Pet Health

Dear Porky & Buddy,

Help!!! My dog Delilah is a wonderful companion when I am home with her, but when I leave, even for a short period of time, she apparently goes on a rampage. She chews furniture, gnaws on the wood baseboards, knocks things over, and my neighbors tell me that she barks incessantly. I have no idea what to do. She is so good when I am with her. Someone suggested medication for anxiety, but I hate to give pills to a dog until I have tried everything else.

Dear Porky and Buddy,

I am very concerned. I just saw an ad in the New York Times placed by an organization called HumaneWatch.org. It said, “The Humane Society of the United States is NOT your local animal shelter. In fact, it gives less than one-half of one percent of its $100 million budget to hands-on pet shelters. Meanwhile, this wealthy animal rights group socked away over $2.5 million of Americans’ donations in its own pension plans.”

Dear Porky & Buddy,

I just adopted Gordo, a new cat, and I was told he was litter box trained, but he won’t use mine. It’s getting a little messy in the “cat room.” What can I do? Help!

Dear Porky:
I have a cat that digs holes in my yard. Have you ever heard of that? Do you know what causes such behavior? I thought only dogs dug holes.
Mary

My neighbor was out mowing his back field yesterday and came upon a fawn sleeping all by itself in the grass. He didn’t know what to do so he just stopped mowing there and when we went out to try to get the fawn and get it to safety later in the afternoon it was gone.

Dear Porky and Buddy,

I read on the internet that heartworm in cats is becoming a problem all across the United States and that I should really consider putting my cats on a heartworm preventative. To be honest, I can just barely afford the heartworm preventative for my two dogs, much less my four cats? Is this really necessary. I have never heart of a cat having heartworm around here.