Ask the Vet
Ask the Vet
Protecting Your Pet's Vision with Dr. Alexandra van der Woerdt
In this episode of Ask the Vet, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus is joined by her longtime colleague Dr. Alexandra van der Woerdt, Department Head of Ophthalmology at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center. Together, they explore how veterinary ophthalmologists help keep pets’ eyes healthy — from everyday eye issues to advanced surgery.
Topics include:
- What veterinary ophthalmologists do and when your pet should see one
- Common eye problems in pets, including corneal ulcers, dry eye, glaucoma, cataracts, and conjunctivitis
- The types of eye surgeries pets may need, from eyelid procedures to cataract removal
- How to clean eye discharge at home — and when it’s a red flag
- How dogs and cats see the world differently (including why yellow and blue toys are easier for dogs to see)
- Early warning signs of eye issues
- How pets adapt to vision loss
- How eye changes can signal systemic disease, like diabetes or high blood pressure
Also on this month's show:
- Trending animal story about Bombi, a young zebra in Kenya whose mother was killed by lions — and how rescuers helped her feel secure by wearing black-and-white striped coats to mimic a zebra’s pattern
- Animal news, including research into whether dogs can become addicted to playing fetch; “chemical fossil” evidence that ancient sponges — and early animals — existed far earlier than once thought; and a study showing that New York City cats caught COVID-19 from their owners during the early days of the pandemic (and why they likely weren’t a risk to people)
- Pet Health Listener Q&A: A Bombay cat struggling with chronic hairballs; a young Siberian Husky who eats everything in sight; and a cat with spinal lumps accompanied by vomiting and lethargy.
Do you have a pet question for Dr. Hohenhaus? Email askthevet@amcny.org to have your question answered on Ask the Vet's Listener Q&A.
We want to remind our listeners that this program is for informational and educational purposes only and intended to substitute for professional veterinary medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The Animal Medical Center does not recommend or endorse any products or services advertised by Sirius XM. Welcome to Ask the Vet with Dr. Ann Hohenhaus. This is the place to talk about your pets and get advice for the top veterinarian from the Animal Medical Center in NYC. Hear from the leading authorities on animals and ask your questions. Now here's your host, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Ask the Vet. It's the podcast for people who love their pets and want the latest in animal health and news. I'm your host, Dr. Ann Hohenhaus, and I'm a senior veterinarian here at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, right in the heart of New York City. Today, we're talking about ophthalmology, which is the specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of eye conditions from cataracts and corneal ulcers to eye injuries and vision loss, Veterinary ophthalmologists are dedicated to helping pets protect their vision and overall eye health. Here at AMC, our ophthalmology service provides advanced care for pets with a wide variety of conditions, including state of the art diagnostics and surgical techniques. So to help us learn more about pet ophthalmology, I'll be joined by my colleague, Dr. Alexandra van der Woerdt, Head of AMC's Ophthalmology Service. She'll share some insights about the most common eye problems in pets when you should find an ophthalmology specialist for your pet and how advances in vendor ophthalmology are improving outcomes for animals every day. I'm really looking forward to our conversation. The Schwarzman Animal Medical Center is the only level one veterinary trauma center in New York City, and we have 115 years of being the very best place for pets. Now, if you're seeking advice on maintaining your pet's health, I'm here to help. Just send me your questions to our email, which is askthevet@amcny.org, and I'll answer your question on next month's show. If you missed that email address or don't have a pen and pencil to write it down, I'll give it again a couple of times later in the show so you can get yourself a notepad during the break. And now it's time for our Trending Animal of the Month. It's time for the Internet's most talked about animal. In Kenya, a young zebra named Bombi is getting a second chance at life and forming an extraordinary bond with the people who saved her. Rescuers from the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust found Bombi earlier this year after her mother was killed by lions. The zebra foal arrived, badly injured and terrified, but since has made a full recovery thanks to round the clock care at the Wildlife Trust. Zippers are visual animals, and young foals imprint on their mother's unique striped pattern, which I think is just amazing because every zebra is a little bit different and baby zebras know which of the stripes belong to their mama. So to help Bombi adjust to her new life at the Wildlife trust, her keepers came up with an ingenious solution. They wear a black and white striped coat whenever they're with her, and the pattern allows her to feel grounded and secure, as she would in the wild. Now, this is really clever, applied to Zebra, but this is used by people who rescue wild animals everywhere. And in California, when they were trying to save the condors, they had like puppet Condor heads that would feed the baby condors so that the baby condors would imprint on something that sort of looked like a bird as opposed to the human beings that were serving up breakfast, lunch and dinner for the baby condors. And so dressing up to take care of wild animals is something that has probably saved a lot of animals and probably gives the people who get those jobs a big smile. So since Bombi has bonded closely with her caretakers who wear their striped zebra outfits to take care of her. There's someone named Peter, who she greets affectionately every day, and she plays her days playing along the outside with other orphaned animals that live in this sanctuary. To learn more about Bambi and the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's efforts to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned wildlife, you can visit sheldrickwildlifetrust.org. And now it's my pleasure to introduce today's guest, my colleague, Dr. Alexandra van der Woerdt, who has had an office next door to me for the last 30 years and who I refer to as Sandra Dr. van der Woerdt is certified by both the American and European Colleges of Veterinary Ophthalmology, and she came to the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in 1994 and currently heads our ophthalmology service. Sandra, thanks so much for joining me today and welcome to Ask the Vet. Thank you very much. Glad to be here. So I always start my chat with our guests by asking about their pets. Now you have a wonderful dog that shares your office with you and sometimes comes into mine looking for things to steal from the trash. Can you tell our listeners about her? Yes, she is adorable. At least I think she's adorable. She's an adorable 11 year old miniature poodle. Her name is Bella. And indeed, she always comes to work with me. She lives in my office during the day and in the morning. Dr. Hohenhaus is absolutely correct. She usually runs into her office first to kind of say hi and indeed, see if there's anything interesting in the trash before she goes in to my office and gets breakfast. And so she's my companion. She comes with me to work. She's at home, of course. She's just an adorable little dog. So is there a special pet that inspired your path into veterinary ophthalmology? Not really. I mean, growing up, I was always around animals. We had, of course, a dog. We had various cats. My father used to have, like, little bunnies and chickens. So I was always around animals. I grew up in farms as well. And there's not a specific animal that inspired my path into veterinary medicine or into ophthalmology. It's just kind of all of them did that and that. I always liked taking care of them and making sure they had what they need. And that was just from when I was a little girl. So other ophthalmologists that I've known. One of the reasons that they went into ophthalmology was it allowed them to take care of all animals because veterinary ophthalmologist, unlike many specialists that you would encounter at a regular specialty hospital, ophthalmologists are trained to do eyeball problems in everybody, right? In dogs, cats, horses, sheep, correct. In everything that is not a person. So that is, of course, at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center. That is mostly dogs and cats. But I also help the exotics department quite a bit with their animals, with their bunnies, with their birds and lizards, snakes, whatever I has. And I am more than willing to help. And indeed, that is something we I was trained to treat animal diseases in not only dogs and cats, but in horses and cows and llamas and whatever has an eyeball. I have pretty much seen it and treated it. I remember in vet school when I was doing ophthalmology, we had blind alpacas, which for those of you that don't know about alpacas, they tend to spit as like a defense mechanism or something. And but the good thing about the blind one was they weren't very accurate when they were spitting out. You could just avoid the alpacas a bit. But they had gotten, I don't know, like some herpes virus or something that that from horses. So a horse herpes virus got into the alpacas and I think made them blind or some some very complicated thing like that. So back to our topic for today. What does a veterinary ophthalmologist do? You already sort of told us part of that, and that is take care of eyeballs in anything. But that's that's a pretty general comment. You want to be more specific? Yeah. I mean, basically what a veterinary ophthalmologist do is we diagnose and treat ophthalmic conditions in animals, of course, and that is a whole range of things that we do and a whole range of diseases that animals can get. So any time an animal has like a persistent eye problem that maybe potentially does not want to go away with normal treatments, the more they notice themselves, a decrease in vision, chronic retinas, chronic discharge, that may be time to potentially visit a veterinarian ophthalmologist to see what may be going on and get the best possible treatment for it. So one thing one other thing that's drawn my other ophthalmology friends to ophthalmology is not the multi species option, but ophthalmologist do medicine, meaning, you know, dispense medications to fix a problem, but they also do surgery. And so can you talk about the kinds of surgery that you do for the eye problems in pets? Yes, certainly. And that is certainly to me, a very nice aspect of veterinary. ophthalmology. I do appointments or I see clients all day and then one day a week I do surgeries and that's it for radiosurgery. There are some conditions that animals get that people don't really get like an opening where the eyelid rolls in and irritates the eye. That in Dogs is usually related to some sort of a breed related abnormality. We also occasionally see it in cats, but not a whole lot. And then sometimes dogs get abnormal eyelashes that may need to be removed. It is very common for dogs as they age to get little growth on their eyelids. Sometimes they're basically a benign and we don't need to do anything about it. But as they continue to growing, they can start irritating the eye and cause discomfort, corneal ulceration, so they may have to be removed. And then, of course, we do cataract surgery to make a dog that is blind from this cataract to make them see again. So I think one thing that Dr. van der Woerdt has alluded to but hasn't really said is ophthalmology involves like not just the eyeball itself, but also the lids and the lashes that are associated with the lids. And so it's it's kind of like the whole functioning unit because your eyelashes and lids are not there for like pretty, they perform an important function and that is to take care of, you know, to protect the eyeball itself. And so that falls under her purview as an optimal just as well, not just the globe to use a different word for the eyeball. Correct. So what caused you then to want to do op symbology specifically? Well, that's actually kind of an interesting story because when I started my internship, I really thought I was going to be an orthopedic surgeon. And then when I rotated through the orthopedic surgery surface, I realized that really just was not my calling to do with broken bones and the happy equipment and the plates. It just wasn't for me. And then I rotated pretty ophthalmology service and I just loved how the eye is just such an intricate organ. It has so many functions and it is so important for an animal and for a person. And I was just fascinated by it. And ever since then, I'm still fascinated by the eye and everything it does for us. So for listeners out there, I don't know that we've talked too much about internships on this program, but an internship is a one year rotating program where you go through multiple services that are in the hospital that you get an internship in and you could rotate through oncology or ophthalmology or orthopedics. It just depends on what the hospital offers. But oftentimes an internship changes your life direction because you find out something that you didn't really think you wanted to do is really what you want to do. So internships are life changing experiences for many young veterinarians. So if any of you were out there listening and thinking about applying for internships, you can hear, it changed Sandra's life. I wanted to be an oncologist when I started out, so it didn't it didn't change my life. It just made what I wanted to do happen. Now, one of the things that's really concerning to pet owners and something that will cause a pet owner to reach out to their veterinarian is I discharge. So what if a client is noticing eye discharge? What's the best way to clean it without irritating the eyes? Or in fact, should they see their veterinarian if there is an ocular discharge? That is a very good question because a little bit of actual discharge can be normal and some dogs have it every morning a little bit. Some dogs never have it. So first of all, if you see itchy things in your discharge, in your dog or you catch something you're not used to, that might be a reason to potentially visit your veterinarian, perceived as an underlying reason for it. But as far as how to best clean it, there are several things that you can do. First of all, a lot of times, if it's kind of a little just a little bit of discharge, you there is various types of eye wipes on the market that can work very well. What I personally find for a very, very while as well is to basically buy a nice towels, baby wipes, make sure you get the unscented and the sensitive blister pre moistened, you just pull one out, you can gently clean around the eyes and then just toss it. It just makes life really easy. You can also use some over-the-counter eyewash, which is basically a four ounce bottle that you can buy over the counter. It's either called eyewash or irrigating I solution just kind of gently wring so dry if there's a little bit of discharge kind of stuck in the eye, if it seems like there's more crusted discharge, then here's what you can do. Go to any drugstore and buy a travel size baby shampoo and then do one part of baby shampoo with 20 parts of tap water. So you have a beer or two little baby shampoo and put that on like a cotton ball or something like it so you can gently clean around the eyes with that. It kind of like helps to like, soften it and it makes it easier to remove it without actually having to worry about getting it in the eye because it's a very diluted baby shampoo. But if you notice it, you have to do this frequently. It is time to visit your veterinarian because there could be an underlying problem there. So the other big question, that pet owners bring up when you look at their pets is you look in older dog eyes and they start looking cloudy and then the client worries about cataracts. Can you talk about what the other diagnosis might be in probably more commonly than cataracts in dogs, Correct. What we're looking at is something that's called nuclear sclerosis as we all age. At some point of time, we need reading glasses. It's happens to all of us. It's a totally normal aging change because what happens during a life, the lens keeps growing. Now, obviously, it cannot get any bigger because there's only so much room in it. Eye. So it kind of grows inward and it makes the preexisting lens more and more hard and dense. And because of that, it cannot flex in the way it used to be. And you're going to need reading glasses. Of course, dogs don't need reading glasses, but they do to get that little bit that cloudy, hazy appearance. And if your dog is fortunate enough to be living July 12, 13, 14 or older than that, those lenses are going to be pretty dense and they may look like they're a cataract. But here's the difference. If you have a complete cataract, you're animals going to have significant vision loss. Whereas if it's just a normal aging change, you're not going to have any vision loss. You could notice a difference in vision up close. So if you've got a 50 year old dog and your dog walks towards his full bowl and then he uses its nose to really locate where the food is, that is because close vision is really not very good anymore. So it does tend to affect closer vision. But overall vision will remain and it's not blinding it. It is distressing, though, to pet owners when they see that in their dogs. Does Bella have nuclear sclerosis? Yes, she does. She's 11. So animals don't see quite the same way that we do. So what is something about the way dogs or cats see that would surprise people? Well, there is definitely some difference in vision. They don't have the same acuity that people have, meaning they don't see fine details as much, but they can see much better in the dark things you and I can. Which also means that if it seems your dog cannot see something and didn't dim light condition that you can, that's a problem because your dog should be able to see a dog much better than you can. They can also pick up motion much better than you and I can. And especially peripheral vision is much better than you and I. Do You see color? Yes. Cats totally see all three colors, But kind of like in a pastel canvas pattern. So not as bright as you and I do. Dogs only see two out of the three colors. Deer, red, green, blind. So the most you see in cars, in the blue and in the yellow haze. Now, that also means if you have a red toy, crossroads and a green grass is all going to look the exact same for your dog. So if you want to throw a toy in the grass, get a nice yellow or a get a nice blue toy. Not a red one. I wonder if that's why dogs like tennis balls so much because they're yellow, white, and so they should show up better, right? It is actually interesting because years ago every single dog toy, if you go to like a Petco, which I do frequently visit or any other pet store, most of them more like orange or red nowadays you see many, many more blue and yellow. So that has been a change over the past ten years or so. Yeah, it's interesting. But the yellow I mean, what dog doesn't like a yellow tennis ball? Sure. So what are some of the early warning signs that are pets? I might need attention. The most important thing to watch out is a difference in the margin or frequency of discharge. Certainly chronic redness that doesn't seem to want to go away. The key invasion, of course, and most importantly, if you notice a dog or a cat is squinting, holding an eye closed, does not really want to open an eye or when you pet it kind of like shies away from your hands on that side. That is definitely a reason to see your veterinarian or potentially see a specialist or go to the emergency room, depending on how bad it is. And I would say that emergency room doctors are really tuned into the common problems of eyes and know what to do about them, correct? I agree with that. How about injuries? So I've had a few patients who've gone to the beauty parlor and then they come home squinting in one eye and then we take a look at that eye and they have a corneal ulcer. So what what should we do if a pet injures its eye or gets something splashed in their eye? Well, if you see something getting splashing, yeah, You happen to have a bottle of that irrigating eye solution sitting around that I talked about earlier. Go ahead and brings it out. If you happen to have one of those lovely plastic Elizabethan collars to put it on, go ahead and put it on, because a lot of times animals will make matters worse by trying to scratch and pour dye. And then if it seems pretty significant, a trip to the emergency room follows all those two things rinse the eye, put an eagle on, and then a trip to the emergency room. I would not have thought to say put an e collar on, but that that probably. And if your pet injures its eye in any way, it's going to get that front paw and rub it that eye. So I would say that if your dog is rubbing its eye with its paw, you need to get out the Elizabethan collar and then go have somebody look at that because there's probably something wrong with it. That is correct. So let's talk about vision loss for a minute. That's something. There are certain things that really are difficult issues for pet owners, and I'm going to guess that vision loss is difficult. On the other hand, I'm currently taking care of a cat that lost both eyes due to a medical issue, and that cat seems to be pretty fine and happy. So can you talk a little bit about how animals adjust to vision loss? Animals have an amazing capability to adjust to vision loss, but there are certain factors in there. If a vision loss is something that is gradual, it is much easier for them to adjust to it. And if it's something that happens acutely overnight, there are some eye diseases like glaucoma that can be blinding like within a day or so, and that is much more difficult for them to adjust to than it is for something that happens gradually. And that, I think honestly is also the size and the function of the dog. If you've got a little dog, honestly, like my little dog, Bella, she is mostly my companion. She does not need to hunt for her food because I provide it and hopefully she'll never lose her vision. But if she does, she will be fine because I take care of her. She's a sweet little dog and she will be fine. Some of the bigger dogs, it can be more difficult for them to adjust. They definitely can adjust, but it can be more difficult for them because if my little poodle bumps into something, it's not a big deal. If a big Labrador, a big massive bumps into something, it might knock over your coffee table. So it's a little bit more difficult. Also, if a dog has like a real a function like a dog that is like a hunting dog or some sort of protective dog, the dogs are really have a function other than being your companion, it can be more difficult. Sorry, but generally speaking, animals adapt really well to vision loss. I think animals are just more adaptable to illness than we are. You know, they never feel sorry for themselves. No. So there's a saying that the eyes can tell us a lot about overall health. In your experience, how do changes in Pet Eyes turn out to be clues to something more systemic, meaning a problem in the body like diabetes or blood pressure? Most of the eye problems are standalone problems, but there is definitely some reforms that are directly related to systemic disease. The most common one, the most well known. If you have a dog that has diabetes, it is very common for them to get secondary cataract formation in people. It is more of a diabetic retinopathy, which is also something we see in dogs, but not very frequently in dogs. It is really to cataracts, interestingly enough, to diabetic cats typically do not get cataracts. So there is definitely species difference and any time we have information of the iris is called uveitis that frequently is associated with a systemic disease, so that if I see that, I would frequently recommend a whole systemic workup by adding a veterinarian or specialists. Yeah, in those cases, definitely the eye is when know that there's something else happening in the body. Well, and I think the other thing for people to keep in mind is that we do see occasional dogs and probably more frequently cats with high blood pressure. And some of those animals appear in the ophthalmologists office. And I'll let Sandra explain why high blood pressure send you to the ophthalmologist. Yes. Thank you for reminding me. Measuring a blood pressure is something that gets done during your routine physical all the time. I mean, you cannot go in without anybody taking your blood pressure. It is not something that is routinely done in veterinary medicine. And animals can be going along just fine and showing no signs whatsoever. And then all of a sudden there is a change in vision or you might even know of this bleeding in the eye. And that's especially something I see in older cats, because what can happen in the high blood pressure, several things can happen. You can get actually fluid behind your retina that pushes the retina off, leading to a decrease or even a loss in vision, which can be reversible potentially if we treat a high blood pressure. It is also not uncommon. You can has full days bleeding either in the front of the eye between the cornea and the iris or in the back of the eye. But yeah, it's not uncommon that high blood pressure shows up as signs in the eye first before you notice anything else. And that would be another reason is if you notice blood in your pet's eye, that would be another reason that we haven't talked about that you should go to the veterinarian because that might be a clue to high blood pressure and diseases. And and if you haven't never seen blood pressure in an animal, Yes, we have a whole range of little puffy cuffs that go around the risks of dogs and cats of various sizes. So we have a lot of different sizes of blood pressure cuffs so we can take a blood pressure on something that's really little or something that weighs £200. Unlike your doctor's office, where everyone has the same cuff, I think. I mean, I never see them change a cuff in the doctor's office. They just slap it on and squish your arm. So we do have little cuffs and we can do pets, blood pressure. Now, I want to talk for a minute about what the most common eye problems occur in pets. It's interesting. I just had an Austin lecture about that last week. And some of the most common things that we see are corneal ulcerations, our dry eye, our glaucoma, high internal blood pressure eye cataracts and are just conjunctivitis. Those are probably the most common problems we see. We see a lot of different things, but if I had to name the top five dose would be it. And I think the top five, Dr. van der Woerdt, has given me a perfect in to remind everyone that she did do a talk last week on the top five eye issues seen at AMC and how to spot them early. And I checked this morning and that video of that talk is currently on our website. And so if you go to amcny.org and search for top five eye issues, it'll take you to the video of this talk and you can watch that talk at your leisure and fill in any gaps of eye problems that we didn't talk about in this session today. Now I want to take this time to ask Dr. van der Woerdt has anything that we haven't talked about today that she thinks our listeners should know? The one thing that I will say, if you have a dog that is what we call break is a phallic. So it's got a very short snout. They tend to be very prone to eyebrow lobes and if they get eye problems, these eye problems tend to get bad really quickly. So if you've got a Frenchie, a Boston terrier, a bulldog, a Pekinese, and you see a little bit more disgusting, you're used to kind of redness and especially if you see squinting, that is not something you want to ignore for a few days and see if it gets better or not. That is something you want to have evaluated quickly because in these break ins, if our animals, their eye problems go from being very minor to very severe, sometimes in just a matter of days, I think that that is such a great piece of advice. And I want to thank Dr. van der Woerdt for joining me today here on Ask the Vet and for sharing her insights into how we can better protect our pets vision. Thank you so much for being here on Ask the Vet. Thank you very much. If you want to learn more about AMC's Ophthalmology service, you can also visit amcny.org and search ophthalmology. And you can see Dr. van der Woerdt and her team in action. I know that keeping your pet healthy is very important to you. And with that said, I hope you'll reach out to me if you have a question about your pet's health. I'll respond on next month's Ask the Vet podcast. You just need to email me your question at asked the vet at amcny.org. We have a short break coming up, but stay tuned because there'll be lots of interesting animal news stories when we return. We're back with Dr. Ann Hohenhaus on Ask the vet. Welcome back to Ask the Vet here on Sirius XM. It's time for today's Animal News. It's time for animal headlines. The biggest animal news from across the world. If you've ever had a dog who lives for fetch, you know that look, the laser focus on the ball, the body tense with anticipation. But can a dog's love of play ever go too far? Researchers at the University of Bern studied more than 100 highly motivated dogs from family pets to working breeds to find out whether dogs can develop something resembling a behavioral addiction to playing with toys. Sometimes the dogs got to play freely, other times their favorite toy was placed just out of reach. And about one third of dogs couldn't let go. They stared paced, ignored food behaviors researchers described as addictive. Like the study suggests that like humans, dog can develop compulsive patterns of behavior around rewarding activities, especially in breeds bred for focus and drive. For most dogs, fetch is just plain fun, but for some, it's a reminder that even play can become a habit. Worth keeping an eye on. Our second story today is about scientists who have discovered new evidence that pushes back the timeline for when animals first appeared on Earth. A research team from Caltech and MIT found rare molecules called C 31 strains in rocks more than 600 million years old, long before the Cambrian explosion, when most major animal groups first emerged. These molecules are called chemical fossils, traces of sterols made by ancient sea sponges, likely among the earliest animals on earth. By comparing these ancient animals to modern sponges and creating them in the lab, scientists confirm that they couldn't have come from algae or other early microbes. The discovery provides the strongest evidence yet that sponges and by extension, animal life was thriving in the Earth's oceans tens of millions of years earlier than once thought. And our search story is about veterinarians and what we speculated early in the COVID 19 pandemic. It's just now we have proof. In studying cats from New York City. These researchers found that cats, in fact, did catch COVID 19 from their owners during the first wave of infection, according to research data from Cornell University. Scientists at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine tested blood samples from 79 cats seen at the Sutton Animal Hospital on the Upper East Side between June 2020 and May 20, 21. 16% of those 79 cats had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that is the cause of COVID 19 showing that they'd been infected at some point in time. The highest rates of infection appeared in the fall of 20, when human cases surge. Most of the cats were indoor pets and showed no symptoms, and only two cats were reported to have mild respirator three illness. Researchers say the cats were infected by people not the other way around, and they pose little public health risk. But it's a reminder that when it comes to health, people and pets are more connected than we might think. And now it's time for our listener questions. Our first question is from Shilpa Shetty. The question is my cat Dev is a 14 year old Bombay. She has trouble bringing up hairballs and has previously been treated at AMC for constipation. I've tried multiple ways and some hairball treats, but they don't seem to help much. Someone suggested olive oil. Is that safe? And is there anything else that might work better? So first of all, for those of you listening that know a Bombay cat is a beautiful, like deep chocolate colored cat and they have really thick coats, so I can see why Debbie is got a hairball problem. The issue here, though, is that I can't comment on treatment for specific pets because I'm not Debbie's veterinarian, although it sounds like I might want to be Debbie's veterinarian because I bet he's very handsome. So olive oil can be given to cats. But one of the problems about giving liquids to cats who don't always like being given anything that they are not interested in is that if if you scored some olive oil down a cat's throat and they accidentally get it down their windpipe and into their lungs, it can cause what's called aspiration pneumonia. So I think there were probably other products that would be better and safer for Debbie. And I think you need your emcee veterinarian to suggest them or your regular veterinarian who takes care of Debbie's constipation issues. But there are things that are definitely better than malt paste and hairball treats. So good luck to Debbie, and I hope. Maybe I run into him at AMC. Our next question is from Alicia Ivy. My 20 month old female Siberian husky constantly eats things she shouldn't when we're outside. Leaves mulch, acorns, you name it. If I leave her alone in the house for more than half an hour, even just while I go upstairs to get dressed, she'll chew and eat the stuffing out of her bed. Strangely, she is perfectly fine at night when I go to sleep upstairs. Is there anything I can do to prevent this or medication help? So it sounds like this little Siberian husky girl has some sort of behavior problem. And I think that maybe having a behaviorist consult on these abnormal behaviors would be beneficial. And veterinary behaviorists are both veterinarians and behavior specialists. So if a medication is appropriate, they can prescribe that. And that makes a veterinary behaviorist different than, say, a trainer. Other things that I think that might benefit this husky would be a basket muzzle. And so a basket muzzle is not a tight fitting muzzle, but is a loose basket like muzzle that allows the dog actually to shrink and pant and breathe comfortably, but keeps them from being able to eat leaves, mulch and acorns when they go outside. And one of the dogs in my building wears a basket muzzle when he goes out because he is just a trash hound on the street and he eats things like chicken bones and other things that are terrible. So this Siberian husky would not be alone in wearing her basket muzzle outside. I think other things you can do are give her something safe to chew when you go upstairs to get dressed or when you have to run and do something for a few minutes. Things that you can consider would be taking one of those hard rubber toys and filling it up with peanut butter or something that's difficult to lick out. Some people put canned dog food in there and freeze it so the dog knows it's there, but they can't lick it all out because it's frozen. And then there are things called lick mats, which are these silicone mats that have little crevices in them that you can fill up with peanut butter or canned dog food. And then the dog can lick on that and it keeps them occupied. And my last suggestion is that 20 month old large breed dogs like Siberian Huskies are high energy dogs and need to have a lot of exercise. And so I would make sure that your dog is getting a lot of exercise every day. So she's tired and doesn't feel like ripping her bed to pieces when you're out of sight for a couple of minutes. So I hope this is helpful to you and that you get your Siberian back on track. Our last question today is from Donna. S Donna's question is my cat has developed several lumps along her spine that have been getting larger. I've taken her to three different clinics and asked for an MRI or ultrasound, but each time that that only did X-rays, the results were inconclusive. And I'm worried because she's lethargic, vomiting often, and sometimes refuses to eat. What could these lumps be and how serious might this be? Also there a veterinary facility near Arlington, Virginia, with special tests like those at. I've spent a lot trying to get answers and just want my cat to get the right care. So I'm worried that this cat has more than one problem, because I think the lumps on the back might not be related to the vomiting and bad appetite and lethargy, and that might be something different. What I think that this this pet owner needs is an internal medicine specialist. And there are some clinics in the Arlington area. But since I don't know that area very well, the listener can go to vet specialists. One big word, vetspecialists.com. And that website has a search function where you can search for an internal medicine specialist near you and then pick the one that is closest to exactly where you are in Arlington. But I think this cat needs a big medical evaluation. Someone to test lumps on the back. And I'm not sure an MRI is what the cat needs right now, but an internal medicine specialist will be able to figure that out for you. So thanks to all our listeners who wrote in with such great questions. We're going to take a short break, and when we come back, we'll have important information from AMC's Usdan Institute. We're back with Dr. Ann Hohenhaus on Ask the Vet. Welcome back to Ask the Vet. And now we have important information from AMC's Usdan Institute as we head into the holiday season. The Houston Institute team would like to share a few important reminders about keeping pets safe around holiday food. Every year at this time, AMC's 24 seven E.R. sees an uptick in gastrointestinal cases after pets get into holiday dishes. Foods like turkey, skin gravy and stuffing can cause stomach upset or pancreatitis, even when they're eaten in only small amounts. Bones like turkey bones and ham bones can splinter and injure the digestive tract, while onions, garlic and other seasonings can damage red blood cells and cause serious illness. Sweets are another common concern. Chocolate grapes, raisins, macadamia nuts and foods made with the sweetener xylitol are all toxic to dogs and cats. If you'd like your pet to join in the holiday food celebration, offer a small serving of plain unseasoned turkey breast in a few green beans. Just a spoonful or two and remind guests not to share from their plates no matter how much your pet begs. Finally, store those leftovers safely and securely in the trash to keep curious pets from helping themselves after a meal. And if you want more pet health information and safety tips, visit the U. Stand Institute at AMC NY dot org backslash. You stand Institute. Hip dysplasia is one of the most common orthopedic conditions affecting dogs and less often cats. It can cause pain, stiffness and decreased mobility. On Wednesday, November 19th, at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Dr. Nathan Cherzan and senior veterinarian in surgery at AMC will host a free webinar explaining how hip dysplasia develops the signs Pet owners should watch for, and the treatment options that can help improve comfort and mobility in dogs with hip problems. The event is free. Like all you stand events, but registration is required so we can send you the zoom link so you can attend. If you're interested in this event on hip dysplasia, then go to our website and search events to sign up. I'd like to thank my colleague, Dr. Alexandra van der Woerdt for joining me today to learn more about America's Ophthalmology Service. Go to amcny.org/ophthalmology. Don't forget, if you want to know more about your pets well-being or looking for pet health advice. Just email me at our special email, which is Ask the vet at AMC ny dot org and I'll answer your question on next month's Ask about podcast. The ACA Vet podcast can be accessed on the Sirius XM app across all major platforms and on AMC's website. All thanks to AMC's long standing partnership with Sirius XM. Don't forget to follow us on social media on Facebook. It's the Animal Medical Center and Onex, formerly known as Twitter and Instagram. It's at AMC. And why? It'd be great if you could take a moment and give the ACA vet podcast a review and be sure to like and subscribe so you receive new episodes as soon as they're available. And I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and I hope that you'll join me next month for another episode of Ask the Vet. Thanks, everyone.