DR BRUCE CHARD

contact@northharbourvet.co.nz I own two British short-hair kittens that are 5 months old. They sometimes have soft motions and don’t always use their litter tray. They eat a kitten dry food, pet loaf and mince as advised by their breeder. They have both been wormed. I would like to keep them on a good variety of food, but how can I make sure they always use the litter tray?

It seems you are mostly taking the correct approach in caring for your kittens. As both sometimes have soft motions this may be part of the reason for missing the litter tray. To ensure their motions are formed you need to simplify their diet. Stop the pet loaf and mince and feed just the kitten dry food which should be a complete diet. Although it is human to want to give variety, kittens will thrive on just water and a balanced dry food. Also make sure you have two litter trays and change the litter every time it is used.

We have a 6-month-old female border collie that is very active. At what age can we be sure that she has finished growing? A friend says that we should not allow her to do too much running until she is 18 months old. Is this correct?

Most dogs complete their growth by one year of age. This is so for small and medium breed dogs with growth plates at the end of leg bones closing over by 11 months of age stopping any further increase in height. For giant breed dogs, such as a great dane, the leg bones may still grow up to 18 months of age. This is why it is so important to feed a balanced growth diet in the first 12 to 18 months of age. Daily exercise for your border collie is important. It is simply a matter of moderate exercise or play twice a day; however do not expect your puppy to follow you while you ride a bike for example.