A breath of foul air?

Q: Our one year old cat has very smelly breath, and he keeps having fits of sneezing and coughing. He is fed dry food only, but he has been a fussy eater recently. What could be wrong?

A: Your cat may have gingivitis. This is inflammation of the gums, and can be associated with a viral infection such as cat flu. His mouth will be quite uncomfortable, and so you should give him soft, tinned food rather than hard dry food. A vet will be able to provide medication which will help his gums return to normal, but this can be a difficult, chronic problem to treat.

Can I teach my budgie to talk?

Q: I bought a budgie 6 months ago, called Jacko. I was told that budgies could talk, but he only whistles and squeaks. How can I get him to talk, even if it is just one word?

A: Budgies do not talk like parrots - they do not exactly mimic the human voice. However, they can learn to repeat sounds, and if you repeat one word often enough, Jacko will begin to make a sound similar to that word. Make a tape of yourself repeating one word over and over, and leave it playing beside the cage..

A hunting he WON’T go!

Q: How can a cat be trained to catch mice. We have a big lazy tom cat aged 2 years, and although we regularly see mice in our kitchen, the cat doesn’t even seem to notice them, never mind hunt them! We have tried not feeding him to make him hunt out of hunger, but he just starts raiding the bins! Any ideas?

A: A cat is either a born mouser, or he is not.You can try encouraging him by playing with toy mice on strings, but it is difficult to teach a cat such an instinctive skill. By the way, it makes no difference starving him - domestic cats hunt for pleasure, not for nutrition - they know that there are easier ways to fill their stomachs!

My tom cat is spraying!

Q: My tom cat has started to spray urine in a certain corner of the kitchen. He is 8 months old, and he had been perfectly house trained until recently. The smell is disgusting! What should we do about it?

A: Your cat is simply marking his territory, as all male cats like to do. The easy answer is to have him castrated - by removing the male hormones from his system, you will remove his urge to spray. But you must do this as soon as possible - otherwise the urination will become a habit, and it may not settle down so easily.

Our chewing pup

Q: We have a black Labrador pup, who chews everything. Last week he was behind the settee, when there was a bang, and he rushed out squealing. He had chewed through a live electric cable! He seems OK, but we worry that he will do it again and not be so lucky. What can we do?

A: Pups are worse than toddlers! It is impossible to completely “neutralise” a house - there are always potential hazards for curious puppies. Most pups settle down at around 6 - 8 months of age, and you will just have to hope that the puppy learns from his mistakes, and avoids serious accidents until he matures.