Radio 2SM Breakfast Segment #14 with Kaye Browne

THIS WEEK:
YUK!... How dirty water bowls can leave your dogs' sick!
It's true... while we tend to just 'fill it up every day', there are a number of hidden dangers not cleaning them every day as Kaye explains.


PLUS...
Why both dogs & cats (and kids!) benefit from regular play sessions... and is it possible to actually 'train' a cat like we do with dogs?

00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'07" - Dirty Water Bowl Dangers!
02'37" - Playtime Benefits for Dogs & Cats
03'42" - Training Cats - Can It Be Done?
05'45" - Pet Trivia...

THIS WEEK:
YUK!... How dirty water bowls can leave your dogs' sick!
It's true... while we tend to just 'fill it up every day', there are a number of hidden dangers not cleaning them every day as Kaye explains.

PLUS...
Why both dogs & cats (and kids!) benefit from regular play sessions... and is it possible to actually 'train' a cat like we do with dogs?

00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'07" - Dirty Water Bowl Dangers!
02'37" - Playtime Benefits for Dogs & Cats
03'42" - Training Cats - Can It Be Done?
05'45" - Pet Trivia...

FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: Time now for our weekly pet segment with Kaye Browne from Vet Talk On-Hold... Kaye good morning!  
KAYE:
Good morning to you too!
RON: Look I've noticed this even with some of my friends when we go around to visit, their pet bowls and their water dishes just don't seem to get the regular washing that we might give to our own cutlery or dishes after we have a meal and I'm wondering do the pets suffer the same... you know the bugs and all the things that we would get if we didn't wash our dishes a week at a time?

KAYE: It's a very good idea and good that you noticed because they can get a lot of really nasty things unfortunately now have you ever put your hand in a dog's water bowl for example and felt it all slimy, 

RON: Ooh yeah!... it does get a bit furry doesn't it?

KAYE: Yeah well that's called a biofilm and if that's not removed properly your dog or your cat could actually get some sort of microbial infection such as a urinary tract infection maybe an ear infection even a bladder infection so it's not a good thing and I mean in an ideal world we'd all wash our dogs bowls every single day and our cat's bowls too but you know life gets in the way and sometimes it just gets topped up,

But there are some other things that you need to worry about as well and that is that respiratory infections like kennel cough can be shared when dogs bowls aren't properly cleaned or when dogs share bowls for example at the dog park or at a café...
You know the saliva and the nasal secretions can be quickly picked up and 'bam'... then your pet's got a problem.

RON: WOW!... Now are cats as susceptible as dogs to these sorts of things?

KAYE: Not quite so much. As you've noticed probably cats tend to do a lot of cleaning so they clean themselves a lot. They do then bring up fur balls, but you know that's another topic for another day, but what we do have to worry about is making sure that we've got good quality bowls.

Stainless steel is ideal because plastic can get scratched and then dogs and cats but mostly dogs can get little pink blotches on their noses where the chemicals in the plastic have actually leeched into the skin and it stops their nose being so black so it's called nasal dermatitis or plastic dish nasal dermatitis so good idea to maybe have a couple of stainless steel bowls or bamboo and actually give them a really good wash with soap and hot water every week.

RON: Let's talk about playtime with a pet. I mean it's enjoyable for everybody, but is it important in creating the bond with your pet to actually spend time playing with them?

KAYE: It definitely is crucial in fact to build trust and that bond because all of our pets be it a dog a cat rabbit guinea pig even a rat they become bored and bored animals can get up to trouble, so the whole idea is we should spend some time every day coming up with some games so that they can have some good time with us you don't have to worry about treats when it's a playtime thing because the treat is actually you.

They get to enjoy you. They look for you for fun and you know it's a good thing and there are lots of interactive toys and puzzles and food games that you can use for dogs and cats and for cats in particular they like those laser lights or feather on a string.

RON: Oh they'll chase anything won't they?

KAYE: Oh yes!... it's like hunting and occasionally you should let them win and let them carry away their prize!

RON: All right... now we've talked a lot about training dogs over the last couple of weeks, but we tend to overlook cats when it comes