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Ceridwen posted:Yea but it does nothing for the fleas in your house or yard, so the cats is constantly able to pick new ones up. But if it's a preventative as well, wouldn't those die too?
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Jun 17, 2009 20:11
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Citizen Insane posted:But if it's a preventative as well, wouldn't those die too? Depends on the infestation level. There can be a hell of a lot of flea eggs (as in millions) in your living area by the time you notice an infestation.
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Jun 17, 2009 20:15
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tse1618 posted:According to their website, Frontline kills 98-100% of fleas within 24 hours. And the rest die shortly after that. So it is supposed to get rid of already-present infestation.
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Jun 17, 2009 20:24
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I have a question about introducing an older cat to our household. We currently have three cats (between the ages of 2 and 1) and have been thinking about getting a 4th cat. So far when we have added a new cat it was a kitten and therefore younger then the current cat/cats. Recently we've talked about getting a fourth cat (surprisingly the husband's idea). While the shelter here has tons of kittens I've decided this time it would be nice to adopt one of the older cats at the shelter. They have several cats who are between 5 and 9 who have been in the shelter for months and not been adopted. How hard would it be to introduce a much older cat to my current ones? I'm not concerned with Elwing (the youngest one) she loves everyone and everything, dog, cat, human. The older two are the ones I am worried about. While at first Arwen would be angry at the new arrival she has always gotten over it, but then she has always been older and larger then the new cats. She definitely is the dominant cat however. The other two bow to her wishes. I'm worried that she may react more to an older cat. Elendil will probably be the one who has the biggest problem with a new cat. He's a very nervous/anxious/fearful cat. I'll have him in my arms and my husband will be in the kitchen and make a noise and Elendil will freak out at the sound and scratch me to pieces to get away. He doesn't like new people or new things. We bought a new couch and he was afraid of it for days. After having him for a year he is still afraid of my husband and generally avoids all humans. The other two cats will come over when called, he won't. He does get along great with the other two cats, he obeys Arwen and they all play together constantly. Do you think an older cat would work? Or would adding a kitten be the thing to do? Also, any ideas on helping Elendil be less fearful?
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Jun 17, 2009 20:31
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Ditto on the above, but we're integrating a 5 (perhaps only 4, she is petite, but her teeth show wear) year old adopted lady cat to our current nearly 2 year old male and female cats. Zoie hid in my sisters room for 2 days, has started wandering out, and I keep hearing intermittent rumblings and hissings. The male just looks at her and walks off, but Trinitie has already batted at her. They're currently sitting about 4 feet apart, feet tucked in with occasional tail-flicks, staring one-another down. Damnit, ladies! Edit: I've got Zo in my lap. She has a scratch on her nose. Double-damnit, Trinitie. This poor cat. My house is the 7th place she's been shunted to in less than 2 months. She's been in and out of several homes, foster homes, and the adoption agency. My family plans on keeping her. Hopes Fall fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Jun 17, 2009 |
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Jun 17, 2009 20:43
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small update on my cat-hoarding parents I went to see my dad the other night and casually brought up that a relative said he got a notice from animal control. He said, "Oh yeah, they came by, checked things out and said everything is fine." Last statement is bold to show you where I almost had a goddamn aneurysm. So today I called animal control and politely asked them what the gently caress happened. The woman told me an officer went out there and reported that: a) the animals did not look sick b) the house was clean c) the (THREE FOR THIRTY CATS) sandboxes were clean d) the house did not smell I was so taken aback by this information that I literally asked the woman if they had gone to the correct house. I told her I had just been there Monday night (approx TWO DAYS after the officer) and the house was filthy, the cats were still sick and I could only enter the house long enough to tell my dad to come outside because the smell was so bad. The woman told me that because the report was okay I'd have to try to contact the zoning department of their town to pursue getting the cats out there. At this point I started crying because I was so frustrated. I expressed to her that I had serious doubts about what happened during the visit because the report goes completely against EVERYTHING in that house. SO to wrap up this already way too long post I gave her some more specific info (Dad is gone 12hrs a day while mentally ill, immobile wife is at home with the cats, cats have severe infections, my dad claims the sick cats are "elderly" when they are FIVE years old, etc). I also asked if they could get a warrant to search the area when my dad is NOT present and does not have prior notice to clean the gently caress up as quickly as possible. Hopefully this second go-around will be more successful but I'm feeling very depressed and disheartened by the whole experience. How could the officer NOT take this seriously?! And if animal control is apparently unwilling or unable to help THEN what do I do? Uggghhh 
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Jun 17, 2009 21:36
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If I wanted to cut my dogs hair short for the summer would i just run over all their fur with some clippers? Their some kind of jack russel terriers. Also how short is too short?
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Jun 17, 2009 21:57
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Can anyone give me a good recommendation on an electronic cat deterrent. I've got a neighbor that refuses to stop feeding strays and now our whole street is filled with wondering zombie cats.
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Jun 18, 2009 00:41
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Can someone recommend me a good shampoo for a short-haired dog?
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Jun 18, 2009 01:27
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 Do you think this is big enough to live on its own? It was about 5 inches long or so. When I dumped it near where I think the burrow is, its ears perked up and it scampered off, so I think thats a good sign.
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Jun 18, 2009 02:01
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Norse Code posted:We have a male chihuahua, and recently we rescued a 8 month old chihuahua terrier mix. We got her fixed and it's been about a week. It didn't happen before the spay, but now when she's playing with our male, she'll try to hump HIM. We are all confused, is this normal? My brothers female will hump his leg whenever she feels confused. If you point at her and laugh, her ears will go down and she'll duck her head all shamefully...then start humping his leg looking all mournful. He had someone over and was making out with them on his couch once and the dog started humping his leg too. A bit embarrassing. Citizen Insane posted:I put Frontline Plus on the cats and a month later, oh hey fleas are still there. Considering how loving expensive that stuff is, I'm not best pleased about this. What else have you done? The fleas you see on your cat/dog are only maaaybe 5% of the fleas in your home. The rest are in various stages of development burrowed into the carpet etc. You need to do a complete clean. Pull out your couches and beds and vacuum under them. The vibrations can help stimulate the eggs to hatch. This is good because the eggs are water tight and when you let off a flea bomb it wont penetrate. After you've cleaned and vacuumed everywhere do the flea bomb thing. Any decent flea bomb now days will have a chemical in it that will make the fleas it misses or are still in the eggs sterile. So while the eggs will still hatch they wont be able to reproduce. Put Advantage or Frontline on your animal right before you leave. Since it sounds like you have a bad problem you might want to go through the cleaning and bombing step again in a month to get the ones you missed and Advantage/Frontline your dog again. Due to the chemical making them sterile if your cat/dog hasn't picked them up somewhere else you should be fine for awhile just doing Frontline/Advantage treatments. If you are in a house and have outside cats and have a yard, spray that with a flea treatment too. If you live in an apartment it's a bit harder to keep fleas away because you don't know what your neighbors track in but with the above method you should be good for awhile. Obviously when you bomb take your animals out with you. You are probably smart enough to figure that out but I've been asked that before.  LSD posted:If I wanted to cut my dogs hair short for the summer would i just run over all their fur with some clippers? Their some kind of jack russel terriers. Also how short is too short? Jacks are already pretty short. If you want to trim them down a little if they are longer haired okay, but otherwise leave them. I know it would seem hot to have all that hair but a dogs coat helps keep them cool in the summer time just like it keeps them warm in the winter. Shaving it down to much or off will cause them to have a hard time regulating their body heat and could make them hotter.
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Jun 18, 2009 02:54
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VyperRDH posted:Elwing and Elendil Sorry I can't be of any help, but these are probably the best names for a pair of cats I've ever heard. 
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Jun 18, 2009 02:58
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ImTheWiener posted:Can someone recommend me a good shampoo for a short-haired dog? Despite what Nintendogs would have you believe, long vs. short hair really doesn't make or break a shampoo. It's really all about the dog's skin first & foremost, and the fur quality comes next. Is your dog dry, or sensitive, or does it have allergies? Or are you just looking for a good, generic shampoo? Regardless, here's my picks.  You can decide which would work best for you!Generic Good-Smelling Dog Shampoo - Original Fresh n' Clean Dry Dog Shampoo - Anything with Oatmeal and conditioners (these can be irritating to dogs with allergies) My favorite, Fresh n' Clean Oatmeal & Baking Soda Sensitive Dog Shampoo - Look for something with hypoallergenic ingredients (believe me, they'll make a point to mention it) and little to no fragrance. My favorite is Bio Groom's So-Gentle Hypoallergenic Shampoo, but I don't think you'll find a store that carries it, you'd have to look online. Allergy/Itchy Dog Shampoo - I really don't have a favorite, as different shampoos work for different dogs, and it's really best to do a try & see method for these. There's tons of stuff on the market for allergies, most of the time they'll call them "Medicated" shampoos, when really, the only TRUE medicated stuff would come from your vet. These shampoos contain things like tea tree oil (which is poisonous to cats!!) aloe and chamomile. If you can't find anything that really works well for your dog, see your vet with your concerns, and they might be able to find you something that works better. And well, I guess if you at least wanted an example of this type of shampoo, at work we've been using Ikaria Relieve Shampoo and it's been working pretty well on most of our allergy dogs. v vI hope all this helps!
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Jun 18, 2009 03:27
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KilGrey posted:
Thank you. One of my jacks hair does get kind of wily after a while so i gave her a bit of a trim, but not much.
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Jun 18, 2009 05:17
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Found a better, more out of the way place for a cat tree. Now it doesn't matter if it's ugly or not! Thanks for the ebay idea; I would never have thought to ebay a cat tree.Aerofallosov posted:What are some good toys/things kittens can share? I have two cats and although they like the dangler and laser pointer - sharing doesn't always work out. Yet, I hate having one or the other feel left out. I know the older cat gets kind of ":/" when the younger one spazzes and goes OH BOY PLAYTIME and hogs the toys. I give mine each one end of a long string. One pulls and the other chases; rinse, repeat. The older cat is also the only one who knows how to fetch, so if I toss something the kitten will run out ahead and play with the toy for a bit, and then the older one will come along and take it and bring it back.
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Jun 18, 2009 07:02
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Aradekasta posted:Found a better, more out of the way place for a cat tree. Now it doesn't matter if it's ugly or not! Thanks for the ebay idea; I would never have thought to ebay a cat tree. Which one did you settle on?
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Jun 18, 2009 07:03
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I went through the first couple pages, but there is so much there... I have a cat. normally a very nice cat that doesn't have too weird of a personality. The problem that's driving the entire house nuts is that whenever someone even thinks of waking up in the morning, she will start to meow very loudly. This could be at 5am or 8am it doesn't matter. The minute someone does get up, she's right there meowing as hard as can be until she actually gets fed. I've tried everything I can think of: ignoring her until she quiets down, flicking water at her whenever she meows, putting her in a different room or under cover, and yes even feeding her. After she does get fed, she starts to meow for a while as well until someone yells at her to shut up. The meows are not petite mewls, but loud and drawn out like she's wanting to be let inside (we live in an apartment, so our porch is closed off) So what can I do to enjoy those last few moments of half-sleep before waking up, and not to want to kill my cat every morning?
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Jun 18, 2009 13:15
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Herbicidal Maniac posted:I went through the first couple pages, but there is so much there... Do you feed her right after you get up? If so, stop. Feed her at a certain time every day, long after you wake up, or 15-30+ min after you get up whenever that is. Make sure your family is down with this plan. Alternatively, it sounds like she is lonely. Have you considered getting her a companion cat? She probably wants attention. Flicking water at her or feeding her or putting her in a different room are all attention, so that'd be why those didn't work.
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Jun 18, 2009 13:28
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Smudge is growing up happy and cute so far, but he won't stop picking on poor Poko and I'm really starting to get irritated about it. It's like as soon as Smudge sees him, he just goes "Yaaaaay play!" and jumps on Poko's back to start chewing on his ears. I try to direct Smudge to more appropriate play things...the other cat, toys, me...but Poko's just getting so anxious about being jumped on that he's started pooping under my bed to avoid risking going to the litter box and being tackled by a kitten when I'm not there to break it up. I'm not worried about anyone being hurt, Smudge is playing and isn't actually trying to hurt Poko and Poko is too nervous and shy to whip around and whack Smudge a good one. The problem is Poko won't stick up for himself and let the kitten know that he doesn't want to play at all. Could I make the "too hard stop it!" yelp FOR Poko when I see it, would that work as a deterrant since Poko won't do it himself?
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Jun 19, 2009 13:24
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I was wondering how to stop my neighbour's cat meowing? We live in a cul-de-sac in England with lots of outside cats (23 years and not an accident yet, so it's not too dangerous), but one of the neighbour's cats is being a pest. It keeps wandering up to our cats and meowing, just over and over, "meow meow meow meow meow meow" for a long time! At first I thought it must be in heat, but its been doing it for a long time (like, months now). Even on an evening (our cats sleep inside), it sees one of our cats in the window and will meow at it. It's just annoying because you always have to go and check it's not one of your own cats meowing for you. Most people say this cat's looking for a fight, but it doesn't sound angry and it's never been vicious. It's not a real problem, I'm just curious what might cause this behavior. Any ideas?
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Jun 19, 2009 16:27
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WolfensteinBag posted:Despite what Nintendogs would have you believe, long vs. short hair really doesn't make or break a shampoo. It's really all about the dog's skin first & foremost, and the fur quality comes next. Is your dog dry, or sensitive, or does it have allergies? Or are you just looking for a good, generic shampoo? This works great. Thanks!
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Jun 19, 2009 17:00
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Cat question: I think my cat is trying to cough up a hairball, but it's been a few days now and all I've seen is the clear, bubbly spit/bile mess - no fur that I've noticed. This is not a cat that has ever had hairballs before, but she's recently adopted a kitten we obtained and therefore is doing some extra grooming. She also seems a little moody (not mean, just staying by herself a lot whereas she's normally very cuddly) so I wonder if she's sick rather than working on a fur clod. What concerns me most is that she can't keep the hairball medicated treats I got her down for more than about 30 seconds... and I don't know if she's been able to eat at all actually since this started (hard to track since there are two other cats in the house). Is it normal for a cat suffering from hairballs to have trouble keeping food down, or should we go visit the vet? Any insight would be welcome!
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Jun 19, 2009 17:03
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I am bringing my two dogs (both under 10 lb chihuahua size) up to a cabin with a lot of ticks. They'll only be up there a week. Is there a cheap / effective tick prevention medicine that i could split between them, or do I have to get expensive stuff from the vet?
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Jun 19, 2009 17:38
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Smoe Gril fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Jun 28, 2016 |
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Jun 19, 2009 18:31
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Smoe Gril fucked around with this message at 17:17 on Jun 28, 2016 |
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Jun 19, 2009 18:36
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Smoe Gril posted:I wouldn't screw around with ticks, particularly if you know there will be a lot where you're headed. You can buy the good stuff pretty cheaply online or in retail stores. Unlike Revolution, you don't need a prescription. If that comes as a 3 pack, can i use one on each dog? it would be nice to just spend 30 bucks since they'll only be up there a week.
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Jun 19, 2009 18:38
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Norse Code posted:If that comes as a 3 pack, can i use one on each dog? it would be nice to just spend 30 bucks since they'll only be up there a week. Right, each dog would get one and you'll have one left over. I think 3 packs are as small as they sell them.
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Jun 19, 2009 18:42
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It is not possible to keep the ticks off your animals completely. The poison just makes it so that they die if they bite your pet. I like the revolution stuff becuase it kills ear mites, too. You will still need to keep an eye out to pick the ticks off. Pay special attention to the skin around the eyes and nose.
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Jun 19, 2009 18:43
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Norse Code posted:If that comes as a 3 pack, can i use one on each dog? it would be nice to just spend 30 bucks since they'll only be up there a week. Bring a flea comb(can find them for 99 cents at the petstore usually) with you too this way you can give them a good brush over when you bring them in from outside, it should be able to catch most ticks if they pick any up.
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Jun 19, 2009 19:46
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amyrlin posted:I think my cat is trying to cough up a hairball, but it's been a few days now and all I've seen is the clear, bubbly spit/bile mess - no fur that I've noticed. This is not a cat that has ever had hairballs before, but she's recently adopted a kitten we obtained and therefore is doing some extra grooming. She also seems a little moody (not mean, just staying by herself a lot whereas she's normally very cuddly) so I wonder if she's sick rather than working on a fur clod. Smoe Gril posted:I took my wheezing cat in for x-rays today to see if she had asthma. The doctor found nothing wrong with her lungs but said her arteries were slightly larger than normal and suggested Revolution as a preventative measure against heartworm. Both cats sometimes get fleas as well; I had just started them on this natural stuff. Heartgard also makes a chewable cat version that's very affordable, but some cats won't eat it willingly, and it costs about the same as the difference between Revolution and regular flea preventative (if that makes any sense), so if your cats need flea stuff, I'd stick with Revolution. But with all that said, I am really bad about giving my indoor cats their heartworm preventative and I don't loose sleep over it.
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Jun 20, 2009 04:19
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I went to the pet store to replace my gold fish who died (the gold fish itself was defective; the other gold fish are doing just fine). I bought a lions head goldfish for around $8.00, but when I was wandering around the fish area, I saw feeder fish. They were around 8 for a little over $1. What is the difference between my gold fish and the feeder fish? I know that mine is prettier, but if I kept a tank full of feeder fish instead of a tank full of a weird variety of gold fish, would there be much of a difference? Are mine hardier? Also, will healthy gold fish attack each other? I'm a bit nervous to go to sleep without supervising the fish, but am I just being silly? AnnaBanana fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Jun 20, 2009 |
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Jun 20, 2009 06:37
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Regular feeder fish should be hardier than fancy goldfish, but usually aren't because a lot less care is shown toward any diseases or bacteria that might be running among them. They grow larger than fancy goldfish. You have to watch out if you keep fancy and feeders together, because the feeders are more streamlined and active than slow moving fancy goldfish. They can end up eating all of the food that you give them before the fancies can even get to it, and will end up starving the slower ones. Goldfish are social fish and shouldn't attack each other, they usually don't cannibalize each other. They enjoy being kept in schools, but because you need 10 gallons per goldfish for even the smaller ones it can be difficult to keep them in large groups.
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Jun 20, 2009 18:34
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Crooked Booty posted:But with all that said, I am really bad about giving my indoor cats their heartworm preventative and I don't loose sleep over it. Thanks! Fleas and mosquitoes are common summer bugs where I live so I'll give them Revolution through the summer.
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Jun 20, 2009 20:37
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Totally not a question, but an observation: While I was getting ready to leave my mom's house earlier tonight, a guy walked by with a big shaggy dog. My stepdad went over to ask the guy what kind it was, since none of us recognized it. Otterhound 
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Jun 21, 2009 04:33
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tse1618 posted:Goldfish are social fish and shouldn't attack each other, they usually don't cannibalize each other. They enjoy being kept in schools, but because you need 10 gallons per goldfish for even the smaller ones it can be difficult to keep them in large groups. I noticed my new one sort of chasing the other two and I thought he was nudging them last night. But I thought they were playing (my other two fish bump into each other all the time). This morning, I watched more closely, and he was nipping. I had to send him back. 
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Jun 21, 2009 04:42
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I love my vet, but how do I tell her that she and her staff were wrong? They told me that in CA rabies vaccines under 16 weeks were not recognized. I challenged and asked the ACO, and was told that I was right. It was just one of those things that we all think are true, but not really. (true for dogs, not for cats where I live)
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Jun 21, 2009 05:12
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Is it mean to play my single kitten cat videos on you tube? Humorous / cute videos of cats meowing or wailing, that is. She definitely takes an interest and goes looking, but I haven't done it enough to see whether she could get scared or distressed. Is this an obvious faux pas?
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Jun 21, 2009 23:07
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Why does my (adult, male, neutered) cat peddle his back legs sometimes? Every time I turn on the laser pointer he'll pretty much run to his home base (my doormat) and then peddle his back legs on the mat while watching the laser. He doesn't chase it, really, he just watches it and waits for it to get close and then pounces. But when we play other pounce games, he doesn't peddle, so what gives? I assume it's not a bad thing, but I'm just wondering what this means in kitty lingo, since he doesn't do it for anything other than the laser pointer. I just want to make sure that I'm not scaring him or something.
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Jun 21, 2009 23:14
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Should I be concerned about one of my cats becoming overweight? She's a 2 year old tabby and she's around 13 pounds. She's been a bit of a chunky monkey for the last 6-8 months, but the vet didn't make any comment about her being a fatty when I took her a couple a months ago. I switched from Iams to Blue Buffalo a little over a month ago but haven't noticed any change in weight. She's still very active, and doesn't seem to be overeating. She does try to steal the other cats' food every now and then (since they don't actively eat their food and don't eat it all in one sitting) but it's not a chronic problem. I realize she's not horribly overweight, but my last tabby became massively obese and died at a very early age, so it's making me worry that she's becoming pudgy. Am I just overreacting or is there something else I should be doing to help her shed a couple pounds? She currently eats about 1/2 cup of blue buffalo kibble per day.
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Jun 22, 2009 04:35
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Hady posted:Should I be concerned about one of my cats becoming overweight? She's a 2 year old tabby and she's around 13 pounds. I think restricting the food to scheduled feedings is good and play with her as much as possible for exercise is the right thing to do. Double check the bag to make sure you aren't over feeding. Blue Buffalo is a better quality food so you might not need to feed them as much. Also realize that due to a cats size it takes a lot longer to notice any weight difference. My boy has been on a diet for 6 months and I haven't notice much of a chance. When you are only 13 pounds losing a pound is a significant percentage of their body weight so it's going to take a long time to lose that pound versus if we were dieting.
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Jun 22, 2009 04:40
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