Ask Anna, our local Vet

Ask Anna, Your local Vet

In associaltion with Henlow Vets Your local Independant Veterinary Centre

Each month we invite readers of the Stotfold News Magazine to ask Anna Marshall-Brown of local independent Veterinary Centre Henlow Vets some advice on their family pet:

Dear Anna, We have recently taken in a cat from a rescue centre - she seems to be nibbling the insides of her legs quite excessively and has made marks on herself. Could this be an anxiety issue? She is fully up to date with vaccinations. Any idea how we can stop her form doing this and causing more marks? Firstly, well done for giving your little cat a new home. There's lots of animals that need rescuing in the country and the charities are always looking out for new owners like yourself. In answer to your questions, cats can nibble at the insides of their legs for a variety of reasons. Anxiety is definitely a possibility, however other reasons a cat will nibble is because they're itchy. The commonest causes of itchy skin in cats are flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), ticks, mites, food allergies and environmental allergies (atopy). All of these are a possibility. 50% of itchy cats have FAD and many owners don't realise it's flea related as it only takes one or two bites to cause itchiness if a cat is allergic, and these fleas are good at hiding! Henlow Veterinary Centre 22 Bedford Road Lower Stondon Beds SG16 6EA (01462) 416416 Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8.30am - 18.30pm Sat 9am -12 noon

I would recommend visiting your vets to check that your cat has adequate parasite control, and to discuss her diet and environment. If tests show no obvious cause of problems and an allergy trial does not work, your vet may conclude that the issue is behavioural. Unfortunately anxiety does not have a diagnostic test to prove it, so we rely upon ruling out all other disease before concluding this is the problem. We do have lots of options to relieve stress in cats, including appeasing pheremone plug-ins, calming natural supplements like lemon balm, milk derivatives, and some mood modulating drugs such as tryptophan. Please also do look at the webpage https://icatcare.org/advice/over-grooming/ for more advice Do you Your Pets.... own Name: Breed: Oreo Germ Age: 10 an Short months haired Pointer an Colour: Black & White Favourite Toy: Ball on a string Favourite Food: Prawn crackers Likes: Walks, bird watching, cuddles Electric Dislikes: Rain When I grow and up: I when want m to y b hoomans e allowed go ou upstai t! rs!! Vehicle? STOTFOLD GARDEN CLUB

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Outing to Fuller’s Mill Gardens, via Bury St. Edmunds. Coach leaves Hitchin Road at 10:00am. For more information, contact Peter on: (01462) 834854 or 07758649721 stotfoldgc@gmail.com

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