Ask the Expert – Old

Q: I have a St Bernard pup who is five months old and refuses to go for a walk. Please advice the exercise, food and supplement needs for a St Bernard. - Balraj, Jabalpur Dr KG Umesh: A nutritionally balanced diet is crucial for the healthy growth and development of a dog in order to prepare him for an active, long and healthy life. Giant breeds like St Bernard take longer time to mature and…

Dr K G Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He has been a lecturer in clinical medicine at Vet College in Bangalore for 15 years, and has won the ‘best teacher’ award in the year 2000. He is a member of European Society for Vet Dermatology and is currently working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Chang, our Pekinese, has a rash on the paw - he has been…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He is working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: We feed dry food to our six years old kitty. Recently, she has started passing a lot of gas. Please advice. –Prerna, Ahmedabad Dr KG Umesh: Most of the gas that forms in the intestine comes from air swallowed during eating or through panting. Some gases are…

Q: Goofi, my Lab pup, who is now 45 days old, was born without a tail. Can you advice why this happened? –Vidhu Singh, Mhow (Indore) Dr KG Umesh: What about his siblings? Collect his family history if available. It is likely to be a congenital or inherited problem. Check with your vet for presence of any physical or skeletal abnormality. Q: The ears of my five-month-old GSD are not standing. Her…

Dr K G Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He has been a lecturer in clinical medicine at Vet College in Bangalore for 15 years, and has won the 'best teacher' award in the year 2000. He is a member of European Society for Vet Dermatology and is currently working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: I have two dogs - Pomeranian and Labrador (mix), both…

Dr K G Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He has been a lecturer in clinical medicine at Vet College in Bangalore for 15 years, and has won the 'best teacher' award in the year 2000. He is a member of European Society for Vet Dermatology and is currently working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: I’ve a female Boxer who is one and a half years old.…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He is working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: I am shifting from Bengaluru to Pune. I have two cats - three and five years old - who have never travelled. What is the best manner to travel with them – by road or flight? How do I accustom them to travel? Should I buy separate crates for them? - R Murli,…

Dr K G Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He has been a lecturer in clinical medicine at Vet College in Bangalore for 15 years, and has won the 'best teacher' award in the year 2000. He is a member of European Society for Vet Dermatology and is currently working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: Muffin is in the initial stages of her pregnancy but her…

Dr K G Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He has been a lecturer in clinical medicine at Vet College in Bangalore for 15 years, and has won the 'best teacher' award in the year 2000. He is a member of European Society for Vet Dermatology and is currently working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: My dog is often coughing. The vet is saying he has…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He is working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: My three-year-old cat Tom is having a lot of hair fall, especially in certain area patches. Is this some allergy? What should we do? - Ashish Shukla, Ghaziabad Dr K G Umesh: Hair loss/shedding is a common complaint with skin disorders and results from number of…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He has been a lecturer in clinical medicine at Vet College in Bangalore for 15 years, and has won the 'best teacher' award in the year 2000. He is a member of European Society for Vet Dermatology and is currently working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: My dog loves to chew grass. Is it normal? How should I…

Dr K G Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He has been a lecturer in clinical medicine at Vet College in Bangalore for 15 years, and has won the 'best teacher' award in the year 2000. He is a member of European Society for Vet Dermatology and is currently working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q. My dog Mumtaz, a seven-year-old Spitz, has been…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He is working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: My cat is extremely vocal when I put on my shoes to step out- he keeps following me and keeps a close contact. My family says after I leave, he sulks and hides in a corner - he sometimes eats very little too. How do I calm him? - Karuna, Pune Dr KG Umesh: Cats…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He is working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: My two male Persians get into ego hassles and start battling each other. How do we make them more cordial to each other and if they get in an aggressive situation- how do we separate them? - R Ramesh, Mysore Dr KG Umesh: Cats are territorial creatures and they do…

Dr K G Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He has been a lecturer in clinical medicine at Vet College in Bangalore for 15 years, and has won the 'best teacher' award in the year 2000. He is a member of European Society for Vet Dermatology and is currently working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: My German Shepherd who is five years old seems to be…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He is working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: My five-year-old Persian cat is having hard stool; he sometimes passes stool after 2-3 days. We give him a mix of home and cat food (dry). Is he suffering from constipation? - Hari, Vadodara Dr KG Umesh: Constipation is a frequent sign of large intestine problem…

Q: I am taking care of a dog who met with an accident in November 2011. He had a fracture in lumber region near pelvic girdle but now he is walking. He is suffering from anal fistula and urine and stool problem. He is trying to pass stool and urine but in an uncontrolled way. He urinates while walking, sleeping, climbing steps, etc. But when he tries to urinate, he cannot. Please advice. - Jaya…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He is working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: I have a five years old cat (male) and want to get another three and a half months old kitten in. How should I introduce them and take care of both of them? Is it ok to adopt a female cat or should I look at adopting a male cat? – Sudhakar, Gurgaon Dr KG Umesh:…

Q: My 10-year-old Rottweiler Tarzan has developed a mole between his paws - it was operated two years back but now it has grown back again causing him pain. He has other moles on his body- but the one on his paw makes him limp. Please advice. - Vinita Patel, Vadodara Dr KG Umesh: Neoplastic or non-neoplastic disorders may cause growth between fingers in senior dogs. If the growth has come back,…

Dr KG Umesh (MVSc, MSc (UK)) is a Postgraduate in Clinical Medicine. He is working for WALTHAM as Regional Associate for South Asia. Q: My cat is sneezing, has a runny nose and is coughing. Please help. – Prashant Das, Kolkata Dr KG Umesh: These signs are often caused by a combination of infectious diseases, with chronic recurrent viral infections complicated by secondary bacterial infections.…