Jill Bowen

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas and has taught at Texas A&M. She lives with her veterinarian husband and two cats in Blacksburg. If you have a question, please write to her in care of The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 540, Christiansburg, VA 24068, or send an e-mail to mjbowen@radford.edu

Recent columns

• Invisible fences aren’t best option for every dog
• Wrap pets in protection this holiday season
• Take treats so horse associates you with something good
• Illness or change in environment may cause cat to stop using litter box
• Column archive

We have a new mix-breed puppy. I thought she was going to be easy to house train, but apparently not. I keep finding little “surprises.” How do I achieve perfect house training?

Dogs do not eliminate inside out of spite or revenge. House training is a people problem, not a dog problem.

Your puppy needs to be put on a schedule of feed, water and walk so that her body becomes conditioned to eliminate waste at specific times. A dog’s stomach is sensitive, so do not have sudden changes in diet. Try feeding a mixture of one part canned food to three parts moistened dry food. When puppies are small, feed them three times daily and plan a trip outside to a specific part of the yard within 20 minutes of a meal. Puppies should also be taken out whenever they wake from a nap and initially every two hours, gradually lengthening to four.

If your dog relieves herself inside, say “no” and take her outside immediately. Then praise her, even if she does nothing. Praise is a reward and will motivate her to please you.

Do not allow a new puppy the run of the house, as accidents will happen. A see-through wire-type crate with a cozy sleeping spot and some toys is fine.
Clean any urine spots in the house with an enzymatic cleaner. Dog’s noses are sensitive, and unless the urine odor is  removed, they will resoil the spot again.

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What do you know about using turmeric spice for cancer? A health food store assistant recommended its use for a friend with cancer. Does it work in animals?

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center researchers said, “From numerous studies … it is apparent that curcumin (the active ingredient of turmeric) has tremendous potential for prevention and therapy of various cancers.”

Curcumin has been used for many years for skin wounds, inflammation and tumors. It appears to have all the good features of a multipurpose drug. Curcumin causes cell death in several human cancer cell lines, including breast, lung, prostate, colon, melanoma, kidney, liver, ovarian and leukemia.
Its versatility allows it to be of use in conditions other than cancer. Studies in India suggest that curcumin helps control fungal and bacterial skin infections. It has also helped in dogs with osteo arthritis .

In human clinical trials, the spice appears to be nontoxic. The amount of curcumin in turmeric is only about 3 percent by weight, and it is hard to maintain adequate blood levels as the absorption rate differs between species.

It is only recently that research workers have started investigating the use of curcumin as a therapeutic agent for several  conditions, including cancer. Hopefully it will prove to be as useful as is claimed.

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I have a very healthy middle-aged cat except that she developed a little growth on her eye. A veterinary eye specialist removed the growth, but it seems to be regrowing. It is causing her a problem as she keeps her eye half closed. What can I do now?

This sounds like a case of episclerotic keratitis, a smart name for a plaque of material growing on the cornea. The cause of this condition is unknown. Suggested causes are a minor injury to the cornea or maybe feline herpes virus. Surgical removal of the plaque is the usual treatment and can be curative in some cats. But recurrence is likely as it is difficult to remove all the tissue that is involved. Surgery is indicated when the growth causes discomfort — squinting, producing excess tears, blinking, rubbing the area and partial or complete closure of the affected eye. Following surgery, once the cornea has healed, antibiotic eye ointment in conjunction with a cortisone preparation may delay recurrence of the growth.