Petpourri: Parakeet doesn't feel chatty

Q My Quaker parakeet is a great talker and can even repeat entire sentences. However, about three weeks ago, he got a bacterial infection and almost died. Thanks to our vet's medication and my wife's nursing, he got better. But he is still not talking. Will he ever talk again, or could the illness have in some way permanently affected him?

A We do not know why some birds talk and others do not, but most likely it is related to the same emotions and physical conditions that cause some birds to sing or a rooster to crow. In the big scheme of things, all these bird vocalizations are just that -- vocalizations, and birds will not vocalize when they do not feel well. If a bird is not in top shape, it does not want to advertise its presence to a rival or a predator via vocalization, as it is not up to the challenge.

No canary will sing when it is heavily molting or ill, and a parrot or parakeet that is similarly compromised will keep quiet, as well.

It takes a long time for a bird to recover from an illness like the one yours had. Just keep up with the advice from the vet. In time, when the bird feels 100 percent fit again, he will resume his chattering.

Kitty missing the litter Q Phoebe, my 17-year-old cat, is healthy for her age, but lately she has been urinating on the floor right next to her litter box. I tried changing litters and cleaning the box more often, but she still does it. Before she urinates, she will stand right next to the box and cry for a while, and then she will just go on the floor. What can I do?

A Physical problems can sometimes cause cats to do this. That well could be the case here. If a cat has a urinary tract infection, for example, it can be painful for it to squat in a layer of litter to urinate -- particularly if the litter is a rough clay type. So it will then choose a smooth area to squat on such as an area of floor or a throw rug or a T-shirt left about.

The fact that she is crying before she goes indicates that she is in pain. Most likely, if you take her to your vet, he or she will find an infection that can be easily cleared up. Then, the cat will no longer have any discomfort when she urinates and will go back to her box.

All breeds of dogs were originally developed to serve a specific working function. The ease or difficulty of teaching a new behavior depends somewhat on the extent to which the behavior is in harmony with the breed's natural instincts.

For example, retrievers were originally developed to indicate and retrieve game for the hunter. The retrieving instinct represents a portion of the dog's natural predatory sequence that has been modified through selective breeding. As a result, retrievers can be easily taught to play fetch, while a basset hound that was bred to trail a game scent would find the task daunting. It has nothing to do with intelligence.

But every dog is an individual -- regardless of breed. A dog's temperament and past experiences strongly influence the ability to learn new behaviors.

The most import aspects of this are the qualities of the dog's human trainer. With positive reinforcement, clicker training, patience and understanding, most any dog of any breed can be taught just about any behavior that it is physically capable of doing.

Just think about all the different breeds of dogs that played parts in movies. With positive reinforcement and patience from their trainers, they all performed behaviors that might not have come naturally to that breed.