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Notgothic
May 24, 2003

Thanks for the input, Jeff!
I've started playing the violin recently, and one of my cats goes nuts over it. I'm not sure if she's enjoying it, or if the sound is just making her crazy, but she's the only one out of the five currently living with us who has any reaction. It's usually just when I'm playing something including the E-string that she gets excited; she tries to get as close to the violin as possible, and when I stop she gives me the inquisitive meow. She's getting more and more of a pain about it though, I had to exile her from my room during practice after she decided it was a great idea to leap on me and start climbing to get to the violin.

What the hell is wrong with my cat?

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Whispering Machines
Dec 27, 2005

Monsters? They look like monsters to you?
There's nothing wrong with her- she clearly knows how to play the violin- she's trying to show you how its done ;)

emotional facism
Feb 10, 2006

from a lacerated sky
Recently moved back home (temp and a sad boring story) and my cat hates my moms cats. Do you think it would work better if I were gone more often (I stay home and write)? She seems fine with the older cat (he's male and has her color) and hates the other lady cat. Is my cat racist? haha. Anyway. Any ideas on how to socialize the beasts?

asteroceras
Mar 18, 2007

by T. Finn
About 3 months ago I saw a rodent I had never seen before at the UK store "Pets at Home", but I do not recall the name and cannot find it anywhere on the web. [and I no longer live anywhere near this pet store or any other]

They had about 10 of them in a cage and they were all jumping about and seemed happy and social. They looked somewhat like rats and were very friendly when I put my fingers to the cage.

Any ideas?

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

asteroceras posted:

About 3 months ago I saw a rodent I had never seen before at the UK store "Pets at Home", but I do not recall the name and cannot find it anywhere on the web. [and I no longer live anywhere near this pet store or any other]

They had about 10 of them in a cage and they were all jumping about and seemed happy and social. They looked somewhat like rats and were very friendly when I put my fingers to the cage.

Any ideas?

Gerbils, perhaps? They're pretty friendly, are somewhat ratlike, and from what I've heard are pretty social. Did they tend to sit upright a lot, and had kind of a kangaroo-rat appearance, with long furry tails?

GIS results:




And so on. I like the little black ones especially. Never had any of my own, but everyone I know who's had gerbils has raved about how sweet and curious and funny they are.

Spermy Smurf
Jul 2, 2004
How early is too early to take my dog on runs?

I hear when she's growing there can be joint problems, but she's insanely full of energy and I need some way to release it rather than playing tug of war and having her make my arm sore for 3 hours.

My arm is killing me and I had no idea why until I wrote this.

She's 4 months old roughly, going to be 5, getting spayed in 14 days, and when I take her for walks she wants to go for miles and miles.

Edit: Also, fetch. How the hell. She grabs balls or bones or rings or whatever and chews the poo poo out of them, not bring them back.

Spermy Smurf fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Feb 29, 2008

asteroceras
Mar 18, 2007

by T. Finn

RazorBunny posted:

Gerbils, perhaps? They're pretty friendly, are somewhat ratlike, and from what I've heard are pretty social. Did they tend to sit upright a lot, and had kind of a kangaroo-rat appearance, with long furry tails?

No, these things had a name I had never heard of, gerbils are very well known in the UK.

I just saw mention of "degu" in another thread, I guess that could be the one, though the Wikipedia entry does not 100% convice me it is the same animal I saw.

Kusaru
Dec 20, 2006


I'm a Bro-ny!

Notgothic posted:

I've started playing the violin recently, and one of my cats goes nuts over it. I'm not sure if she's enjoying it, or if the sound is just making her crazy, but she's the only one out of the five currently living with us who has any reaction. It's usually just when I'm playing something including the E-string that she gets excited; she tries to get as close to the violin as possible, and when I stop she gives me the inquisitive meow. She's getting more and more of a pain about it though, I had to exile her from my room during practice after she decided it was a great idea to leap on me and start climbing to get to the violin.

What the hell is wrong with my cat?

My first dog hated when I played my tuba, my current dog really freaks out when I play my trumpet. My roomate's dog was scared of digeridoos. While the first dog would just stare warily at my tuba, my current dog tries to bite the bell of my trumpet. Besides not ever really playing it anymore, I just don't take it out with him in the room, although I have to deal with him freaking out outside the door. :)

Gustav
Jul 12, 2006

This is all very confusing. Do you mind if I call you Rodriguez?
Are there any problems with keeping a hamster cage (syrian) and a gerbil cage in relatively close proximity to each other? I mean pet stores obviousy do it, but pet stores suck, so... Just checking.

Ambass Inara
Aug 17, 2005
And I guess you're a Rhodes Scholar yourself. Where did you graduate from again, the University of DUH?!?!
I have a German Shorthaired Pointer mix foster dog right now. She looks just like a pointer but with short legs. She is very sweet and well behaved in our condo. I have no experience with the breed. This is my first foster but I had dogs growing up (dobermans and boxers).

I called the rescue organization about this but they don't have an answer as to why. She has literally rubbed the fur off the top of her nose off trying to "bury" her toys and treats in the carpet. She loves her crate and I don't believe she is doing it while in there. I think she does it when she lays on her blankie or just in corners of the carpet. I have had her for a little over 2 weeks and have seen her try to do this before but it was for a few seconds. There was no bleeding or irritation. This morning though I had to clean a bunch of blood streaks off the carpet from where she had rubbed her nose.

They suggested I rub neosporin into the spot and I did but I am at a loss as what to do to get her to stop. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?

cramps
Jul 27, 2003

how pretty.
My kitty, Fenton, has been getting little boogers under his nostrils. He's a good sport about letting me wipe them away, but they worry me. He hasn't been sneezing at all, his eyes are not watery, and he has been acting as if he is in perfect health. My kitty's pretty much my BFF, though, so I worry about him like most do a human child. Is this a normal thing, or should I take him to the vet?

Kusaru
Dec 20, 2006


I'm a Bro-ny!
My fishtank bucket, new and never used outside of filling the tank and aging the water, had some orangey goo sitting on the bottom of the bucket today. It had been sitting out about 2 days... could it be rust from my pipes or what?

combee
Nov 17, 2007

it's the combee's knees!
.

combee fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Jul 23, 2013

Helvetica Neue
Sep 1, 2004

 
I adopted Pinot Noir on Saturday from the Oregon Humane Society. She's an all black cat and is about 4 years old.

I was warned that URIs are almost constantly circulating there because of how many animals come into the shelter, but I decided I would take my chances with that. When I visited with her, she was upbeat, energetic, and extremely affectionate. She demanded to be pet, scratched, wound up in between my legs and settled in on my lap. A perfect stranger, and she adored me! I watched all the cats I considered for signs of a URI, and Pinot had none.

I first saw her sneeze later on Saturday night. I thought nothing of it, possibly some dust, and ignored it. Sunday she started sneezing more frequently, and by mid-afternoon Monday/today I was really starting to feel worried, so I made an appointment at the vet for Wedneday after work.

By the evening she was having little fits of sneezing, where she sneezed 4-5 times very loudly and seemed worn out and a little disoriented afterwards. She has also been very low-energy and lethargic Sunday & Monday.

I feel horrible for her - it's obvious that she feels terrible, but I don't know what I can do to help her feel better other than taking her to the vet, which is two more days of being sick and feeling awful. I'm also worried that she isn't eating enough - I have sat her in front of her food bowl but she won't eat/drink. I bought her EVO (Grain-Free, Human Grade Pet Food) brand food, which is supposed to be super delicious and healthy for her, but she has no interest. I'm not sure if this is just because I'm in the room with her or if she really has no appetite. I did hear her munching on food when I was in the other room, but she has hardly made a dent in her food bowl since she arrived on Saturday. This could also contribute to her being low energy I'd imagine.

So, my question is -
Should I be freak-out worried about her? Should I find an emergency vet to take her to tomorrow or should I just try to get her to last until Wednesday evening? And on the eating/drinking situation... how should I gauge when to be worried? I don't necessarily think that we're at the syringe feeding point yet, but I also don't want her to starve herself. Is there anything I can do to make her feel comfortable?

edit - I found her asleep in her litterbox.. when there are two comfy beds, a giant couch and multiple comfy chairs around, she wants to lay in her litterbox. :( Maybe her nose is extra irritated tonight from breathing the litter-dust?



Here are a couple pictures of her. :)



Helvetica Neue fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Mar 4, 2008

Kalma
May 23, 2004

Ha ha ha ha. You're really weird.
Not sure how many of you visit coupons, but here's something some of you might enjoy.

http://www.freebizmag.com/emailhorseill01welcome.htm
Free year of horse illustrated

quote:

Each issue of Horse Illustrated will give you the scoop about health, nutrition, behavior, breeding and equine training from top breeders and professionals in the field. Informative articles keep you in the saddle with the latest products and riding tips.

Basically to get it you fill out a survey about your job. Most magazines are geared towards IT professionals. You will also be asked if you want some other IT type magazines. The other magazines are usually the ones that have paid for the one you're clicking on. :)

I can make a real thread about it, but like I said, there's a free magazine thread in coupons already, this one was just pets related so I wanted to give it a bigger audience.

TheGreatFezini
Jun 19, 2004

swim swim HUNGRY
Thanks! I went ahead and signed up ... I don't own horses but I used to ride and I still like reading and learning about them.

maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.

doublemint punch posted:

Should I be freak-out worried about her? Should I find an emergency vet to take her to tomorrow or should I just try to get her to last until Wednesday evening? And on the eating/drinking situation... how should I gauge when to be worried? I don't necessarily think that we're at the syringe feeding point yet, but I also don't want her to starve herself. Is there anything I can do to make her feel comfortable?

Try this thread for good kitty-cold advice, most of this is covered there.

microbe114
Mar 4, 2008
My parents have about a 7 or 8 year old Shetland Sheepdog who is an extremely affectionate, but neurotic, pet. Recently he has taken a total hating to smaller children who are in the house and at our piano in particular (my mom is an out-of-the-home piano teacher). It's not like he's afraid of them; he gets extremely possessive of his toys, "shows them off," and if a kid makes sudden movement with his or her feet (as one is wont to do while playing the piano), the dog goes for their feet pretty hardcore. Mind you, he doesn't do much of anything else to them while they're not playing the piano. Any ideas what this is about or how to stop this? If it helps he was the alpha male of his litter, is much bigger than a normal sheltie, and has always had an issue with not being dominant, regardless of how much we trained him as a puppy.

As of right now, my parents more or less sequester him outside or in the kitchen while students are in the house, but that's not really fixing whatever the problem is.

MoCookies
Apr 22, 2005

microbe114 posted:

My parents have about a 7 or 8 year old Shetland Sheepdog who is an extremely affectionate, but neurotic, pet. Recently he has taken a total hating to smaller children who are in the house and at our piano in particular (my mom is an out-of-the-home piano teacher). It's not like he's afraid of them; he gets extremely possessive of his toys, "shows them off," and if a kid makes sudden movement with his or her feet (as one is wont to do while playing the piano), the dog goes for their feet pretty hardcore. Mind you, he doesn't do much of anything else to them while they're not playing the piano. Any ideas what this is about or how to stop this? If it helps he was the alpha male of his litter, is much bigger than a normal sheltie, and has always had an issue with not being dominant, regardless of how much we trained him as a puppy.

As of right now, my parents more or less sequester him outside or in the kitchen while students are in the house, but that's not really fixing whatever the problem is.

Going for the feet makes it sound like a herding thing to me. I'd suggest working on sit/stay and down/stay commands with the Sheltie, and increasing the distractions until he's obeying consistently even with major distractions around like piano-playing kiddos. Ideally, you want your mom to be able to tell the dog to stop when he starts getting "herd-y", and then either put him in a down or just send him out of the room, without your mom having to get up and physically remove the dog. One temporary band-aid worth trying is taking him for a strenuous run/jog/hike before the kids come over for their lessons. I think he's using feet-nipping and child-herding to burn off some of that nervous, herding dog energy. If he's worn out, he's far less likely to get all obsess-y over the kids.

Braki
Aug 9, 2006

Happy birthday!
I was lying in bed studying, and my cat was lying next to the bed in his cat bed. I suddenly started hearing this really weird sound... at first I thought maybe it was someone in the next room and the sound was coming through the wall, until I realized no one was in the next room. I looked down, and it was my cat. He had his tongue sticking out slightly and was making this really strange "heeunh" sound every 1-2 seconds. I called his name, and he looked up at me, but he kept making that sound. I got really scared and started leaving to open my door so I could wake up my brother, and then he stopped. This happened maybe five minutes ago, and he hasn't done it again, and doesn't seem to act out of the ordinary, although I have noticed that he seems more skittish today than usual. It really scared the poo poo out of me, but I'm not sure if it's something really serious or if it was just some odd one-time occurrence. Does anyone know what it could have been?

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

Braki posted:

I was lying in bed studying, and my cat was lying next to the bed in his cat bed. I suddenly started hearing this really weird sound... at first I thought maybe it was someone in the next room and the sound was coming through the wall, until I realized no one was in the next room. I looked down, and it was my cat. He had his tongue sticking out slightly and was making this really strange "heeunh" sound every 1-2 seconds. I called his name, and he looked up at me, but he kept making that sound. I got really scared and started leaving to open my door so I could wake up my brother, and then he stopped. This happened maybe five minutes ago, and he hasn't done it again, and doesn't seem to act out of the ordinary, although I have noticed that he seems more skittish today than usual. It really scared the poo poo out of me, but I'm not sure if it's something really serious or if it was just some odd one-time occurrence. Does anyone know what it could have been?

Two possibilities spring immediately to mind: hairball, or object/mucus in the lungs. Some cats don't "cough" as noticeably as others, which is why I mention the latter. It is most likely a hairball, and he might be more skittish because he's uncomfortable. Has he had a bowel movement today? Has he spit up anything, either bile (foamy liquid, ranges clear to yellow depending on what else is in his stomach) or hair clots?

If it's a hairball, the best thing you can do for him is to give him some Petromalt. I know there are home remedies that will work in a pinch (our friend uses Vaseline because her cat likes the taste, others have mentioned vegetable or olive oil), but we use the "real" thing. Sometimes it will help ease their discomfort to gently palpate their abdomen, almost like giving a gentle massage in the stomach area. If the cat protests this at all, stop. But many times when one of my kitties has spit up or is trying to clear a hairball, a gentle rub on the tummy seems to alleviate some of the unpleasantness.

Olive Bar
Mar 30, 2005

Take me to the moon
My cats like to make that sound right before they puke. So maybe your cat puked and just swallowed it back down again?

Braki
Aug 9, 2006

Happy birthday!
He didn't throw up last night, but he did throw up this morning after he was fed. I've seen him try to throw up before, and it doesn't sound similar. I mentioned that weird sound to my mom, and she said he made a similar sound a few months back, but he didn't throw up.

I don't know if it's a hairball. He's short hair, and in the two years I've had him, he's never had a hairball. He hasn't spit up anything.

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

Braki posted:

I don't know if it's a hairball. He's short hair, and in the two years I've had him, he's never had a hairball. He hasn't spit up anything.

Some cats almost never have hairballs, others have them all the time. Hair length doesn't make as much difference as you'd think.

He also may have eaten something that disagreed with him, or just eaten his regular food too fast and gotten a lot of air in his stomach. If it doesn't become a everyday thing, I don't think I'd worry about it too much. Still, putting him on a regular dose of Petromalt might not be a bad idea.

MushroomSquid
Jan 7, 2005

In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.
I'm looking into getting an intelligent, medium-sized dog like an Australian Shepard, but, in general, I don't know much about the different breeds. Any suggestions?

larasndar
Nov 30, 2006

by Ozma

MushroomSquid posted:

I'm looking into getting an intelligent, medium-sized dog like an Australian Shepard, but, in general, I don't know much about the different breeds. Any suggestions?

The most important thing to understand about herding breeds such as the Australian Shepherd is that they were bred to work with livestock all day long, which means that they are very high energy dogs. As in, they can run and run all day and not tire out. This means that they often do not do well in family households, unless a commitment is made to devoting multiple hours each day to exercise them, until they are well into their senior years. If you can't live up to that commitment, behavioural issues may manifest - such as destructiveness in the house, 'herding' behaviours directed towards the family (nipping at heels and so on), nuisance barking and general hyperactivity.

You mention their intelligence - it's true that herding breeds are very intelligent, but the caveat to that is that they again require a large amount of cognitive engagement on your part. Australian Shepherds, and others like them, need to have a job that they can put their mind to or they will quickly become bored and, again, destructive. The good news is that there are plenty of ways you can channel this physical and intellectual energy - agility, flyball, obedience, herding - but you need the drive and enthusiasm to seek these activities out and stick with them throughout the dog's lifetime.

Is the thought of a high-energy, potentially-destructive-if-underworked breed something that would put you off? If so, then an Australian Shepherd is probably not for you - but there are other, lower energy, medium sized breeds you could think about :)

TheGreatFezini
Jun 19, 2004

swim swim HUNGRY
A few weeks ago I was talking to one of my friends about my dog Wrigley. For those who don't know, Wrigley was recently diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia. So this friend of mine started talking to me about how I should look into "natural cures" and that I was doing my dog a disservice by "pumping him full of medicine he doesn't need." That was bad enough, she really made me feel guilty. I've looked everywhere and can't see anything bad about glucosamine supplements.

Anyway, the conversation turned to other types of medicines and she told me that her dogs only get their shots every two years instead of one, even the rabies vaccine. I know that there are some vaccines that are supposed to last longer than a year, but she specifically said she gets the one year vaccine every two years because she read somewhere on the Internet that it really lasts two years and it's bad for the dog to have it yearly.

I don't really believe her, but sometimes I take Wrigley over to her house to play with her dogs. Now that I know they aren't always up to date on their shots, I'm a bit nervous taking him over there. I'm very diligent about keeping his vaccines up to date, but still I worry. Is it ok to let him play with these dogs or am I putting him at risk for contracting something?

MoCookies
Apr 22, 2005

TheGreatFezini posted:

A few weeks ago I was talking to one of my friends about my dog Wrigley. For those who don't know, Wrigley was recently diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia. So this friend of mine started talking to me about how I should look into "natural cures" and that I was doing my dog a disservice by "pumping him full of medicine he doesn't need." That was bad enough, she really made me feel guilty. I've looked everywhere and can't see anything bad about glucosamine supplements.

Anyway, the conversation turned to other types of medicines and she told me that her dogs only get their shots every two years instead of one, even the rabies vaccine. I know that there are some vaccines that are supposed to last longer than a year, but she specifically said she gets the one year vaccine every two years because she read somewhere on the Internet that it really lasts two years and it's bad for the dog to have it yearly.

I don't really believe her, but sometimes I take Wrigley over to her house to play with her dogs. Now that I know they aren't always up to date on their shots, I'm a bit nervous taking him over there. I'm very diligent about keeping his vaccines up to date, but still I worry. Is it ok to let him play with these dogs or am I putting him at risk for contracting something?

I wouldn't worry, even though your friend sounds nutty and ignorant about how medicines and vaccines work. Hopefully Lioness will come in here and back me up on this, but my understanding is that how long vaccines last has a lot to do with the immune system of the individual dog and vaccines don't have a specific duration that they're good for in the dog's system. A vet can do a titer to check antibody levels, but the problem is that it isn't known at what level the immunity is too low to protect from disease for the next year. Here's the AMVA's page on vaccines - http://www.avma.org/issues/vaccination/default.asp which basically says that once a year might not be necessary, but your friend is still wrong if she thinks she *knows* that every 2 years is effective.

MoCookies
Apr 22, 2005

MushroomSquid posted:

I'm looking into getting an intelligent, medium-sized dog like an Australian Shepard, but, in general, I don't know much about the different breeds. Any suggestions?

My question to you is just how smart of a dog do you really want? Even some of the "dumbest" breeds are still smart enough to compete in obedience competitions, rally obedience, dog agility, and other such activities that require doggy smarts. Your goals for the dog should influence what breed to go with. If you have no interest in dog sports or getting A TON of exercise, then steer away (far, far away) from any breed with collie or shepherd in the name.

Getting a smart dog is a doubled edged sword; sure, they learn the basic commands easily and early, but you can't just stop there. Herding breed dogs like the Australian Shepherd require MAJOR physical exercise AND mental exercise. Most people underestimate how much time it takes to wear them out properly. Forget walking the dog around the block twice a day, you'll need to be hiking/running/biking to really get the job done. Like Notsoape already posted, they're bred to go ALL DAY, and if you don't help them get out that energy, they'll do it on their own by developing destructive and annoying hobbies like barking all drat day, pulling up the carpet for you, or peeling the wallpaper off your walls.

I suggest making your own "recommend me a breed" thread, and we can get into more detail about breeds that would work really well for your situation.

Infinite Might
Mar 14, 2007

Your feeble skills are no match for the power of Bob Dole!

TheGreatFezini posted:

A few weeks ago I was talking to one of my friends about my dog Wrigley. For those who don't know, Wrigley was recently diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia. So this friend of mine started talking to me about how I should look into "natural cures" and that I was doing my dog a disservice by "pumping him full of medicine he doesn't need." That was bad enough, she really made me feel guilty. I've looked everywhere and can't see anything bad about glucosamine supplements.

Anyway, the conversation turned to other types of medicines and she told me that her dogs only get their shots every two years instead of one, even the rabies vaccine. I know that there are some vaccines that are supposed to last longer than a year, but she specifically said she gets the one year vaccine every two years because she read somewhere on the Internet that it really lasts two years and it's bad for the dog to have it yearly.

I don't really believe her, but sometimes I take Wrigley over to her house to play with her dogs. Now that I know they aren't always up to date on their shots, I'm a bit nervous taking him over there. I'm very diligent about keeping his vaccines up to date, but still I worry. Is it ok to let him play with these dogs or am I putting him at risk for contracting something?

Wrigley might benefit from a food like J/D (I hate science diet but that works, they've also done some formulation improving with fibre and the like) j/d has an omega ratio that acts as an anti inflammatory and also will help the fella lose some weight. My dog has two luxated knees and instead of everyday full dose metacam, we are going to give him this for a few months and ease down on the metacam.

As for vaccines, our vet says for the young and the old, you should do it yearly, as for the middle age you might get away with every other year. One thing we do say is, bordetella should be yearly.

MushroomSquid
Jan 7, 2005

In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

Mocookies and notsoape posted:

:words:
Oh I've looked up a lot of things on Australian Shepherd. I fully realize the required exercise and yes, I can see myself walking this dog 2 times a day. There's a park right across the street from where I live and I already plan on spending copious amounts of time there reading and hopefully throwing the ball for my non-existent dog (also, you can buy dog backpacks full of water and books to help tire them out). The required mental stimulation sounds exciting, not only for the dog but also for me. I don't have any interest in competing, but I like my animals to outsmart me from time to time. I use to own a champion Doberman Pinscher (although he was an outside dog), and my god the energy. He was just under 100lbs. Aside from these issues, is there anything else to consider? I do have a cat (who strangely prefers dogs)... would this be a problem or no?

MushroomSquid fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Mar 7, 2008

TheGreatFezini
Jun 19, 2004

swim swim HUNGRY

Infinite Might posted:

Wrigley might benefit from a food like J/D (I hate science diet but that works, they've also done some formulation improving with fibre and the like) j/d has an omega ratio that acts as an anti inflammatory and also will help the fella lose some weight. My dog has two luxated knees and instead of everyday full dose metacam, we are going to give him this for a few months and ease down on the metacam.

As for vaccines, our vet says for the young and the old, you should do it yearly, as for the middle age you might get away with every other year. One thing we do say is, bordetella should be yearly.

I hadn't considered a prescription food, but I'll definitely bring it up next time I'm at the vet's office. I knew that Science Diet had prescription foods but I didn't know that there was a specific one that could benefit him.

I'm definitely going to keep Wrigley on a yearly schedule. These dogs that he plays with are young too - I think they're around 2-3 years old. I'm just concerned about him being around them if they're vaccines aren't always up to date, but I would hate for him to lose his playmates.

Noonsaliwah
Sep 5, 2006
Shizne
My question is pretty simple, but the answer might not be;

Is animal tattooing cruel?

I couldn't find a thread discussing it, but I'm sure if it wasn't an open-and-shut case, there would be one.
It seems to be a 'current issue' where I'm living at the moment, like a lot of people I had to google it just to be sure that it actually exists. Apparently people use it as a form of identification (and some people use it for more), but it isn't something I'd ever heard of before.

Then some people say "well it's never bothered any pet I've seen" and some people say 'all tattooed pets go crazy and hate humans" (while I think it might be more 'people who want to tattoo skulls on their pets raise crazy pets"). I dunno what the informed opinion is, because I can't find a link I trust that discusses it properly.

...And I trust PI to have an informed opinion.

maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with tattooing as a process - racing greyhounds get identification tattoos, commercially-bred ferrets get tattoos to show that they've been spayed or neutered, and I'm sure there's more... I'd recommend an identification tattoo to anyone with an escape artist pet that can get out of collars easily, since you don't need a special scanner to tell that they're there like you do with a microchip, and some people will just assume a stray animal has no owner and not check for a chip.

Skull tattoos, though? :psyduck:

Fundamentally, those people are spending money to have someone hurt their animal in order to make it look cooler. With the kind of attitude that allows that, I seriously doubt that they are awesome pet owners the rest of the time.

RazorBunny
May 23, 2007

Sometimes I feel like this.

maplecheese posted:

Fundamentally, those people are spending money to have someone hurt their animal in order to make it look cooler.

I think if it's done under anesthesia it's not cruel. The aftercare on a tattoo isn't particularly painful, mostly just itchy. As long as the owner is committed to healing the tattoo properly, taking care of it like he would his own, I don't think it's an inherently bad thing. It's still stupid, in my opinion, but not a cruelty issue.

quote:

With the kind of attitude that allows that, I seriously doubt that they are awesome pet owners the rest of the time.

I think that's kind of a strong assumption. But hey, who knows. I don't know anyone, even hardcore tattoo people, who would do it.

Sekhmet
Nov 16, 2001


Noonsaliwah posted:

Then some people say "well it's never bothered any pet I've seen" and some people say 'all tattooed pets go crazy and hate humans" (while I think it might be more 'people who want to tattoo skulls on their pets raise crazy pets"). I dunno what the informed opinion is, because I can't find a link I trust that discusses it properly.

I work at a research cat colony with nearly a thousand cats. Each kitten has its ears tattooed between 6-10 weeks of age for identification purposes. In the right ear goes the year they were born and in the left ear a number incrementing by one for each kitten born, starting at 001 each year. They get over it after about 3 minutes and then don't care anymore. We have some cats who hate people but we also have some cats who will try to jump/climb up into your arms and rub all over you if you go into the group cages with them. I highly doubt the ear tattoos have anything to do with either attitude.

As far as vaccinations go, for the earlier discussion - many vaccines do last longer than what they're labeled for, but it's hard to tell without doing titers as MoCookies pointed out. And the problem with titers is that we don't really know what constitutes protective immunity a lot of times. There are distemper vaccines that are labeled for three year use though. And actually Infinite Might, the intranasal bordetella should really be done every six months for maximum effectiveness. Nobody really does it in practice though.

Sekhmet fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Mar 9, 2008

Wroughtirony
May 14, 2007



Pet travel question:

I'm moving from Texas to New England in a few weeks, and I'm taking my cat with me. She'll be up to date on all her shots, traveling in a fairly large kennel in my car on the 4-day trip. My question is about sedating her- she hates riding in the car- even fifteen minutes to the vet and back. I'll follow my vet's advice, but does anyone have experience taking a long road trip with an animal who doesn't like to travel? Is "kitty valium" (prescribed by the vet of course) a good option or should I try and see if she adjusts on her own? Any tips and tricks for making the journey more comfortable for both of us?

maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.

RazorBunny posted:

I think if it's done under anesthesia it's not cruel. The aftercare on a tattoo isn't particularly painful, mostly just itchy. As long as the owner is committed to healing the tattoo properly, taking care of it like he would his own, I don't think it's an inherently bad thing. It's still stupid, in my opinion, but not a cruelty issue.


I think that's kind of a strong assumption. But hey, who knows. I don't know anyone, even hardcore tattoo people, who would do it.

Even BMEzine.com, while they do host pictures of it, puts up a big "HEY WE DON'T CONDONE THIS" notice... and most of the pics in that section are things like "my cat's feral-colony-member ear punch" and "my dog's racing tattoo" anyway.

Of all the bad things you can do to an animal, this would not be anywhere near the worst on the list. But dear god it's stupid.

Damn Bananas
Jul 1, 2007

You humans bore me
I'm really worried about my mouse. Background: She's just the white feeder variety, and about 4-5 months old. We take her and her sister on frequent road trips from college to home about once a month, so they're used to the car now.

Anyway, on Friday night we drove home again and when we got home she started only walking in counterclockwise circles. When she's running in her wheel, she'll try to make a turn that just isn't there and looks around like she's wondering how she got out of the wheel. She kind of circles around on the little platform in her cage too. She's eating, drinking, and eliminating normally (aside from darker stools which I might be able to blame on giving her a washed blueberry and some bread crumbs but correct me if I'm wrong?). Her legs appear to work, she just goes in circles! Her sister is fine. I'm hoping it's just a quirk but fearing the worse since it's new. They're not the hardiest of animals and... gah! :(

I just don't know what to think, I don't know of any exotic vets in the area but if anyone thinks it sounds serious I'm willing to call around to find one.

Edit: I took my dog in for a teeth cleaning today so I went ahead and asked the vet if he knew anything about the above problem. He gave me a bit of amoxicillin to give one drop 3 times a day for a week to clear up a possible ear infection but he wasn't sure... Crossing my fingers!

Damn Bananas fucked around with this message at 07:06 on Mar 12, 2008

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Meow Cadet
May 2, 2007


friendship is magic
in a pony paradise
don't you judge me

Wroughtirony posted:

Pet travel question:

I'm moving from Texas to New England in a few weeks, and I'm taking my cat with me. She'll be up to date on all her shots, traveling in a fairly large kennel in my car on the 4-day trip. My question is about sedating her- she hates riding in the car- even fifteen minutes to the vet and back. I'll follow my vet's advice, but does anyone have experience taking a long road trip with an animal who doesn't like to travel? Is "kitty valium" (prescribed by the vet of course) a good option or should I try and see if she adjusts on her own? Any tips and tricks for making the journey more comfortable for both of us?

Some cats tend to freak out even more on tranquilizers/Valium, because then they feel like they're losing control. But then, some take to it well. When I was a kid we took our cat on a camping trip with us :rolleyes:. 12+ hours of Siamese yowling in the car. :cry:

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