DR BRUCE CHARD

contact@northharbourvet.co.nz Whenever I finish exercising my bernese mountain dog, Monty, on the beach and start walking home, he lies down and refuses to move. It takes a lot of coaxing to get him walking. How can I avoid this behaviour? Monty is perhaps saying he is not happy to stop his play/exercise on the beach. Use basic training to make this part of the daily walk as exciting as a romp on the beach. Practice with recall when you are in your backyard. When he comes, give him a small treat and put his lead on. Pretend to run away from him and reward him with small treats. Have his favourite ball and throw this for him, or use a tug-of-war toy to engage him, followed by repeat treats or praise. Once this is ingrained in him, use the same techniques leaving the beach, ensuring the whole exercise is enjoyable for Monty and for you. My 10-year-old cat, Sylvester, has a cyst on his back that my vet has to drain every three to four months. She takes out some clear fluid each time, but it gradually reforms. My vet says it could be removed, but I worry about the anaesthetic. Is surgery is the best option? It is likely that Sylvester has a benign skin cyst, especially if it has been there for some time and not changed. In the long term, it is safer to have the cyst removed, as there is always a risk of infection or the cyst may enlarge and burst open, making the removal more difficult. Your vet will assess any anaesthetic risk by taking tests prior to the operation and placing Sylvester on an intravenous drip during surgery. Being benign, the surgery does not have to remove a lot of tissue, so Sylvester should recover rapidly.