MANY JUMPY CATS CAN LEARN TO ACCEPT PETTING WITHOUT BITING

My two cats are both beautiful -- I may be a little biased, but I'm pretty sure it's true. When it comes to temperament, though, their similarities end. One cat is relaxed and easygoing, a born lap kitty. The other is easily aroused, sometimes reacting to petting by scratching the person in whose lap he finds himself -- which, more than likely, of course, is mine.

Over the years, I've worked to lengthen his short fuse, starting with the most important rule when it comes to dealing with feline aggression: Never, ever hit your cat.

If punishment won't work, what will? You need to understand the reasons why cats lash out and learn to read feline body language, while also retraining and managing your cat to prevent bites or clawing. Here's what makes cats go crazy and how to correct these problems:

-- Overstimulation. You're petting your cat, and suddenly he grabs you with his claws and teeth. Don't struggle or fight back, or you may trigger a real bite. Sometimes, smacking your other hand loudly against a hard surface -- a tabletop, for example -- may startle your cat into breaking off the attack. If you stay still, however, he will usually calm down and release you.

Cat lovers often think such attacks come without warning, but they've missed the warning signs of a cat who has simply had enough. The tail is the key. If your cat starts twitching his tail in a jerky fashion, it's time to stop petting. And you can often keep him from getting to that overstimulated place by petting along the side of and under the chin only, avoiding touchier spots like the back or the belly.

-- Play aggression. Never let your cat view you as a plaything, not even when he's an adorable kitten. Wrestling barehanded with your cat or kitten is a no-no, because you're setting up a bad precedent. A stuffed sock is a great substitute for a human hand when it comes to playthings -- let your cat bite, claw and bunny-kick to his heart's content. Give your cat lots of other exercise, frequent sessions that burn his youthful energy, such as playing with a "fishing pole"-type toy.

What if he persists in seeing you as a plaything? As with an overstimulated cat, stop the behavior by freezing if he has you in a painful grip. If he's ambushing you, water from a small squirt gun might help convince him that this is not a game worth playing.

-- Redirected aggression. Your cat sees another cat, an intruder, outside your living room window. He becomes enraged. You walk by, and he nails you.

This is redirected aggression, and it's a management issue. Motion-detecting sprinklers can discourage strange cats from being in your yard. If you can't keep feline intruders out, block your cat's access to the window through which he sees the other cats. And again, be aware of your cat's body language. A cat who's looking for trouble is one who's best avoided.

The trick with cats is to eliminate the triggers for biting or scratching and work on your cat's tolerance levels. If you're patient and consistent, your cat may well improve over time. If you're not getting anywhere, talk to your veterinarian about a referral to a behaviorist experienced in feline behavior. Additionally, veterinary behaviorists can prescribe medications that can help ease your cat's anxiety while you work on permanent changes to his behavior.

While my jumpy cat will never be the completely relaxed purr-machine his housemate is, he's incredibly more tolerant of petting. His purrs let me know that he's as happy with the changes as I am.

Q&A

Pellets, 'people food' form

base of good diet for parrots

Q: Our cockatiel has eaten nothing but a seed mix her whole life, and she's 12 years old. We've read in your book "Birds For Dummies" that seed isn't good for her, but she seems to be doing fine. Should we try to change her diet now? -- via email

A: Parrots -- and this term includes the little guys like budgies and cockatiels -- should eat a diet of a nutritionally balanced pelleted food supplemented by healthy "people food," such as fruits, vegetables, whole-grain breads and pasta. Seed should be an occasional treat, not the foundation of a diet.

That said, many people start out with bad advice, or inherit, adopt or buy an adult bird who's already hooked on a diet of seed. Like a person raised on fast food and sweets, these parrots have developed a taste for seeds -- which are the avian equivalent of junk food -- that's going to be hard to shift onto healthier fare. It can be done, but shouldn't be attempted "cold turkey," if you will, because parrots can launch lethal hunger strikes.

Your cockatiel is entering her senior years, a process that may have been sped up because of her diet. There's still time for a healthier bird, though, and a dietary intervention could add considerable time to her life span.

It would be a good idea to take your bird in for a comprehensive checkup. Once your bird's true health status is determined (birds often hide signs of illness from their owners, which is why diagnostics are particularly useful), you can work with your bird's veterinarian to gradually improve the quality of your pet's diet and overall health.

If your bird doesn't already have a board-certified avian veterinarian or one who is comfortable and experienced with treating birds (not all veterinarians are), you can likely find one on the website of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (aav.org). -- Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori

THE BUZZ

A thoughtful guide for

would-be veterinarians

-- Studies show that "veterinarian" is a profession often chosen in childhood, and for many of those goal-oriented youngsters, nothing will change their minds: not keen competition, not years of schooling, not poor job prospects and not the potential for carrying forward a crushing burden of student-loan debt that may prevent young professionals from owning their own practices, buying a home or starting a family. The VIN Foundation, the charitable arm of the Veterinary Information Network, has developed a brochure that offers young dreamers and parents alike a no-nonsense look at the challenges of becoming -- and being -- a veterinarian. It's free to download at iwanttobeaveterinarian.org. First thing to know: "A love of animals is not enough to make veterinary medicine a good career choice."

-- Some adult cats, like some humans, cannot handle milk without ending up with diarrhea. For those cats who can handle milk and like it, though, it's a fine occasional treat, and a good source of protein.

-- Students of canine history will be fascinated when they enter the word "dog" into the search field at the website for old newsreels from the archives of British Pathe (britishpathe.com). From sled dogs to show dogs to military working dogs, it's astonishing how much dogs' lives have changed in the last few decades -- and how much they haven't. -- Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet care experts headed by "Good Morning America" and "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Gina Spadafori. The two are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and also the authors of many best-selling pet care books. Dr. Becker can also be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker.

REGULAR GROOMING IS AN EASY WAY TO MAKE PETS HAPPY AND HEALTHY

There are few things that make a veterinarian happier than walking into an exam room to see a pet who's squeaky clean and perfectly groomed. That's because it's a sign of a pet owner who's paying attention to all aspects of preventive pet care and overall comfort.

How important is grooming to your pet's comfort? Consider a simple mat, so easy to overlook. Have you ever had your hair in a ponytail that was just a little too tight? A mat can feel the same way to your dog -- a constant pull on the skin. Try to imagine those all over your body, and you have a good idea how uncomfortable an ungroomed coat can be.

Your dog need never know what a mat feels like if you keep him brushed and combed -- but that's just the start of the health benefits. Regular grooming allows you to look for lumps, bumps and injuries, while clearing such things as tangles and ticks from his coat. Follow up with your veterinarian on any questionable masses you find, and you may detect cancer early enough to save your pet's life.

For shorthaired breeds, keeping skin and coat in good shape is easy. Run your hands over him daily, a brush over him weekly and that's it.

For other breeds, grooming is a little more involved. Breeds such as collies, chows, keeshonden and Alaskan malamutes are "double-coated," which means they have a downy undercoat underneath harsher long hair. The down can mat like a layer of felt against the skin if left untended. To prevent this, divide the coat into small sections and brush against the grain from the skin outward, working from head to tail, section by section. A tip: Yes, you can keep these long-haired dogs clipped short to keep grooming easier -- and you'll be rewarded with a dog who sheds the least of all, owing to the longer grow-and-shed cycle of long hair.

Silky-coated dogs such as Afghan hounds, cockers and Maltese also need constant brushing to keep tangles from forming. As with the double-coated dogs, work with small sections at a time, brushing from the skin outward, and then comb back into place with the grain for a glossy, finished look. Coats of this type require so much attention that having a groomer keep the dogs trimmed to a medium length is often more practical.

Curly and wiry coats, such as those on poodles and terriers, need to be brushed weekly, working against the grain and then with it. Curly coats need to be clipped every six weeks; wiry ones, two or three times a year. (But clipping every six weeks will keep your terrier looking sharper.) A good professional groomer, along with your veterinarian, can be a dog's best friend.

Good grooming is about more than keeping your pet looking beautiful and clean-smelling, although those are certainly pleasant payoffs. Regular grooming relaxes the dog who's used to it, and it becomes a special time shared between you both. A coat free of mats, burrs and tangles, and skin free of fleas and ticks, are as comfortable to your dog as clean clothes fresh from the wash are to you. It just makes you feel good, and the effect is the same for your pet.

Some added benefit for you: Giving your dog a tummy rub after every session is sure to relax you (and your dog, of course) and ease the stress of your day.

Q&A

Houseplants can make

chewing cats very sick

Q: I'm tired of shredded houseplants! Can you suggest plants that our two cats won't chew on? -- via Facebook

A: We'd rather you satisfy your cats' desire to chew by offering safe plants for their pleasure, while removing all toxic foliage and cat-proofing the plants you want left alone.

Many common houseplants can make your cats ill, and a few can be deadly. Among the most dangerous are dieffenbachia, lily of the valley and philodendron. Various ivies and yews can be troublesome, too, and the bulbs of plants popular for "forcing" into early indoor bloom -- such as amaryllis, daffodils and tulips -- can cause problems for the cat who likes to dig and chew.

The Animal Poison Control Center (ASPCA.org/apcc) maintains a list of problem plants, and you should also be able to find such lists in most basic cat-care books. Check your household inventory against the "bad plant" list, and replace any dangerous plants with safer ones.

Indulge your pets by keeping planters of sprouting grasses growing in an accessible place for nibbling. Special blends of seeds for cats are available in pet stores and specialty shops, or you can purchase rye or wheat grass seeds at the nursery. Catnip, too, is something that's always better when fresh, as is valerian. While not all cats react to the pleasures of these plants, those who do will appreciate your keeping it in-house and using fresh cuttings to recharge cat posts, trees and toys.

When your cats have their own plants, you can work on keeping them away from yours. Plants on the ground or on low tables are the easiest targets, so make your houseplants less accessible to the bored and wandering cat. Put plants up high, or better yet: Hang them.

For the plants you can't move out of harm's way, make them less appealing by coating them with something your cats find disagreeable. Cat-discouragers include Bitter Apple, a nasty-tasting substance available at any pet-supply store, or Tabasco sauce from any grocery store. Whenever you find what your cat doesn't like, keep reapplying it to reinforce the point.

Pot your plants in heavy, wide-bottomed containers, and cover the soil of the problem plants with rough, decorative rock to end digging. Foil, waxed paper and double-sided tape are also effective digging deterrents, albeit less attractive ones. -- Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori

THE BUZZ

Powerful beaks give

parrots big leverage

-- The beaks of most parrots are remarkably well-designed for one of their most important tasks: cracking, crushing, prying or otherwise destroying the protective coatings around many of the foods they like to eat. Beaks should not be given routine trims: Overgrowth of the beak is frequently a sign of illness, such as liver disease or malnutrition. Any bird whose beak seems to be too long needs to see a veterinarian expert in avian medicine to determine the cause of the problem and treat it accordingly.

-- Viagra (sildenafil) is used for more than what it's most famous for. In veterinary medicine, the drug may be prescribed for severe pulmonary hypertension -- high blood pressure in the lungs.

-- Dealing with hairballs -- fur ingested as a cat grooms himself, then vomited back up in clumps -- is a normal part of living with a cat. Canned or fresh pureed pumpkin -- not pumpkin pie filling -- is a good way to increase the fiber in your cat's diet to help the hair work its way through your cat's digestive system. Many cats enjoy a teaspoon of pumpkin daily if it's mixed with something yummy, such as canned food or the water from a can of tuna or clams. Daily brushing can help prevent hairballs as well, by reducing the amount of hair a cat swallows. -- Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet care experts headed by "Good Morning America" and "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Gina Spadafori. The two are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and also the authors of many best-selling pet care books. Dr. Becker can also be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker.

The No. 1 thing that will give your pet a better life while saving you money? Weight loss

Whenever I write about veterinary medicine, no matter if it's basic preventive care tests or cutting-edge specialty or emergency procedures, it's inevitable that I'll hear from readers who'll use the topic as a reason to complain about the cost of care.

Although I understand why people feel that way, I think it's often unfair. Veterinarians perform similar and often identical procedures to those of doctors, but at a fraction of the cost of human medicine. Yet I realize that pointing out that the $3,000 procedure that will save a pet's life would be 10 times that cost in human medicine doesn't help a bit if you don't have one-tenth of that amount available anyway.

I can't fix that situation, and neither can the veterinarians I know. They have to pay all the costs of doing business, and they've struggled to get by right along with everyone else as the economy has staggered along. Pet health insurance can help, as can third-party credit plans -- and I recommend looking into them both before you're faced with hard decisions.

But what frustrates me -- and so many veterinarians I know -- is the way that so many pet lovers overlook, downplay or completely ignore the No. 1 thing that will keep their pets healthier, longer-lived and out of veterinary offices. Even more astonishing, this not-so-secret way to save money on veterinary care can be absolutely free.

What is it?

Take excess weight off your pet.

There's a better than 50 percent chance that if you're reading this and have a pet, this topic concerns you and your pet. That's because more than half of all pets in the United States are overweight -- many of them desperately so. Veterinarians say that we have gotten so used to seeing fat pets that we have come to think it's normal. We're often not even able to recognize that our own pets are overweight.

If you cannot see a tuck in (from above) or up (from the side) behind your pet's rib cage, and cannot see just a hint of rib under a little bit of padding, your pet is fat.

I'm not saying that to make you feel guilty. I'm saying that as a nonjudgmental statement of fact.

I long ago came to terms with the idea that the subject of obesity in people is complicated and charged with emotions -- but in pets, it shouldn't be. Pets cannot feed themselves, and they cannot overeat unless you overfeed them. Even if you and your pets lead sedentary lives, you can adjust your pets' daily portions accordingly. They'll even learn to stop begging if you stop rewarding that behavior.

Slow, steady weight loss is what you're going for, especially for cats. That's because crash diets in fat cats can trigger a deadly condition known as "fatty liver disease." If you're free-feeding, stop, and if you're not measuring, start. You can buy a "diet" food or you can reduce portions and add "empty" bulk to the kibble you already use by adding green beans or pumpkin to smaller amounts. Wet food is another good strategy, since the water content makes pets feel more full. It's an especially good strategy for cats, many of whom are chronically dehydrated.

Your veterinarian can tailor a weight-loss plan, or you can use an app such as my friend Dr. Patty Khuly's "The Fat Dog Diet" (free from thefatdogdiet.com), which shows you how to figure out if your dog is fat, by how much, and advises how much to feed to get results from almost every brand of kibble sold. (Pet food labels are often notoriously generous with their recommended portions.)

Do what you can, but do something, please. I see pets every day whose lives are miserable, and whose owners seem oblivious. If you do nothing else today, take an honest look at your pet, and put your hands underneath that lovely coat. If you find he's more fat than fluff, you need to make changes -- the sooner, the better.

Here's my bottom line: If you have an obese pet, you have no business complaining about the costs of treating conditions caused by or made worse by your pet's weight.

Taking weight off will make everyone feel better: you, your veterinarian and especially your pet. There's so much to lose -- and so much to gain by doing so.

Q&A

Closed doors prevent

feline fight injuries

Q: Our cat got into another fight, and that meant another abscess -- and another vet bill! How can we prevent another round of these? It's getting too expensive. -- via Facebook

A: Nearly every free-roaming cat will one day need to see a veterinarian to have an abscess treated -- surgically opened, flushed of debris, and sometimes temporarily held open by drains to let the wound heal with the help of time and some strong antibiotics.

This common feline health problem is usually the result of a puncture wound, specifically a bite from another cat during a fight over territory or mates.

A cat's mouth is a nasty mix of bacteria, and once that bacteria gets punched into another cat's body, the result will probably be an abscess. Think about it -- bacteria are basically injected by two hypodermic needles (the cat's fang teeth) into a perfect incubator (another cat's 101-degree-plus body). The only possible outcome is infection.

The only surefire prevention strategy that I know is to keep cats indoors. If you can't do that, you'll likely be back at the veterinarian's again after the next fight. Once a bite wound abscesses, there is no DIY solution: Your cat will need to see your veterinarian. -- Dr. Marty Becker

THE BUZZ

Cats put priority on

a full-body stretch

-- When it comes to stretching before any activity, no personal trainer or coach will ever be as committed to the idea as the average cat. When a cat wakes up, she carefully stretches every muscle to make sure her strong, supple body is ready for action. Typically, the stretching routine starts with a good arching of the back and a very, very big yawn. Next is a full-body stretch, right down to the tip of the tail.

-- In three decades, the number of white-tailed deer has gone from 300,000 to more than 30 million, and with them, the numbers of ticks have likewise exploded. Deer are hosts for ticks, taking the heinous hitchhikers everywhere they go. As the animals take over suburbs and are now pretty common in cities as well, tick-borne diseases are of even greater concern to veterinarians and physicians alike. Protecting pets from ticks also protects people. Talk to your veterinarian about the most effective methods of tick control in your region.

-- Cats want everything in the world to smell as they do, and they spend their lives trying to accomplish that feat. When cats rub against people or furniture, they're depositing sebum from glands on their heads to spread their own trademark scent on what -- or who -- they're bumping. When cats claw, they're not only keeping the tips of their claws razor-sharp, but they're also depositing scent from glands in the feet. When they lick themselves -- or you -- they're putting scent-impregnated saliva all over. -- Dr. Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet care experts headed by "Good Morning America" and "The Dr. Oz Show" veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker and award-winning journalist Gina Spadafori. The two are affiliated with Vetstreet.com and also the authors of many best-selling pet care books. Dr. Becker can also be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker.