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eclectic taste posted:Why does my dog not like to eat out of his bowl? I have a 4 month old Jack Russell puppy, and he barely eats out of the bowl. It's not the food, because he goes apeshit eating anything I spill while filling his bowl, but then stops eating. If I take the food out of the bowl and put it on the floor he attacks it, but won't eat out of the bowl. Is it just a scavenging instinct, like he doesn't want a handout but would rather find it on his own? The bowl might smell weird. Is it plastic, ceramic or steel? Or maybe it's too small. If his whiskers hit the edge of the bowl, maybe that freaks him out. Or maybe the placement of the bowl is poor. Is it near a loud appliance?
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Aug 18, 2008 00:38
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Meow Cadet posted:The bowl might smell weird. Is it plastic, ceramic or steel? Or maybe it's too small. If his whiskers hit the edge of the bowl, maybe that freaks him out. Or maybe the placement of the bowl is poor. Is it near a loud appliance? Or maybe he's just weird. Our cat's dish is a flat ceramic plate, and even when the food is mounded up above the top of the plate, she'll take a paw, knock it onto the floor, and THEN eat it. 
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Aug 18, 2008 02:06
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The bowl is in a quiet place, in the corner away from the fridge. I think he's just weird, and likes the "thrill of the hunt." Today I decided to not give in and just left the food in the bowl. As of right now, most of it is gone, so I guess he's learning that no one's going to dump the food on the floor for him, and he better eat it or he'll go hungry.
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Aug 18, 2008 05:46
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eclectic taste posted:The bowl is in a quiet place, in the corner away from the fridge. I think he's just weird, and likes the "thrill of the hunt." Today I decided to not give in and just left the food in the bowl. As of right now, most of it is gone, so I guess he's learning that no one's going to dump the food on the floor for him, and he better eat it or he'll go hungry. If he really does get hungry, he'll just go ahead and eat it out of his bowl. You might consider making meal times a little more interesting for him though by making him work for it. I had a dog trainer that only fed her Lab through treat balls like this one: http://triplecrowndogs.com/product/1592/Everlasting-Fun-Ball.html It keeps dogs from eating too fast, plus the utilizing the concept of working for food is beneficial for the dog psychologically.
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Aug 18, 2008 18:19
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My chihuahua won't eat out of any bowl. From one bowl, he'll take the food and run to the carpet to eat it. From the bowl on the carpet, he'll take the food out of the bowl, drop it on the carpet in front of the bowl, then pick it up and eat it. I've just accepted that he's weird. My parents had a dog that did the same thing.
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Aug 18, 2008 18:21
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My brother's Golden has been having some sort of skin allergy which has given him little scabs and bumps all over his body. They took him to a vet and gave him some sort of allergy medicine. After a few weeks it appears that the bumps are gone, but now he has really bad dandruff. The vet asked us to give him a bath twice a week, but we have been giving him one a week sometimes (mostly 2x a week). We recently bathed him in Selsun blue, the human dandruff shampoo. Can someone let me know if this was a bad idea? We bathed him on Saturday and he still has pretty bad dandruff today. We are scheduling another vet appt. this week, but was just wondering if anybody else has had a similar situation with allergies->dandruff Also the #1 ingredient in his food is corn, which from what Ive heard could also be a problem. FloydianOne fucked around with this message at 20:16 on Aug 18, 2008 |
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Aug 18, 2008 19:49
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FloydianOne posted:Also the #1 ingredient in his food is corn, which from what Ive heard could also be a problem. Absolutely, ew. Check out the pet nutrition megathread for more advice, but you're definitely going to want to move him to something without corn. If your brother's too cheap to go to one of the foods listed as "Premium" or "Ultra Premium" in there and you know somebody with a Costco membership, you can start with Kirkland Signature dog food. It's not completely awesome, but it's corn free and not too expensive. It might not fix the problem, as the dog could be allergic to chicken as well, but given the crappiness of the food he's on now, I'm betting that corn is a significant part of the problem.
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Aug 18, 2008 20:30
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I'd be willing to bet money that if you started feeding your dog a premium brand of dog food (Go read the thread maple linked) you'll have incredibly noticeable results within a month. A few months more and you'll have nice shiny fur. Most brands at Petco/Petsmart suck. I think someone said they started carrying Wellness there. Oh and yes, bathing your dog with human shampoo was a bad idea. Human shampoo is way too harsh for most dogs. You could probably get away with using baby shampoo but selsun blue? No way, heh. You probably made the problem much worse and gave them drier flakier skin than they had to begin with. Go buy an oatmeal soothing pet shampoo.
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Aug 18, 2008 21:39
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I think my dog (two year old dapple dachshund) is scared of one of those stupid plush singing toys - it was accidentally set off too close to her when she wasn't expecting it. Now she runs away whenever it's near her and she looks at it fearfully. She used to be interested in it whenever it sang, and my mom loved that the dog seems amused. How can I get my dog to not be afraid of it without freaking her out more?
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Aug 18, 2008 23:14
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Kela posted:My chihuahua won't eat out of any bowl. From one bowl, he'll take the food and run to the carpet to eat it. From the bowl on the carpet, he'll take the food out of the bowl, drop it on the carpet in front of the bowl, then pick it up and eat it. My college roomies had a chi that would do that, only it would take food from the dish in the kitchen, bring it into the living room where we sat and eat it, then go back. I always put it down to clingy/neurotic-ness
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Aug 18, 2008 23:55
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Whilst farting I posted:I think my dog (two year old dapple dachshund) is scared of one of those stupid plush singing toys - it was accidentally set off too close to her when she wasn't expecting it. Now she runs away whenever it's near her and she looks at it fearfully. She used to be interested in it whenever it sang, and my mom loved that the dog seems amused. How can I get my dog to not be afraid of it without freaking her out more? Bribery and reassurance.
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Aug 19, 2008 05:06
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I'm assuming it's okay to switch between different flavours of the same brand of dry catfood without mixing it like one would with a completely different brand, am I assuming correctly. Also, should I be overly concerned that my cat shows no interest whatsoever in cat treats of any type? Unless you count moths as a treat, when she can catch them.
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Aug 19, 2008 14:48
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Crazedscot posted:I'm assuming it's okay to switch between different flavours of the same brand of dry catfood without mixing it like one would with a completely different brand, am I assuming correctly. Also, should I be overly concerned that my cat shows no interest whatsoever in cat treats of any type? Unless you count moths as a treat, when she can catch them. Depends on how different the formulas are. If it's something like "chicken, chicken meal, rice, BEEF, etc" versus "chicken, chicken meal, rice, FISH, etc" then a switch is less of a big deal than if the ingredients are significantly different. I would probably mix, myself, though. And moths ARE treats, duh.
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Aug 19, 2008 16:50
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Kela posted:Oh and yes, bathing your dog with human shampoo was a bad idea. Human shampoo is way too harsh for most dogs. You could probably get away with using baby shampoo but selsun blue? No way, heh. You probably made the problem much worse and gave them drier flakier skin than they had to begin with. Go buy an oatmeal soothing pet shampoo. It doesn't really matter what you shampoo with; I think the key most people miss is to use a conditioner after the shampooing/rinsing so you're leaving the coat with "good oils." Every bath is a Laserlites Lanolin Conditioner with a squirt or two of Pantene Pro-V conditioner in there. Our dogs are also bathed once a week. If you had a lab, I'd say hit them with something that will strip all those ungodly dog oils out of the coat, but make sure to use a conditioner as their skin is used to the oil level. SachielDVangel fucked around with this message at 18:53 on Aug 19, 2008 |
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Aug 19, 2008 18:48
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And you're diluting the human shampoo in each instance. The human scalp is different than a dogs skin and human products simply aren't made for animals. Is it going to kill your dog? No. Should you choose a product that is formulated for animals? Yes. You show your dogs and likely are extremely careful about caring for their coats. You can't seriously recommend "using whatever you want" to the casual pet owner. V V V Groomers dilute their shampoo, heh. I can't even believe you're giving that kind of advice to the casual pet owner. And dish detergent is more basic than human shampoo, durr. Kela fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Aug 19, 2008 |
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Aug 19, 2008 19:05
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Kela posted:And you're diluting the human shampoo in each instance. The human scalp is different than a dogs skin and human products simply aren't made for animals. Is it going to kill your dog? No. Should you choose a product that is formulated for animals? Yes. You show your dogs and likely are extremely careful about caring for their coats. You can't seriously recommend "using whatever you want" to the casual pet owner. I sure can and did! Are you really going to argue with me about this, Kela? Did you not read what I said about the shampoo not really meaning that much, but it was probably the >> lack of conditioner << that does the most harm when the average pet owner bathes a dog? Most dogs are bathed what, once a month? every couple of months? a couple times a year? That's a fuckton of oil buildup, and the skin is used to having that huge level of oil on the skin/hair. To break all that poo poo down, you're going to need a stronger shampoo. Most run of the mill dog shampoos that you come across being used by average groomers are far, FAR harsher than anything you can buy for yourself at walmart because that level is necessary to cut 1/2-a-year's worth of dog oil out of a dog's coat and skin. So, to prove the point, I also told you that once a month I bathe my dogs in loving Dawn dishwashing detergent or whatever else i have on my kitchen sink, which is probably on par with most of the dog shampoos you can get out of PetEdge. "Specially formulated for a dog's skin's ph-balance" my rear end. Before we used laserlites, the dogs were bathed exclusively for about a year in Pantene. I still like the silky texture that pantene adds to the coat, so i still add it into the laserlites. So, to the person asking about selsen blue: you can use that, but make sure you use some kind of conditioner to add some oils back into the dog's coat & skin. And stay away from shampoo + conditioner combination treatments. You want 3-4 phases in a bath: shampoo, rinse, condition, light rinse. The coat should feel soft and slick after the light rinse, but not heavy and greasy. SachielDVangel fucked around with this message at 20:01 on Aug 19, 2008 |
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Aug 19, 2008 19:41
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Anyone know of a list of dog breeds that would be good for an apartment? I'm kinda partial to bulldogs and since I don't have a yard and they don't like to get hot, I figure a bulldog would be a good choice. Of coure he would get walks and such  Would he be okay by himself from 9-5 Mon-Friday? Also are bulldogs "fun". Do they like people or do they just mope all day? Any other breed ideas are welcome.
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Aug 19, 2008 22:29
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TheReverend posted:Anyone know of a list of dog breeds that would be good for an apartment? You should make your own thread. Breed suggestion discussions end up being pretty long, and we'd need to know a lot more about your lifestyle to give you a good suggestion. I honestly would never recommend getting a English Bulldog, they're genetic nightmares that require significant veterinary help to lead normal lives.
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Aug 19, 2008 23:17
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I need claw clipping tips. I used to hold him on the floor between my knees and pick up each paw...that stopped working after awhile. Now when I try it, he just howls, yanks his paw away, bites, etc. He's a 16 lb cat and pretty strong. More recently I've managed to clip a couple while cuddling him in bed but I only get one or two done and he wails and escapes. I've read about wrapping the cat in a towel but he's so skittish I have a feeling if I put a towel on the floor and tried to put him on it...he'd give me a dirty look and hide under the furniture. He's starting to stick to the carpet and make that little snicksnick noise when he walks on it. I don't want him to get a claw caught and get hurt...  Any ideas?
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Aug 20, 2008 00:41
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Xoobee posted:More recently I've managed to clip a couple while cuddling him in bed but I only get one or two done and he wails and escapes. A related question, has anyone used that PediPaw device that is suppose to file down the nails of cat or dogs instead of clipping them off? Its suppose to lower the risk of hitting the quick, but does it do that? Is it worth the money?
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Aug 20, 2008 00:45
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Ok, this seems like a really stupid thing to post about but I'm doing it anyway. My boyfriend is insisting that it would be awesome to get one or two feeder mice and let the cat 'play' with them (i.e. hunt and kill them). I think this is a terrible idea, for a lot of reasons. First of all, Aletheia is an indoor-only cat and has never hunted live prey. Second of all, mice have sharp teeth and I really don't want one of them biting her and/or possibly giving her diseases. Am I overreacting? I really don't know what's gotten into him, but he's obsessed with this stupid idea and I want to put a stop to it.
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Aug 20, 2008 01:08
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porkchoppie posted:Am I overreacting? I really don't know what's gotten into him, but he's obsessed with this stupid idea and I want to put a stop to it. Well, my first reaction was "sounds like he's discovered an A+ way to get your walls infested with mice when they inevitably get away from an untrained hunter and squeeze through some undiscovered crack the size of an eraserhead.  "
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Aug 20, 2008 01:23
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porkchoppie posted:Ok, this seems like a really stupid thing to post about but I'm doing it anyway. Wow. No, you are not overreacting. It's one of the worse ideas I've heard of in a long while. You may want to think long and hard about keeping that boyfriend, sounds like a sociopath in the making.
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Aug 20, 2008 01:28
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porkchoppie posted:Ok, this seems like a really stupid thing to post about but I'm doing it anyway. Cats that haven't been hunters from a young age will not necessarily have any loving clue what to do with prey, and even cats that do may go for a chase/bat/maim/ignore approach. My cat is an excellent mouser, and when we lived in our old place we got a couple of mice in the fall. She didn't seem to have much fun dealing with them, to be honest. As soon as she got a whiff of rodent, she'd go into stalking mode and would wait, frozen, for HOURS until the mouse decided to take its chance, come out from the hole under the cupboards, and walk past her. She'd kill them, show them off to us, strut around proudly, and then just go back to normal. She really seems to have a lot more fun with pieces of string, and even if we'd wanted to give her mice to play with here we'd have had to be willing to let them hang out in the cupboards for hours so she could do her normal hunting routine.  If he's so insistent on letting the cat hunt, why not get her used to a harness and take her out to a field with grasshoppers or frogs? They're good prey, too, and they won't escape and breed in your house and pee on everything.
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Aug 20, 2008 03:10
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My experience with mice and housecats tells me that the cat would be confused, the mice would escape, and you (and your house) would be screwed. Seriously, they're fast, and apparently pretty clever, because when mine would escape, it would take weeks to catch them again (as opposed to the thirty minutes it'd take to catch my hamsters, stupid fat things). And yeah parasites and stuff ew. Tell your boyfriend to go buy some of those freaky robotic mice they sell in toy stores and have fun.
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Aug 20, 2008 03:46
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porkchoppie posted:Ok, this seems like a really stupid thing to post about but I'm doing it anyway. Your boyfriend wants to do this for his own amusement, not for the cats. The cat isn't sitting in doors lamenting the lack of mice to kill. I'm sure you give it plenty of toys and entertainment, if your boyfriend wants to find away to 'play hunt' with the cat there are other toys and things you can do that don't require killing another animal/taking the chance of infesting your house. Don't let him try to use the "mice are the cats natural prey so she neeeeds it" excuse. Would your cat have fun? Maybe, but it's not necessary to your cats survival/happiness like a snake that needs feeder mice to live off of for food. Something I always ask myself is "Am I really doing this for me, or am I doing this for my animal because they need it." If it's the former, I try to re-think my option because it's not putting your pets best interest in mind and can be selfish. And honestly it's rather hosed up to me your boyfriend wants to be entertained by watching your cat kill something. What happens when the cat leaves it half dead because it's bored of playing it to death? Are you going to step up and finish the mouse off? I had a cat that was a lazy half assed hunter and would get bored when they stopped trying to run away so he left them twitching in pain half dead on the porch.
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Aug 20, 2008 08:58
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If the boyfriend isn't swayed by the "it's unnecessary, cruel, and sociopathic" argument, try this one: deep puncture wounds, like those made by a rodent bite, abscess quite quickly and easily. If the mouse is stunned and picked up in the cat's mouth, and is alive enough to bite kitty on the cheek or tongue - that's even more of a disaster due to the constant influx of bacteria around the wound. I've seen oral cavity abscesses get into the sinuses, causing eyes to pop out or even damaging enough nerves that euthanasia is required. Here is a picture of the repair necessary to fix an abscess due to an overlooked bite wound. Does your boyfriend want to risk this happening to your kitty?
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Aug 20, 2008 14:52
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Thanks for all the replies, guys. I will bring up all these points with him tonight. I'm pretty sure that once he takes all this stuff into consideration he will see that it's not only creepy, but also dangerous for the kitty.
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Aug 20, 2008 17:22
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I need to get my cat's teeth cleaned. He is 5 years old, and it has been a few years since it has been done. There is a bit of yellowing and tartar buildup. He eats dry food and Greenies as treats. Should I take him into the vet for a professional cleaning? I called my vet today, and they won't give me an estimate of how much it will cost without seeing the cat first. How much does a cleaning usually cost? If I just get cat toothpaste/toothbrush and start brushing weekly, do you think this will be enough without having a vet appointment?
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Aug 20, 2008 20:22
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I think the reason the vet wont give you a cost is due to the fact your animal might have cavities or be difficult to handle. They have no way of knowing that until they see him. I try to have my vet clean my pets teeth twice a year. While tooth paste is good, it doesn't always handle the plaque and build up that happens that can easily turn into cavities nor will you always be able to notice gum disease. I learned the hard way one morning when my dog got up and the side of her face had swollen up to the size of a soft ball. She had three bad teeth that had abscessed. Animals are good at hiding pain and since you can't see in their mouths well nor always get the tooth brush where it needs to go you don't always find out until it gets bad. After that I started doing regular check ups for them. It can cost anywhere between $70 and $300 at my vet depending on what needs to be done, what problems may or may not be present and if my pet needs to be anesthetized for it. I know it can be spendy but if you've never had his teeth checked out by the vet or haven't had it done recently you should do it. It's important for their over all health. After that if you do regular cleanings yourself, feed him good food, you should only have to pay the minimum for cleanings as there is less likelihood for problems. Any vet can do a cleaning but there are specialized veterinary dentist. You can find one in your state here: http://www.avdc-dms.org/dms/diplomates.cfm
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Aug 20, 2008 20:51
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My 8 month old kitten Millie got spayed today at about 9am, and she returned home without a problem. She seems fine physically, but for some reason the other cats are being extremely hostile The other cats are siblings and we had them for about 3 years before she came along. There was hostility in the first few weeks when she arrived, but that improved and she gets on really well with the male, although the female just tolerates her. Anyway, she arrived home today and the cats took one look at her, sniffed her for about 10 seconds and started the full on hissing thing, but no attempt at harming her or anything. I did notice quite a hospital like smell on her fur, would this be why the cats are reacting badly? She's sleeping with me tonight because I want to keep an eye on her anyway but I don't want a fight to happen, especially with her operation being so recent. When do you think it would be safe to let her sleep with the others again? Should I just continue with supervised contact until they mellow out again?
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Aug 20, 2008 22:57
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They're probably just smelling the vets on her; when one of my cats was away for a short time, my others weren't impressed when I brought her home; hissing, growling etc.. Keep an eye on the situation (since post-op kitty isn't going to be too great defending herself), maybe pick up a feliway diffuser to help things along if it persists.
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Aug 21, 2008 10:08
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Helanna posted:They're probably just smelling the vets on her; when one of my cats was away for a short time, my others weren't impressed when I brought her home; hissing, growling etc.. Keep an eye on the situation (since post-op kitty isn't going to be too great defending herself), maybe pick up a feliway diffuser to help things along if it persists. Another thing to try is to take a damp cloth and wipe down Millie to get rid of the vet smell, and then rub her gently with something that the other cats sleep on so Millie gets the vet smell replaced by good smells.
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Aug 21, 2008 20:00
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I haven't had a pet in forever and I'm going to adopt a cat soon. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with this fancy litter box http://www.scoopfree.com/ ? I've heard from one person I know that it works great but I thought I would ask around before I drop 140 bones on something like that. Or if anyone has other suggestions for fancy litter boxes that would be great, or any cat tips in general since I haven't had one since I was 12.
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Aug 21, 2008 21:13
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zex posted:I haven't had a pet in forever and I'm going to adopt a cat soon. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with this fancy litter box http://www.scoopfree.com/ ? I've heard from one person I know that it works great but I thought I would ask around before I drop 140 bones on something like that. Or if anyone has other suggestions for fancy litter boxes that would be great, or any cat tips in general since I haven't had one since I was 12. Just a word of caution about self-cleaning litter boxes: a lot of times, cats who use these will get out of the habit of burying because the box gets rid of everything for them. So if you were ever to switch to a regular litter box you might have some problems with smell.
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Aug 21, 2008 21:21
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I got an adult cat a few months ago after being catless for nearly 8 years. Whats changed since then? They don't sell non-clumping litter anymore. Well, at least not the brands I used to buy. I had to look really hard to find traditional litter, and once I did it was a product of "The Oil-Dry Corporation" (for cleaning up oil spills in your garage). Then I gave up and switched to scoopable little. I've grown to like the Costco brand litter.
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Aug 21, 2008 21:35
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zex posted:I haven't had a pet in forever and I'm going to adopt a cat soon. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with this fancy litter box http://www.scoopfree.com/ ? I've heard from one person I know that it works great but I thought I would ask around before I drop 140 bones on something like that. Or if anyone has other suggestions for fancy litter boxes that would be great, or any cat tips in general since I haven't had one since I was 12. I've never had a desire for one of those fancy ones. I use this for my kitty: http://www.petco.com/product/11197/Booda-Clean-Step-Litter-Boxes.aspx It has stairs they go up and kind of around to the litter area on the side. I like it because it's deep (my cats a digger) and covered so she doesn't kick any litter out. The stairs have little nubby things on them so when she comes out it, it gets rid of the litter that stuck to her paws. I've never had to deal with a mess with it or stray litter pebbles. It's also nice because the litter is tucked away around the corner and covered so my dog can't get into it for..um..a snack. It's a good size, my boyfriend calls it the Poo Palace. Then I use the Arm and Hammer cat litter: http://www.armhammerpets.com/ (The Super Scoop kind) I've never once had a problem with odor and it clumps nicely for when we clean it. I've heard some people don't like it, but I've never had a problem with it. I tried to change brands once and OH GOD MY CAT HATED ME! Something else Petco has that I've seen people get is the Litter Locker http://www.petco.com/product/10496/Petmate-Litter-Locker-Plus.aspx. You scoop the dirty litter into it and turn the handle and it locks it away until disposal so you don't have any smell. You can go into a Petco store and get the litter box, lock-a-way, and the litter, doesn't have to be ordered on the website. Although I've found some grocery stores carry the litter for cheaper than Petco. You can get all of this for far less than $140, especially considering the $140 is just for the box. Litter box: $23 Litter: $10 Lock away: $22
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Aug 21, 2008 21:35
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Dr.Khron posted:I got an adult cat a few months ago after being catless for nearly 8 years. Whats changed since then? A lot more than litter has changed in the last 8 years when it comes to pets. I hate to sound like a broken record, but please give the food megathread a read through, to help with choosing the right food for you new cat.
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Aug 22, 2008 07:41
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Our kitten Luigi refuses to take his medicine, we've tried the good old catch him by surprise and stick it down his throat (it's liquid), we've tried mixing it in with his wet food as well as his kitty ice cream. He needs to take it because he has asthma, any tips?
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Aug 22, 2008 13:56
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Anyone know what happened to the hermit crab megathread (or have a link)? Alternatively, I've got two hermit crab questions. 1) How are you supposed to keep humidity up in the tank? I know you wet your substrate, but after that, what do you use, sponges? 2) How do you pick an under-tank heater? Are they labeled by wattage, or by tank size? I'm going to convert an old 10 gal to a crabitat, but all the heaters I see online that are ostensibly for hermit crabs sound like they're meant for those little plastic "critter keepers." And are only 4W, which sounds way too small.
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Aug 22, 2008 15:40
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