ET Pet subjects

Celia Haddon answers your pet queries

Barney Curley, our little Lancashire heeler, has only to see a hot air balloon, at extreme range and out of human earshot, to rush towards it barking. He goes quite mad, barking until it has disappeared from view. He doesn't mind low-flying helicopters or microlights, but why a balloon? Could it be the noise, although at a height of 10,000ft, this is hardly audible to the human ear? Otherwise, he's a bit of a wimp and lets his breed down by being scared of cows. J P, Newport, Shropshire

DOGS can hear sounds from four times the distance we can, so the very distinctive noise of a balloon is audible to Barney well before you hear it. Dogs also have movable ears that can swivel to catch the sound.

Why Barney accepts helicopters, but has decided that balloons are intruders is a bit of a mystery. But the wonderful thing, from his otherwise wimpish point of view, is that, if he persists in barking long enough, the balloon will eventually retreat from his airspace. And each time he has a feeling of real achievement. This horrible thing in the air goes away thanks to his barking.

This is the same reason why so many dogs bark at postmen. Each time the postman retreats from the door, the dog has the satisfaction of feeling that his barking has seen off the intruder.

Barney's not the only dog to guard airspace. I know of a pug who, during the last war, would rush into the garden and bark at all the planes, both enemy and our own. The Second World War kept him pretty busy, but he would swagger back into the house, secure in his own mind that the passing bombers and Spitfires had all retreated because of his barking.

Is it possible that cats, and indeed other animals, can be right- or left-handed? When Tilly, my 10-year-old tabby, wants my attention, she always reaches out to touch me with her left paw. When she gets cross with me, usually because I am trying to stop her sitting on the Telegraph crossword, she always leads with her left. Is my cat a southpaw? B S, Manchester

It is possible that Tilly is left-handed, but this may be because she has learnt to use her left hand, not because she was born that way.

We don't know very much yet about left- or right-handedness among animals. What research there has been suggests there are only individual preferences, rather than a preference within a species.

Martha Holder, a scientist at the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior at Indiana University, has been studying human-handedness and hand usage among apes and monkeys. "Individual monkeys and apes often develop individual preferences for manual tasks," she says. "But I have found no evidence for predisposition in an overall population to use one hand rather than another, as seen in humans."

We live opposite a farm in an area of Cumbria where the farmer has taken the precaution of putting straw and disinfectant across his entrance, although it is not a diseased area. On Saturday, Bramble, our fresh-air-loving cat, came back smelling of something like creosote, which suggests he had visited the farm. I sponged his feet and fur and he seems to have suffered no ill effects. Was this right? R W, by email

The disinfectants used by farmers are strong and readers who think their cat or dog has walked over the straw should wash their paws in diluted soapy water.

"If you think your animal has already licked it off its paws, then you should ring your vet about it," says Dr Charles Bell, the author of First Aid and Health for Cats. "If an animal falls into a container of disinfectant, you should dunk it in a bucket of water and phone the vet, before bringing it into the surgery promptly."

Not so long ago, you ran a letter from people wanting to use their Labrador as a stud dog and concerned about the fact that, at 11 months old, he was not lifting his leg. Before even considering using him at stud, they should have his hips X-rayed and his eyes tested by a specialist vet. If the news is good on both these fronts, they should then consider the suitability of his temperament. After that, they should only accept a bitch for mating that has similarly had eyes and hips tested. G N, Cross in Hand, Sussex

This is good advice for anybody thinking of using their dog as a stud.

If you don't know what hereditary faults are in your breed, you should find out more first. Almost all breeds now have hereditary faults, including Labradors. You will find a list of potential problems in Everyone's Dog, the Labrador Retriever by Marion Hopkinson (£16.50, from Marion Hopkinson, Woodlea, Main Street, Styrrup, Doncaster, DN11 8NB). The book also explains the importance of making sure puppies get used to daily life in the house.

Celia Haddon regrets that she cannot answer all readers' letters personally. All sick animals should, of course, be taken to a vet. Please email your questions to: pets@telegraph.co.uk

-- Anonymous, March 30, 2001