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Thanks RazorBunny! that's exactly the type of information I needed. If you don't mind me asking, what automatic cleaner do you use?
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Jun 2, 2008 20:49
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Darodeth posted:Auto litter boxes. My roommate had one for her cat and it was more trouble than it was worth--it was noisy enough to wake me up, scare the cat, and make guests ask me what the hell the racket was. It definitely made my roommate lazy about cleaning the box....and it broke really easily when the cat decided to try to play with the moving parts [batting/swatting/trying to make it not move while he was making GBS threads].
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Jun 2, 2008 23:15
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I'm considering buying a 12 week old Belgian Malinois from a coworker. Both parents are working dogs in the personal protection/search and rescue business. The owner offered to care for and give the dog basic obedience until September when my lease is up on my no-pet residence. At the point I take over the dog it will be roughly 7 months old. Will a dog of this breed and age have any troubles adjusting out of it's home to a new owner, after obedience training and such?
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Jun 3, 2008 00:39
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Kalma posted:I think Meow Mix has X's It's Iams Kitten (  she's an adult, what), but thanks for the suggestion. I thought it might be Meow Mix, but it's just X's, no other shapes. At least she's eating now and I can start to transition her to a better food.
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Jun 3, 2008 04:21
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So I brought home a new kitten today and she was infested with fleas. I washed her in some kitten flea shampoo. Not even thinking about it. I happen to read the back of the bottle and realized that it's not for kittens under 8 months old. Should I be concerned? I didn't wash her face, and I really don't think she ingested any. The only time she might have gotten a little bit is when she was cleaning herself after, I think i rinsed her well though. She is about 8 weeks old. Now this is the same shampoo I washed my other kitten in weeks ago and she was even younger, she was/is fine. I feel so irresponsible. Should I just watch her? Right now she's playing, but I only bathed her like 30 min ago. When do you it'd be safe to say I'm "in the clear"? I have to work at 9am tomorrow (that's about 10 and half hours away). I don't have anyone that could watch her tomorrow.
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Jun 3, 2008 04:23
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girlscoutdropout posted:So I brought home a new kitten today and she was infested with fleas. I washed her in some kitten flea shampoo. Not even thinking about it. I happen to read the back of the bottle and realized that it's not for kittens under 8 months old. Should I be concerned? I didn't wash her face, and I really don't think she ingested any. The only time she might have gotten a little bit is when she was cleaning herself after, I think i rinsed her well though. She is about 8 weeks old. Now this is the same shampoo I washed my other kitten in weeks ago and she was even younger, she was/is fine. I feel so irresponsible. Should I just watch her? Right now she's playing, but I only bathed her like 30 min ago. When do you it'd be safe to say I'm "in the clear"? I have to work at 9am tomorrow (that's about 10 and half hours away). I don't have anyone that could watch her tomorrow. You should be able to phone an emergency vet for an opinion.
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Jun 3, 2008 05:13
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I recently was given my sister's hermit crabs (she lost interest). They were in one of those tiny plastic cages you get at the mall with a scant quarter inch of gravel in the bottom, one fresh water pool, and a coconut cave. I set them up in a 10-gallon with a couple inches of sand, a saline pool, and some stuff to climb on two nights ago. It looked like the biggest one decided to molt, since he soaked in the pools for a while and dug himself a hole in a corner. When I woke up this morning, I found one of the other crabs in his (former) shell. He was lying a couple inches away with some missing and broken legs. I scooped him up with a spoon and put him in the old cage and I've been dripping water on his gill area every half hour or so, and he sometimes reacts by moving his remaining legs. He hasn't moved at all besides that, and hasn't expressed any interest in the food I've offered. I've put some empty shells nearby, but I don't think he's even ready to crawl over. What's the best way to nurse a mangled hermit crab back to health? Is it even possible at this point? He's between tiny and small.
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Jun 3, 2008 05:25
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So he's shell-less right now? I didn't think hermit crabs ever voluntarily left their shells other than for the few moments it takes to switch. The only hermit crab I've ever owned died when almost all of his legs fell off, so eh, unfortunately my experience doesn't bode well for your little guy. Hopefully I'm wrong (which is possible sometimes, I suppose  ). I guess just leave him by himself, don't touch him, and hope he recovers. Or if there's an exotic vet in your area you could call/take him in?
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Jun 3, 2008 06:06
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Yep, he was shell-less and super creepy looking. I'm pretty sure he fought with the one that took his shell. He died overnight, but I went out and got a couple more shells so that the two we have left won't fight.
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Jun 3, 2008 19:58
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It's very hard for a hermit crab to live out of their shell for very long. The part of their body that stays in the shell is very fragile. Sorry he didn't make it. It's always best to have many shells of different sizes available.
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Jun 3, 2008 20:08
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Can hairballs in cats cause diarrhea, or only constipation?
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Jun 3, 2008 23:00
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My cats won't EAT! Well, yes they will, but they refuse to eat what I give them and I worry they'll hurt themselves. They're all on the thin side anyways due to a recent trauma(lost my fourth cat and they were so freaked they didn't eat and lost about a pound each) I found a nutritionally good food they will not EAT. Its got all the right things but they turn their nose up at it. Can I wait them out, should I? I currently pay 43 bucks a bag for my food and this food is 25 bucks a bag(and according to the megathread goes from Ultra Premium to Premium). That money could be spent on other things. How long can I wait them out before I have to give them wet food?
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Jun 4, 2008 02:54
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Dru posted:How long can I wait them out before I have to give them wet food? You can't. A cat shouldn't go more than 24 hours without eating. If they won't eat what you're offering them and a day goes by, you need to get them to eat something, even if it's stinky cheap nasty food.
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Jun 4, 2008 03:06
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Will a cat really starve themself because they don't like the food offered?
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Jun 4, 2008 04:01
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girlscoutdropout posted:Will a cat really starve themself because they don't like the food offered? I find it odd, because big cats (lions, tigers, etc.) are binge and fast eaters. They can go quite a while without any food. I know domestic cats are not closely related to lions... but they are in the same family.
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Jun 4, 2008 04:09
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Dru posted:My cats won't EAT! Dude(ette), just let me give you some of the Orijen that we have and you can at least do a 50/50 mix.
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Jun 4, 2008 04:55
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maplecheese posted:Dude(ette), just let me give you some of the Orijen that we have and you can at least do a 50/50 mix. Its ok. I gave in and bought a big bad of Orijen. I just wanted them to eat the old food because we HAD it already. I just wanted to see if I could wait them out, which I can't. drat kittens.
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Jun 4, 2008 13:58
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Speaking of Orijen, I bought a bag of Orijen 6 Fresh Fish for Cats today. I bought a trial size, and a large bag. The odd thing is, the trial bag is 400g and costs $3, while the big bag is 2.5kg and costs $26. If you bought an equivalent volume of trial bags, it'd only cost $18.75, which means you're actually losing almost $8 by buying the big bag. Does this seem weird to anyone? I thought big bags were cheaper by volume so you'd get a better deal and would ultimately spend more. Has anyone else ever had this happen with other brands?
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Jun 5, 2008 06:28
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I bought some fake flowers from Hobby Lobby to put in my (future) betta tank. Is there a way to tell if they're somehow going to kill the fish via dyes leaking into the water or something? The only method I can think of is leave them in the fishless water for a few days and see if the water changes color. But that doesn't seem very reliable. For reference the flowers will be sticking out of a terra cotta pot on its side with darker gravel looking like it spilt out. I figured a tipped over flower pot could be a cute hide for the fish.  And where'd the crying bigtex flag smilie go? The flowers are bluebonnets. 
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Jun 6, 2008 18:05
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Is it truly dangerous to leave on a dog's collar while they are crated? I'm in the process of crate-training my new 3-year-old beagle, but I am VERY wary of leaving her alone without a collar as things progress. My first dog was an escape artist, who managed to pop open the door of her Vari-Kennel and have her run of the house. If my new girl figures this out and somehow manages to get out of the apartment - through a window screen, if a maintenance guy opens the door, what have you - I don't want her to be without identification. Microchipping might come down the line, but for right now, I want her to be safe. And even if chipped, a dog without a collar sets off all sorts of red flags (and is much harder for a good Samaritan to grab!). Is she really in any danger of choking herself or doing something horrible with her collar? We didn't worry so much with my first dog, since she was a homebody and never ran away after the initial escape. But with a beagle, I'm afraid we might never see her again.
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Jun 8, 2008 03:31
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I wouldn't think leaving a collar on would be a hazard, as long as it is fitted properly. A properly fitting collar shouldn't give you worries about choking, and at the same time he/she shouldn't be able to take the collar off. I know cat collars are usually the "break away" kind because a cat could hang themselves on a fence post or tree limb or something of the like. My dogs have had collars on 24/7 with the exception of baths since they were puppies. I've just never had any concern about it.
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Jun 8, 2008 03:38
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Braki posted:Speaking of Orijen, I bought a bag of Orijen 6 Fresh Fish for Cats today. I bought a trial size, and a large bag. The odd thing is, the trial bag is 400g and costs $3, while the big bag is 2.5kg and costs $26. If you bought an equivalent volume of trial bags, it'd only cost $18.75, which means you're actually losing almost $8 by buying the big bag. Does this seem weird to anyone? I thought big bags were cheaper by volume so you'd get a better deal and would ultimately spend more. Has anyone else ever had this happen with other brands? This happened at my store recently with the new Merrick Before Grain. the 1 LB bags are $2.50, the 3.3 LB are around $11. I'm hoping this is just an introductory sort of thing, because I hate having to stock so many of those tiny bags, and lowering the price of the larger bags just isn't feasible.
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Jun 8, 2008 04:40
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Kusaru posted:This happened at my store recently with the new Merrick Before Grain. the 1 LB bags are $2.50, the 3.3 LB are around $11. I'm hoping this is just an introductory sort of thing, because I hate having to stock so many of those tiny bags, and lowering the price of the larger bags just isn't feasible. I saw this today. I bought one of the $2.50 bags and it actually has a coupon on the side of it for $2.50 off a larger bag as well. Could probably just totally stock up on those and be set with coupons for the bigger ones for if/when it does end if it is only introductory.
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Jun 8, 2008 06:02
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So today while lazing around reading the forums, I saw in a thread a picture of someone using an inhaler on their asthmatic cat. My cat has wheezy breathing fairy often, kind of like a person with a stuffy nose sounds. I have asthma myself but it never really occurred to me that cats could have it too. I looked it up and he has some of the symptoms, the hairball-type coughing, wheezy breathing, and typically when his breathing gets wheezy he will get slow/tired/lethargic. He is a Siberian male cat, about 10 months old. My main question is: is this worth a vet visit over? If they're just going to tell me, "yup, he has asthma" I would prefer to just stay home and not haul him to the vet. Money isn't a big deal.
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Jun 8, 2008 11:16
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FilthyWalrus posted:cat Would you diagnose yourself over the internet and decide you have asthma, then let it go untreated (assuming you were correct?) without at least advice from a medical professional? Sort of a loaded question but the answer to it should decide your course of action.
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Jun 8, 2008 12:29
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mr. nazi posted:Would you diagnose yourself over the internet and decide you have asthma, then let it go untreated (assuming you were correct?) without at least advice from a medical professional? Sort of a loaded question but the answer to it should decide your course of action. Yeah... you know how we make fun of people who decide they have Aspberger's because of what they read on the internet? This is like that, but worse.
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Jun 8, 2008 15:33
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Are split claws something I should be taking my cat to the vet for? I've noticed two of her claws are split on one paw with bits of material from scratching the couch and probably the carpet stuck in them. She'll let me extend her claws gently but soon as I try to dislodge the material she'll get pissed off and sit with her paws tucked under her till I give in.
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Jun 8, 2008 15:49
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maplecheese posted:Yeah... you know how we make fun of people who decide they have Aspberger's because of what they read on the internet? Speaking as an ABA therapist who works with people on the autism spectrum daily, this just made my day. Hilarious. Edit to add my own question: Can't a veterinarian get a somewhat general idea of how old a kitten is by looking at their teeth? I thought certain teeth grew in around certain times. I work for this vet (portable vaccination clinic) and now that they're my animals she's examining, I'm not sure how much I trust her. I brought her the kitten that was abandoned and asked her to guesstimate an age. She just looked at her and was like 'she's pretty small, I would think around 3 weeks' Now I had already had her a week, and I know she was not 2 weeks old when I got her. Her ears were erect, eyes wide open, could run, would wrestle with your feet, and looked nothing like the pictures of two week old kittens I had seen. After we caught the rest of her litter, I'm almost positive she was/is the runt. Definitely the smallest. It just disturbed me that the vet didn't even look at her teeth, just how big she was. Is this common practice? girlscoutdropout fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Jun 8, 2008 |
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Jun 8, 2008 16:02
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girlscoutdropout posted:It just disturbed me that the vet didn't even look at her teeth, just how big she was. Is this common practice? When I took a stray kitty to the vet, she used his teeth to guess his age. Since teeth come in at pretty predictable times, I would find it strange that your vet wouldn't use that as a guide.
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Jun 8, 2008 16:46
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Crazedscot posted:Are split claws something I should be taking my cat to the vet for? I've noticed two of her claws are split on one paw with bits of material from scratching the couch and probably the carpet stuck in them. She'll let me extend her claws gently but soon as I try to dislodge the material she'll get pissed off and sit with her paws tucked under her till I give in. Happens to my cat all the time. You can try using clippers to shorten the split portions so that at least they're not as easy to snag, but if they're not bleeding or getting infected or hurting her under normal circumstances, they should be fine.
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Jun 8, 2008 16:53
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Cats are not smart enough to know their bodies. They can and will make themselves deathly ill by not eating for whatever reason. If your cat is not eating, first try Solid Gold blended tuna cat food. That stuff is like crack to every cat I've ever known. If that doesn't work, go to the vet, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. If you wait too long, the cat's liver can start to fail and then it's a very expensive situation with a very poor prognosis (research "hepatic lipidosis"). I lost my seven year old tabby "Fenris" this way, and I hope I can help anyone who reads this to never ever have to go through it. It was painful as hell for me, and obviously miserable for him. I had had surgery and he was by my side 24/7. He had just been started on a new food to try to help him lose weight, so I thought the weightloss was good. Then he started throwing up. Turned out the weight loss was because he wasn't eating at all. I took him to the vet and they did all they could, but we ended up having to euthanize him. Also keep in mind that fat cats may be more prone to developing hepatic lipidosis than those of a more normal weight, so if you're pursuing a diet for your fatty, please talk to your vet and make sure you do it right! Fast weightloss in a cat is not just inadvisable, it can be deadly. 
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Jun 8, 2008 17:21
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FilthyWalrus posted:So today while lazing around reading the forums, I saw in a thread a picture of someone using an inhaler on their asthmatic cat. My cat has wheezy breathing fairy often, kind of like a person with a stuffy nose sounds. I have asthma myself but it never really occurred to me that cats could have it too. I looked it up and he has some of the symptoms, the hairball-type coughing, wheezy breathing, and typically when his breathing gets wheezy he will get slow/tired/lethargic. He is a Siberian male cat, about 10 months old. My main question is: is this worth a vet visit over? If they're just going to tell me, "yup, he has asthma" I would prefer to just stay home and not haul him to the vet. Money isn't a big deal. I suspect it was my cat Zeus you saw the picture of. In general, asthma is not something you want to leave untreated, especially if it is bad enough to be causing symptoms more than a couple of times a month. While it is certainly possible that a cat with untreated asthma will never have a life-threatening attack I don't really think it's worth the risk. Zeus first began showing symptoms at ~6 months old but went undiagnosed until he was 2.5 years old and we took him in to a new vet after he started coughing again. By that time he had very serious asthma and I've always wondered if we would have been able to control it with lower dosages of medication had the vet who saw him as a kitten caught the problem. I'd take the cat to the vet and ask about it. Diagnosis usually involves bloodwork and x-rays. Treatment is steroids (oral, injected, or inhaled), bronchodialators (usually oral or inhaled) and sometimes antihistamines. Cost depends on method of administration and dosage required. Zeus' medication costs me ~$700/year but he is the worst case scenario, since I'm using inhaled (costs more but fewer side effects) and his asthma is severe and requires the max dose. A mild case managed with oral steroids can cost less than $100 to treat per year.
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Jun 8, 2008 17:33
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I just got my first dog today (see the latest post in the pictures thread). I just have a question about training an older dog who has problems marking indoors. This is one area of dog care that I'm not sure of the best approach. So far, I've been keeping a close eye on him and interrupting him and diverting his attention when he gets sniffy. I'm also taking a stab at crating him when I'm not around to monitor him and his marking. Besides this, I don't really have another game plan and the rescue organization give a 7 day money back trial period. I'd like to know if I can fix his habit in this week period so I can be sure I can provide him a good home.
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Jun 8, 2008 18:24
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urmomlolzinbed posted:I just got my first dog today (see the latest post in the pictures thread). I just have a question about training an older dog who has problems marking indoors. This is one area of dog care that I'm not sure of the best approach. So far, I've been keeping a close eye on him and interrupting him and diverting his attention when he gets sniffy. I'm also taking a stab at crating him when I'm not around to monitor him and his marking. Besides this, I don't really have another game plan and the rescue organization give a 7 day money back trial period. I'd like to know if I can fix his habit in this week period so I can be sure I can provide him a good home. Crating is pretty much the game plan for stuff like this. We just found out that our new beagle girl likes to pee on the carpet while we're asleep to express her displeasure at being left alone, so we're crating her. Dogs won't go where they sleep unless they can't help it, and even if she did, at least it will be contained. For behaviors like this that can be hard to catch, there's always the "umbilical cord" technique. Sounds like you're doing a pretty good job of keeping a close eye on him, but if you can get ahold of a short leash and literally attach it to your belt, keeping him close to you at all times, it keeps you 100% aware of what he's doing at all times. It also makes the dog aware that you're paying attention. My family adopted a very rowdy, difficult boy back in 2001 and after a few days of this, we took him back to the vet's where we rescued him from...and they thought we must have him on some kind of sedatives, because he was so calm and polite. Three days of constant supervision completely turned his behavior around. He didn't have a problem marking, but this technique is often applied in housebreaking, so there you go. From what you said, however, it's not really clear that he knows marking inside the house is bad. I'm all about positive reenforcement, but a firm "NO" when he starts to lift his leg will teach him what's what. Aside from that, the usual potty training tips apply - clean the area thoroughly with vinegar, baking soda, etc. so he can't return to the smell, praise him for peeing outside, make sure he gets plenty of exercise and feels happy and secure, and such. If you can stick with it, please do. Returning him to the shelter will just land him with another new owner who won't like his marking behavior either, and might not even try to correct it.
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Jun 8, 2008 23:29
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TortillaFactory posted:*tons of useful information* After some more experience, he seems to be figuring out that going in the house displeases me and he asks to go outside after he sniffs around. He did mark when I left the house for 10 minutes so I'm still going to keep him crated when he's not supervised. I'll give the vinegar/baking soda a try if it completely neutralizes his scent. He hopped on my bed without hesitation last night so that's where he slept. He let me know this morning when he was ready to go out. Bringing him back to the organization is only really an option if he doesn't show if he's learning or if my roommate can't stand him (but he's a dog person, so that won't be a problem). So far, I'd say it's 90% likely he's staying now. The organization I got him from was a volunteer rescue group and they were quite serious about the procedure and they let me know everything I could think of before getting him. You can see his tongue when he sleeps since he is missing his front bottom teeth: 
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Jun 9, 2008 00:30
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I didn't think it warranted a new thread, so I'll ask here... Why does my cat keep licking himself? He does it so much he's losing fur.  All that pink is his skin of his belly.  The fur on his side is slowly wearing thin. The other side is like this, but not as bad. He also has to rub the sides of his face/lips on everything. Sometimes when he does it, he gets so into it. He'll do it on any available corner or anything with an edge. It's like he's scratching, but sometimes it looks like he's hurting himself and I have to stop him. It's rather annoying, because he'll do it in the middle of the night when I'm trying to sleep. He'll be using my headboard and the continuous 'thump' sound will wake me up. Any ideas?
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Jun 9, 2008 03:14
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Ceridwen posted:Thank you for the advice. I just didn't want to waste the time of everyone involved to be told I couldn't really do anything about it. Looks like we're going to have to take a trip to the vet.
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Jun 9, 2008 04:10
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urmomlolzinbed posted:After some more experience, he seems to be figuring out that going in the house displeases me and he asks to go outside after he sniffs around. He did mark when I left the house for 10 minutes so I'm still going to keep him crated when he's not supervised. I'll give the vinegar/baking soda a try if it completely neutralizes his scent. He hopped on my bed without hesitation last night so that's where he slept. He let me know this morning when he was ready to go out. Crating and 100% supervision of the new dog is really the best way to go. He's still figuring out the rules of the house, so as much consistency from day to day as is possible is helpful. I'll second that tethering the dog to you is helpful for bonding, and teaching them how you *DO* want them to behave. It also will help you get more in tune with the dog's signals that he's going to need to go pee/poop soon. At this stage in housetraining (whether puppy or adult) its your job to set your dog up for success, rather than his job to tell you he needs to go out. That sort of thing takes time to work out, its not the starting point for housetraining. Keep treats handy 24/7 and remember to reward when he's playing quietly or just chilling politely nearby. He sounds like a pretty cool dog, so I'm sure that you both will have everything worked out before too long.
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Jun 9, 2008 14:57
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MsJoelBoxer posted:What does one use to get glue out of pet hair? It is most likely a latex based cement. You can use a little Goo-Gone or any surgical adhesive remover, just make sure you apply sparingly and wash it out completely when you're done.
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Jun 9, 2008 17:30
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urmomlolzinbed posted:
He is adorable.
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Jun 9, 2008 17:35
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