ANIMAL MAGIC: HEALTHY RABBIT'S

Jul 22 2007 Scott Miller

Q My new bunny's nose twitches all the time. Does he have a cold?

A A healthy rabbit's nose will twitch up to 120 times a minute. They have 100million smelling sensors - about 90million more than humans - and twitching rapidly helps their sensitive sniffers detect smells. In the wild, they can catch an early whiff of a predator and know to run away. Your bunny will use his nose to find his food and, of course, find you.

Q My cat loves to lick me, especially when I get home from the gym. But her tongue is really rough. Is this normal?

A A cat's tongue seems scratchy because its surface is covered with little hooks called papillae. As your cat licks her fur, the hooks act like brushes, scraping away dirt.

She probably licks you because she enjoys the salty taste of your sweat or may be grooming you. But cats harbour many nasty bacteria in their mouths, so give her lowlactose cat milk when you get home to stop her licking you.

Q I have a black moor goldfish who never closes his eyes. Do fish sleep?

A Most fish don't have eyelids, so sleep with their eyes open.

Instead of snoozing deeply like us, many fish just slow down to rest.

Q My 15-week-old Yorkshire terrier urinates when a person or dog goes near her. I tried ignoring her and telling her to sit when I go near her, which she obeys, but when I tell her she is a clever girl she wets. Apart from that she is a delightful and obedient pet.

A Your Yorkie is a very young pup, so toilet accidents are to be expected. She is obviously nervous, so socialise her with friendly people and dogs, ignoring nervous behaviour and rewarding confidence. Urination must also be ignored. Stay calm while you clean up otherwise your pup will pick up on your annoyance and it will make her more nervous. With time and maturity this problem will improve.

If not, visit your vet in case there is a problem with her urinary tract causing her to wet abnormally.

Q My cavalier King Charles spaniel constantly rubs his bottom on the carpet. Sometime he leaves smelly marks. What is the problem?

AIt's probably blocked anal glands. If you think of his bottom as a clock, two glands are situated at 4 and 8, which exude a scent to help him mark his territory.

These can get blocked, causing dogs to chew their bottoms or rub them on the ground in an attempt to empty them. Visit your vet to get them emptied manually but they may require surgical removal.