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Skizzles posted:Okay, I'm curious. What is PI's opinion of the Humane Society of the United States? I vaguely remember seeing somewhere that they were not thought highly of here, but I'm not positive. Your local humane society likely does good work helping strays and finding them homes as possible. It's the national humane society that is a political mess.
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Jan 13, 2010 22:29
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Some local humane societies do good things like trying to find animals homes. Others suck and are little more than facilities where animals are held until it's time to kill them. I advise visiting your local one to see which it is. My local one at our last station was great! The one where I grew up was run by horrible, sick individuals who got their kicks betting on which kennel would be effected next by the parvo outbreak that constantly ran rampant through that place, or worse. The national branch is a gigantic clusterfuck of pathetic.
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Jan 14, 2010 01:59
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What's proper etiquette when meeting a new cat or dog? My usual approach is to first ask the human if I can say hi. Then I offer the back of my hand for sniffing, say something like "hi there cat/dog, it's nice to meet you." If everything's cool after that, I take it as a sign I can start petting. Are there body language cues (both mine and critter's) that I should be aware of?
Charmmi fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Jan 14, 2010 |
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Jan 14, 2010 17:33
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For those of you that have the eGGe (http://www.bestfriendsgeneralstore.com/unique_dog_toys_c/650_PETORIA/Petoria?gclid=CPbpn5yKz50CFQYMDQodk0LBrg, http://leerburg.com/1196.htm), how long did it take your dogs to warm up to it? I bought two and they were delivered last night. My labs don't seem interested. Jerks. 
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Jan 14, 2010 18:22
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Is there a PI megathread for issues on introducing a new (human) baby into the family when there are dogs?Meow Cadet posted:Your local humane society likely does good work helping strays and finding them homes as possible. It's the national humane society that is a political mess.
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Jan 14, 2010 22:10
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Charmmi posted:What's proper etiquette when meeting a new cat or dog? My usual approach is to first ask the human if I can say hi. Then I offer the back of my hand for sniffing, say something like "hi there cat/dog, it's nice to meet you." If everything's cool after that, I take it as a sign I can start petting. Are there body language cues (both mine and critter's) that I should be aware of? You are doing more than 90% of most people do. It's always good to ask the owner if it's okay to pet the dog. They know how the dog reacts to strangers and if they'll be friendly or not. Sometimes even if a dog is friendly the owner maybe trying to do some training stuff and doesn't want any additional attention given to the dog so they might decline. I walked out of a 7-11 the other day and there was a beautiful GSD there and I asked if I could pet it and the owner looked at the dog and was able to tell they weren't feeling friendly. Apparently they just adopted him and were having some behavioral issues with him they were working on and said it was probably safer to not pet him right now. I can see some idiot running out of the store and doing what most do and squee'ing 'DOGGIE!' and getting themselves bit. Then of course it's all the dogs fault even though they had a complete lack of manners. You are also right to offer your hand for the dog to sniff. At this point most dogs are goofy and excited for attention. If the dog looks wary and backs away I'd leave it at that. Cats will usually butt your hand with their head when they want a pet, if they back away then maybe leave them alone. (Unless it's your own cat, then you grab them and force squeezes and cuddles on them until they meow. At least that's what my little bastards get.  )It's also really important to teach kids these manners. They are the ones most likely to run up to a dog.
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Jan 14, 2010 22:54
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Childlike Empress posted:Is there a PI megathread for issues on introducing a new (human) baby into the family when there are dogs? Nope. I haven't been through it, but I know this blog was recommended at some point by someone: http://dogsandstorks.blogspot.com/ There is some PI crossover into the pregnancy thread, so I'd ask the ladies & gents over there what they did. Your own thread here in PI would probably be immensely helpful as well.
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Jan 15, 2010 01:07
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Charmmi posted:What's proper etiquette when meeting a new cat or dog? My usual approach is to first ask the human if I can say hi. Then I offer the back of my hand for sniffing, say something like "hi there cat/dog, it's nice to meet you." If everything's cool after that, I take it as a sign I can start petting. Are there body language cues (both mine and critter's) that I should be aware of? You definitely on the right track. I know Cesar Milan isn't too popular here in PI, but I once heard him say that you should always approach a strange dog like you would a horse. That made perfect sense to me; I bet a lot of dog bites could be prevented if everyone did this. There's also a handful of cues signalling stress that you can look for with dogs: super wide eyes, yawning, sneezing, ears flat against the head, tail tucked down or stiffly wagging, a tight & wide grin, and "spoon tongue". Also I think its best to avoid petting a dog over their head, and instead pet their chest instead. Honestly, if a dog doesn't want to get petted by you, just ignore them for awhile and they'll usually come around. I tend to ignore/avoid peoples' cats, and apparently that's like a cat magnet.
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Jan 15, 2010 01:10
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One of my cats has recently developed one weepy eye. I only notice a little tear every couple days, so it doesn't seem like a regular discharge, and it's always clear. The first time I figured she just had a bit of dust in there, but since it's come back twice since then, I started to wonder. She's not sneezing or coughing, and she's still eating and behaving normally. I'm reluctant to bring her to the vet over it, because she absolutely HATES being put in a cat carrier. I still have a scar from the last time I loaded her in one, which was in July. If this is something that doesn't need a vet visit, I'd love to spare her (and me!) the trauma. Can anybody tell me if this sounds familiar?
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Jan 15, 2010 02:16
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Mr Tan posted:One of my cats has recently developed one weepy eye. I only notice a little tear every couple days, so it doesn't seem like a regular discharge, and it's always clear. The first time I figured she just had a bit of dust in there, but since it's come back twice since then, I started to wonder. She's not sneezing or coughing, and she's still eating and behaving normally. It might be kitty allergies or kitty eye herpes. That's normally how I know my cat is about to get a break out of pink eye and that I need to get her in for the eye cream. It starts out as a clear but thick tear, if it goes untreated her eye looks a little squinty then becomes red then if it still goes untreated the discharge goes from clear to yellow to green and the squintiness increases. so now as soon as I see a tear I just take her in. I suspect she has the eye herpes but I've never had the test done, she seems to get the pink eye when she is really stressed out.
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Jan 15, 2010 05:16
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ChairmanMeow posted:It might be kitty allergies or kitty eye herpes. That's normally how I know my cat is about to get a break out of pink eye and that I need to get her in for the eye cream. It starts out as a clear but thick tear, if it goes untreated her eye looks a little squinty then becomes red then if it still goes untreated the discharge goes from clear to yellow to green and the squintiness increases. so now as soon as I see a tear I just take her in. I suspect she has the eye herpes but I've never had the test done, she seems to get the pink eye when she is really stressed out. Ah, that's what I suspected. Thanks!
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Jan 15, 2010 06:59
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Mr Tan posted:One of my cats has recently developed one weepy eye. I only notice a little tear every couple days, so it doesn't seem like a regular discharge, and it's always clear. The first time I figured she just had a bit of dust in there, but since it's come back twice since then, I started to wonder. She's not sneezing or coughing, and she's still eating and behaving normally. She could just have a goopy eye. My boy kitty gets goopy eyes and nose and it's just how he is. The vet said unless I see him seeming irritated or if it's green/yellow that he'll be fine and to just clean him up. But it's worth checking out with your vet. Like ChairmanMeow said there are other more serious issues that it could indicate so it's best to go in and ask.
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Jan 15, 2010 08:46
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My cat/kitten Loki, who is currently sleeping on my arm and making this tough to type, has an ear infection. We took him to the vet and have to give him eardrops twice a day. They have to be kept in the fridge, so they're a little chilly when they go in, and this causes him to shake his head around and some of it to fly out. I try and gently roll the bottle between my hands so they're not ice cold. Should I give him any extra drops (the vet prescribed 3-4 drops) to offset the loss from head-shaking?
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Jan 17, 2010 04:09
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BadSamaritan posted:My cat/kitten Loki, who is currently sleeping on my arm and making this tough to type, has an ear infection. We took him to the vet and have to give him eardrops twice a day. They have to be kept in the fridge, so they're a little chilly when they go in, and this causes him to shake his head around and some of it to fly out. I try and gently roll the bottle between my hands so they're not ice cold. I doubt Loki is the first cat to shake its head after getting ear drops. I'm pretty sure this is taken into account when a dosage is prescribed. I wouldn't worry about it, but call your vet if it's nagging at you.
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Jan 17, 2010 04:19
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Meow Cadet posted:I doubt Loki is the first cat to shake its head after getting ear drops. I'm pretty sure this is taken into account when a dosage is prescribed. I wouldn't worry about it, but call your vet if it's nagging at you. That's what I figured, but I figured I'd run it by PI. Thank you for a little peace of mind!
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Jan 17, 2010 05:43
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BadSamaritan posted:That's what I figured, but I figured I'd run it by PI. Thank you for a little peace of mind! If you're not already, close the ear flab and rub a best you can immediately after doing the drops. That should help reduce the spray a bit.
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Jan 17, 2010 05:49
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Our vet cleaned out Husker's ears today during his well-dog checkup and she kind of gently twisted his ear so that it wasn't pointed down. The maneuver did a nice job of keeping the cleaning solution in his ear. I imagine something like that, held for a few seconds so the drops could sort of soak in, would help keep him from shaking anything out. I was kind of astonished how much gunk she pulled out, but she said greyhounds have a lot of folds in the structure of their ears, and as long as the buildup is just in the folds and not in the canal and has a neutral odor I shouldn't worry about it. She has a basset hound, so she is super practiced at ear cleanings.
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Jan 17, 2010 05:59
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I'd really like to be able to play fetch and tug with my dog, but he's incredibly shy about mouthing anything - he'll only play with his rope toy if he thinks he's alone and won't even try to bite balls or chew toys. He's also shy about chewing bones and large treats, sort of like he thinks I'm going to take them away from him (not in a resource-guarding way). How can I get him to be more confident about biting things?
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Jan 17, 2010 18:25
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The Backslasher posted:I'd really like to be able to play fetch and tug with my dog, but he's incredibly shy about mouthing anything - he'll only play with his rope toy if he thinks he's alone and won't even try to bite balls or chew toys. He's also shy about chewing bones and large treats, sort of like he thinks I'm going to take them away from him (not in a resource-guarding way). How can I get him to be more confident about biting things? Are you sure his teeth don't hurt?
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Jan 17, 2010 18:57
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MoCookies posted:Are you sure his teeth don't hurt? He's been to the vet and checked out fine.
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Jan 17, 2010 21:22
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I had a thread in Ask/tell that directed me here. My question: I have heard different things about how long mixed dogs live. Some say they live longer than purebreds, others say it's just a myth. I've googled it, but all I seem to find are people's opinions. Do anyone know of any reliable sources drawing conclusions about the subject? In the earlier thread I got to know that the size of the dog probably matters the most, but that many factors apply. All good things to know, but this is a subject I've discussed a few times with someone, and any facts brought into the discussion needs a good source. Know of any?
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Jan 17, 2010 21:37
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noggut posted:I had a thread in Ask/tell that directed me here. My question: To back up my statements about size vs. longevity: http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...7e8a210855ddaa6 http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/content/abstract/145/22/625 (This one also suggests there can be some advantage for mixed breeds, but certain breeds outlive mutts) Food restriction makes dogs live longer (not starving them mind you, this study restricted food by 25% compared amount consumed by dogs with unlimited food access) http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.2002.220.1315
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Jan 17, 2010 22:00
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Ceridwen posted:To back up my statements about size vs. longevity: This is great, thank you! Discussion settled.
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Jan 17, 2010 22:15
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So my friend's lab is 11 months old and their corgi is about a year. They've never had any issues peeing inside the house before but they suddenly started about two weeks ago. Anyone have any ideas on why this is and how to stop it?
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Jan 18, 2010 01:49
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Are they unneutred males? (the dogs, not your friends)
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Jan 18, 2010 01:51
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My cat has a small lump at the injection site of some vaccines she got 3 days ago. At what point should I become concerned? She is 18months old, spayed female. She doesn't seem sluggish or in pain, so I'm guessing mild allergic reaction?
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Jan 18, 2010 06:21
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Make a note of which leg it is and keep an eye on it. Most likely it's a mild allergic reaction and will go away in a couple of weeks tops. It's not a bad idea to call your vet and talk to them about it. (Knowing which leg it is should tell the vet which shot it was she's reacting to) From the AVMA website under mild reactions to feline vaccines: Development of a small, firm, non-painful swelling under the skin at the site where the vaccine was given. The swelling usually goes away after several weeks, but if you notice such a swelling, you should contact your veterinarian.
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Jan 18, 2010 15:01
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Came across these and I needed to post them somewhere in PI.  17 Things Worth Knowing About Your Cat How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You
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Jan 18, 2010 16:59
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Hey guys, I am enjoying this thread a lot, it is fantastic. I have some basic questions that maybe someone could advise me on. When I graduate and purchase a house and a few acres or more of property and settle down, I would love to adopt a dog of any age. I have never had a dog before, but I have owned cats, so this would be different. My partner and I will both have jobs from 8am and probably won't be home till about 5pm and we will have 3 friendly cats. What age/breed/amount of dogs should we have in order for them to be happy while we are away for most of the day on weekdays? We love animals and typically wake up early to spend time with our cats, so waking up in the morning to walk a dog would be no problem. If we can be picky, we do not want a small yappy sort of dog. We also do not care if it isn't purebred -- as long as it is either adopted or bred by someone who is 100% not a BYB. We have been bookmarking the information for local shelters and plan on asking these people the same sorts of questions, but I look forward to it so much! Do any of you have advice?
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Jan 18, 2010 17:18
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ShadowCat posted:What age/breed/amount of dogs should we have in order for them to be happy while we are away for most of the day on weekdays? We love animals and typically wake up early to spend time with our cats, so waking up in the morning to walk a dog would be no problem. There are a lot of breeds that can satisfy your requirements, so you're in luck. I'm in a similar situation to what you will be, and my husband and I adopted a retired racing greyhound. He is perfect for us. Ours is on the larger end even for a greyhound, but the females and some of the males can be a bit smaller if there's a "too big" point for you. Retired racers are all adults, and although they won't be used to an 8-hour day when they first come home, they can definitely manage it. Husker gets along well with our cat, doesn't require very much exercise, and doesn't bark very often at all. Most days my stepson gets home from school at 2:30 and takes him out for a potty, but there have been a few days where the kid has after school stuff and no one is home until 5:30 p.m. (we leave at about 7:45 a.m.). He definitely wants to go out and pee when we get there at that point, but he hasn't had any accidents or anything. Other posters will be better suited to tell you about other breeds and solutions, of course.
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Jan 18, 2010 17:28
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Armacham posted:My cat has a small lump at the injection site of some vaccines she got 3 days ago. At what point should I become concerned? My vet prescribed anti histamine in that situation, so worth asking your vet at least  One of my cats is quite prone to getting a lump after a vaccine; the last one she got swelled pretty big and stuck around for months so we ended up operating to remove it  Not something I want to be doing again, so she's on anti histamines before and after vaccine to help discourage a reaction.
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Jan 18, 2010 17:49
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Question about Heartgard... I live in New York and it's currently still quite cold out. I've looked at several websites selling Heartgard that say that it should be administered at the very least during the mosquito season + 1 month after. The vet suggested giving it every month all year round though. Does anyone give Heartgard only during the warmer months? On the "Warning" section of this site says "Dogs, especially herding breeds, may have a mutation that causes them to be sensitive to a wide variety of medications." I'm worried about giving Heartgard to my 5-month-old Corgi puppy (herding breed) more than necessary. We're thinking of starting her up on Heartgard in February or March. Any thoughts?
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Jan 18, 2010 20:59
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amishsexpot posted:Question about Heartgard... I live in New York and it's currently still quite cold out. I've looked at several websites selling Heartgard that say that it should be administered at the very least during the mosquito season + 1 month after. The vet suggested giving it every month all year round though. One of Heartgard's active ingredients is ivermectin. Some dog breeds have a gene mutation (MDR1) that greatly increases their sensitivity to the drug, and exposure can result in severe neurological damage or death. Read more about it here. The most serious reactions happen when an animal is carrying 2 copies of the mutation, one from each parent, but increased sensitivity might occur in single copy carriers as well. According to that site the following breeds are affected: Australian Shepherds Collies (Rough and Smooth) English Shepherds McNabbs Miniature Australian Shepherds Old English Sheepdogs German Shepherd Dogs Long-haired Whippets Shetland Sheepdogs Silken Windhounds Mix-breeds with any of the above in their background From what I know, Corgis aren't affected. MDR1 mutation testing used to be pretty pricey, but from what I've heard there's somewhere in the US that is offering testing for $35 -- pretty reasonable, and if you own one of the "at risk" breeds, pretty helpful.
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Jan 18, 2010 22:00
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Fire In The Disco posted:Ugh, someone at my office has plastered every goddamn bulletin board with fliers sperging about their AWESOME AKC PUREBRED PERFECT ENGLISH BULLDOG PUPPIES JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS. I wish I had a one page flier on why BYB's suck and what to look for in a real breeder to put right next to it. Anyone know of such a resource? Ceridwen posted:Someone in PI made one once...not sure who it was though. Hopefully they will come along. I'm like, totally a month late for this (sorry, I don't always keep up on this thread) but I posted a 1 page awesome thing about "Responsible Breeders vs. Puppy Right Now!" It was created by a lady named Jenna who started the Shiba rescue in NYC and she usually has some pretty great things on responsible pet ownership on her blog (jennaandsnickers.com). Here's that PDF if people are still interested, even if it's not for holiday times.
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Jan 18, 2010 22:07
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skoolmunkee posted:Are they unneutred males? (the dogs, not your friends) No, they're both altered, corgi is a male, lab is female.
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Jan 18, 2010 22:22
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Ceridwen posted:Make a note of which leg it is and keep an eye on it. Most likely it's a mild allergic reaction and will go away in a couple of weeks tops. It's not a bad idea to call your vet and talk to them about it. (Knowing which leg it is should tell the vet which shot it was she's reacting to) cool thanks, i know i've read horror stories of stuff like sarcomas, but those usually take longer to develop... the lump has already gotten smaller, and she goes back for a booster in a couple of weeks
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Jan 19, 2010 01:30
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I have a question about crate training. To start: Our dog has NEVER been weird about his crate, he loves it. This whole problem started out a few days ago when our dog was overly tired and we were trying to head to go get some food. He didn't to go into his crate - and after 10 minutes and a ton of treats, we got frustrated and shoved him into his crate. This was bad, but he didn't fuss once he was in there, just ate his treats and we were free to leave. We've tried to change up our leaving rituals - and have made a big point of not messing up his routine any more than it already has been. I was visiting for the past few weeks and he wasn't spending as much time in his crate - which he usually does while my boyfriend is at work between three and give or take midnight with a dinner and pee break around 6 or 7. However, since that awful incident where he had to be put into his crate, he's turned it into a game - desperately trying to run away from us when we get out his special bone with his crate-only treat in it and acting almost fearful. It's really strange, and we were wondering if there was anything that PI could suggest to help him calm down before we undo almost half a year of crate training. e: The weirdest thing about this whole thing is that he ONLY does it at certain times of the day. More specificity at around 3 o'clock when my boyfriend is on his way to work. Nereid fucked around with this message at 01:39 on Jan 19, 2010 |
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Jan 19, 2010 01:37
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Do you normally toss the crate treat in and he goes in after it, or have him go in and then give him the treat?
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Jan 19, 2010 01:50
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Ceridwen posted:Do you normally toss the crate treat in and he goes in after it, or have him go in and then give him the treat? We give him the treat and he goes in to get it. We say 'take it to your bed' while he is in the process of getting it.
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Jan 19, 2010 01:57
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Nereid posted:We give him the treat and he goes in to get it. We say 'take it to your bed' while he is in the process of getting it. For me it works better to do the treat after they go in the crate. So it's more like asking for a sit or a down or anything else. Also, while changing up the routine works well for certain dogs, for others it's better to keep the routine the same but just make sure it's a happy routine that they enjoy. My dogs love the morning routine. For us it goes like this: Wake up Dogs go out to pee Dogs come in We get ready to leave Dogs get fed Finish getting ready to leave Dogs go out for post-breakfast poop Dogs come in, go to crates Shut crates, go get treat Hand them treat, walk out door The treats keep them busy until we are out of sight and out of mind. The routine makes it so that they go to their crates without even thinking about it which makes them less likely to decide not to. And they know there is no treat coming until they are already in the crate. Obviously though, it will take a while to develop a routine. For now, I would do two things with your pup. 1) Randomly (when he can't see you) put treats in his crate for him to find later. This makes it a magic happy box that randomly dispenses food! 2) Ask him to go in (during the times he's unlikely to refuse) and give him a treat one he's in. Then move up to shutting the door before he gets the treat. If he refuses switch to asking for something else simple you can reward him for (sit, down, whatever) for 1-2 rounds, then ask him to go in again. Make sure you keep the pressure low and only do a couple of repetitions. I grab 5-8 treats before I start a training session and stop when I run out. It may help if you can avoid crating him for a week or so while you do the above (have him stay in the bathroom or something if you can trust him for that). Just don't let him develop a habit of refusing to go in.
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Jan 19, 2010 02:46
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