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WolfensteinBag posted:Anyone have any good websites for cheap dog crates? I'd either like to find a large and a puppy sized airline-type crate, or I'd settle for a large metal one with a divider, but only as a last resort. Don't know where to start looking! If I remember correctly, you're in Chicago area, right? I do and I just got a crate for my dog off craigslist. Great condition, super cheap.
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Nov 1, 2010 05:03
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I have a question about dog parks. I've never been to one before as I've never owned a dog in the city. I'd like to take my dog Merlin to one because he LOVES playing with other dogs and I'm nervous letting him play with the neighbors dogs in the fenced in parking lot at our condo because it's not technically allowed. I just got Merlin two weeks ago. When I let him play out in the parking lot the with the neighbor's dogs, he's pretty good at coming to me when I call but he definitely needs a lot of training. He doesn't really know any commands. I'm starting an obedience class with him this weekend--should I wait until he's better trained to take him to the park? Basically, what level of training is recommended for a dog park? I'm not a hurry to take him, he gets a decent amount of exercise right now, I just know he'd love it.
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Nov 2, 2010 00:04
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deviledseraphim posted:I have a question about dog parks. I've never been to one before as I've never owned a dog in the city. I'd like to take my dog Merlin to one because he LOVES playing with other dogs and I'm nervous letting him play with the neighbors dogs in the fenced in parking lot at our condo because it's not technically allowed. As long as it's an enclosed park, he doesn't really need any training. HOWEVER, if I could have done one thing differently with my dog it would have been to find him a private play group. My dog picked up so many bad behaviors from the dog park that I can't even take him there anymore.
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Nov 2, 2010 00:38
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My cat has fleas. We've used Frontline on him just recently and he appears to be less bothered by them, but I was wondering if there is any home-remedy for them? I read something about lemon juice diluted with water and sprayed lightly on the skin, but I'd rather get some info from you guys before taking the advice from some random website.
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Nov 2, 2010 00:48
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El Kabong posted:My cat has fleas. We've used Frontline on him just recently and he appears to be less bothered by them, but I was wondering if there is any home-remedy for them? I read something about lemon juice diluted with water and sprayed lightly on the skin, but I'd rather get some info from you guys before taking the advice from some random website. Home remedies aren't really going to work and cats really hate citrus, so I can't imagine your cat would approve. Try some revolution or advantage - people have been reporting some resistance to frontline in some areas and revolution or advantage may work where the frontline hasn't. Don't use the Hartz type stuff (spot on or spray) you can buy at the grocery store. It's not very good for cats. If you have an infestation in your house however, you'll have to treat your carpets and such to get rid of any eggs there. Here's a half decent overview to fleas and cats.
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Nov 2, 2010 01:04
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Enelrahc posted:resistance to frontline We put Frontline on him last week. Should all the fleas be dead by now, because I combed him just yesterday and caught a bunch.
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Nov 2, 2010 01:13
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deviledseraphim posted:I have a question about dog parks. I've never been to one before as I've never owned a dog in the city. I'd like to take my dog Merlin to one because he LOVES playing with other dogs and I'm nervous letting him play with the neighbors dogs in the fenced in parking lot at our condo because it's not technically allowed. I recommend dogs have a solid recall before you let them off leash. Even in an enclosed park a fight could break out and your dog might find himself in the middle of it wither he wants to be or not. Ideally you want to be able to call him off in a pinch. You can buy a long training leash and let it drag, or you can chance it like most other (not exactly responsible) dog owners out there.
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Nov 2, 2010 01:17
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El Kabong posted:We put Frontline on him last week. Should all the fleas be dead by now, because I combed him just yesterday and caught a bunch. If you have fleas in your house (which you probably do since they're on your cat), the Frontline is only going to kill the fleas on your cat. It won't prevent the eggs that are already in your house from hatching & then jumping onto your cat. We have a Flea/Tick megathread that you should read for ways to treat your environment for fleas.
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Nov 2, 2010 01:36
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I've been watching my parents dog and it was playing around with my yellow lab and when the my lab got up she was limping and won't put any weight on her front leg. I felt the whole leg down to the toenails and she didn't really seem to react to anything but she's just laying around and still won't put any weight on that leg. She does have a dew claw on that leg that's way too long and I should have cut but she has completely ripped it off in the past and still ran around bleeding all over the place. Could it have bent back when she got up or something? I don't think she could have possibly broken something standing up. Actually now she just went out of the doggy door to bark at something and she's getting water now but still limping. Should I wait and see how she is tomorrow?
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Nov 2, 2010 01:45
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Thanks for the advice guys. Merlin has pretty decent recall, but its only been tested at home with dogs he knows. He does get super distracted when we are out on walks. I'm just going to wait until after he's had a few obedience classes and see how we are then. I definitely don't want him to be in a position where he could be hurt/hurt another dog. Emasculatrix What kinds of bad behaviors did your dog pick up?
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Nov 2, 2010 02:34
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El Kabong posted:Fleas Go here. Your house needs treatment too, it's not easy either.
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Nov 2, 2010 03:40
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Kerfuffle posted:http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3343335 I'm moving in two days, so it just got very, very easy. Plus this house is all hardwood floors and no one will be living in it for a few weeks so those fleas can just go suck each other to death. Thank you though, I will check out that thread.
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Nov 2, 2010 04:01
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El Kabong posted:I'm moving in two days, so it just got very, very easy. Plus this house is all hardwood floors and no one will be living in it for a few weeks so those fleas can just go suck each other to death. Make sure you do because you'll quickly see that fleas don't work that way and have a way around it. But since the place is hardwood you're already at a nice advantage since that is their largest egg laying spot. Just super clean all your fiberous belongings so they don't move with you.
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Nov 2, 2010 04:12
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So I'm running out of ideas on how to keep Freya from hurting herself in her crate when we are gone. We've been working on her separation anxiety pretty much since day one. She has also been on clomicalm for almost 6 weeks now, the past two of which have been a doubled dosage. All was well until last week and a half ago when I got a contract job which started 2 days after I learned about it. As a result we have had to throw her into the deep end of separation times with the shortest we can manage being 4 hours. After she inverted the plastic liner of her crate we took the "brick crate" route with this being the result. That stopped her from trying to chew her way out and up until a couple of days ago she was just barking herself hoarse while we were gone. Then she has started trying to push out the top of the crate and done this to her nose.  We are already scheduled to go see the vet this Thursday to get a refill on her clomicalm and talk alternate strategys but I don't want to leave her in her crate until then because I'm terrified what she will have done to her nose by then. I am already looking into a dog sitter or daycare but I was wondering if PI had additional ideas for what the hell I should do. Also is her nose going to be okay until Thursday or is there something I should do for it now?
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Nov 2, 2010 22:23
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Well, our landlords just gave us the okay to adopt a dog. A bit of background: my boyfriend and I have been living together for the past three years. We have plans for home ownership some time within the next two years. He and I recently moved in to a large one bedroom apartment with full use of a fenced in back yard and a living room with plenty of floor space for roughhousing. I've had dogs all my life, and have been feeling very incomplete without one. Our previous apartment was very small, and while we would have been allowed to have a pet there, we didn't feel it was the right situation for one. Our new place has all of the room our old one lacked, and seems like it would be a perfect fit for a small to medium sized dog. We asked our landlords if they would consider allowing us to get a pet, and they were very agreeable. They had two caveats; "no pit bulls", and that the dog absolutely cannot bark all day while we are at work, and if that winds up being the case, it (or we) will have to go. He and I hope to adopt a young adult dog (probably in the 2-4 year range), and something medium sized, perhaps a Lab mix. I like to go for long walks/jogs, and plan on exercising the dog before and after work every day (he and I both work a standard 9-5.) There is also a large dog park within walking distance of our apartment. I would also like to sign up for training classes with PetSmart. Do you have any good tips on minimizing separation anxiety in a shelter rescue? Neither one of us want to set ourselves up for heartbreak by adopting a dog and then being forced to make a hard decision because it's begun driving the landlords crazy (they live above us.) It's all hypothetical at the moment, as we don't have the dog, but ideally we'd like to wind up with a happy, well-adjusted rescue animal.
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Nov 3, 2010 01:24
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Ginny Field posted:Do you have any good tips on minimizing separation anxiety in a shelter rescue? Neither one of us want to set ourselves up for heartbreak by adopting a dog and then being forced to make a hard decision because it's begun driving the landlords crazy (they live above us.) It's all hypothetical at the moment, as we don't have the dog, but ideally we'd like to wind up with a happy, well-adjusted rescue animal. I would find a rescue that uses foster homes that will guide you to a dog that is already crate trained and comfortable being alone for periods of time. Read up on crate training in the puppy thread and work on making the crate an awesome place to be for a weekend before you have to leave the dog all day. My dog came from his foster home already crate trained and besides a little whining the first couple of nights he's been fine. Make sure your landlord has put that its ok for you to have a dog in writing! Some rescues might also need either a note or to call them to double check that you aren't sneaking the dog in.
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Nov 3, 2010 01:38
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Instant Jellyfish posted:Make sure your landlord has put that its ok for you to have a dog in writing! This cannot be stressed enough for so many reasons.
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Nov 3, 2010 02:41
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Hello! I've been reading PI for a while, but I just decided to pony up for an account. My 5 month-old puppy started cutting his canines about a month ago. It looks like all the adult canines are completely in now, but he still has an upper deciduous canine holding on for dear life. I noticed immediately that it did not fall out on the same schedule as the other one, but I was hoping that as the adult tooth grew in the baby one would eventually fall out. I'm pretty sure the adult tooth is fully in, and the baby tooth still exhibits nary a wiggle. At what point should I give up hope and take him in to the vet to have it pulled? I don't want to put him through anything traumatic unnecessarily, but I also don't want him to have any dental problems because of the crowding. Here is a picture of Otto for science...  I realize that it would be more helpful to provide a picture in which he is showing his teeth, but I don't have any. Note: My boyfriend posted some pictures of Otto in the "Post your Pet" thread under his account, so some of you may recognize him. Thanks in advance for any replies! The Red Herring fucked around with this message at 18:50 on Nov 3, 2010 |
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Nov 3, 2010 18:48
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That is a cute puppy. I like his speckles. I do not know anything about teeth. :\
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Nov 3, 2010 19:06
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I'd call your vet and ask. If you can get in contact with a vet or a tech who knows their stuff they should be able to allay any concerns you might have.
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Nov 3, 2010 19:08
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Is he already fixed? If not, it's fairly common for vets to remove any deciduous teeth during neutering.
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Nov 3, 2010 21:01
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We've got 2 one-year-old Golden Retrievers, and one of them is a digging bastard. How do I get him to stop digging up my yard? They have plenty of toys and interactive treats, and they are showered with attention when we are home.
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Nov 4, 2010 00:23
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Wojtek posted:We've got 2 one-year-old Golden Retrievers, and one of them is a digging bastard. How do I get him to stop digging up my yard? I think the only real solution is not letting him outside unsupervised.  My dog occasionally likes to dig if she's left outside for more than 10 minutes at a time. I just don't let her out without supervision.
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Nov 4, 2010 00:41
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So I just had a really frank conversation with a friend of mine about how she would not be a good dog owner right now. She's a young adult just starting out, herself and her bf just came out of unemployment and just hit the one-month mark of working. She's very bad about giving into instant gratification, and I'm worried that now that she finally has what she feels is a 'good situation' to have an animals she's jumping right in. For reference, she's the sort of person who's away from home all day, travels out of town a lot, and hasn't quite gotten into the habit of things like, oh, cleaning or keeping a regular schedule. I know she'll love the dog, as she's a huge dog lover, I'm more worried about whether or not 'loving' it will be enough for her to change her habits and take care of it correctly. Has anyone else ever done this? I feel like poo poo for having to be blunt with her about it, and a bit like a meddling busybody, but I also feel it was right to say something. Seems like she's just going to get the dog anyway, thought. Sigh. StrangersInTheNight fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Nov 4, 2010 |
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Nov 4, 2010 02:21
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Wojtek posted:We've got 2 one-year-old Golden Retrievers, and one of them is a digging bastard. How do I get him to stop digging up my yard? You could give him a sandbox.  Or mark off an area of your yard specifically ok for digging and teach him to use that. Some dogs are just diggers, though, only thing you can do is direct the behavior to something appropriate or just keep an eye on your dog like a life less said.
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Nov 4, 2010 02:30
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^^ AGH!Wojtek posted:We've got 2 one-year-old Golden Retrievers, and one of them is a digging bastard. How do I get him to stop digging up my yard? Doggy sandbox. Not even kidding. Teach her there is a particular area that she can dig in that's okay separate from everywhere else. A lot of malamute owners I know have done this and its worked out pretty well. And malamutes LOVE to dig.
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Nov 4, 2010 03:00
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Honeydew melon won't do my cats any harm right? Google seems to think not, and I just discovered that Titch, one of the foster kittens I kept last year, LOVES the stuff. She's never gone for melon before, but this particular type she darted in and stole herself a mouthful of. The kind of behaviour I would expect when cutting a roast chicken, not a melon!!
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Nov 5, 2010 07:59
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Cats are weird like that. As long as you just use melons as a small treat every now and then, it should be ok.
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Nov 5, 2010 14:34
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We had a pair of cats that were crazy about cantaloupes. We'd let them have a little bit now and then, with no problems.
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Nov 5, 2010 15:19
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Ok, so my girlfriend and I are house/catsitting for a friend. There were a lot of flies in the kitchen and I (quite loving stupidly) sprayed a blast of raid at the ceiling to kill some of them. It was at least 8-12 feet off the ground, and there is the possibility that some of it got in kitty's food. I changed everything, but she may have grabbed a bite before I took care of the situation. Should i be FREAKING OUT like I am right now? She seems kinda indifferent to everything but hey, she's a cat. She took some treats, but shivered for a few seconds after. She also made an odd sound (kinda similar to a hiss but only lasting less than a second) when I went downstairs to see her, but I'm pretty sure that's because I woke her from her nap. Is she in serious danger or am I just being stupid? I AM AN IDIOT I KNOW John Romero fucked around with this message at 02:09 on Nov 6, 2010 |
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Nov 6, 2010 02:06
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John Romero posted:Ok, so my girlfriend and I are house/catsitting for a friend. There were a lot of flies in the kitchen and I (quite loving stupidly) sprayed a blast of raid at the ceiling to kill some of them. It was at least 8-12 feet off the ground, and there is the possibility that some of it got in kitty's food. I changed everything, but she may have grabbed a bite before I took care of the situation. Should i be FREAKING OUT like I am right now? She seems kinda indifferent to everything but hey, she's a cat. She took some treats, but shivered for a few seconds after. She also made an odd sound (kinda similar to a hiss but only lasting less than a second) when I went downstairs to see her, but I'm pretty sure that's because I woke her from her nap. Is she in serious danger or am I just being stupid?
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Nov 6, 2010 02:21
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OK. I am taking the Porch Cat (aka Gurgi) to the vet. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Gurgi is the cat that came with the house we bought. He is an unaltered male Snowshoe of indeterminate age (young, it seems.. a couple of years maybe?). I don't know what to have the vet screen him for and what shots to give him. For sure, I know he will be screened for FIV. Also, he's going to be dewormed as I am fairly sure he's got them just because he lives outside and there were quite a lot of fleas earlier this summer. For sure, his nuts will be lopped off, though I am sure it's too late to keep him from spraying etc. What else should I have him screened for/immunized against? He seems to have been a housecat for the previous owners of the house, he always tries to come inside and has collar marks on his neck (and is perfectly happy wearing the collar I put on him last week). I am hoping he is negative for all the bad stuff, so he can come hang out inside every so often in the future... maybe he can learn how to use a litterbox and that soft things are for sleeping on; he's been the house before when we had 113 degree weather, and the litterbox terrified him and he refused to sit on anything that wasn't a hard surface. Oh, to make it clear; We have 3 neutered indoor cats, two of whom are elderly, and I don't want them to catch anything since one of them has a compromised immune system already. Otherwise he'd be living in here by now.
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Nov 6, 2010 04:27
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Cathis posted:OK. I am taking the Porch Cat (aka Gurgi) to the vet. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Gurgi is the cat that came with the house we bought. He is an unaltered male Snowshoe of indeterminate age (young, it seems.. a couple of years maybe?). Neutering a cat stops spraying behavior in 80-90% of cats, and the age at which you neuter them has no effect on the persistence of the behavior after castration. Testosterone disappears from the blood stream after 8 hours and reduction of behavior may be immediate or gradual. (Source: Hart and Barnett, 1973 - it's still being taught this way by a well known behaviorist, so I assume nothing new since 1973!) Basically, if you neuter him than it is unlikely that he will continue being stinky, roaming, and getting into fights, although there is always a possibility of it...so you may be able to bring him into the house if you'd like once he's no longer a man. If you keep him outside I'd just make a little shelter for him and keep him up to date on flea treatment and vaccinations and such so he can be a happy little outdoor critter. If you change your mind and you want him to move inside, I'd stick him in a room by himself for a good week or so after he comes home from the vet. He'll get used to it and you can keep him isolated from your older cats in case he has picked up a bug. Litter boxes are instinctual and he'd probably relax fine after a few days decompression.
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Nov 6, 2010 07:10
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So, my cat has scratched one of the back of his ears pinky-raw (like a scraped knee) and the other is showing a bit of scabbiness too. There's a LITTLE brown gunk visible, but I think if he has a mite problem it's probably deeper in the ear than I can see. Am I okay going and buying some OTC mite killer and an e-collar and following that course before I check in with the vet? I figured it wasn't like "straining to use litter box" where it could either be a common UTI or it could be crazy kidney stuff. Brown ears + scratching = mites, right? I don't need to rush him off to the vet? I only ask because a month from now is about when I'd be taking him in for his yearly, and that seems to be the typical course of these mite medicines, so it would work out well time-wise.
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Nov 6, 2010 16:07
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PipeRifle posted:So, my cat has scratched one of the back of his ears pinky-raw (like a scraped knee) and the other is showing a bit of scabbiness too. There's a LITTLE brown gunk visible, but I think if he has a mite problem it's probably deeper in the ear than I can see.
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Nov 6, 2010 16:12
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Crooked Booty posted:It's impossible to tell the difference between mites and an ear infection just by looking, unless you have a microscope lying around. I would just take him to the vet now. Most vets have no problem doing the annual a month early, so you can still save yourself the return trip. Well the other problem is that my vet is only open for another 45 minutes, then closed on Sunday, and I'd like to start him on something now because it obviously bugs him (har har). Do you think OTC mite drops would aggravate an infection, if that's what it turns out to be?
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Nov 6, 2010 16:15
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PipeRifle posted:Well the other problem is that my vet is only open for another 45 minutes, then closed on Sunday, and I'd like to start him on something now because it obviously bugs him (har har). Do you think OTC mite drops would aggravate an infection, if that's what it turns out to be?
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Nov 6, 2010 16:22
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Yeah, I made a vet appointment for next week, best to not screw around. For now though, I have to keep him from scratching somehow... platecat is the best cat
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Nov 6, 2010 17:51
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Enelrahc posted:FeLV/FVRCP/heartworm combo test. Vaccinate for FeLV, FVRCP, and rabies. You'll have to booster the FeLV and FVRCP in 3 weeks since you have no record of vaccines. What happens if you don't booster? I got my cat those vaccines and didn't have a chance to get them boostered. It's now been something like 3 months since the original date. Is it too late to booster them or does it not REALLY matter?
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Nov 6, 2010 22:14
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Lackadaisical posted:What happens if you don't booster? I got my cat those vaccines and didn't have a chance to get them boostered. It's now been something like 3 months since the original date. Is it too late to booster them or does it not REALLY matter?
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Nov 6, 2010 23:23
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