Animal Tales

by Dr. Howard A. Mintzer

Q. John W. of Poughkeepsie writes: Now that warmer weather is here I'd like to leave my Labrador retriever outside on a run during the day. The run is about 20 feet long and has a warm doghouse under a shade tree. I'm worried that since he has been inside all winter, if I were to leave him out and the weather unexpectedly turned cold he might get sick. What do you think?

A. I'm not terribly concerned about the cold. During any 24 hour period, even if our weather forecasters are way off the mark, the temperature only rarely varies by more than 15 degrees from the previous evening's prediction. Labrador retrievers are hardy dogs. With a doghouse that keeps out the cold winds (make sure the entrance faces the south) your dog could easily withstand a day where the temperature falls into the 30's.

I am much more alarmed about the chance of hot weather hurting your pet. Do you remember the last weekend in March? Temperatures went up into the 80's. During the hot summer months your shade tree will provide a spot for your pet to get out of the hot blazing sun. Right now however your shade tree is naked. There won't be leaves to provide your pet with adequate shade until mid May. Even though it is early April, the sun is as strong as it is in August. Your dog could get heat stroke if he is stuck outside in the sun on a day when the temperatures reach the 80's. A few years ago just such a case came into my office in mid April. He was on his run, under his shade(less) tree on a day where the temperature reached 85. By the time his parents got home he was lying on the ground having convulsions from heat stroke. He lived, but it was touch and go for a few hours.

It is very important that if you do tie your dog out, that you provide some means of shade for him until the tree takes over. Don't depend on the doghouse. In hot weather the doghouse can get unbearably hot. Make sure he also has plenty of water in case the weatherman is wrong (again) and it gets warmer than was forecast.

Q. Susan C. of Fishkill writes: For the past two weeks, my cat has been peeing outside her litter box. I think she is just spoiled, but my friend told me when her cat did this, her veterinarian told her that the cat had a bladder infection. Could this be a bladder infection and if so why would my cat stop using the litter pan? If it is a bladder infection should I wait to see if it goes away by itself?

A. Susan, your friend is most likely correct. Finding "accidents" outside of the litter box is often one of the first signs that a cat has a bladder infection. When humans have bladder infections they report that it burns and hurts when they urinate. We believe that the same symptoms occur in cats. Your kitty doesn't realize that the pain when she urinates is from an infection so she "blames" the litter box for the pain. After a few painful attempts at urinating she begins to look for a new spot to urinate where she thinks it won't hurt. She finds her new spot, urinates and feels the pain again. The next time she needs to urinate she looks for another new spot where it won't hurt. This goes on over and over again until the infection subsides and the pain is decreased.

Delaying treatment can have serious consequences. When bladder infections remain untreated bladder stones can form. In females, the presence of bladder stones can cause bleeding and continuous pain while urinating. In male cats, bladder stones can prevent the cat from passing urine at all (sometimes called a blocked cat), resulting in death from kidney failure. Finally, and perhaps most frustrating to the cat owner, untreated bladder infections may cause a permanent change in the kitty's bathroom habits. If the pain associated with urinating decreases when your cat has for instance, chosen the rug in the dining room as her new litter box, she may continue to use that spot. She remembers that when she used the litter box in the bathroom, it hurt. Now when she pees in her new "litter box" under the dining room table, it doesn't hurt so much. Once this change has occurred it can take quite a while to cure the bladder infection and THEN convince your kitty to go back to that painful litter box. The bottom line then, is when your cat stops using the litter box, see your veterinarian and get the problem taken care of right away before it develops into a BIG problem!