Ask Dr Marc Abraham OBE, The Last In Our Expert Q&A Series

The Love of Pets
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Hi Forum members, thank you for all your great questions and engagement over the past few weeks across our Q&As with Rob, Karen, and Kendall.

Last but not least, we have Dr. Marc Abraham OBE - otherwise known as ‘Marc the Vet’ - lined up to answer your questions and conclude our Happy Pet Expert Q&As!

Marc is a multi-award-winning veterinarian, author, broadcaster, and animal welfare campaigner - and brings with him a huge wealth of animal knowledge and veterinary experience.

Amongst other incredible accomplishments (far too many to list here!), Marc founded both awareness campaigns, #WheresMum and Pup Aid, and led the successful eight-year ‘Lucy’s Law’ campaign in Westminster to ban commercial third-party puppy and kitten dealers.

Recently, we were lucky enough to have Dr. Marc contribute to our blog, where he explored the unique connection between dogs and humans.

Whether you want to find out more about Marc’s impressive career, want some advice on your own pet, or have a burning question you’ve always wanted to ask an animal expert in the know, now’s your chance!

Submit your questions for Marc via this forum topic by Friday 20th September. Then, join us a few days later on Friday 27th September and we’ll share his answers with you!

While we would love for Marc to be able to answer every single question submitted, please note that this may not be possible depending on the volume of questions received.

Don’t miss the opportunity to ask your questions.

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Hi Marc,

I have a question about a cat I cared for recently. I was told it was usual for her to vomit quite a lot, but this turned out to be an every day event and I was concerned she wasn’t keeping down enough of her meals. I found that if I didn’t give her the dry food treats between meals the vomiting stopped, so for around 3 days she was eating wet food only. When her owner returned puss was constipated and didn’t poo for 5 days straight. So my question : was it the change of diet which caused the constipation? And if so what would have been a better solution to the vomiting problem?

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Not a question, but I think this Q&A is such a great thing to do.

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Dr Marc, My question is about supplements for dogs and cats. Quite often the animals we sit are on all kinds of supplements for joint health. The supplements come in all forms ranging from pills, to chews, and even liquids administered by dropper. Some of these have been very difficult to get the animal to take. The question is two parts. First, how effective are these supplements at improving quality of life/health? Second, are they helpful enough to endure the stress and difficulty it takes to administer them at times? Thank you for joining us! We look forward to reading this whole string!

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Hello and thank you for your answer.

Hello,

I have a boxer who had a difficult physical and emotional recovery after his castration. We used to take him to lakes, and though he doesn’t swim, he would drink a lot of water out of nervousness and pee frequently. However, it would sometimes take up to 40 minutes for him to actually urinate after drinking. This issue used to resolve on its own, but later he drank lake water and couldn’t pee at all. The vet found bacteria in his urine, and since then, we only allow him to drink tap water.

Now, even being near a lake seems to trigger frequent attempts to urinate, with little to no success. Could this be related to his earlier issues, and are we right to avoid non-tap water for him?

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Oh hello, I have another quick question, hopefully, you won’t mind answering 2, but if only 1, this is the more important one.
Our boxer has severe arthritis in his knees, and we were looking to buy these laser therapy machines. They seem to work, but we’re not sure which one to buy. Merci, thank you from Montréal.

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Hello everyone!

Thank you so much for all of the great questions that you have submitted so far for Dr Marc Abraham OBE.

We would love to see even more questions, so please don’t hesitate to drop them here on this thread before 11.59pm BST on Friday 20th September.

Sam. :green_heart:

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Outstanding work that you do Dr Marc and incredible achievements which have been acknowledged by your receiving a well deserved OBE. :clap:

My question. I have found that most of the pet sits I have done, the cats and dogs have been fed only dry kibble morning and evening, staple diet. My own dog was only fed fresh meat and lived to the ripe old age of 14. I understand the vet products e.g. Hills etc is supposedly scientifically proven to be all our pets need but I never feel comfortable feeding with this source alone and it has been suggested that this diet alone increases the risk of cancer in dogs and cats. I also think how boring it must be for them to have the same thing day in day out for life. What would be your professional opinion on the dry food only approach ? Thank you.

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My morkipoo constantly licks his paws (or my hands if I try to block him from licking). I don’t think it’s allergies. I think it may be boredom. He’s a cuddler; not much of a player. What can I do to break this habit?

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@Loobyloo this is the forum to ask the vet a question about your seperation anxiety dog. Hope you get the solution to your issue.

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@marspluto this is the forum to ask the vet a question about your ‘leg grabbing cat’. If you have not yet solved the problem with the advice you have received from other forum users then perhaps the place to redirect your question.

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Hello Dr Marc,
I am taking care of an indoor young cat, not even 1 year yet but feels like taking care of a baby tiger :smiley: . She has learnt that it’s ok to jump on her humans. She does it to play and look for attention. She will also hold on to your leg. Luckly, she is not aggressive, and I can take her and put her on the floor. If I stop for 2 seconds playing with her she will jump on me.
I received lots of good suggestions from other members but I would love to hear your oppinion.
This is what I am doing:

  • Wearing extra clothes to avoid getting more claw marks.
  • When I see that she is going to jump on me, I call her attention on a toy and try to tired her up. (using toys with long sticks)
  • If she managed to hold on to me, I take her without saying anything to her play area.
  • I only pet her when she is on the floor or playing in her area.
  • The owner uses Feliway, so I am using that too. The owner says that she does the same to her but she doesn’t know what to do to make her stop, plus feels bad about it becasue the cat is young so she just want to hold her and cuddle her all the time.

Thanks!!!

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Hi Dr Marc!

I have a 7 year old very vocal cat that i’d like some help with. My little ginger boy meows A LOT, which was fine to begin with but it’s really ramped up!

The worst is at night time when we go to bed, he’ll come up for a cuddle but then will go downstairs and sit at the bottom of the stairs meowing over and over for at least 15 mins non-stop. He also does it at intervals throughout the night and usually before every feeding time.

During the day i’m able to ignore it more, but he wakes us up most nights which I just can’t keep going with.

We’ve tried ignoring him but it just doesn’t seem to be doing anything! So any thoughts you might have on this would be so helpful! We’re also about to welcome a puppy into the house soon and i’d like to stop this beforehand so it doesn’t interfere with the overnight sleep training we will be doing with her.

Thanks!!!

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Hello everyone,

It’s great to see so many more great questions for Dr Marc Abraham OBE.

Just to let you know there is still plenty of time to ask any questions that you may have as this thread is open until 11.59pm BST on 20th September.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted questions so far. :heart:

Don’t miss this opportunity to ask your questions.

Sam.

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Hi Dr. Abraham!
I’m a petsitter who just submitted my applications to veterinary school! What skills are transferable between being a great petsitter to providing excellent medical care to pets? Do you think being a petsitter during my “gap years” will be helpful or hurtful for my chances?

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Hi Marc,
Thanks for taking our questions. What are more common ailments we can treat at home, allowing the cat or dog time to heal itself, and what common symptoms should we bring the pet in to a vet sooner?

Broken bones, unconsciousness, uncontrolled bleeding, inability to hold food down come quickly to mind as things that need immediate professional attention, but I’m sure there are others.

Thanks!

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Hello everyone!

It’s great to see all of the questions submitted so far.

Just a reminder the opportunity to ask a question closes at 11.59pm BST tonight, so if you do want to get involved, please add your question on here ASAP!

Thank you to everyone who has submitted a question/s so far. :slightly_smiling_face:

Sam.

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Hi Dr Marc,

I have a question, Is it true you can get a basic idea of a dog’s health by looking at the colour of their gums, namely if they are nice and bright pink, the dog is in good health, if they are pale pink, the dog might be under the weather?

Thank you.

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