ello to all the crazy furred and feathered critter owners! I am Dr. Rebecca, practicing out in ole North Carolina. Ever hear of heartworms? They are worms a dog (and cat) can get from mosquitoes that love living in the heart. Imagine taking angel hair pasta and cramming it into a dog's heart. That's what can happen if a dog is not on a heartworm preventative. Dogs as young as 6 months of age can have heartworms. SIgns of this disease are coughing, fatigue, and general listlessnes in varying degrees (cats tend to vomit a lot for no apparent reason). The best course to follow would be to go to your local veterinarian and get your dog tested before starting it on a preventative ( if you don't and the dog does have heartworms, it can have an allergic type reaction and die). This test only needs a small amount of blood , and is usually run "in-house". There are several different kinds of preventative - Heartguard, Interceptor, Sentinel - available through your local vetrinarian. These are monthly medicines that costs around $6-$9 depending on the weight of the dog, as opposed to the hundreds of dollars it costs to treat the dog for the heartworms itself. If you've heard that the treatment for the heartworms is dangerous - the answer is yes, since any treatment dealing with the heart can be fatal. However, over the past few years, a new drug called IMmiticide has been developed that is much safer than the old treatment. But what about the cats, you feline owners cry? Well, there are tests now out there to check cats for heartworms and a preventative called Heartguard specifically for cats. Sadly, if the cat tests positive , there is no safe treatment to rid them of the heartworms.

Enjoy your surf through the shells!
Dr. Rebecca

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Dear Dr. Rebecca,

I hope you might be able to help me with a problem I am having with my cat Iggy. He is two years old and has a serious plaque/gum problem. When I took him to have his teeth examined, my vet said there was nothing I could really do and that the PH levels in some cats saliva etc. just created the problem. I asked him if maybe it could be that he eats two cans of wet food in addition to Meow Mix but he said no. It's only been a few months since his check up (and they had to remove several of his upper front teeth). There's got to be some answer. I'm afraid the little guy is going to lose all of his teeth!! Thanks a million in advance for any help.

Gummy, NYC

Dear Gummy,

Thanks for writing. The best suggestion I can give you is to try weaning Iggy off of canned food. That tends to stick to the teeth more than hard food. Another suggestion is to try brushing Iggy's teeth. Your vet should have some special enzymatic toothpaste for animals (it can be swallowed). Even just rubbing some of the toothpaste on his gums and teeth may help a little...but cats aren't very cooperative when it comes to putting things in their mouth. Good Luck

Dr. Rebecca =)

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