Bunny and his buddy need a loving home

Ask the vet

MY cat got pregnant without us realising and had her kittens six weeks ago. How soon can she be neutered? PDSA strongly recommends neutering to prevent unplanned litters such as this, so it’s good that you are planning to get her neutered now. A cat can usually be neutered approximately six to ten weeks after giving birth. The exact timing depends on several factors, such as your cat’s health and whether the kittens are weaned, so it’s best to ask your vet for advice. It’s also best to get a health check for the new mother and her kittens at the vet a few weeks after birth (sooner if there are any problems). Your vet will be able to answer any questions you have about neutering and advise you regarding preventive care for the kittens, such as flea and worming treatments and when to book them for their vaccinations. For more information about neutering, visit www.pdsa. org.uk/neutering

I HAVE two rats called Ant and Dec. I feed them both dry rat food and no unhealthy treats, plus they have a large cage to run around in and are allowed out to exercise every day. Dec is fine but Ant is overweight. How can I get him to lose weight?

I SUGGEST that you get both of your rats checked by a vet to rule out a medical cause for Ant’s larger size. Your vet will also be able to offer advice and tips on reducing his weight. Many rats that are given seedbased dry food mixes ‘selectively feed’, picking out tasty, fatty bits that they like such as sunflower seeds, peanuts and biscuits. If you feed a mix, and notice that Ant selects bits that he likes,

this could be part of the problem. You can help tackle this issue by feeding them commercial rat nuggets and measuring out their food. Also, give them plenty of ways to burn off some energy, like an exercise wheel, as well as boxes and tubes. WE rescued an 18-month-old greyhound recently – Harvey. He has a strange habit of hiding his collar and lead underneath things. He loves going out for walks and runs though, so we don’t understand why he does this! CLUES as to why our pets behave the way they do can often be found by looking at the behaviour of

their wild ancestors. Burying things was once key to the survival of dogs, because it allowed food to be safely concealed, which they could then return to eat at a later date. Some domestic dogs are likely to have inherited this tendency, but may apply it to any items that they consider to be “high value”. So in this case it might be that Harvey thinks his collar and lead are very important! Another reason might be that he thinks it’s a fun game due to your reactions. He also may have been inadvertently rewarded with attention or fun when he ‘hid’ these things at first, leading him to continue doing it. The easiest way to stop this is to give him other toys to play with and hide and keep his lead out of reach, but ignore him if he does hide the lead (retrieve it later in secret when he’s not paying attention).