From a frisky feline to a hyperactive hamster – your pet queries answered

HE is on a mission to help our pets  . . . and is here to answer YOUR questions.

Sean, who is the head vet at tailored pet food firm tails.com, has helped with owners’ queries for ten years.

He says: “If your pet is acting funny or is under the weather, or you want to know about nutrition or exercise, just ask. I can help keep pets happy and healthy.”

Q: MY cat Mick keeps bringing a feline friend home.

I wake up and there’s always another white cat there in the house with him.

I love that Mick is a sociable animal — but isn’t this unusual for a cat?

I thought they were meant to be territorial?

How can I solve it?

Emma Hollick, Basingstoke, Hants

Sean says: Good old Mick, the ladies’ man.

Or man’s man, all cool!

Although we are told that generally cats are quite anti-social, they can also develop friendly bonds with other cats.

If you want to exclude his new playmates, then I recommend a microchip-operated cat flap which will allow Mick in but not his mates.

And yes, I would consider another cat friend if you can, there are so many in rehoming centres needing good homes.

Q: I’VE got a hyperactive hamster. Sometimes Brian runs so fast on his wheel, he flies out.

Is he an adrenaline junkie?

Seriously, is there anything else I can do to expend his energy, because I want him to be as happy as possible?

He has three levels in his cage, and lots of tubes to run in.

I also handle him a lot.

Sophie Stuart, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Sean says: This is standard hamster behaviour, and an indication of perhaps one of the most serious mismatches for how we tend to keep certain pets.

Hamsters in the wild roam large distances every night, scurrying about finding and stockpiling food for leaner times, and looking for mates in the breeding season.

They cover a lot of ground.

Of course, when we place them into generally quite tiny cages, all that energy has to come out somewhere and this will often be on the addictive, high-reward thrill-ride of an exercise wheel.

My recommendation is to hamster- proof a room and let Brian out to explore each evening and work off some of that energy in a more complex environment than his cage.

Supervised, of course.

Q: WE have a ten-year-old Shih Tzu dog called Ralph and for the last four years we have lived with my partner’s daughter and her husband and their two Shih Tzus.

As Ralph spends a lot of time with them, is he going to be able to adjust to life without them when we move soon to a new home?

Graham Dutty, Southport, Merseyside

Sean says: In short, yes he will adjust over time to being a solo dog.

Will he enjoy that process?

Probably not, initially.

Will he be lonely at times? Yes.

It seems a great time to consider whether you could support another dog, preferably a rescue looking for a good home.

If you don’t think it’s time to become a two-dog family, I’d try to find some friends he gets along with that you can go on walks with, or have over for play dates.

Q: WHY are cats scared of cucumbers? I put one next to my cat Fergus and he ran off.

I’m puzzled. Are there any other fruits and veg I need to be wary of?

Bryan Downs, Crayford, South East London

Sean says: It’s weird, eh? I’ve seen those videos too. My interpretation is that it must be an instinctive fear of long objects, which would have protected their ancestors from snakes.

It could also be startling to have a weird-shaped object placed beside you without realising, when you are supposed to be a stealth predator.

So maybe it’s not the cucumber itself and just a social media trend that went viral.

Star of the week

TED the cat likes nights out on the tiles so much his owner has built him his own dedicated SHED to snooze in until she wakes up.

Julie Bow, 56, of Plymstock, Devon, said her 13-year-old puss gave her a morale boost when she was made redundant following Covid – but then he used to wake her yowling at 4am wanting to come in from late-night prowls.

So she kitted out her garden shed with a cat scratching post, raised camp bed and comfy seating and called it Ted’s Cat Cave so he can nap until morning.

Julie said: “Now we’re both getting our beauty sleep.”

The dog ate my undies and socks!

DOGS and cats have been gobbling up their owners’ underwear and socks – leading to huge vet bills and pet insurance claims.

Tesco Bank has revealed it had 1,250 claims last year for pets eating items they should not, which blocked their stomach or were toxic.

Puppies were responsible for 41 per cent of these claims last year, with an average value of £1,215.

Adult dogs were even more mischievous, accounting for 51 per cent of claims last year, averaging £1,561.

Although cats are far less likely to eat things they ought not to, it works out much more expensive if they do – with nearly 100 claims, averaging £12,936.

Other items eaten by pets include golf balls, chicken bones, toys and stones.

Alex Cross, Insurance Director at Tesco Bank, said: “Anyone with a dog will know that the old excuse ‘My dog ate my homework’ is far closer to the truth than one might think.

“Our internal claims reveal that some pets are tempted to eat whatever they can get their paws on, which can lead to unexpected bills.

“It serves as a reminder that pet owners should take care of where they leave their things in case they’re in reach of their mischievous pups or curious cats.”