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At what age should are you able to handle a newborn pup? My friend's dog just had a litter and I cannot wait to nuzzle the little mobile landmines of cuteness.
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Mar 27, 2008 05:50
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An acquaintance is keeping a new young bearded dragon in an open-top aquarium. It doesn't have a spot to bask, is in maybe four inches of sand or so, and she is continually pulling it out of the tank to "cuddle" with it (including naps, apparently), give it baths in the sink nearly daily, and just generally play with it. She also bought it on a whim, probably to do with her being just a little bit impulsive (she got her nose pierced a few days later, then decided to move that weekend). Okay, I'm digressing. She also doesn't know what to feed it outside of "fresh fruits and veggies", and is completely disregarding every piece of advice I give her (in a "Hay did you know?" kind of way, not a "DUMBASS YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!" way). I doubt this thing had a chance to destress since it got to the petstore she bought it at, nevermind how she's continually messing with it now. I suppose my real question is; what the gently caress do I do? Swoop in and steal it away? Yell at her until she fixes it? I'm already on horrible terms with her, so if completely ignoring it and never talking to her again will do it, it'll be done in a heartbeat. I just can't get over feeling bad for the little critter 
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Mar 27, 2008 06:40
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bawbzilla posted:An acquaintance is keeping a new young bearded dragon in an open-top aquarium. It doesn't have a spot to bask, is in maybe four inches of sand or so, and she is continually pulling it out of the tank to "cuddle" with it, give it baths in the sink, and just generally play with it. She also bought it on a whim, probably to do with her being just a little bit impulsive (she got her nose pierced a few days later, then decided to move that weekend). Huh... is this a friend-of-a-friend sort of acquaintance? Like, is there someone you know that she trusts more than she trusts you, but who isn't a total idiot about animals and who might be willing to pass on advice to her? If not, I'd say try to remain on good terms with her if at all possible while occasionally saying something about how you think you might get a bearded dragon someday. If she gets bored with it before she kills it, she might give it to you.
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Mar 27, 2008 06:46
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rds posted:At what age should are you able to handle a newborn pup? My friend's dog just had a litter and I cannot wait to nuzzle the little mobile landmines of cuteness. For the sake of the mother, please handle the pups as little as possible while they are still 'swimming' (for the at least the first three weeks. Once they start pottering about they will start to take interest in their environment (and you), but until then it isn't really doing anything but annoying the bitch and increasing the risk of disease transfer. When you do start handling, for safety only hold them when you are sitting or kneeling at floor level. Is your friend clued in about weaning and stuff? I have bags of advice if you want/need it.
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Mar 27, 2008 06:50
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notsoape posted:For the sake of the mother, please handle the pups as little as possible while they are still 'swimming' (for the at least the first three weeks. Once they start pottering about they will start to take interest in their environment (and you), but until then it isn't really doing anything but annoying the bitch and increasing the risk of disease transfer. When you do start handling, for safety only hold them when you are sitting or kneeling at floor level. He's pretty well used to the entire whelping and raising process, but I wanted to double check on when you can handle them out of my own curiosity.
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Mar 27, 2008 17:31
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A few questions- -Is there a thread for new puppies/should one be made giving advice on the basics? -If you clicker train your dog, and you want to get them to do a trick when you don't have your clicker around, will the dog be upset if he doesn't hear the click after successfully completing the trick? -What's the best way to deal with dog poop when walking your dog, bags, or is there something else (like a vacuum)?
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Mar 27, 2008 18:00
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When handling the newborn pups, it is also important to remember to scald your hands with soap and hot water both before and after.
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Mar 27, 2008 18:01
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OrganizedChaos posted:A few questions- Clicker training: The clicker is only a temporary marker used to teach a behavior. As soon as your dog preforms for the click, you want to start switching over to a verbal cue ("Yes", "Excellent", and "Banana Split" all work well). As far as walking goes, you need Vapoorize.
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Mar 27, 2008 18:05
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slayer548 posted:Clicker training: The clicker is only a temporary marker used to teach a behavior. As soon as your dog preforms for the click, you want to start switching over to a verbal cue ("Yes", "Excellent", and "Banana Split" all work well). Thanks! Also- Vapoorize would be excellent, it has so much potential!
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Mar 27, 2008 18:22
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Has anyone found something that helped their cat/made them more comfortable while they were suffering from feline leukemia/FeLV? For the record -- cat is an only cat, she's indoors and not a threat to others anymore. She was my sisters outdoor cat up until a few days ago, when I whisked the visibly sick cat away (with permission). The cat had been ours in childhood and my sister took her when she moved out. My sister has two toddlers, two dogs, and another cat (being checked now) whom kept beating up this sick cat! The cat is 13-years-old. I took her to the vet the same day I took her, had the test done, she's positive. She's still eating, still playful, still happy overall. She's just lost a bit of weight so far and is suffering from a lot of phlegm. We're starting her on interferon tomorrow, but I'd like to know if anyone has some suggestions for helping her pack on some weight, or some holistic stuff for helping her with the phlegm. Something that is safe, obviously, because her immune system is compromised.
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Mar 28, 2008 06:51
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I have three cats and just discovered a mouse in my basement. A mouse that ran past these three cats who didn't even take a second look at it. My question is: Am I justified in making these freeloading jerks into a fur coat?  Especially since two of them are currently absorbed in "killing" their toy mice instead of, you know, ridding my basement of this evil pest so I can sleep tonight.Edit: Also, which type of mouse trap should I look for to minimize the stupidity factor of my cats getting into it and hurting themselves? Lacuna fucked around with this message at 08:26 on Mar 28, 2008 |
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Mar 28, 2008 07:53
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Lacuna posted:My question is: Am I justified in making these freeloading jerks into a fur coat? A lot of domestic cats have relatively poor predation abilities, I've noticed. The good mousers are more the exception than the rule. Besides, you don't really want your cats killing and eating rodents. Generally eating a mouse will make a lot of cats vomit, and it could have nasty chemicals built up in its body or other grossness. quote:Edit: Also, which type of mouse trap should I look for to minimize the stupidity factor of my cats getting into it and hurting themselves? If you want to trap-and-release, a Havahart trap in the appropriate size presents no danger to your cats. Snap-traps will possibly endanger your kitties, and can be inhumane if the mouse's neck isn't broken. Victor makes an electronic mousetrap that shocks the mouse inside a little tunnel, and the dangerous component shouldn't be accessible to your cats - I've never used them personally. Good luck with your pest.
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Mar 28, 2008 13:47
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RazorBunny posted:A lot of domestic cats have relatively poor predation abilities, I've noticed. The good mousers are more the exception than the rule. And unfortunately it doesn't seem to be entirely heritable. Our cat is an AMAZING mouser - the sight, sound, or scent of a mouse will send her into full-on stalking mode for days until she catches it, she kills them so quickly that the drat things just look surprised, and she once daintily placed one on top of a plastic grocery bag that had been left on the floor overnight... but her son is (from what we've heard) utterly hopeless.
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Mar 28, 2008 14:28
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maplecheese posted:And unfortunately it doesn't seem to be entirely heritable. Our cat is an AMAZING mouser - the sight, sound, or scent of a mouse will send her into full-on stalking mode for days until she catches it, she kills them so quickly that the drat things just look surprised, and she once daintily placed one on top of a plastic grocery bag that had been left on the floor overnight... but her son is (from what we've heard) utterly hopeless.
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Mar 28, 2008 14:51
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sucks to ur assmar posted:That has nothing to do with whether it's genetic or not. It could be a recessive trait, you don't know anything about the genes of the other parent or any of the grandparents. [/petpeeve] You're right, you're right.... but apparently Dad was a decent hunter, too, and I've heard lots of "cat is a great/terrible mouser but parents were terrible/great mousers" stories. This is just the one I'm most familiar with. And I don't think dominance is that relative - if it were a dominant trait, two good mousers could still produce a bad mouser. Now, if it were recessive and you bred two good mousers.... 
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Mar 28, 2008 15:01
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maplecheese posted:And I don't think dominance is that relative - if it were a dominant trait, two good mousers could still produce a bad mouser. Now, if it were recessive and you bred two good mousers.... 
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Mar 28, 2008 16:05
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sucks to ur assmar posted:I said recessive... I think what maplecheese is saying is that you could have two parents with the dominant good-hunter gene and still have a bad hunter. Hh+Hh= HH or Hh or Hh or hh (H being good, h being bad) So their offspring would have a 25% chance of being bad mousers, a 25% chance of being homozygous good mousers, and a 50% chance of being heterozygous good mousers with the possibility of passing on either good our bad hunting ability. Two recessive parents, on the other hand (H being bad, h being good): hh + hh = hh 100% chance of being genetically good mousers. I doubt it's purely genetic, though. It seems like more of a learned behavior, and even a good hunter might not teach her offspring to hunt, depending on how long they're with her and what the situation is (i.e. indoor/outdoor mama cat is kept inside until kittens are rehomed, doesn't have anything to teach them on).
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Mar 28, 2008 16:34
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RazorBunny posted:I think what maplecheese is saying is that you could have two parents with the dominant good-hunter gene and still have a bad hunter.
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Mar 28, 2008 17:07
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I have to give my kitty Rin eye drops, as she has a little infection. I'm trying to do it in a way that stresses her out as little as possible, but I'm obviously doing something wrong as she hates me now and is hiding all the time. My current routine is: 1. Wrap Rin in a towel because she's not shy with her claws and I like my skin intact thank you. 2. Place her in the bathroom sink so I don't have to bend over too much. 3. Squeeze out some of the medicine from the tube. 4. Hold her eye open and very very gently squeeze it in. I think I'm doing it right but she's just so upset about the whole thing and I have to do this 3-4 times a day. Is there a better/easier way that I can give her her eye meds, or will I just have to accept the fact that she's going to totally hate me for awhile?
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Mar 28, 2008 20:58
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Is it normal for fish to act likes cats or dogs when you come home/go to feed them? My wife has 3 goldfish in a 5 gallon tank on the kitchen counter, and whenever someone enters the door, they get all excited. And when we go to feed them, they crowd around the front of the tank looking at us waiting for their food to come. I've had gold fish through the years as a kid, but I never remember them doing anything like this. I though fish were dumb and just did their thing?
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Mar 29, 2008 21:27
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Orgophlax posted:Is it normal for fish to act likes cats or dogs when you come home/go to feed them? My wife has 3 goldfish in a 5 gallon tank on the kitchen counter, and whenever someone enters the door, they get all excited. And when we go to feed them, they crowd around the front of the tank looking at us waiting for their food to come. I've had gold fish through the years as a kid, but I never remember them doing anything like this. I though fish were dumb and just did their thing? I find that many fish become conditioned to do this sort of thing. I've seen it in all manner of fish except for the more prey-type species such as tetras and other easily frightened schooling fish. Also, 3 goldfish in 5 gallons is too many fish. You generally want 10 gallons per goldfish, due to the sizes they grow to and the amount of waste they produce.
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Mar 30, 2008 00:30
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Women's Rights? posted:I have to give my kitty Rin eye drops, as she has a little infection. I'm trying to do it in a way that stresses her out as little as possible, but I'm obviously doing something wrong as she hates me now and is hiding all the time. My current routine is: I don't think so, kitties aren't going to like their eyes "touched" no matter how you spin it. You could try some extra smelly yummy treats afterward so she'll associate it with at least one good thing, but other than that I don't think there's much you can do. Poor tortured kitty, hehe.
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Mar 30, 2008 05:51
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I have a 1 and a half year old, 5lb male maltese who was recently boarded for several days and then received grooming (his second time) last Thursday morning. Since then, he has been sniffling and occasionally will cough(?) repeatedly (almost sounds like a deep wheeze that continues for about 6 seconds). He is up to date on all vaccines and as far as I know (he's a shelter dog)has nothing of interest in his medical history. I am familiar with collapsed trachea and am beginning to become concerned that he is developing it, although it's strange that he hasn't done it as frequently in the past (maybe once a week). I think I am concerned that he has some kind of respiratory infection that is causing both symptoms, and was wondering if anyone finds any of this familiar and can reccomend something for my little guy . Thanks.
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Apr 1, 2008 00:54
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scorch posted:I have a 1 and a half year old, 5lb male maltese who was recently boarded for several days and then received grooming (his second time) last Thursday morning. Since then, he has been sniffling and occasionally will cough(?) repeatedly (almost sounds like a deep wheeze that continues for about 6 seconds). He is up to date on all vaccines and as far as I know (he's a shelter dog)has nothing of interest in his medical history. I am familiar with collapsed trachea and am beginning to become concerned that he is developing it, although it's strange that he hasn't done it as frequently in the past (maybe once a week). I think I am concerned that he has some kind of respiratory infection that is causing both symptoms, and was wondering if anyone finds any of this familiar and can reccomend something for my little guy That sounds like kennel cough. Take him to the vet to get checked out!
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Apr 1, 2008 02:17
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GoreJess posted:That sounds like kennel cough. Take him to the vet to get checked out! That seems accurate; the day I picked him up he was lethargic and really seemed to want to sleep all day. His energy is back to normal at this point and he's eating and drinking regularly but still has that cough and a runny nose. Thanks for your help, I'm going to call his vet tomorrow. e; I got a postcard today from his vet's office stating he would be due for Bordetella booster on April 8. I bet there was a gap between the effective period of the vaccine and he contracted it. scorch fucked around with this message at 03:09 on Apr 1, 2008 |
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Apr 1, 2008 03:04
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So I got my cat today, and it's so adorable! The thing is I want to make her as comfortable as can be, and I don't bother her when she goes under the bed. Should I ignore her and then wait until she comes out? I've been ignoring her, but she mews loudly when I leave the room. Should I be worried that she hasn't used the litter box for a day? She ate a little bit, drank a bit, and went under the bed.
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Apr 1, 2008 06:54
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scorch posted:That seems accurate; the day I picked him up he was lethargic and really seemed to want to sleep all day. His energy is back to normal at this point and he's eating and drinking regularly but still has that cough and a runny nose. Thanks for your help, I'm going to call his vet tomorrow. Yeah, there's a debate over how long the vaccine is actually effective. Cambria is on a 6-month schedule because she goes to daycare & the groomers regularly. You might want to talk to your vet about getting him vaccinated twice a year if he regularly goes to the groomer.
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Apr 1, 2008 12:45
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lalawomans posted:So I got my cat today, and it's so adorable! The thing is I want to make her as comfortable as can be, and I don't bother her when she goes under the bed. Should I ignore her and then wait until she comes out? I've been ignoring her, but she mews loudly when I leave the room. Should I be worried that she hasn't used the litter box for a day?  You could look into grabbing a cheapo cat hideout for her. (We have this awesome plush cube with an entrance in it, our cat loves it.) Cats love hiding in things, so you might as well give her somewhere that's not under your bed.
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Apr 1, 2008 19:14
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I've always wanted to own a large mountain dog, specifically Saint Bernards, Newfoundlands, Leonbergers and the Great Pyrenees. With their size, gentle temperment, and long hair these dogs are perfect. However, breeders are rare and puppies are expensive, but there is a Great Pyrenees rescue near me and my questions relate to adopting this breed from such a rescue. By their nature Great Pyrenees are gentle dogs, but of course those at a rescue may have had a less than perfect upbringing. It will vary with the individual dog of course, but for the most part, assuming it wasn't abused, would a breed such as this retain its sweet temperment even without formal obedience training? Puppies are of course easier to train, but would a young adult(2 or 3 years old) of this or the other breeds still be fairly easy to train as well? These breeds have a very low heat tolerance. Can anyone who has had experience with a cold-climate dog give an indication as to how long walks should be in typical summer weather(70-90 degrees)? I'm thinking a slow walk for 30 minutes wouldn't be too bad in 70 degree weather, but there's no way I'm going to even approach the threshold with how dangerous heat stroke can be. Still, exercise is important for a healthy dog so I don't want to keep the dog constantly indoors either. Hopefully someone here has some experience with these dogs in at least some capacity. I'm well aware of the expense of food and the constant shedding and drooling, but these are things I'm happy to accept.
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Apr 1, 2008 21:08
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Jive One posted:By their nature Great Pyrenees are gentle dogs, but of course those at a rescue may have had a less than perfect upbringing. It will vary with the individual dog of course, but for the most part, assuming it wasn't abused, would a breed such as this retain its sweet temperment even without formal obedience training? There are certainly PI goons who know more about both rescue and Pyrs than I do, but if you go online to Petfinder you will find a lot of large breed dogs up for adoption. A lot of breeds that have high energy requirements (collies, shepherds) or grow up to be very big get dumped by their owners because they're too much trouble or just aren't cute anymore. I bet you could find a young-ish dog that was a surrender and doesn't have a history of abuse or anything. It might even have obedience training and such, especially if the previous owners tried to keep it but still had to surrender it due to its size or needs.
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Apr 1, 2008 21:12
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I crate my dog when I'm at work, mostly to keep my cats from abusing her (she's 60lbs, they're 15lbs - go figure). The problem is sometimes she chews on the nails of her back feet, which then causes her to limp for a week or so until they grow back. The vet checked her feet for any cuts or fungus that might have irritated her skin or nails, but she couldn't find anything wrong, so she said it could be from boredom or anxiety. Anyone have any tips on stopping her from chewing her nails when I'm not around for hours at a time? I keep a toy or two in her crate with her, and that seems to keep her occupied most of the time, but every 6 months or so the chewing starts again. She's a 2 year old lab, if that's relevant in any way.
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Apr 1, 2008 22:32
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I'm hoping to start my first aquarium soon, possibly picking up a used 30Gal today. I've casually read about cycling, filtration, lights, water testing kits etc., and will study to greater detail after I actually get a tank. There's a great fish store about 30 miles / 45 minute drive from here. Is that too far to sit in the baggie of water in the car if I decide to purchase my fish from there? I'm hoping to avoid fish from the local PetCo/PetSmart.
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Apr 1, 2008 23:34
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I recently purchased a female brown teddy bear hamster. She is very friendly, she walks out into my hands if I want to hold her and "play" with her. My question is why does she chew on the metal bars of her cage? Originally I thought it was because she was hungry, but she would go back to chewing on the bars after I would feed her. This gets quite annoying, but I am more afraid of her hurting herself. Is there anyway that I can prevent her from chewing on the bars?
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Apr 2, 2008 03:22
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Lipids posted:I recently purchased a female brown teddy bear hamster. She is very friendly, she walks out into my hands if I want to hold her and "play" with her. Hamsters, like a lot of small rodents, have teeth that continue to grow throughout their lives. Their natural inclination is to gnaw on things to keep their teeth a safe and useful length. If you're not providing her with enough chews, she will do what she can to maintain her teeth. Get her some wood blocks, whole nuts, etc. to chew on. My rat likes bones for this, but hamsters are herbivores. Find something she likes to gnaw on. If her teeth continue to grow unabated, they can cause her serious problems.
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Apr 2, 2008 03:27
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RazorBunny posted:Hamsters, like a lot of small rodents, have teeth that continue to grow throughout their lives. Their natural inclination is to gnaw on things to keep their teeth a safe and useful length. If you're not providing her with enough chews, she will do what she can to maintain her teeth. The thing is that she has wooden blocks and hard food pellets. She just continues to gnaw on the bars. I have even shook a few blocks in with the food so that she would gnaw on those instead, but she just goes back to the bars.
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Apr 2, 2008 03:34
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At what point should I be concerned about catfights? For most of the day, my two cats (both about 1.5 years old, one male one female) are pretty well behaved - as well behaved as a sleeping cat can be. While I know cats are going to go crazy at night, I do start worrying when their normal jabbing at each other escalates into a full on, rolling on the floor type fight. So far, the worst that has happened is that one cat will end up with a mouthful of fur - one cat has rather long hair and as it warms up, he is going to shed, but how worried should I be? They don't hiss at each other or do show much rage at each other apart from tail swishing but I am a bit concerned - especially about how the male is coping since it is usually the girl - who is already a bit more rambunctious - that gets things started.
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Apr 2, 2008 05:01
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Pointillism posted:At what point should I be concerned about catfights? For most of the day, my two cats (both about 1.5 years old, one male one female) are pretty well behaved - as well behaved as a sleeping cat can be. While I know cats are going to go crazy at night, I do start worrying when their normal jabbing at each other escalates into a full on, rolling on the floor type fight. I think as a rule of thumb, unless the cats' screaming can wake the dead, they're just having fun, or a minor squabble.
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Apr 2, 2008 07:36
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hhgtrillian posted:Those who have experience with soft paws, if you want to take them off before they fall off, how difficult is it to do? It seems like that glue would hold them pretty well. The directions say to take them off, I should cut the tip off and the should come off easily. Does this work? It doesn't particularly work, no. Not only do I use softpaws, I work for their after hours order desk, and we get this question a lot. While the 'cut the tip off' is the official answer...nail polish remover. Cut the tip off, dab on polish remover, it will eat away a lot of the glue and help getting it off. As it has to be acetone remover, you may want to dunk the paw in water to swoosh it off.
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Apr 2, 2008 13:11
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Mr. Falcon posted:I crate my dog when I'm at work, mostly to keep my cats from abusing her (she's 60lbs, they're 15lbs - go figure). The problem is sometimes she chews on the nails of her back feet, which then causes her to limp for a week or so until they grow back. What are you feeding? Chewing on feet could be a food allergy.
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Apr 2, 2008 15:43
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sucks to ur assmar posted:What are you feeding? Chewing on feet could be a food allergy. Usually Nutro Natural Choice. Is there any other physical manifestation of an allergy like that I might be able to look for?
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Apr 2, 2008 17:04
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