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Paws & Claws

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas. She lives in Blacksburg now, and answers local pet owners' questions every week in The Roanoke Times and roanoke.com.

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Two of my readers have e-mailed me to say that, under certain circumstances, residents of Warm Hearth town homes or apartments are allowed to bring their pets with them. I spoke to the management at Warm Hearth to get the facility's policy regarding pets. This is what I was told.

On admission to Warm Hearth, each new resident is provided with a handbook that sets out the rules regarding pet ownership at the facility. Fish, cats, dogs and birds are allowed. There is a maximum weight limit of 35 pounds, but this can be waived at the discretion of the management. Also, the number of pets allowed in the independent living areas of the facility is negotiable. These areas are described as pet friendly.

The pets must have suitable temperaments, be healthy and pose no significant health or safety risks to the staff, residents, volunteers or visitors.

Residents in the assisted living facility (Showalter) are allowed to bring a pet under certain circumstances. The secure facility (Kroontje) allows facility-owned cats, birds and fish.

Before arriving at Warm Hearth, all pets are required to be fully immunized and be certified by a licensed veterinarian to be free of any diseases transmissible to humans. Further, ongoing veterinary examinations are required to ensure the pet's health and appropriateness to continue living at Showalter and Kroontje. All the pet documentation is to be kept current and stored in the administrative office. No pets are allowed in food preparation areas.

Finally, no residents' rights, preferences and medical needs are to be compromised by the presence of an animal.

The cats have to be kept inside or walked on a leash. Dogs must be on a leash when outside, and owners are responsible for cleaning up after their pets.

Q What treats can I give my pet ferret? I have been giving her little bits of fruit and vegetables as treats, which she seems to enjoy, but a friend said they were not good for her. So now I am stumped as to what to give her.

A Ferrets are carnivores and in the wild live exclusively on meat and associated products that come with the meat. Ferrets should not be fed fruit and vegetables because their digestion is not designed to cope with such foods. Their main diet should consist of high-quality ferret food from the pet store. For treats you can give them small pieces of cooked chicken breast or freeze-dried meat products. The American Ferret Association has a Web site for ferret owners, www.ferret.org, with a lot of useful information. You can also search for a veterinarian who specializes in treating ferrets for more information.

Q What is wrong with double blue merle Shelties? I think they look very pretty and would love to have one, but I cannot find one. One breeder I spoke to said that she would never breed one. Why?

A Double merle Shelties, while pretty to look at, are always deaf. The gene for deafness is carried on the same chromosome as the gene for the merle color and is recessive. This means that under normal circumstances when a blue merle Sheltie is bred to the more traditional color Sheltie, deafness is not a problem.

However, if two blue merle Shelties are bred together, then any resulting double blue merle puppies will be deaf. This is a big handicap for the dog to overcome.

Some unethical breeders will try to produce blue merles to order, or even white Shelties, by this method. The resulting puppies may not only be deaf but also have other genetic problems, such as cross eyes or micropthalmia. All too often these puppies end up in a Sheltie rescue or worse, being dumped.

Training a totally deaf dog is extremely challenging and because of the deafness some Shelties become highly nervous.