My Pet World: Future grandma (rightly) worries about nipping dog

Cathy M. Rosenthal, Tribune Content Agency on Aug 11, 2021

Because the dog is sometimes breaking skin though, have your daughter consult an animal behaviorist who can determine his triggers and recommend specific behavior modifications that may help. Until the dog moderates his nips and eliminate his bites, he needs to be monitored around everyone, especially children.

Dear Cathy,

We rescued a five-year-old cat last year and named her Millie. We rescued another cat, Lexie, when she was just a year old. She is now nine. She was feral for nine months before she was caught and is very timid.

Lexie always got along with my other cat who has since passed, but Lexie and Millie don’t get along. They chase each other and hiss and yell at each other. I have even seen them hitting each other with their paws. Lexie spends all day under a bed. We keep them separated with a baby gate when we aren’t home. Every evening and night, we give Lexie a chance to spend time outside of the bedroom.

We don’t want to give Millie back, but we can’t continue to have them not get along and have a baby gate up. They will use the same litterbox and eat out of each other’s dish. But when we tried feeding them on opposite sides of a door, Lexie refused to near her food if she hears Millie.

Do you have any suggestions? -- Arlene, Southington, Connecticut

Dear Arlene,

Cats can take weeks or months to establish their territories and learn to get along. If the baby gate helps, leave it up for now. They can still smell each other and can get used to each other that way over time. Feed them so they don’t see or hear each other and get some feline pheromone spray or plug-ins for the house and a feline pheromone collar for them to wear. Pheromones can relax cats and relaxing them can reduce the friction in the home.

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(Cathy M. Rosenthal is a longtime animal advocate, author, columnist and pet expert who has more than 25 years in the animal welfare field. Send your pet questions, stories and tips to cathy@petpundit.com. Please include your name, city, and state. You can follow her @cathymrosenthal.)