My Pet World: Does diet and ice cubes affect a dogs teeth?

Q: I was very interested in your recent comments on canned vs. dry food. We feed our 7-year-old King Charles Cavalier Spaniel canned food in the morning and dry food in the evening. He also loves to chew on ice cubes. He has had several teeth removed due to decay found during his semi-annual dental checkups. Admittedly, we rarely brush his teeth and leave it to his monthly groomer visits and dental checkups. Could his diet or the ice cubes be contributing to his dental issues or are we responsibly for his dental problems? -- Stan Trepner, Las Vegas, NV

A: Dental problems in both dogs and humans can be attributed to environment, diet, genetics and all sorts of things, which means I cannot say what caused the problems with your dog's teeth.

However, the only statement that I can make that is 100 percent true and correct is there is no way that chewing on a piece of kibble is going to clean a dog's teeth that are already dirty nor will it keep teeth that are clean from becoming dirty.

The question of the ice cubes is up for debate. For the last half-century, every dog I have ever had -- from great big Irish Wolfhounds to little Chihuahuas -- has loved crunching up ice cubes with no ill effects. Some dog keepers have told me that their dogs did crack a tooth from chewing on an ice cube, so I would say proceed with caution and common sense.

Q: I have a 3-year-old female yellow canary. Every spring she lays three infertile eggs in her food dish. I let her sit on them for a few days and then dispose of them when she is not looking. While walking in the park a couple of weeks ago, I saw a little brown and white bird with a red beak huddled next to the path. I took it home and learned it was not a wild bird, but a male zebra finch that must have gotten out of somebody's house. I put him in the cage with my canary. He has started to court the canary. However, she just now laid her eggs for this spring and she is sitting on them this time. My question is if there is a chance they are fertile? -- Stephanie Williams, Chicago, IL

A: Zebra finches and canaries are both passerine birds, but they are different species so it is very unlikely that those eggs are fertile. A cross between two different species of animal are called hybrids and they do not occur very often and are usually sterile.

Crosses between canaries and other passerine birds usually happen only when the species are closely related -- such as a canary with a green singing finch or a European goldfinch as they are taxonomically very close. In addition, zebra finches are native to Australia and have been separated from other passerine birds for many generations that their genes are totally different. So it is highly unlikely that those eggs could be fertile.

However, you never know what is going to happen in the natural world, so instead of discarding the eggs after a few days, this time leave them with the canary for three weeks and see what happens. It usually takes two weeks for such eggs to hatch, so after this amount of time if none do then they are obviously sterile.

Q: We have a male lop eared bunny that is now 5 months old. He was 8 weeks when we got him. He is very nice pet and uses a litter box. However, just in the last few weeks he started to run circles around our feet and sprays urine on them. He does not do it when we have shoes on. Our vet told us that he needs to be neutered, but that they do not do "exotic animals." We are worried that if we do neuter him then he will lose his unique personality and wanted to know what you thought. -- Isabella Carbone, Las Vegas, NV

A: Hormones, house pets and humans are never a good mix as your situation demonstrates. Marking your feet with his urine is an instinct that is brought about by the rising testosterone levels in his body.

It has nothing to do with his opinion of you, it is just an instinct. If you do neuter him, the testosterone goes away and so will some of his behaviors. What will not change is his opinion of you because it is based on his experience, not his hormones.

So neutering will only make him a better pet. There are lots of vets around these days that will happily treat bunnies, as well as spay and neuter them and you can locate them by taking a look at the website of the House Rabbit Society at www.rabbit.org.

========

(Marc Morrone has kept almost every kind of animal as a pet for the last half-century and he is happy to share his knowledge with others. Although he cannot answer every question, he will publish many of those that have a general interest. You can contact him at petxperts2@aol.com; please include your name, city and state.)