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Perfect, that's exactly what I wanted to hear - mostly I just needed reassurance! We're going to take him to the orthopedic vet soon. Thanks a ton.
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May 8, 2012 05:08
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I see there's a cat toilet training system for sale over in coupons. I want to get one, but I have 4 cats and one toilet. I can't do it, can I? 
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May 8, 2012 05:09
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2tomorrow posted:But I can definitely put the word out for a reliable kid looking for some extra pocket money. Lots of vet clinics have their reception/kennel help staffed by young animal lovers eager to pick up an extra buck or two; so put the word out at local clinics, too.
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May 8, 2012 14:01
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One of my cats hates my puppy. The puppy in question is approaching 40 pounds and doing everything right in terms of giving the cats space, being calm in the house, etc. The cat in question is NOT afraid of the puppy -- she just despises him. She will sit in the middle of the kitchen and block him from getting to the back door, or she'll lie in wait behind furniture and pop out to attack him when he unknowingly gets too close. She hisses, spits, growls, and slaps the poo poo out of him. She absolutely never runs away. In fact, she is so determined to be a bitch that I frequently have to physically remove her from a room so that the puppy can, for example, get to the door to go outside. The cats have tons of vertical space, and we've got a baby gate so the majority of the house is a puppy-free zone. So basically she is choosing to hang out on the floor in the room with him just so she can show him who's boss. Meanwhile, the puppy avoids eye contact with her, tucks tail, and hugs the walls to get past her in whatever room she is "claiming" at that time. My other cat is doing great with the puppy. I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with a cat this evil, and if there's any hope that she'll eventually chill out. We've had the puppy a month, and I'm not sure any progress has been made.  I've tried giving her treats around the puppy, and I've tried nailing her with a spray bottle when she is being a bitch, and I don't think either is having any effect.
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May 9, 2012 13:39
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Crooked Booty posted:I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with a cat this evil, and if there's any hope that she'll eventually chill out. We've had the puppy a month, and I'm not sure any progress has been made. You've got to pick one method, stick with it and see it through. You're sending ridiculous mixed messages to your cat (hint: one message you're sending is that see puppy = sprayed with water). Couple questions... How was this cat before you got the puppy? Generally social or more reclusive? How many cats are in the house? Ages? What's their history with each other? Has this cat had any experiences with dogs prior to this one? (either positive or negative)
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May 9, 2012 16:13
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Topoisomerase posted:You've got to pick one method, stick with it and see it through. You're sending ridiculous mixed messages to your cat (hint: one message you're sending is that see puppy = sprayed with water). Couple questions...  I'm spraying her when she's a spitting whirlwind of claws and teeth, potentially about to take one of the puppy's eyes out, and I don't fancy losing a finger trying to get her to go away. I've probably only sprayed her twice in a month because I only have to pick up the bottle for her to know what's up. She knows all about spray bottles because she has a history of evil. If I pick up a spray bottle, she stops whatever she's doing and comes to purr and rub on my legs. (But it's all a trick because she is Satan.) This cat is an evil mastermind and the boss of the whole house. She's a 7 year old tortie who has to be boxed down just to get vaccines, but is very social and sweet at home if and when it pleases her. She's the kind of cat who destroys things when she wants something (i.e. "I haven't eaten in 4 hours so I'm going to turn this textbook into confetti.) The other cat is 4ish years old, formerly-feral, sweet as can be, dumb as a rock. They love each other enough to groom each other and sleep together, but in his derpitude, he sometimes tries to play with her when she's not in the mood, and subsequently gets his rear end kicked. Neither of them has ever been around dogs at all. My sweet boy cat, who is normally terrified of everything, clearly understands that the pup can't get him on the counters/furniture/etc., so he's pretty much back to his normal self now. If the pup bugs him enough, he climbs the cat tree or whatever. My BAD cat is pure evil. She has not altered her daily routine at all, except maybe to spend MORE time on the floor in the living room where she can attack the puppy, instead of hanging out on the cat tree or in any of the puppy-free rooms. The extra problem is that Satan has IBD, so I'm playing with fire when I give her any treats at all.
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May 9, 2012 17:16
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Does anyone know a rough expiration time period for Defend canine topical insecticide? We have some tubes we didn't use from last year's physical and due to job loss situations we won't be able to afford to take the dogs in to the vet to get new prescriptions for another month. There've been a lot of strays around the house recently and one of our friends recently pulled a couple of ticks off of her own city-only dog so we're kind of nervous about waiting.
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May 10, 2012 16:21
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To add to the tick discussion: Turns out it's tick season here! We've been lazy about putting Frontline on Rusty because there aren't really any flea issues here over the winter. We took our first real hike of the spring yesterday and found 4 ticks (1 on him, 3 on me) before we even got home. Wound up deciding to shave him (I know some of PI frowns on this) because we wanted it to be easier to find ticks after hikes and because we want to be able to let him swim without taking hours to be dry enough to come back in the house/tent. We started with this:  3 hours later we had this:  and this:  Not the greatest job ever, but it worked. I was able to find two more ticks just by petting him and get them off before they had embedded (which is how they usually are by the time we find them on him, even with Frontline plus). Now we're contemplating what to do about tick control for the rest of the spring and summer. We don't have much need for flea control here, so ticks are our only real concern and it seems like the Frontline plus we were using before, while great for fleas while we were in Florida just doesn't seem to do much for ticks. I've heard good things about the Preventic collars you can get from the vet. Anyone in PI want to weigh in on them for me? Are they adequate without also using a monthly preventative? Do we need to keep it on him all the time, or can we just put it on for a day or two surrounding hikes (ticks are not an issue in town)?
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May 10, 2012 17:06
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I'm a bit at the end of my rope regarding flea control with my GSD. He goes just about everywhere with me, and I spend most of my free time hiking in the wilderness. We're in the desert so no extreme fleas and ticks like I've experienced back east, but they're still a risk. Fleas, though rare, carry the plague here too, which I'm not sure if dogs can get but even if not, I can and so it's bad news either way. Ticks are pretty common and are not only terrible, but they also carry ehrlichia. So he's had reactions to Frontline and Advantage, and possibly other topicals like that (with his previous owner; she sent me photos of the Frontline and Advantage ones). So once I got him back, we tried him on Comfortis and Preventic collars as recommended here. The Comfortis seems to be working fine, but he lost all his hair around the Preventic collar. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I really need something that will keep the ticks away. I'm desperate enough that I bought some anti-bug soap from a hippie who swears it keeps his dogs tick-free.
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May 12, 2012 04:42
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2tomorrow posted:I'm a bit at the end of my rope regarding flea control with my GSD. He goes just about everywhere with me, and I spend most of my free time hiking in the wilderness. We're in the desert so no extreme fleas and ticks like I've experienced back east, but they're still a risk. Fleas, though rare, carry the plague here too, which I'm not sure if dogs can get but even if not, I can and so it's bad news either way. Ticks are pretty common and are not only terrible, but they also carry ehrlichia. Have you tried oral flea meds? I've heard nothing but good news from those. I think they're better for dogs that spend a lot of time outside. Ticks though I haven't heard of any other good methods than the collars. Kerfuffle fucked around with this message at 05:08 on May 12, 2012 |
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May 12, 2012 05:05
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He's on oral flea meds and doing fine on them.  I'm looking for something specifically for ticks if possible.
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May 12, 2012 15:48
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I've heard rumors that the maker of Comfortis is working on an oral product for ticks, but until that actually happens there aren't any oral tick medications. If topical medication and preventic collars are all causing undesirable reactions I'm not sure what else to recommend. You could ditch the tick control and carefully check the dog for ticks each day, but the immature stages are so tiny that method isn't likely to be foolproof.
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May 13, 2012 02:44
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My pit/american bulldog has a super shy sphincter. She's 5 years old, she lives in a house with myself, my sister, and my nephew. We adopted her from the shelter about a month and half ago and her previous owner introduced her to many different people as a puppy, so she loves everybody. She is great with kids until they start to get loud and scare her, like my nephew has. She is incredibly smart. She looks at things I point at, she catches onto commands super quickly. It took like 20 minutes to crate train her. She may have some sort of PTSD from being hit by a car at some point in her lifetime. At the shelter they said she and her brother got out and both got by the same car. He died, she got her head split open. She's not weird about cars or the road or anything. Anyway we don't have a fenced in backyard, so either myself or my sister will take her out whenever she needs to go outside. She knows this because she's done it before several times. But every now and then (much better than when we first got her) she'll take a monster dump or piss in the house, and she knows better, but she does it anyway. All I have to do is walk into a room that smells like she may have wrecked and look at her and she'll go into her crate and i'm pretty sure if she could she'd try to latch it herself. I know she feels bad. So it makes me wonder, what is it about outside for her that makes it so difficult to just take a poo poo sometimes? So check it out, here's what she'll do. I'll take her outside and I know she's got to have something ready to go, but if she so much as sees something move outside it's over. No chance of her going. If our neighbors are out front with their dog (shih tzu) I won't even waste my time with taking her out. But I also can't keep spending hours out of my day trying to get my dog to take a dump outside. Like for example, as soon as I finished my sentence there she walked to the door, sat at it and looked at me. We walked around outside, she sniffed her place, she saw a cat go under car, and she did her usual thing. Went into "Wait what the gently caress was that"-mode. Should I just get started on my fence already?
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May 14, 2012 19:22
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Try actually walking her. Just standing around in your backyard probably isn't getting the point across. As she becomes more accustomed to voiding outside you can probably make the walks shorter, 'til they're again replaced by simply letting the dog out into the yard for a break. But for now a brisk walk around the block should get her bowels moving.
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May 14, 2012 20:06
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a life less posted:Try actually walking her. Just standing around in your backyard probably isn't getting the point across. As she becomes more accustomed to voiding outside you can probably make the walks shorter, 'til they're again replaced by simply letting the dog out into the yard for a break. But for now a brisk walk around the block should get her bowels moving. Will do this. We take a walk or a jog almost every day but yeah I haven't really made them designated bathroom times so far. Thanks for the advice!
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May 14, 2012 20:17
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A pigeon has built--well, piled some sticks up--a nest in a corner of my balcony, complete with eggs. I want my balcony back, but do not want to be a heartless, egg-destroying monster. Is there a conscience-friendly option, or am I going to be guilty of murdering the unborn (pigeons)?
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May 14, 2012 21:56
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Allegory of the Rave fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Jun 20, 2015 |
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May 14, 2012 22:32
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Welp, Psyche almost got through her boarding unscathed. During some unknown incident, she apparently scraped her nose. It was a little red, but now she appears to have rubbed it on something and here's the result: OH GOD MY PRETTY PRETTY PRINCESS! Anyhoo, it doesn't look like it hurts or needs medical attention. I'll watch it for signs of infection, but what I'm wondering now is if her fur is going to grow back okay or if she's going to have a funny nose forever. Anyone seen a superficial scrape like this before? It's weird that it came off so cleanly, at least it doesn't look like it'll scar. Also, I had no idea her skin was pink on her nose. I thought it was black for some reason. The more you know.
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May 15, 2012 01:41
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Magazines posted:My 17 year old jack russel has been slowly losing his sight and it's even worse when we're outside as he has no clue where he is and it's kinda hard to take him outside to do his business. It really depends on what is causing the visual problems. Some things are fixable (via medications or surgery), some can be managed with fancy schmancy dog goggles/glasses (which can even have prescription lenses!), and some can't be fixed with anything. Some veterinarians are comfortable with diagnosing eye problems, however an Ophthalmologist would certainly be more equipped if it ends up being something more in depth. You'll only find out by asking your vet!
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May 15, 2012 02:52
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Does anybody have advice for trying to train 2 pets simultaneously? I am in the early phase of clicker training (click=treat!) with my two cats. I can toss them both a treat at the same time and click if I hold everything right, but I don't know what to do once the time comes to start teaching them actual tricks. When teaching one to sit, what should I do with the other? How do I make sure they don't lose the meaning of the click when I am trying to reward one for a trick, while the other is just chilling next to him? I know separating them is an option, but they dislike being banished to one room and I don't want them to attach a negative feeling to training sessions. Any tips would be appreciated.
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May 15, 2012 02:59
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four lean hounds posted:Does anybody have advice for trying to train 2 pets simultaneously? I think separating them during training sessions is the best option. A not-as-good option is to work on a placement cue with one animal while you work with another. For example, with my two dogs I'll ask one to hold a down-stay while I do tricks with the other. I reward each heavily (normally more treats for the down-stay dog). It doesn't work very well with shaping though, so... separate 'em.
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May 15, 2012 03:08
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How do people feel about Merrick's GI bone? I cannot find a grocery store that keeps raw bones in a size that Bailey can safely chew on and so I was thinking a stuffed bone might help provide some dental benefits.
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May 15, 2012 15:25
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Kiri koli posted:Welp, Psyche almost got through her boarding unscathed. During some unknown incident, she apparently scraped her nose. It was a little red, but now she appears to have rubbed it on something and here's the result: Sometimes when we're crate-training a new foster, they give themselves similar scrapes from trying to sniff under and in between the bars too enthusiastically. Once they get used to the routine, it goes away and unless it was actually bleeding, I wouldn't worry about it. Lucy also does that to herself occasionally when her allergies act up. It goes away fairly quickly.
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May 15, 2012 15:43
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Ceridwen posted:
2tomorrow posted:I'm a bit at the end of my rope regarding flea control with my GSD. He goes just about everywhere with me, and I spend most of my free time hiking in the wilderness. We're in the desert so no extreme fleas and ticks like I've experienced back east, but they're still a risk. Fleas, though rare, carry the plague here too, which I'm not sure if dogs can get but even if not, I can and so it's bad news either way. Ticks are pretty common and are not only terrible, but they also carry ehrlichia. I have also been having a terrible time with ticks this year (Frontline was doing nothing, and Advantage doesn't seem much better). I was going to try a preventic collar, but one of my dogs is on a medication that reacts badly with preventic so I decided against it. I was ordering some stuff on pet expertise today and I was just $10 shy of free shipping so I looked around. In the new section they have these: Insect Shield Dog Bandanna Insect Shield Dog T-Shirt They are supposed to repel ticks, mosquitoes, ants, flies, chiggers, and midges. Figured it was worth a try for $12 (bandana) - supposedly has a 3' radius for the bandanna, so my small dogs will be covered. It also is supposed to last through 70 washes. I just ordered them like an hour ago, so I have no idea if they actually work, but there are good reviews on there.
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May 15, 2012 17:42
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RurouNNy posted:I have also been having a terrible time with ticks this year (Frontline was doing nothing, and Advantage doesn't seem much better). I was going to try a preventic collar, but one of my dogs is on a medication that reacts badly with preventic so I decided against it. I was ordering some stuff on pet expertise today and I was just $10 shy of free shipping so I looked around. In the new section they have these: If they work but quickly wear out (or you're cheap and resourceful) you can buy permethrin spray at camping/hiking supply places and re-treat it or anything else you might want. Just do it outdoors, let it dry completely before putting it on your dog, and do not let cats near it. I permethrined the hell out of all of my stuff when I was in Bangladesh and it worked great. No malaria for me!
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May 15, 2012 18:02
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Instant Jellyfish posted:If they work but quickly wear out (or you're cheap and resourceful) you can buy permethrin spray at camping/hiking supply places and re-treat it or anything else you might want. Just do it outdoors, let it dry completely before putting it on your dog, and do not let cats near it. I permethrined the hell out of all of my stuff when I was in Bangladesh and it worked great. No malaria for me! No cats for me, so not a problem - Thanks for the tip! Though I am expecting it to last a while as the material itself is made with some permethrin bonded stuff. I would be wicked happy if these things work since I can take them on/off easily for walks, but they won't be on them 24/7.
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May 15, 2012 18:20
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RurouNNy posted:I have also been having a terrible time with ticks this year (Frontline was doing nothing, and Advantage doesn't seem much better). I was going to try a preventic collar, but one of my dogs is on a medication that reacts badly with preventic so I decided against it. I was ordering some stuff on pet expertise today and I was just $10 shy of free shipping so I looked around. In the new section they have these:
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May 15, 2012 18:31
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Enelrahc posted:Advantage or Advantix? Advantage isn't labeled for ticks. The secondary ingredient in Advantix is a permethrin, which is what is in the bandanna. Sorry, Advantix II, not Advantage!
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May 15, 2012 18:47
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So it appears that the ticks we are getting right now are Rocky Mountain Wood Ticks, which are the tick most often associated with tick paralysis in North America. Fun! I've read a few places that Frontline Plus can be applied every 2 weeks for control of ticks. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to be talking to the vet about it (and the preventic collars) but I'm just curious if anyone has done it. In addition to how much easier it has been to find the ticks and get them off him, Rusty seems totally happy with his new haircut and it's wonderful how much faster he dries now. Pretty sure we are going to keep clipping him every summer so he can have more swim time.
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May 15, 2012 20:14
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RurouNNy posted:I have also been having a terrible time with ticks this year (Frontline was doing nothing, and Advantage doesn't seem much better). I was going to try a preventic collar, but one of my dogs is on a medication that reacts badly with preventic so I decided against it. I was ordering some stuff on pet expertise today and I was just $10 shy of free shipping so I looked around. In the new section they have these: Thanks for posting those, I've ordered the bandana. My hippie soap actually seems to be working a little in the meantime. My girlfriend took him hiking yesterday to a notoriously tick-infested area and we actually didn't find too many on him when she brought him back. Not like the last time I took him on the same trails minus the hippie soap, anyway. edit: and it's not really relevant to this thread, but I posted about it in here before and I'm super happy: finally talked to the actual surgeon about my knee, and he says he can fix it with arthroscopic surgery rather than the more significant one the original orthopaedist was saying I needed, so I'm looking at a much quicker recovery time and then I'm back to hiking with my dog! Surgery is Thursday, and the doctor said I'll probably be able to go on short walks in a couple of weeks! four lean hounds posted:Does anybody have advice for trying to train 2 pets simultaneously? I don't have any real advice as I typically separate my critters to train them, but I was in the training section at Petsmart today and noticed a double clicker designed for training two animals. It makes two different sounds, so you just condition each pet to a different sound. Just thought I'd mention it because it never would have occurred to me to look for such a thing. 2tomorrow fucked around with this message at 04:09 on May 16, 2012 |
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May 16, 2012 03:59
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Kiri koli posted:Welp, Psyche almost got through her boarding unscathed. During some unknown incident, she apparently scraped her nose. It was a little red, but now she appears to have rubbed it on something and here's the result: You'll likely want to put some sunscreen on the spot once it heals up some. New skin has a tendency to burn more easily than the rest, which is why the enormous-rear end scar on my right leg is slightly darker than the rest of my leg. >:[
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May 16, 2012 16:41
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My ginger cat Charlie has been doing a really weird thing lately, and wouldn't stop doing it tonight. He's normally a bit fiesty and attacks you if you're patting him to much, or if he's in an excitable mood. However, he's always silent when he does it. Recently he's started to make this strange meowing noise and he would start targeting my hand, biting it. Usually he'd let go, but this time he wasn't. He'd continue to make this odd meow noise (not quite a growl) as he'd continually chew on my hand. I may possibly be an attention thing, but I'm not so sure. I had a housemate move in a couple of months ago which meant he lost a few of his normal spots he'd hang out, and he can't come into my room. Has anyone else seen this sort of behaviour?
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May 17, 2012 15:12
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Yeah, I've seen it now and then with my cats, it means your cat is pissed. After I gave one cat a bath once, he hid under the bed for an hour, then came out and started to 'play' with my hand. He got overly aggressive so I wrapped my hand in a cloth, and he actually got up and moved so he could attack my exposed arm instead. It seems to be just YOU ARE BAD YOU DID BAD THINGS I BITE YOU.  Most animals have tantrums now and then. Once they get their frustrations out they're usually fine. If I know my cat is upset because of a vet visit or whatever, I'll usually try to initiate some playbiting so she can wreck my hand and get it over with.
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May 17, 2012 16:55
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Corridor posted:Yeah, I've seen it now and then with my cats, it means your cat is pissed. After I gave one cat a bath once, he hid under the bed for an hour, then came out and started to 'play' with my hand. He got overly aggressive so I wrapped my hand in a cloth, and he actually got up and moved so he could attack my exposed arm instead. I hope so, I'm just finding it strange because in the 4 or so years I've had him he's never done it before.
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May 17, 2012 17:03
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My cat is bitey in the same way, although he's been like this for years. He was ejected by his previous owners for roughing up other cats. He bites my hand and tries to grab it with his claws. He doesn't growl but makes an unhappy meow noise ("mmmrrrrrr "). This happens usually when he's sitting in or on my computer chair and I'm near him. And yet he's a sweet kitty and still sleeps with me at night most of the time.  If he's doing this because he's pissed, why is he so angry?
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May 17, 2012 17:56
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Ema Nymton posted:My cat is bitey in the same way, although he's been like this for years. He was ejected by his previous owners for roughing up other cats. He bites my hand and tries to grab it with his claws. He doesn't growl but makes an unhappy meow noise ("mmmrrrrrr Squeeger asked why his/her cat was specifically doing it now when he'd never done it before. If your cat's been doing it forever he's probably just a dick, sorry.
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May 17, 2012 18:29
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Lately (as in over the past couple of days) my 12 year old black Labrador, Chloe, seems to have developed a fear of stairs. We have a short flight of stairs (about 5 steps) from the main hallway of the house leading down to the kitchen and back of the house. Chloe will whine and whimper at the bottom of the steps but refuses to climb them for any reason. I'm taking her to the vet tomorrow just in case but I can't seem to find any physcial signs that she's in pain. I was wondering if anyone else has a pet that has become frightened of/unwilling to use stairs? And if there was any possible solution to the problem?
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May 17, 2012 19:20
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Visceral Bystander posted:Lately (as in over the past couple of days) my 12 year old black Labrador, Chloe, seems to have developed a fear of stairs. It sounds pain related. If it's not, you can try basic classical conditioning (talked about plenty in the Dog Training thread) but my money is on your girl being too sore to climb them.
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May 17, 2012 19:30
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Visceral Bystander posted:Lately (as in over the past couple of days) my 12 year old black Labrador, Chloe, seems to have developed a fear of stairs. I agree with a life less that this is far more likely to be pain related. However, if the vet can't find any sign of pain I would have her eyes checked. If her vision is having problems it could easily cause her to be freaking out about stairs.
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May 17, 2012 19:34
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Agreeing with others about it likely being pain related, but sounds like you're getting it checked out, so that's good. I have a related question of my own about my 12 year old black Lab, Ruby. I double checked with the mods because I didn't want this to be asking for vet advice, but kind of wanted some general information about any experience you guys have had with NSAIDs, specifically Previcox. My girl has been on Dasuquin and fish oil for probably 4-5 years now, not because of issues, but more just as a preventative type thing to help her out as she was getting older. She seems a little more stiff lately so we took some radiographs, and hips looked good, but she had a little bit of spondylosis. Vet and I were talking about trying something like Previcox maybe a couple days a week or when she seemed most stiff. I'm a worrier in general, and NSAIDs make me a little bit nervous, especially when it seems like a lot of the reactions are in Labradors (could just be because there are a crap ton of Labs out there with bad hips, etc that are on these drugs, so you see more reactions because of that?) but wondering if it is worth trying rather than her hurting a bit. I'd be watching her closely if I started her on them. I work at a vet's office, so have access to my vets input pretty much all of the time, but I would kind of like to get some information/experience from others who have used these drugs.
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May 17, 2012 20:11
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