All posts by Dr. Marty Becker

AquaPaw Slow Treater

A magic third hand for when you’re bathing your dog or trimming his nails

Fear Free, Great Pet Products

Do you ever wish you had a third hand? I know when I’m trying to distract one of my dogs while I’m cutting their nails or brushing them, I definitely do. That’s why I love that 30 percent off the AquaPaw Slow Treater is the June Fear Free Friday deal over on Fear Free Happy Homes.

Here’s how it works: You fill it with peanut butter or another kind of paste-like treat, then attach it to any wall or vertical surface. The silicone “nubs” slow your dog down, so the treat lasts longer than usual “paint on the wall with peanut butter or squeeze cheese” method we use at our house… hopefully long enough to get the dog clean or the nails trimmed!

The deal is only available for 24 hours on Friday, June 1, 2018, from 12:01 AM until 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

To unlock it, you first have to join Fear Free Happy Homes (it’s free!). Just visit the website and register or, if you’re already a member, log in, to get the code.

And tell a friend!

Loading the Slow Treater

Amazon parrot

How to keep your pet bird healthy

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine,

Taking a pet bird to the veterinarian can be stressful for him or for you, but there’s a big payoff! Here’s how I explained it to a reader.

Q: How often should my pet bird visit the veterinarian?

A: A healthy pet bird should visit the veterinarian each year for a physical examination and as needed for illness or injury. According to the Association of Avian Veterinarians, it is important for a pet bird to have regular examinations because signs of illness in birds tend to be subtle.

The veterinarian will begin by collecting your bird’s medical history from you, and that information will be included in his medical file. The exam will then proceed to a hands-off look-see before he is gently restrained in a towel and removed from his carrier. Your bird will be weighed and looked over carefully from beak to bottom for physical indications of illness or injury. Your veterinarian will listen to the bird’s heart, lungs and air sacs with a stethoscope.

Following the examination, your veterinarian may recommend diagnostic tests, including fecal evaluation, bloodwork and microbiology to further determine your pet’s health. The annual exam can also be a good time to have your bird’s wing feathers clipped or his toenails trimmed.

Observant owners are important members of their bird’s health care team. Watch for signs of illness, which can include a fluffed appearance, appetite loss, increased sleep, weight loss, a change in the frequency or appearance of droppings, lameness, drooping wing or wings, breathing difficulties, or discharge from the bird’s nares (nostrils) or eyes.

Pay attention to your bird’s appetite, appearance and activity level daily, and contact your veterinarian’s office for advice if you notice a change in your bird’s routine. Because birds naturally mask signs of illness, the first indicators are often overlooked, but early detection is key to helping your bird regain health as quickly as possible.

Read more, including how to recognize arthritis in your dog or cat, 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

Pets’ motion sickness is all in their ears

Fear Free, Veterinary Medicine

Most pet owners can’t avoid taking their pets in the car, at least sometimes. After all, there are veterinary visits, training, trips to board or be groomed, camping trips, boat rides, holiday visits, and family vacations. While some pets handle travel like they could take the wheel and turn on the tunes, for others a simple car ride can make their stomach feel like they’re traveling 65-mph on a rollercoaster. Which is rapidly followed by what my old fraternity brothers called,“Throwing it in reverse,” “Airing out your stomach,” or the “Technicolor yawn.”

Motion sickness, however, isn’t actually a stomach problem. It’s caused by the excessive stimulation of the sensory organ in the inner ear, which connects to what’s called the “emesis center” of the brain stem. Basically, the sensory organ tells the brain to evacuate the contents of the stomach.

Interestingly, we’ve learned in Fear Free that pets who have experienced motion sickness while in a car, boat, or plane can actually experience it without even being in motion. Just the sight of the car where they suffered a topsy-turvy belly before can replicate the symptoms.

If you’ve ever been sea-sick (or car sick on sick on an airplane that was rising and dropping) you know that it’s among the most uncomfortable of feelings. Think of a poor pet who’s sick to their stomach just at the sight of the car!

Some lucky pets can be helped by something as simple as a ginger snap. Additionally, you can work with your dog to decrease or even eliminate motion sickness by conditioning the pet to pleasant car travel. Unfortunately, I find most people are unwilling or unable to see that process through. For that reason, I reach frequently and often to an amazing prescription product called Cerenia (not a sponsored mention!). Available in a pill and injectable form, this product works on the emesis centers in the stomach and brain and acts like two invisible corks to stop both vomiting and diarrhea.

Other potential approaches include medications or supplements that soothe a pet’s anxiety, in combination with a prescription drug such as Cerenia.

So as summer travel season begins, don’t think car sickness has to keep your pet at homed while you travel. There is help for car sickness. Just ask your vet!

Cat having a bath

Are baths good for cats? Yes, and here’s why

Pet Connection, Veterinary Medicine

There’s a myth that cats don’t benefit from regular bathing, and that they will inevitably hate the experience. Neither of those things are true, as I explained to a reader who wanted to know if it’s okay to bathe her cat weekly.

Q: My cat is good about grooming herself, but she spends so much time on my furniture, especially my bed, that I’d like to bathe her weekly. Is that a good idea?

A: I know this will be surprising to many people, but it makes sense to bathe a cat regularly, even one who spends all her time indoors. There are several good reasons for doing so.

The first is that it benefits people who are allergic to cats. As you know, cats bathe themselves with their tongues, and saliva carries allergens. Regular bathing helps to remove not only the remnants of saliva from fur but also dander — dead skin flakes that also carry allergens. That makes the presence of cats more tolerable to humans with allergies.

Senior cats may need baths to help them stay clean. Often, they have put on some pounds over the years or developed arthritis, both of which can make it difficult for them to groom themselves thoroughly.

Cats who go outdoors may get into sticky stuff, such as chewing gum, tree sap or tar. A bath is also important if a cat has been exposed to a toxic substance. Often, a bath is the most effective way to remove harmful chemicals from the coat. Cats with skin conditions may require medicated baths.

Finally, as you noted, cats spend a lot of time on our furniture. If you don’t want it to become “fur”-niture, brushing and bathing regularly will remove dead hair so it doesn’t fall off the cat and onto your belongings.

I always recommend that people with new kittens accustom them to baths and other grooming from the beginning. If you get them used to it at an early age on a regular schedule, you’ll have a sweeter smelling cat and a cleaner home.

Read more, including all about the role of the pet adoption counselor, in Pet Connection, the weekly nationally syndicated pet feature I co-write with Kim Campbell Thornton and my daughter, trainer Mikkel Becker.

Woman hands with mobile cell phone to take a photo of labrador dog lying on the sand.

Pet lovers: What’s on your phone’s screensaver?

This and That

For the past eight years, I’ve had the same phone screensaver. It’s a photo of my granddaughter, Reagan, when she was just one day old, holding my right index finger with her tiny little hand. I’ve promised her I will never take it off until she asks me to (maybe to be replaced with her wedding photo or a great grandchild?).

But if my informal survey of the last couple of years holds true across the entire population, the screen saver of most mobile phones is not grandchildren or any other human beings. By a huge margin, the number one thing I see on people’s phones are images of family pets.

People are proud to share screensavers of their pets when I’m just a friendly seatmate on an airplane or when we cross paths at various events and locations ranging from sporting events (I’ve had neighbors in seats at the Super Bowl, Indy 500, and Kentucky Derby share pet photos) to the grocery store. But when they find out I’m a veterinarian (and a famous one at that), then they are about as excited as their own pets when the treat drawer opens up.

Not only do their energy levels go up to the three Red Bull-level, they next get into their pet album folder and show me dozens of images ranging from home and vacation to action shots, and what one called “urban shots,” as in, their dog on the street in town.

There’s one guaranteed reaction when this exchange happens. We both smile and become closer than we would have if we hadn’t shared this affection-connection as portrayed in phone photos.

So tell me: What’s on your phone’s screensaver?