MoonFisher's advice column | MoonFisher's Advice About Pets

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Q: This is gonna be sorta long!

Ok My bird named Babe is a Male Cocketiel and a friend of me and my moms told us that they had a female and that they were looking for a male to mate with her. Well we told them that we would give it a try between Babe and there female, And now she is at our house and has been for a week. Babe likes her and all but he doesent like her going in his cage, so we are planning on mating them in her cage....Well they havent mated yet because we dont have a nest but Babe doesent realy show signs if wanting to mate to her and all, Does anyone have some pointers for me?

Turn the lights low, put on some soft music, maybe pop open a bottle of champagne... j/k, you need to research the mating habits of these birds. I recommend going to Google.com and typing in "cocketiel breeding" and following your nose to the answers.

Q: i have this dog who is two years old, and i love him sooo much. the problem is, he has gotten my other dog pregnant twice, and each tie we had a horrible time trying to give the puppies away. My parents are furious, and they want to castrate him. i just cant bear the though of him losing his gender! just in case any of you know, what happens when you castrate a dog? are there any side effects?

You need to get BOTH of your dogs fixed. The only negative side effect to this procedure is possible weight gain. Your dogs will be calmer, better behaved, and NO MORE PUPPIES. All pet owners should have their animals fixed unless they are breeders. Every year, in my city ALONE, there are over 6000 animals put to death because of overpopulation. Nobody wants them, they die. It is because of irresponsible pet owners allowing their pets to have offspring that can't get a proper home. Please, I beg you, fix your animals and help stop this horrible situation. Animals are dying and they count on US to make mature and responsible decisions.

Q: Can I Give My Kitten Infants Tylenol?

No. Tylenol is poisonous to animals. You CAN give them aspirin, but it needs to be a VERY TINY amount, like maybe an 8th of a tablet. You need to call the local vet and ask them about it. They can give you an appropriate answer.

Q: hiii...umm, can anyone help me? i need to train my jack russell terrier (hel be one year on the 22nd) to stay away from my dad. every time he gets close to my dad, hell kick him, or hit him, or punch him, etc. I've watched this for too long and I can absolutely take it no longer. i mean like, my little dog means the world to me! i just love him alot and i want him to be happy. last time my dad hit him he stayed in the other half of our house in the corner all day, and he was crying. it will be hard to train him to stay away and this is gonna be hard. jack russells are very active, and mine loves everyone, unfortanitly. :-\..does neone have any advice? thank you

I hate to sound pessimistic, but if getting kicked isn't enough to teach the poor thing to stay away, nothing will probably teach him. Have you taught him to respond to the word NO. That's probably to most important thing you could teach a dog. When he begins to approach your father, tell him no, back, down or whatever command you decide to use. Don't use several words, that will comfise him. Just pick ONE word and use it as a command to intervene when he gets close. Your dad sounds like an abusive *expletive* and when you turn 18 you need to take that dog and RUUUUUUNN!

Q: My cat has a bad habbit of tearing up the toilet paper rolls. I have tried putting the rolls on backwards so the paper won't roll off when she plays with it, but she is still tearing it up good. I end up thowing away 1/4 of the roll when I go into the bathroom. What can I do to prevent my cat from doing this?

Close the bathroom door? hehe, maybe you should just take it off the roll and learn to keep it on the back of the toilet. You may also thing about taking the dispenser out and moving it up higher where she might not be able to reach, if the hardware isn't too complex. It's USUALLY just a couple of screws, but not always.

Q: Everytime i leave my 1 year old puppy alone, like when i take my brother to work in the mornings, and there is nobody up to watch him, he always gets into things. Like this morning, he chewed my clock, and my medicine *was way out of reach* was in the floor chewed on. Thankfully he didnt get any of it though. My question is, 1. how can i stop him from chewing on things that he is not suppost to, and 2. is there other way other than locking him up in his carrier?

You need to get a kennel, period. Not his carrier, it is too small, but a larger cage. I used to lock my pups in the bathroom with food and water until one rambunctious one ate my linoleum! I had two bassett hounds who were able to get the trash off the top of the refridgerator, even with those short stumpy legs. Puppies are clever, and the only thing to hold them will be iron bars.

That aside, they make a special spray called NO CHEW that you can usually pick up in WalMart. I really recommend training him. You need to put the item to his nose and spank him with a rolled up newspaper and tell him NO. You need to give him plenty of chew toys and praise him when he uses them. I recommend purchasing a book on training a dog or looking it up online. There are probably several sites with great training tips. Good luck! I've had my share of devil dogs, too!

Q: my dog sheds like a mofo! i mean all i do is touch him and then my hand looks like a gorillas its so hairy...hes only a beagle what can i do?

Get a shedding tool from the local pet store and use it on the dog as soon as his fur starts looking clumpy, which is when he is preparing to shed. This will pull off most of the excess fur for him and make him more comfortable.

Q: i was in the car with my dad the other night and there was this possom in the middle of the road and it looked like it had rabies b/c it was still alive...should u kill it and put it out of its missory or go around it?

Honestly, I would swerve for any animal, because neither you nor I are a vet and able to make that diagnosis. If I KNEW for a fact it had rabies, I would hit it, but then wash my car before my dogs decided to lick the blood off of it and have the carcass removed before a dog ate it and got sick as well. The worry is that it can spread rabies to other animals, including a dog or cat that may bite a child. If you really think it had rabies, you should immediately call your local animal control office so they can isolate the animal and make a diagnosis.

Q: arite well rite now im cleanin my hampster cage and im soaking EVERYTHING in dish soap and hot water...well my hampster like is in his lil hampster ball while im doing this and hes not like a tiny lil hampster hes really big!! and healhty...well he peed in his hampster ball and hes done this b4 but i juss wash the ball after i get the cage back together...shuld i wash the hampster??? how wuld i do it?? like in a bowl? i dont wanna kill my hampster but shuld i wash him?

Your hamster will clean himself. Let him be.

Q: My dog has been sleeping a lot more during the day than usual and i dunno why. She isn't feeling up to going out to play or anything either. I am worried. Will this stop soon? She is 9 years old though and she is healthy too. What is wrong?

Signed- Puppy Love XoXoX

As dogs get older, they will be less energetic. A nine year old dog is like a 50 year old man. They're both still spry and capeable, but usually prefer sleeping on the couch to romping around outside. You may want the vet to look your dog over to make sure there aren't any problems. This is the age when you start seeing things like hip displasia, which can make your animal hesitant to be active.