This dog eats everything
QUESTION: My six-year-old Boxer has a horrible habit of chewing on everything she can get her teeth on.
I can’t even start to describe the variety of objects I took out of her mouth. This awful hobby of hers has cost me a lot of money, and her a lot of pain and suffering having to go through operations to remove things out of her intestine. How do I put a stop to that? How do I prevent her from chewing on everything she encounters?
ANSWER: As a former owner of a dog that had the same problem I could only relate.
My beloved late golden retriever, Tomchik, put me through the same challenges that your dog puts you through.
My suggestions to you are, firstly ruling out a medical problem that leads to a condition called Pica.
Pica is a pathological tendency to eat foreign materials. It could be caused by a nutritional deficiency or some metabolic diseases. If a medical cause was ruled out, that means that the problem is probably behavioral.
My best recommendation for you would be to limit the dog’s exposure to foreign objects to the best of your ability.
Do not give the dog any pets toys. Inhibit any access to garbage bins. Walk you dog on a leash so you could monitor it all the time and even walk the dog with a muzzle on.
Some people might find this recommendation to be extreme but with some dogs it is just better to be safe than sorry.
QUESTION: I’ve just adopted a new puppy, he is six weeks now. When I took him to the vet for his first shot, the vet told me that he has only one testicle in his scrotum. The vet told me not to worry yet and that we will monitor it in his next vaccine appointment, but I am worried. What does it mean that he has only one testicle?
ANSWER: When male dogs are born, their testicles are usually found inside of their abdomens and descend into the scrotum through the inguinal canal, shortly after birth.
From what you are describing it sounds that your puppy might be a Cryptorchid.
Cryptorchidism is a condition in which one or both of the testicles did not descend into the scrotum. The missing testicle can be located either in the abdomen or in the inguinal area.
If the testicle does not descend by the age of two months, there is little hope that it will.
This condition is significant because the the retained testicle is prone to cancer development.
The best treatment for the condition is castration. Neutering a dog with a testicle in the inguinal canal is fairly simple. When the retained testicle is located in the abdomen the procedure is more complicated and involves opening the abdomen.
Your puppy is still young, so there is still a chance that the condition will resolve itself but if not, you shouldn’t be alarmed, just take your dog to be neutered at the age of six months as you would normally do and your vet will surgically remove both of the testicles.
It is important to castrate cryptorchid dogs early. Besides the risk of testicular cancer development in the retained testicle, this condition tends to be genetic, hence dogs with this condition should not be breed.
Dr. Noa Oz is a veterinarian at Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital.