Post-Holiday Pet Guide: Dr. Sugerman's Christmas Puppies and Kittens Edition
Unwrap the joys of a slightly delayed Christmas episode with Dr. Sugerman on Vetsplanation. Join us as we dive into the world of puppy and kitten care, blending festive anecdotes with practical advice. From the chaos of welcoming a Great Dane puppy to the essentials of pet supplies, this episode is a heartwarming mix of holiday cheer and veterinary wisdom.
What You’ll Learn:
Practical tips for pet owners, drawing from Dr. Sugerman's experiences with a Great Dane puppy named Nora
The importance of choosing the right food and water bowls
Insights into the benefits of water fountains for kittens, with a focus on hydration and preventing urinary issues
Considerations for litter boxes
Guidance on collars for puppies and kittens, considering factors like outdoor exposure and the use of breakaway collars
In-depth discussion on the significance of microchipping for pets, including the process, benefits, and the need to update information
Tips on crate training for dogs, highlighting the benefits for safety, potty training, and providing a secure space for the pet
Suggestions for appropriate toys for puppies and kittens, emphasizing safety and the importance of play in their development
Insights into puppy and kitten proofing, including precautions with items like hair ties, strings, and dangerous materials
Guidance on puppy and kitten training, including the recommendation of puppy classes and ongoing education for both pets and owners
Ideas Worth Sharing:
"Taking them to a puppy class is a great first step. People think it's teaching the puppy, but really it's teaching you." - Dr. Tyler Sugerman-McGiffin
"Be patient. They will get older and eventually grow out of the teething phase or the not listening phase." - Dr. Tyler Sugerman-McGiffin
"If you've got a kitten, I highly recommend using a water fountain. It helps to hydrate them more because cats just don't drink enough water."
- Dr. Tyler Sugerman-McGiffin
Resources From This Episode:
Large Pet Water Fountain
Crate Training Treat Feeder
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Read The Transcript:
Dr. Sugerman: [00:00:00] Alright, so imagine you just bought your first house. You have a toddler, an infant, two cats, and a small dog. What do you think the best Christmas present would be? If you thought a puppy! You are correct, but also just as crazy as we were seven years ago. So we didn't just get a puppy. We got a Great Dane puppy.
And that caused chaos in the house, for sure. If you decided to get a holiday puppy or kitten too, listen closely. But these are tips that we're going to talk about just for anybody to consider, even if you have older pets. So listen in as we discuss what to do now that you've gotten this puppy or kitten.
Hi, and welcome to Vetsplanation. I'm your veterinary host, Dr. Sugerman, and I'm going to teach you about veterinary medicine. In this podcast, we can dive deeper into the understanding of what our pets are going through and break down medical terms into easier to understand chunks of information. Just a quick disclaimer, this podcast is for informational [00:01:00] purposes only.
This is not meant to be a diagnosis for your pet. If you have questions about diagnostics or treatment options, please talk to your veterinarian about those things. Remember, we are all practicing veterinary medicine and medicine is not an exact science. Your veterinarian may have different treatment options and different opinions.
The information I provide here is to help pet parents have a better understanding about their pets. If you like our podcast, please consider sharing this podcast with at least one friend or just somebody else who has pets as well. Now, let's jump into this week's episode.
All right, welcome back to another episode of Vetsplanation. I am your host, Dr. Sugerman. Let's continue my story. So the day that we brought home our dane, her name is Nora, I don't think we were prepared at all. Even as a veterinarian, I was not prepared. I missed my previous big dog, who we had had, unfortunately, to put to sleep and my wife knew that my dream dog was to have a great dane.
So we didn't have anything for her really and she was a huge ball of [00:02:00] anxiety. It was obviously easy to pick things up like necessities the next day but she was going to need a lot more than just some bowls and a leash. So let's dive into what you need to think about when you have these new furry friends that come into our lives.
Obviously we need the basics, right? A food dish. I do recommend using like a ceramic one or a metal food dish. Sometimes the plastic ones can give them acne on their chin. They need water, so if you've got a kitten, I highly recommend using a water fountain. I actually have a giant water fountain for all of my animals, but the cats like it the best because the water is really aerated. Because as it's going through, the cycles It's like putting more oxygen into that water, which they really like. It's also best to train them as a kitten, but you can use it at any age really. It helps to hydrate them more because cats just they just don't drink enough water. This will especially help our male cats because of their tendencies to have urethral obstructions. Or basically they can get to a point to where they [00:03:00] have a urinary blockage where they cannot pee. It doesn't guarantee that they won't have a blockage, but it does help to prevent it. And you can hear more about urethral obstructions in the very beginning of our podcast. I believe it was episode one, if I remember correctly. And I will put in a link to that big water fountain that I have in the show notes. For kittens, we also need a litter box, right?
You should have at least one litter box for each cat in the house, plus one. If you have a kitten you just got, then you need two litter boxes. If you want to get one of those fancy robot ones... Great, then do that. You may want to try two different types of litter boxes though, and two different types of litter to see which one they prefer.
Most cats prefer regular litter, but some like pellets and some like crystals. Some cats also prefer privacy, like the litter boxes that have a top on it. While other ones are a bit more claustrophobic, and they don't want anything over it. They want it to be nice and open. So if you show them where the litter [00:04:00] box is, most of them pick up on it pretty quickly. It's just them trying to figure out what their preference is.
We also need to think about collars. As a puppy or kitten, it is not as big of a deal what kind, because they're going to grow out of them, right? You do want to start thinking about what kind of collar you're going to use in the future though when they're adults.
If you have a cat that goes outside then usually a breakaway caller would be ideal, just in case they get stuck on something. For dogs we do have two dogs, or my two dogs, that play really rough and they would always just rip off their tags and rip off their collars. So we had to come up with something that was tough so that they could show their identification if they ever got lost.
I'd found these really thick collars that have a flat metal tab on them, which has their information engraved on them. You don't think that they're ever going to get out anywhere without you, but you just never know. I had let them out when they were puppies into the fully fenced backyard that we had.
And ten minutes later, I went to go get them to bring them back [00:05:00] in and they were both gone. Come to find out a part of our fence had blown down in a bad storm and I hadn't seen it when I had let them outside. So luckily somebody did find them, saw their collar and saw their tags on there and were able to call us to come pick them up.
Collars though can slip off, right? Tags can come off. Sometimes information just becomes unreadable on there. So the best things that you can do to ensure that somebody will call you if your pet is found is to have them microchipped. It can be done when they're awake or when they're asleep. It's just a needle that's used to inject like a microchip underneath the skin.
I don't know if you've ever seen one, but I find that it's like even smaller than some of those needles that they use to pierce to do those big gauge piercings on people, so it's not as, it's not huge. It's, they're, they're just medium sized needles. Once it's implanted, then you just provide that microchip company with all the information.
And that is the important thing of this. The [00:06:00] microchip, it just gives us a long code when we read it with a scanner, and it tells us which company it's made by. That company then stores the information such as your name, your pet's name, the description of your pet, your address, and your phone number. So that way when somebody like, let's say they brought your pet into us, we would scan the microchip and then we would call that company and they would either look up that information and they call you or some companies prefer to call you themselves.
But either way, you have to provide it, which means that it is very important for you to change your information when you move or you get a new phone number, so that way they can track you. There's no way to be able to track your information besides you providing it to them. Like I said, some companies prefer to call, sometimes we call, they'll give us the number and we call.
But if we can't get a hold of the pet parent, then the next day they do go to the shelter, and then the shelter, again, tries again to get a hold of you. If you have a lost pet, I [00:07:00] do recommend going on social media under the lost pets in your area and posting a photo. People may have sighted your pet, but are unable to get close enough to them or to touch them because they're really scared.
They might be a really, really nice dog, really nice cat, but a lot of dogs, they get really scared when they're not around their home, not around their people. And other people may not be able to go up to them to grab them, to bring them into the pet clinic. Cats, most people assume that the cat's supposed to be outdoors , and so they wouldn't catch the cat to bring it in.
So if so, if you post it on there, then people can update, and just let you know at least where they've been seen. And you'd be amazed how far these pets have traveled, so I do recommend like putting it up there, because they can, they can travel pretty far. And you may be calling around all these different shelters and vet hospitals, but they may not be there.
They may be another two cities over. Anyways, let me back up a little bit. So now, you know that we've gotten to the essentials. I recommend making a wellness appointment with your vet right [00:08:00] away. It is probably going to take you a couple of weeks to get into the vet. Therefore, you want to be on top of things.
At the appointment, I recommend bringing in a fecal or basically poop sample for that day. They're going to be looking for any parasites in the stool. And it's much easier to get a big sample when they naturally give us a sample than when we need to get a sample at the vet office. If they don't need it, they can just throw it away.
Also, bring in your vaccine records from whomever you got them from. Sometimes we need to repeat those vaccines or dewormings depending on where they got them from or when it was given. Or, maybe your vet will just let you know when you need to schedule that next set of vaccines. Usually your vet's going to talk to you about, each case because each case is a little bit different.
But in general though, for puppies and kittens, they should have three to four sets of various vaccines until they're about 16 weeks old. I'd gotten my dane after she was 16 weeks old, so she only needed two sets of vaccines instead. The most important thing about this is that [00:09:00] they are not fully vaccinated until they are over 16 weeks of age.
I have quite a few puppies that I've seen that have parvo, which you can listen to in episode four, and that I will eventually rehash, to bring it back up to date and get it on YouTube, but a lot of pet parents hear that their puppy had been vaccinated and they think that it's up to date, even though they haven't only received maybe one or two vaccines at six weeks old, same thing holds true for kittens getting panleukopenia, which I talk about in episode 29 for kittens not receiving all their vaccines that they're supposed to either. Their immune systems just are not ready to make their own immunity when they're that young.
So the same thing goes for babies, which is why they receive multiple vaccines until they're older. This is also why it's a good idea to set up the appointment with your vet to understand which vaccines they need and when. I also suggest asking how much the appointment is gonna cost if the puppy to receive their normal vaccines. So if you're like, [00:10:00] hey, I'm coming in with Fluffy. She's 10 weeks old. Can you tell me how much you think it'll be if she received all of her vaccines she needed at the appointment?
That way you're prepared for each visit. You know how much you're gonna be spending. It's like budgeting for that pet. If you know how much you're going to be spending on the visit and on the vaccines, that can help you to try to figure out how much you're going to spend for other things such as toys, right?
As a puppy or a kitten, it's especially important to have things to play with while keeping them safe at the same time. Kittens love string and feathers, but unfortunately, they can very easily eat them and can cause an obstruction, or a blockage of the intestines, like I talk about in episode 34.
Not that you can't play with your string and toys and stuff and feathers, I just recommend doing it with them so that way you can keep a close eye on them and then putting them away when they're done. Kittens also really like things that move. Like a mouse toy under a cloth is great.
[00:11:00] Or balls that are filled with an object. A wheel is great. Like those big wheels, I don't know if you've seen them on like on Facebook and YouTube and stuff, but those big wheelsters are great for the ones that, that do need to get a lot of energy out. It gets them exercise. They can run.
So puppies, they want to chew on everything while they're teething. Plus, they have a crazy amount of energy. So finding toys to keep them busy is great. Appropriate sized Kongs. These are these rubber things that you can fill with different substances like peanut butter and crunchy food mixed into it.
So that way there's like different textures to it. Or frozen chicken to make it a little more difficult to get out. It's got a thaw before it's actually going to come out. Toys that are appropriate for your type of dog as well. If you have a dog that doesn't chew up objects, like a small dog or a dog that just doesn't destroy things, then regular toys are fine. But if you have a dog that rips stuffing out, eats the squeakers, then definitely avoid those kind of things. You don't want to have them end up [00:12:00] in the ER for surgery, if you can avoid it.
If you have a bigger dog that tends to destroy things, then getting a subscription box like BarkBox SuperChewers or BullyBox can be great, because they'll usually give you big items that it's really difficult to destroy. As far as bones go, antlers are great for chewing on, just make sure they're bigger ones so that way they can just chew on them and they don't get destroyed or swallowed.
I don't really recommend those round knuckle bones as too many dogs to get them stuck like around their jaw and then have to come into the vet office for us to take them off. So I don't really recommend those.
Let's talk about crate training for dogs.
I love crate training dogs. First of all, it helps keep them safe and keep your stuff safe. So lots of pets find it a safe place to go. They have their own space to get away from kids or other dogs harassing them. Plus they can take their toys in there that they don't want to share.
It's also a helpful tool for potty training too. Crate training can be difficult at first. Puppies [00:13:00] want to be with you at all times. They've been used to being with their littermates all this time, and they just, they want to be with somebody. The best advice I can give though is to be persistent.
It's going to take time. As far as the kennel goes, you do need to have a big enough kennel so that they can get up, turn around in, lay down. When they are puppies, they do have crates that have this insert that you can put in to make the crate smaller. And then you can change the size as they get bigger.
You don't want to give them too much space, because as a puppy you don't want them to have so much space that they'll go to the bathroom in their kennel. You want them to not want to go to the bathroom in their small space. So you can use things that are going to help them realize that the crate is a good space though.
You can give them special treats that they only receive in the crate. Like maybe that kong that's filled with frozen chicken. Or you can feed them in there. They have a really cool automated dispenser that you can put above the crate. That can help you too. That just can anytime they're quiet it dispenses it.
I will [00:14:00] try to get the name of that and put that in our show notes as well. Sometimes covering the crate can help too because it dampens their sensations. You don't have to keep them in the kennel at all times, because then it's like a punishment, right? We don't want it to be a punishment. You just start out with doing this in small amounts.
Put them in the kennel, close the door, you're sitting right there with them. Just put them in the kennel, close the door. Open it back up, give them a treat immediately. And then, do this, a couple times, so that they realize that this is a fun thing, this is good, that you're gonna get treats when you're in here.
So now you're gonna amp it up a little bit. So now you're going to close the door, walk away out of sight for a second, come right back, give them a treat. Do that a couple times as well. Again, to show them that the goal is that you are going to come back. You are going to come back to them. They don't feel like they're going to get locked up there forever.
Then you gradually make this time longer and longer, you put them in the kennel at night with their special object. You can put them in there when you're gone, out of the [00:15:00] house, or like I said, great for potty training. If they don't go to the bathroom outside, then you put them in their crate, try again in 15 minutes, bring them back outside, try to let them go to the bathroom again.
If they don't go to the bathroom, bring them back in, put them in their crate. So that can be really helpful for like just crate training things. Some dogs really like an open space, they don't want anything covering them and some dogs prefer to have things covered. So you just have to really play around with that to figure out what your dog prefers.
Now let's talk about cat crates. You probably didn't think anything for cats, right? But, actually, getting a kitten or a cat used to whatever travel crate you're going to have is great. They have some really cool ones now, too. Used to just be these big, plastic, bulky ones. And, which I don't really recommend.
It's hard to get them in and out. They're scared from the noises. I, I really like these mesh ones that they have, that have openings on both the top and on the sides. They even have these really cool ones that they have extensions [00:16:00] on it, so you can make the carrier larger. While, maybe like, if you're waiting at the medic clinic, or you're traveling in a car, or on a plane, it just gives them a lot more room by opening up this extension, so it's very cool.
They're really easy to get into and out of in there. We can see them and evaluate through that mesh kennel. Sometimes we have to worry about if they're having difficulty breathing, and it's super easy for me to put the kennel into the oxygen cage, in the mesh kennel, and them not be so afraid.
So I recommend keeping the carrier out constantly when you're trying to get them like acclimated to it. If you put the carrier out only when you're taking them to the vet, then they're always going to be afraid of it, right? But by keeping it out, you can allow them to explore it on their terms.
You can put fun things in it, like catnip, or toys, or wet food, or even just their regular food, like feeding them in there, to help motivate them to want to go in there, and again, thinking of it as a safe space. That way when you do need to take them in, they're not fighting to get into that carrier.[00:17:00]
All right. Let's talk a little bit about puppy proofing and kitten proofing. Kittens love hair ties. So I suggest anybody who has hair ties in the house, putting them someplace where the kitten cannot get to. Like a drawer. Don't leave them on a sink. They will get to those. Don't leave them on the counter, things like that.
'cause otherwise they are gonna end up in that kitten's stomach. Also, don't leave out any string or needles or fishing materials such as hooks and fishing line. You wouldn't think that they would want to swallow this really sharp piece of metal, but for some reason they always do.
For puppies, they learn how to open areas where there's food.
So putting up their dog food into things like a container that you have to twist on and off can be really helpful. There's a lot of dogs that come in all the time, these little puppies, that they come in because they say they're bloated. It ends up being that their stomach is full of food. And they've found some way to get into the food.
Into, the pantry or whatever it is. I usually suggest just putting that food into another container. [00:18:00] You can even install childproof locks to keep them out of where food is. But you have to treat them like a toddler, essentially. I have a funny story with my wife's dog. They had put on childproof locks to help keep one of the dogs out of there, because she's this tiny little dog, but she was still able to get in there and we found her in, I found her, in the food, just munching away, literally sitting in the bag. Putting them in a container would be much easier.
So now we need to start thinking about things like manners and training, right? Taking them to a puppy class is a great first step. People think it's teaching the puppy, but really it's teaching you. It is training you on how to communicate with your puppy, and how to listen to what that puppy needs, and how best to respond to the puppy to get what you both need.
These are usually classes teaching the basics, which is great. They need foundation. Depending on the type of dog you decided to get though, some need a lot more than just the basics, right? [00:19:00] They need a job, like searching for things, or they need agility.
Some need training for learning how not to jump on people or not to be aggressive towards other dogs. In a lot of professions, you need continuing education. You have to think of this as their continuing education. It's going beyond the basics. Taking them to training, or teaching them something new at home, or sometimes they just need to see a behaviorist.
Don't be afraid to take them back to more training. Another great avenue for dogs, is doggy boot camps. This is where you get to send them to a facility, where that trainer trains them, and then they come back to you, hopefully, pretty well trained. This is a great skill when you don't have the time or the patience, but it does mean, though, that you do have to keep up on that training, and those skills that they taught them.
They don't just learn it, and then they're done. They have to be reminded consistently about their training. So don't think it's gonna be like an easy send them away and [00:20:00] they're gonna come back amazing and stay that way. You gotta keep up on that training. And then, lastly, my best advice for you is just to be patient.
They will get older and eventually grow out of the teething phase or the not listening phase. And eventually, they're gonna quiet down and just become an awesome pet. So you just, sometimes you gotta get through that puppy phase and kitten phase. It's great that they are cute because that helps you to be able to get past those things.
Alright, so I'm gonna do our animal fact now. So we're gonna talk about someone else's pet. I know this is past Christmas, but I didn't do a Christmas episode necessarily because I had already talked about it on other podcasts. I thought that I would do this somewhat late of a Christmas episode since we were going to talk about Christmas puppies and kittens anyways.
My question to you is, why do you think Santa has nine reindeer? At least nine according to the story, right? But who knows how many he really has. Do you think he had the same [00:21:00] thought? I have a thousand elves, I have five reindeer, so for Christmas we should definitely get a baby reindeer to train, right?
Or is Mrs. Claus just getting him reindeer? Or does he think that he's a bit crazy for having so many? We'll just never know, right? Here's what we do know though about reindeer. So reindeer usually live in the Arctic tundra, or the forests of Greenland.
They're usually like in Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, Canada. In North America, we actually call them caribou, not reindeer. They are the only species of deer where both males and females have antlers. And in fact, males actually shed their antlers in the winter, but females keep their antlers in the winter if they are pregnant.
And then, they drop their antlers once they have given birth. So if you noticed in the dead of winter, all of Santa's reindeer have antlers, right? So that would actually mean that Santa's reindeers are [00:22:00] females, not male, and who are pregnant. So it never says in the book what their gender is. People believe that, they're male based on their names.
They shouldn't judge a reindeer by its name though because, according to what reindeer usually, you know, look like when they're in the winter, all of those reindeer pulling that sleigh, are these crazy strong pregnant females. Pretty cool, right? Did you also know that reindeers are covered in hair?
So that may sound ridiculous, even though, but, because you'd be like, yes, of course they're covered in fur and hair, right? Like most animals, but not quite. So even the bottom of their hooves are covered in hair, which helps them to grip, like when they're walking across ice and snow. It is not a normal thing for them to have, if you look at cows and stuff, they don't normally have hair on their hooves.
Do you also know what reindeer eat? Of course, Santa's reindeers eat [00:23:00] carrots on Christmas Eve. But in other times, they do prefer things like moss and herbs, grass, ferns, leaves of the trees and shrubs. In the winter though, those really aren't available, so they have to eat lichen, which have actually been termed reindeer moss.
They scrape away the snow with their hooves and find it, and then they have to eat an average of 9 to 18 pounds of vegetation a day. A lot of lichen that they have to find. Reindeer also have some other cool adaptations for the winter. They have cloven hooves, meaning that they are divided into two, and that helps spread the weight of their body, allowing them to stand on the snow and the soft ground a lot easier.
They also have special fur that helps trap heat underneath the fur, keeping them warm. And also, if you've ever wondered how Rudolph has a red nose, reindeer have lots of tiny veins around their noses, and it helps circulate warm air.
So this helps to warm the air that they breathe so that they [00:24:00] don't get chilly. Therefore, Rudolph just has more veins around his nose than most of the other reindeer. So many interesting facts about them, right?
But I do still really want to know how I got nine reindeer. This is just another mystery we're just never gonna know. Alright, thank you again everybody. Hope this gave you a little insight into puppies and kittenhood. If you have any questions, as always, you can find us online at VetsplanationPodcast.com or I'm most active on Facebook. And as always, please continue to keep your pets happy, healthy, and safe. Thank you guys.
Thank you guys for listening this week. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or you just want to say hi, you can email me at Suggs, S U G G S @ VetsplanationPodcast.com or visit the website at VetsplanationPodcast.com or find us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok at Vetsplanation. Thank you all for listening and I'll see you back here next week.[00:25:00]