Community ClicksWhy does basset piddle?
Dear Dr. Fox,
We have an 8-month-old female basset mix.
When she greets visitors at home, she wets.
During walks in the neighborhood or in public parks, she greets both friends and strangers with no wetting problem.
How can we train her to cool it at home?
— D. & V.Y., Springfield, Mo.
Dear D. & V.Y.,
Young dogs, especially females, have “social incontinence,” urinating as a puppyish display of submission.
Such behavior is best ignored, as making a fuss or chastising the submissive piddle will only make matters worse.
Most dogs grow out of this with maturity.
She probably only wets when visitors come into your home — as opposed to greeting people outside — because of the excitement factor.
She is more apprehensive and aroused when someone enters her personal space from which she has no escape and that she probably feels she should also defend.
So she may be less conflicted in open space and neutral territory outdoors, but when intimidated by another dog, she is likely to roll over and urinate — a canine ritual display of submission.
Cat dies after procedure
Dear Dr. Fox,
My 8-year-old male cat developed crystals is his bladder.
I took him to the vet.
They catheterized him and gave him pain meds and IV fluids.
They removed the catheter, and I took him home on a Friday.
Saturday, he did not void.
I gave him a Prednisone pill, and he started voiding and bleeding.
The blood got heavy.
By Sunday, I had to put him down — he was in a lot of pain.
He was an indoor cat who ate only Innova (dry) and Fancy Feast (can).
He was my buddy and companion for eight years.
He would fly with me four times a year.
He enjoyed the plane ride, but was glad to get home.
I will never get another cat — he cannot be duplicated.
I loved and miss him.
Please tell me if I did anything wrong.
— L.S., Monroe, Conn.
Dear L.S.,
First, you did nothing wrong. Second, while your beloved cat was unique and could never be duplicated, I am sure that when you have overcome much of your grief, your heart may open to adopt and love another unique cat from your local shelter.
There are many factors leading to cystitis and urinary-tract blockage from crystals and mucous plugs.
A major culprit is dry cat food high in cereals that make a more alkaline urine that, when combined with low fluid intake, results in urinary-tract inflammation and crystal or sand formation in the urine.
Complicating factors include bacterial infection, diabetes and neutered males having narrow urethras.
Emotional stress, corn allergy and ingesting mineral particles from clay-type cat litter can also play a role in this common feline malady.
You are not to be blamed because you were not informed as to the best preventives, beginning with proper nutrition.
ESP: extrasensory pets
Dear Dr. Fox,
I have a story regarding empathetic dogs.
My husband’s parents lived in East Chicago, Ind.
My mother-in-law’s brother, John, lived with them.
He was diabetic. They had a dog named “Shosty” (short for Shostakovich, the Russian composer).
John became ill and died.
Immediately after the funeral, Shosty disappeared.
Several days later, a friend of the family found the dog, hungry and haggard, lying on John’s grave!
The remarkable and unbelievable part is that the cemetery was many miles outside the city and Shosty had never been there before.
They had no idea how he had been able to find it.
I believe dogs have some special abilities that we humans cannot comprehend.
— L.V., St. Louis, Mo.
Dear L.V.,
Thanks for this important letter that adds to the cases that I have published on my Web site, supporting my theory of animals’ awareness and connection to the “empathosphere.”
Readers with no computer access can find some accounts of these seemingly psychic phenomena in my books The Boundless Circle, Cat Body, Cat Mind and Dog Body, Dog Mind.
At a recent talk I gave in Minnesota, a woman shared with me: When she was a student, she moved into an apartment seven miles away from her parents, who lived on the other side of Los Angeles.
One day, she could not believe her eyes — her beloved cat that was living with her parents but one day disappeared and was waiting for her outside her apartment.
The cat had never been there before.
