|
Arrrrrgh Savannah has fleas.  We'd been lazy with applying her topical stuff (Vectra 3D) because she was on Sentinel for heartworm and fleas, but last month when we went to the vet, they were out of Sentinel (and the lady kinda looked at me funny and was like "Well if she's an indoor dog and doesn't spend a bunch of time outside she doesn't really need that!! Heartgard will be fine!") So we got Heartgard, and dosed her with that, but didn't think to do the Vectra at the same time. We noticed she was getting itchy the last couple days and put the Vectra on her last night, and today I found and killed two fleas on her belly. ARGH I'm a loving moron. Luckily, our floors are tile and the couches she hangs out on all the time are leather, so I'm hoping we don't have a full-on infestation. If we applied the Vectra last night, how fast can it be expected to kill the fleas? The packaging says it kills them within 6 hours, but there were two live ones on her tonight. But, she is small so she only got the back of the neck dose, so maybe it takes a bit longer if you only apply it in the one spot or something. I also flea-combed her and didn't get any more, but she is super fluffy, so it's difficult to say. We're washing her bed and blankets with some bleach now, I need to vacuum the area rug next. And it's almost time for her heartworm dose again so I may just go back to the vet and get Sentinel again. Would her being on Sentinel also help with any fleas still hanging around, if we don't manage to get them all? I've only seen them on her, of course, but I know that doesn't mean they're not laying eggs somewhere. And here, have a rare picture of Savannah and her outdoor kitty friend: 
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 01:00
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 7, 2024 02:00 |
|
|
I'm so sorry to hear about Rory  I always enjoyed seeing pictures of his worried little face. Please know that it's normal to feel guilt when a pet dies, even though it's not your fault. We're their caretakers, and when we can't make everything alright, we feel like we should have been able to. This post by Patrica McConnell talks about euthanasia, but I think it's applicable to the death of any well-loved pet. It helped me a lot, and I hope it helps you, too.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 01:53
|
|
|
Oh, poor Rory. I'm sorry Mickey. It almost sounds like you're really blaming yourself, but man, people aren't given future vision. You couldn't have known.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 01:59
|
|
|
 Very sorry to hear about Rory. The pictures of him made him look irresistibly sweet and you treated him so well.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 02:02
|
|
|
My heart is breaking for you mickeymickey. I've been bawling for the last 10 minutes since reading your post ... there are no words. My heart goes out to you and your whole family. I loved reading about Rory, you guys loved him so much, it was evident to even me, a total internet stranger. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 02:12
|
|
|
Well great job mickeymickey, you made me bawl at an internet post. I am so sorry about Rory.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 04:02
|
|
|
So sorry, mickeymickey.  You gave Rory a loving home, that's all that matters.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 04:24
|
|
|
Man, my partner and I got out NOA2 on the 13th, finally, and just found out our immigration package is on the way to the embassy in Madrid. Which means she'll be here before the end of the year and I can move the gently caress out. This is good, because Moses has lost his fragile mind here with puppies and CAT IN THE YARD and I've got so much crazy to undo. He keeps trying to eat Frankie, and not in a normal way, in a "I have pent up rage because I don't understand the dynamics of my life and I am going to shake you to death" way. We're coasting by with lots of supervision and I hope it isn't too late. I'm thinking that with a new environment and putting his life back the way it was before and removing offensive interloping family pets from his life everything will fall back into place. Just like 2 more months oh god we can do it, if I can just keep him from tearing Frankies head off for 2 more months hnnnngh
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 04:45
|
|
|
mickeymickey you poor thing, I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I lost a little cat in the same manner and it's just heartbreaking.RazorBunny posted:Yeah, it would have been cool. This is the first one I've gotten to watch emerge actually, so I'm happy he's alive, but it would have been neat. If the chrysalis has the little tag at the tip where it'd normally be attached to a twig, you can stick a straight pin through it and then pin it to a twig so it hangs normally, or even use a little dab of hot glue. Obviously be super careful if you try either of these! Caterpillars are best preserved in a small container of isopropyl alcohol, they're way too squishy to try drying. Reminds me of someone in my entomology class who turned in an "insect" collection of 40 stick-straight earthworms, dried and pinned  If you ever do want to try pinning a butterfly and want to be all proper and OCD about it, get a sheet of styrofoam, put the butterfly on it and place a long pin through the thorax, just to the right side of the midline. Wings you can carefully drag out into position with tweezers or the tip of the pin, and you should be able to keep them in place for drying with just one pin per wing, underneath the main vein running along the front edge of the wing. Shouldn't take too long for everything to dry in place. Once it's dry you can take the pins out except for the one through the thorax, then add a label with the species ID, sex if you can figure it out, the time and place it was caught, the weather, and the collector's name (you!) and stick it wherever you want. If you don't have a dead butterfly and want to  murder one, just toss one in a jar with a cottonball soaked in a little nail polish remover. It'll kill it pretty fast but also keep it from getting stiff if you don't get around to it for a day or so.Also, if you put it in a case, consider putting a couple mothballs in with it to keep little dermestid beetles away.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 05:27
|
|
|
I'm so sorry Mickey, I loved hearing about little Rory. Please try not to blame yourself, there's no way you could have known what would happen
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 06:44
|
|
|
Apidae posted:Also, if you put it in a case, consider putting a couple mothballs in with it to keep little dermestid beetles away. I don't think I'm quite ready to start gassing them, I like them too much. My step-grandmother used to have an AMAZING collection of framed butterflies from Africa, back when it was legal to import some of them. I think her husband threw them in the trash when she died In more pet-animal related news, my friend got a German Shepherd puppy and he is cute as a button. She's a hardcore rescue person, so she was feeling really guilty about potentially getting one from a breeder. It sounds like the guy is a decent breeder though, and his pups mostly become farm dogs. Parents had good hip scores. Haven't met the puppy yet, but from the pictures it looks like he has nice sane looking back legs. His name is Aslan  Also, Leela decided to wake me up this morning by repeatedly slamming the measuring cup off a bottle of cough syrup into the bathroom door 
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 15:38
|
|
|
Neena posted:
Savannah is a cutie. She looks like my parents' neighbor's dog, Sophie. Does Savannah have green eyes? Sophie does--I've never seen a dog with green eyes before, they're very striking. Well, I say green, but I guess they're more of a hazel. I've only ever seen the usual brown/blue on dogs.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 15:44
|
|
|
There was something on the news this morning about how Battersea Dogs Home has had a marked rise in the number of small dogs coming through the shelter. It mentioned that some of the dogs literally had to be taught how to walk - they'd spent all of their lives being carried around.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 16:53
|
|
|
I don't know what it is about small dogs. I probably have ten times as many people try to approach my Chi than Cohen (who is prettier, friendlier, and better behaved). My guess however is that the dogs don't know how to walk on leash. They're, hopefully, not literally unable to walk. One thing that boggles my mind - even among my dog trainer friends, the number of small dogs who are trained to use pee pads is enormous. It's not that hard to walk down a few flights of stairs, or schedule more regular bathroom breaks... a life less fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Sep 27, 2012 |
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:22
|
|
|
a life less posted:I don't know what it is about small dogs. I probably have ten times as many people try to approach my Chi than Cohen (who is prettier, friendlier, and better behaved). My SO's parents live out in the suburbs with a fenced backyard and have a dog door, his mom is home all the time, and their yorkies still use pee pads. I don't get it at all.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:25
|
|
|
Are they afraid that the big bad world will eat their precious tiny furbabies? I flat out don't get the appeal of small dogs, much less the toy breeds, so I have no idea what goes through their owners' heads.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:32
|
|
|
Citizen Rat posted:Are they afraid that the big bad world will eat their precious tiny furbabies? Pomeranians are sassy and literally don't give a gently caress about you (sometimes), but they also really rely on you and they have their favorite person. If you are that favorite person, then its pretty awesome. Also if you aren't very strong or are crappy at training dogs, they're a lot less intimidating.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:38
|
|
|
Citizen Rat posted:Are they afraid that the big bad world will eat their precious tiny furbabies? No, I mean, the dogs go out on walks and stuff. But they don't really see the importance in training them to do anything at all, and mostly just rely on the older dog to teach the younger one how to behave (these are yorkies 4 & 5 I think?), which obviously doesn't work amazingly. I don't at all understand why they would want to have potty pads around in their house for literally the entire lifetime of their dogs, for dogs on end. So weird.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:38
|
|
|
Invalid Octopus posted:My SO's parents live out in the suburbs with a fenced backyard and have a dog door, his mom is home all the time, and their yorkies still use pee pads. I don't get it at all. They're lazy, that's the whole deal
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:38
|
|
|
Citizen Rat posted:Are they afraid that the big bad world will eat their precious tiny furbabies? Letting the dog out is apparently an insurmountable effort to a lot of people. Even my parents take their broken chihuahua outside to crap, so I don't get it either. I house trained Moses as a puppy in a 2nd floor apartment and it was a huge pain in the rear end, but....you have a dog, what do people expect?
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:42
|
|
|
Citizen Rat posted:I flat out don't get the appeal of small dogs, much less the toy breeds, so I have no idea what goes through their owners' heads. I never thought I'd want a small dog either, but then we got one because of apartment weight restrictions (and because I stupidly thought a smaller dog would do better in an apartment) and I don't regret it. She still does all the doggie things, with the added bonus that I can just scoop her up whenever I want and she can't knock me over when she forgets she's not allowed to chase squirrels without permission! The only problem I think I'd have going any smaller would be that eventually you hit a physical limit on how many treats you can dole out in a training session. I don't know what the hell I would do if the dog got full after like three bites.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:51
|
|
|
a life less posted:I don't know what it is about small dogs. I probably have ten times as many people try to approach my Chi than Cohen (who is prettier, friendlier, and better behaved). I dunno, they were saying about how the dogs had no muscles in their legs because they are literally carried all day, then put in a small area (a crate I guess? They said 'box' but that could mean anything) when not being carried or toileting. I think that was the issue - the dogs hasn't used their legs so long that they had to build up the muscles to be able to do more than stagger to pee and back. And yuuuup people always gravitate toward Lola, and ignore Jess. Just because my old lady dog is a staffie cross doesn't mean she'll eat you, folks 
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 18:51
|
|
|
Speaking of dog doors: Our house came with a dog door installed by the previous owners, which we haven't even shown our new puppy how to use while house training her. It lets into the backyard which is fenced, but also full of stuff I don't really want her getting into: tons of pebbles she kinda likes to eat, a pool, the garbage bins. It's also all concrete which she doesn't really like to eliminate on. Is there a well known setup where I can have the outside of the doggy door open into a roofed-pen with either fake grass or something for her to go on? Or is this more of a DIY thing I'll need to make? Bonus pic:
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 19:06
|
|
|
Rixatrix posted:I literally just introduced my new puppy to our two other dogs (as in, less than 30 minutes ago). It went like this: put older dogs behind baby gate. Enter apartment with puppy, set puppy on the floor. Wait until everyone's settled down. Allow calm older dogs through the baby gate one by one to meet puppy. Supervise. Switch dogs, repeat. Introductions done.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 19:09
|
|
|
Superconsndar posted:Letting the dog out is apparently an insurmountable effort to a lot of people. I think a lot of people expect a dog to act like a throw rug. I found an old lady beagle at my bus stop this morning. Just kinda chilling there looking tiny and pathetic. She was super sweet when I checked her tags and then dropped her off with my husband to get in touch with her owners (he did, she'd gotten out when workmen came to maintain their furnace despite her being crated). Though it was really strange being able to just pick up and carry the dog like it was a cat.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 19:25
|
|
|
I think I'm going to have to gas this butterfly after all - he's still not out of his cocoon, and he looks totally misshapen. His wings are tiny and not unfurling, and his back half is very caterpillar-like. I'll put him out of his misery as soon as I can work up the nerve
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 19:27
|
|
|
RazorBunny posted:I think I'm going to have to gas this butterfly after all - he's still not out of his cocoon, and he looks totally misshapen. His wings are tiny and not unfurling, and his back half is very caterpillar-like. I'll put him out of his misery as soon as I can work up the nerve Name him Heimlich. But in all seriousness, that sucks and I'm sorry. You said they stop here pretty soon. Could that be a contributing issue?
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 19:33
|
|
|
Fluffy Bunnies posted:Name him Heimlich. But in all seriousness, that sucks and I'm sorry. You said they stop here pretty soon. Could that be a contributing issue? I don't know, I've never seen anything like it. All my duds have been caterpillars that never pupated. Nobody's made it this far and then been screwed up like this. They're pretty sensitive to chemicals and stuff, and we did have the property sprayed for ants a few weeks ago, so it's possible that he was affected by pesticide. The pest folks don't spray anywhere near my herb garden, and I don't use any chemicals there, so I doubt it would have been something he was exposed to as an egg or caterpillar, but it may be that his mom was exposed to it before she laid her eggs. If he was more developed I would try to keep him. Sometimes if you help them out of their cocoons their wings never get strong enough to fly, and I've seen people keep them as pets and just provide them with a little dish of nectar that they can walk to. As it is I don't think he would have a very good life.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 20:09
|
|
|
wtftastic posted:Pomeranians are sassy and literally don't give a gently caress about you (sometimes), but they also really rely on you and they have their favorite person. If you are that favorite person, then its pretty awesome. I love Pom sass. It makes me laugh every time Bridget gives me the hairy eyeball and goes about her merry little way. If I press the issue she'll do what she's told, but not without heaving a huge, petulant sigh. Beau's way more independent and can be frustrating at times, but he's definitely the sweeter of the two and is madly in love with me. Waking up with a small fuzzy radiator snoring on his back in your armpit is the best thing.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 20:14
|
|
|
I set up a webcam for the button quail. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nakedmolecat-quailcam Right now the males are tempting the lady quail with tasty, tasty mealworms. 
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 20:37
|
|
|
Citizen Rat posted:dropped her off with my husband to get in touch with her owners (he did, she'd gotten out when workmen came to maintain their furnace despite her being crated). Though it was really strange being able to just pick up and carry the dog like it was a cat. Mittens, the Dog Catcher! How did The Puppy take the intrusion?
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 21:22
|
|
|
RazorBunny posted:If he was more developed I would try to keep him. Sometimes if you help them out of their cocoons their wings never get strong enough to fly, and I've seen people keep them as pets and just provide them with a little dish of nectar that they can walk to. As it is I don't think he would have a very good life. Poor little guy. I think you're right not to try to keep him as it is.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 21:25
|
|
|
I'm pretty sure it's ladyweapon who walks her cat on a harness regularly, but I can't remember whether it's Sully or Talulah or Nermal. Anyway, I tried it on Sarabi. We've got 59 acres out here of beautiful land and I wanted her to experience it. So far my insistence with my parents that she is NOT TO GO OUTSIDE has worked but they think I'm a crazy person. I keep trying to explain that she's too stupid to understand that the pool is water or the wild turkeys aren't your friend, but they don't get it. So in case something happens I took her out to experience the world. She wasn't pleased.  She is unfamiliar with tall grass, being a teenage mom from the city.  She would like to go in now, and also please get that crown off her head:  There's also a video of her crab walking on the harness but its going to take forever to upload on this hick Internet so I'll edit it in later.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 22:45
|
|
|
Yup, its me with the dumb cat-dog. Sully wasn't crazy pleased about the harness (the being outside was great), but he doesn't mind it now so long as he gets to lounge in the grass and be a chortle at birds. Sully is terrified of ducks, though, which we have on the property here.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 22:52
|
|
|
Is anyone in touch with criscodisco? Last I heard, Frizz was expecting kittens and that's what made me start regularly checking this thread in the first place. I was really hoping for kitten pictures and an update or 2.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 23:04
|
|
|
Has anyone used/bought one of the Nina Ottosson wood dog puzzle games? I picked one up yesterday and it has been hilarious. Poor Sitka's little brain is completely fried by the 'dog brick' game.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 23:10
|
|
|
There were a ton of dogs at the shelter today. I guess some of the neighboring ones were having issues (I want to say roofing?) and so they sent over a bunch of dogs and it was super busy, 20 dogs on the walk list (I know this isn't a ton compared to some shelters, but keep in mind that if we usually have 1/3 - 1/2 that number, it's a big jump). But! Walked this adorable pom lady who was a total sassy sweetheart: As well as this rotty/corgi cross dude:  Also this fat old chocolate lab who made this horrible load panting/coughing noise the entire time.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 23:32
|
|
|
Citizen Rat posted:Has anyone used/bought one of the Nina Ottosson wood dog puzzle games? I picked one up yesterday and it has been hilarious. Poor Sitka's little brain is completely fried by the 'dog brick' game. Not a Ottoson one, but I picked up this one from Bed Bath and Beyond last Christmas. It was so funny to watch Koji figure it out. Now it's almost too easy, except on days he feels particularly lazy, then it might take him 5 minutes to find all of the treats. It's like, he knows to shove them out of the way with his nose or paw then with his foot, but sometimes he just goes  and just spins it around on the floor until the sliders flap open.
|
|
#
?
Sep 27, 2012 23:41
|
|
|
Sitka has only had three sessions with it so far and hasn't completely figured out how to slide it open when its all the way closed because that requires a little bit of delicacy for her. (Which, as a malamute, she's not good at.) After awhile she gets frustrated and flops down and wails at me until I help her.
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2012 00:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 7, 2024 02:00 |
|
|
Is it bad that I laugh at the cats when they bat their toys past the Ssscat and are then afraid to retrieve them?
|
|
#
?
Sep 28, 2012 01:48
|
|