety and reduce the likelihood of carsickness. Consider a car seat or carrier that allows your dog to see out the window. Fresh air and a view of the horizon can help to minimize motion sickness. Withhold meals in the morning so he’s riding on an empty stomach, but give small amounts of water throughout the day. Feed him when you stop for the night.

Finally, ask your veterinarian about an anti-nausea medication called Cerenia. It has been proven in clinical trials to help dogs with motion sickness.

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

Why some cats have extra toes

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

Ever wondered about “Hemingway cats,” those felines with extra toes? A reader did; here’s the story!

Q: Why do some cats have extra toes?

A: Cats normally have 18 toes: five on each front paw and four on each back paw. Some cats are born with additional toes — usually on front paws, but sometimes on rear paws as well.

Any cat with extra toes is known as a polydactyl. The word comes from the Greek polydaktylos, meaning “many toes.” The first official mention of it in scientific literature was in 1868, although it’s known to have been observed prior to that time.

Polydactyly is a dominant genetic trait. That means that even if only one parent carries the gene for extra toes, 40 to 50 percent of his or her kittens can also be polydactyl. The Maine coon is one breed in which polydactyly is commonly seen, but it can occur in any cat.

The additional toes may or may not be fully functional. In feline folklore, extra toes were thought to give cats better balance, making them popular choices as ship’s cats.

Polydactyl cats are often nicknamed “Hemingway cats” for their association with the Pulitzer- and Nobel Prize-winning author, who had a number of them at his Key West home. They may also be known as “thumb cats” or “mitten cats.”

Paws, a Minnesota cat, and Jake, a Canadian cat, are both recognized by Guinness World Records as having the most toes: 28.

While polydactyly is considered a genetic abnormality, it’s a naturally occurring variation that isn’t necessarily harmful. In a study of Maine coon cats published in 2016 in the Journal of Feline Medicine & Surgery, researchers concluded that while polydactyly affected the number and shape of a cat’s toes, it had “no apparent deleterious consequence on feline welfare.”

Fun fact: Humans can experience polydactyly as well.

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