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RazorBunny posted:None of the specialty pet stores within reasonable driving distance carry Indigo Moon. I finally decided to use my voucher on two bags of Katz-N-Flocken instead, and I'll switch the cats to that. I have just enough Indigo Moon left to do a gradual switch. The KNF is available most places around here. It's not grain free like the Indigo Moon, but oh well. I was just about to swiych my cats away from the katznflockn food a few months ago, also due to the food crumbling into pieces my cats wouldn't eat. Was forced to switch them tall o wysong uretic due to sudden stones in one of the cats (and yes she got prescription wetfood and gets the uretic maintenance wet food as well still). I think solid gold has a bigger issue here, sucks  Hope your bags are the non crmbly kind!
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Dec 15, 2012 23:16
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Abbeh posted:Finally home and had a chance to hear everything. The official diagnosis is pancreatitis that has caused his whole digestive system to shut down - so the thing in his stomach wasn't actually blocking anything, it just couldn't go anywhere. He'll be getting fed through IV in the hospital the next few days and hopefully things will start healing. Goodbye raw feeding for Zoso. At least the preparation will be easier now. I've had dogs with pancreatitis and it sucks.  Poor Zoso. Hopefully he'll be feeling awesome and back on his feet in no time.I went shopping for the dogs' stockings today. They had the mobile speuter van outside and there was a wiggly golden retriever pup out there that was super duper excited about everything.  So I spent like half an hour rubbing her fuzzy ears and talking to her owner. She was spotless and so well groomed and in amazing condition. Her owner had a $10,000 bank account waiting for her in case she needs anything, knew about care credit and golden retrievers being prone to cancer and hip issues and all sorts of awesome things that she brought up and we talked about. And it was just really neat, because that little puppy has such a bright little future ahead of her and she was so happy about everything. Plus, she'll be going to the dog park I use soon so I might get to see her some. Puppies
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Dec 15, 2012 23:26
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Abbeh posted:Finally home and had a chance to hear everything. The official diagnosis is pancreatitis that has caused his whole digestive system to shut down - so the thing in his stomach wasn't actually blocking anything, it just couldn't go anywhere. He'll be getting fed through IV in the hospital the next few days and hopefully things will start healing. Goodbye raw feeding for Zoso. At least the preparation will be easier now. Glad to hear he's mostly ok!
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Dec 16, 2012 00:29
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PI Journal Club thread
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Dec 16, 2012 01:50
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RazorBunny posted:Every year our local fire department drives up and down the streets in our neighborhood with their sirens going and a firefighter dressed as Santa waving from the truck. It goes on for WAY too long, and all the pets in the neighborhood flip out the entire time. They also toss out handfuls of candy into the front lawns for kids to run out and grab, but a lot of it ends up left behind and I've seen lots of dogs try to eat it. What the hell?  Can't they run their lights without the sirens? And... hand little baggies of candy directly to the kids, or something? That has to be really freakin' annoying on various levels.e: So this was my behavior mentor's status on FB tonight: quote:A rather unstable lady called the shelter multiple times today to accuse us of inserting probes into dogs' brains so we could spy on her. She then accused an employee of tapping her phone. The employee's response? "Ma'am, I'm an English major. I don't know how to tap anything." 
Skizzles fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Dec 16, 2012 |
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Dec 16, 2012 02:26
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Skizzles posted:What the hell? Yeah, that's so weird. Why blast the sirens like that? Sirens are loud as hell. Also I want to work where you work, it's entertaining. 
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Dec 16, 2012 02:50
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While she and I work for the same organization, we both work at very different facilities. She works at the main shelter. I work at one of our pet resorts.  Meaning I only deal with people who bring their dogs for boarding, grooming, daycare, and (soon) training. We get quite a few stereotypical nutty owners who spoil their pets. There's a sweet greyhound that comes in (I don't know if I've posted about her before). Her name is Tina Turner. And her owner WILL correct us if we address her "daughter" as Tina and not Tina Turner. Also holy poo poo, if you want to get free lunch frequently just work at a pet resort. Owners send us food to show appreciation for taking such good care of their ~furbabies~ all the freaking time, especially during holidays. There's a corgi who comes to work almost every day. Her owner sent us some very tasty coffee cakes one week. Then an Edible Arrangements the next. Then donuts the week after that. Last Thursday Tina Turner's owner had pizza delivered to us; the poor delivery guy seemed disappointed when we pointed to the dog and went "yeah that's Tina Turner." The next day another owner had pizza delivered to us. Goddamn, part of the reason I was happy I left my last food service job was because there wouldn't be so much tempting free food around!  Also, behavior people, I need your help! If you have any videos on hand that would be really good for body language analysis to use in my blog, please post them.
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Dec 16, 2012 03:01
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Skizzles posted:Also, behavior people, I need your help! If you have any videos on hand that would be really good for body language analysis to use in my blog, please post them. When do you need them by? I've been meaning to video tape one of our training sessions, but the next one is Wednesday or Thursday. We've been working on building an artificial calming signal in Psyche; we're asking her to turn her head during stressful events since she starts most bad behaviors with a hard stare, and it's coming along nicely. She also gives a lot of nice signals naturally: lip licks, paw raises, yawns, blinks, shakes. She's also been practicing a lot of avoidance lately and has been correcting herself for what would have previously been some decent sized explosions. It's pretty interesting to watch.
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Dec 16, 2012 03:19
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Skizzles posted:Also holy poo poo, if you want to get free lunch frequently just work at a pet resort. Seriously. We don't even do boarding, just training and this week we got pepperoni rolls, eggnog, chocolate eggnog, chips and dip, and cookies. I'm one of the only employees who isn't vegan  You can use the video I posted of Major greeting my neightbor's dog a page back (or right here) if you want. I might be able to find a video of one of our reactive dog classes at some point too.
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Dec 16, 2012 03:22
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Skizzles posted:Also holy poo poo, if you want to get free lunch frequently just work at a pet resort. SO true. At my first kennel job, around the holidays every surface in the staff area was covered in cookies, brownies, edible arrangements, cake etc. At my second kennel job we wouldn't get things as much, but we had a few clients that have more money than they know what to do with. One would buy us donuts on a regular basis, and once ordered us pizzas without telling us. Just... surprise! Dominoes guy!
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Dec 16, 2012 03:32
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Kiri koli posted:When do you need them by? I've been meaning to video tape one of our training sessions, but the next one is Wednesday or Thursday. We've been working on building an artificial calming signal in Psyche; we're asking her to turn her head during stressful events since she starts most bad behaviors with a hard stare, and it's coming along nicely. She also gives a lot of nice signals naturally: lip licks, paw raises, yawns, blinks, shakes. She's also been practicing a lot of avoidance lately and has been correcting herself for what would have previously been some decent sized explosions. It's pretty interesting to watch. No deadline, it'll probably be a while until I get to it, so take your time.  I just wanted a follow-up to my last body language post with examples, because reading about it is one thing but seeing it is another.But I would love PI dog videos, so please feel free to record your own!  I might use that one of Major and if you come across the one from your reactive class I'd like to see it.
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Dec 16, 2012 04:46
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Heknocentric Thinker posted:I was just about to swiych my cats away from the katznflockn food a few months ago, also due to the food crumbling into pieces my cats wouldn't eat. Was forced to switch them tall o wysong uretic due to sudden stones in one of the cats (and yes she got prescription wetfood and gets the uretic maintenance wet food as well still). I think solid gold has a bigger issue here, sucks The Katz-N-Flocken appears to be fine, but I had gotten a voucher for two free bags from Solid Gold because my last two bags of Indigo Moon were crumbly like that. To be honest I only bought the KNF because I was getting it for free. After this I think I might go over to Merrick Before Grain. They alreaddy eat the BG wet anyway. I just hate to switch them twice in rapid succession, although it'll take a while to go through eight pounds, so it won't be too close together. But if Solid Gold is consistently having quality issues, it's not worth continuing to buy.
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Dec 16, 2012 05:46
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edit: NM
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Dec 16, 2012 06:49
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cryingscarf posted:SO true. At my first kennel job, around the holidays every surface in the staff area was covered in cookies, brownies, edible arrangements, cake etc. At my second kennel job we wouldn't get things as much, but we had a few clients that have more money than they know what to do with. One would buy us donuts on a regular basis, and once ordered us pizzas without telling us. Just... surprise! Dominoes guy! We've been getting goodies at the clinic I work at and we devour them within the hour. When I got the job they specifically showed me the communal food space, where if you put food down someone will eat it, and I thought they were joking. Who thought a group of girls could eat so much so fast? So far the best treats we've gotten was a dozen of some really delicious high end fancy cupcakes for doing a difficult neuter and a box of Godiva chocolate cookies for the holidays. Oh, and one lady who owns a candy shop left a bag of these amazing sea salt caramels that lasted maybe 30 minutes max.
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Dec 16, 2012 12:01
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We've been inundated with sugar at work. There was a particularly good rum cake that lasted all of 30 minutes--apparently its arrival is hotly anticipated each year. Yesterday there was a box of fancy chocolate cookies, 3 boxes of pastries, and a vegetable tray. My surgeries and dentals started first thing in the morning and went straight through until 3pm, skipping lunch entirely, so the food was much appreciated.
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Dec 16, 2012 16:43
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So, it sounds like I should not leave treats for my pet sitter because they are likely overloaded?
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Dec 16, 2012 16:54
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Shifty Pony posted:So, it sounds like I should not leave treats for my pet sitter because they are likely overloaded? I took two boxes of treats to the vet for the dogs and came back with 1/4th box. The dogs seemed really happy though?
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Dec 16, 2012 16:57
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Shifty Pony posted:So, it sounds like I should not leave treats for my pet sitter because they are likely overloaded? No. Leave lots of them. Lots.
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Dec 16, 2012 17:35
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I caught a mouse today because my cat is actually, seriously broken. How could she be that stupid? Okay quick backstory: I have been housesitting for my parents who retired right around the same time I graduated college in early September. They went on a series of trips and I watched their animals and house while they've been gone. They just got back recently and have been watching Sarabi while I've been lining up a job/apartment for after Christmas. They live in a giant sprawling house on 60 worthless rural acres. It is lovely out here. ANYWAY the rains have started and I found my first mouse inside the house. Well, actually Sarabi found it, last night. She had it cornered in my bathroom where it was undoubtedly going after the cat food. I told her she was a good cat, ducked out for a minute, and when I came back she (unsurprisingly) had lost the mouse but was staring intently at one corner of the cabinet where I assumed There Was A Mouse. She stayed there for HOURS. I left and came back hours later and she was still there, and didn't come to bed until late because she was watching the (apparently mouseless) corner. "Good cat," I thought. This morning, I grabbed my pair of chop-wood-and-work-outside jeans that were lying on the floor because I'm a horrible slob and shook them out and stuck my foot in there and what comes falling out of the leg but Our Mouse Friend. Note: bedroom and bathroom are connected but not that close to each other; Sarabi totally missed the mouse taking off somewhere. "Dumb cat," I thought, "She must have gotten distracted." I call her down from her bed and she gets pretty psyched and starts poking the mouse, which runs for a few feet and then stops moving. Sarabi gets distracted and loses track of the mouse. I'm staring from mouse to cat trying to get her to realize it's still there, literally just sitting terrified inches from me. She finally sees it, pokes it again, and the process repeats. Eventually the mouse sort of acts like it's going to try to bite her, she freaks out and runs off up her cat tree. I wrap the mouse in a sweatshirt so I don't get Mouse Herpes or whatever stupid diseases they carry and dump it outside while Sabrab eats kibble. Jesus loving Christ. I felt sort of bad for the mouse, to be hunted by something so inept. I probably should have killed it, I know it'll just come right back in but it was pretty cute and I was worried about not being able to do it in one blow. HOW IS SHE SO BAD THOUGH I MEAN she just kept losing track of it! It was right there the whole time! Maybe I should get her eyes checked, because drat.
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Dec 16, 2012 21:38
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Lots of good pet stuff in the Amazon Lightning Deals right now, by the way.
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Dec 16, 2012 22:15
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I was cutting Vecna's nails tonight and on the very last nail he flinched and I quicked him really, really badly (I think? I've never quicked a pet before but almost half his nail is gone  ). He started gushing blood and now I have bloody paw prints all over the house and I feel like the worst dog owner ever. Jesus Christ there was so much blood. I put vet wrap on his foot because I don't have a styptic pencil and that seemed to bother him a lot more than the nail issue. And I cried like a little babby and he started seal facing at me and licking my face and I somehow feel a million times worse about it.I gave him a bockwüstchen and a bunch of cheese, I hope that makes up for it a little bit
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Dec 16, 2012 23:45
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I've heard that corn starch is a styptic, too. Maybe try putting some of that on his nail?
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Dec 16, 2012 23:48
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If I'd had any I would have It's not like the carpets mattered at all, I know as soon as we move out this entire place is getting gutted and renovated. But holy poo poo man, I've never seen an animal bleed so much without it being a serious injury before. It stopped bleeding a couple hours ago and now he's boucning around like a lunatic so I'm sure he's fine, but I feel terrible Somehow his "hey you feel bad, I will make it better!!" reaction just made me feel a million times worse.
Triangulum fucked around with this message at 23:55 on Dec 16, 2012 |
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Dec 16, 2012 23:51
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And flour can work too if you have any of that around. It's amazing just how much they can bleed though. Don't beat yourself up about it. It happens. And I think the amount of blood looks worse than what it really is.
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Dec 17, 2012 00:02
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I think it's pretty bad... I pulled the vet wrap off and I can see the quick sticking out of his nail he doesn't seem to give a poo poo though so I guess that's good?
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Dec 17, 2012 00:05
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If there is tissue sticking out, do your best to keep him from licking it. Dogs like to lick torn or otherwise damaged nails and get them infected.
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Dec 17, 2012 00:35
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So my dog has finally noticed that a picture he's walked past for years has a cat in it.
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Dec 17, 2012 01:28
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clearly the picture has become haunted Has anyone here read "The Modern Dog" by Stanley Coren? I've heard nothing but praise from respectable people for this guy for a long time, and it was an entertaining read, until the 6th chapter where he harps on "dominance" and "social rankings" and such (fortunately he doesn't tell you to alpha roll your dog or anything). And he talks about the behavioral differences between male and female dogs, I'm wondering how accurate all that is, out of curiosity. Skizzles fucked around with this message at 03:16 on Dec 17, 2012 |
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Dec 17, 2012 03:14
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One of our friends got the cats a Da Bird for Christmas and they're going apeshit! They both keep trying to run off with the lure in their mouths. Nibbler's the only one who will dance for it, but Leela is clearly excited too - I've never heard her growl at a toy
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Dec 17, 2012 04:21
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Radio! posted:I've heard that corn starch is a styptic, too. Maybe try putting some of that on his nail? You can also stick the nail into a bar of soap and it will make a little plug at the end.
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Dec 17, 2012 09:57
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So should I keep his foot wrapped up? It's not bothering him at all and I haven't seen him lick it but I am kind of worried it will get all gross when he goes outside.
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Dec 17, 2012 11:51
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union had some exposed quicks a while ago, the advice I got from the vet was not to wrap it up. The quick will dry out and harden (and stop being painful) and then the nail will regrow over it. He said if I was worried about it getting messed up on walks I could wrap it up a bit, but that may be even more bothersome to the dog.
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Dec 17, 2012 13:51
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Skizzles posted:Has anyone here read "The Modern Dog" by Stanley Coren? I've heard nothing but praise from respectable people for this guy for a long time, and it was an entertaining read, until the 6th chapter where he harps on "dominance" and "social rankings" and such (fortunately he doesn't tell you to alpha roll your dog or anything). And he talks about the behavioral differences between male and female dogs, I'm wondering how accurate all that is, out of curiosity. He's generally well regarded, but I don't know anything about his methods. When was the book written? Even some of my favourite trainers have written some not-exactly-right things in the past.
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Dec 17, 2012 17:15
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It was 2008, I did check that to make sure it wasn't the 70s or something. I know I didn't care for Patricia McConnell's social hierarchy chapter in The Other End of the Leash, but I like everything else she says, so maybe it's like that.
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Dec 17, 2012 18:27
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Most books written by trainers tend to completely disregard or throw the concept of social hierarchies out entirely because it plays almost no role in training. However, books written by CAAB's and ethologists sometimes make mention of it, because like it or not, a handful of breeds of dogs are still capable of reading social dominance cues and forming social hierarchies when their ecological niche calls for it (which is exceptionally rarely). People attending Jean Donaldson's Academy have told me that she dismisses the concept outright, which scientifically you just can't do. It may not be thoroughly understood yet (which is par for the course in animal behavior), but the majority of ethologists agree that dominance does play a role in some of the agonistic displays of some wild canids. Stanley Coren gets pretty well mocked and scorned for his whole "intelligence ranking" of different dog breeds in the training community here. He's quite a good neuropsychologist, but not a very good ethologist.
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Dec 17, 2012 18:42
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What do people think about this book? http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Games-Dogs-Provide-Stimulation/dp/1554074908/ref=sr_1_17?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355762704&sr=1-17 I'm looking to teach Bailey some new behaviors and sometimes I need a little step by step guidance for it, but I'm not sure if this book is worth it.
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Dec 17, 2012 18:58
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So, Kramer is the cat that lives at the holistic pet store I used to work at and still buy all of our supplies at. I was just in last Thursday buying food and petting Kramer. He's an 18 year old black cat who is super friendly to everybody that comes in the store - people, dogs, kids - everybody. He's kind of getting slow and crotchety, but he still meets about half of our customers at the door and yells a scratchy hello and forces them to pet him against their will. He's our most overworked employee and pays himself in food samples and dog treats and most of the catnip toys. People often stop by just to see him even if they don't need food or supplies. Last Friday (it was just an awful day all around), Kramer was attacked by a customer's dog. This happened once before, several years ago, but the Owner got the dog to release him almost immediately and he had no serious injuries outside of some bruising and stiffness. Even after, he still liked dogs. This time, the dog refused to let go. (I have no idea what kind of dog it was or whose dog it was or anything.) It took them a good 5 minutes to get the dog to stop shaking him and release him and he was clearly in pain and going into shock. The emergency vet found that his abdominal wall was torn and his intestines were spilling into his soft tissue mass. His bladder was punctured as well and there was some muscle and nerve damage to his back legs. They went straight into surgery and managed to repair those, but were not able to get to some of the nerves deep in his leg. He's in ICU right now and doing well, his temperature is back to normal, but he's still not eating or producing urine. I know technically it's not MY cat, but I've spent so many weekends at the store with him, feeding, playing and taking care of him, that all of the employees feel that he's "OUR" cat. He is such an important part of the store that the whole 'community' based around the pet store is shaken up. They've had phone calls from people that don't even shop there anymore because they moved out of state, but who still love Kramey and want to know how he's doing. They've also donated almost $1,000 since Friday to help pay for the surgery. We've all spent the whole weekend alternating between crying because we feel so sad about what happened and crying because the outpouring of support from customers and strangers has been so amazing. Anyway, thought I'd share some photos with you guys because he is the definition of a FANTASTIC CAT. It's pretty awesome what the vets at the hospital were able to do for an 18 year old cat with pretty severe internal injuries. He's not out of the woods yet (newest issue is his white blood cell count, so it's still pretty serious), but he is looking a lot better: Kramey at the Hospital getting love from his Pet Store Family:  Happier Times:   
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Dec 17, 2012 19:13
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Stayed over with a guy I'm dating and brought my idiot Aussie mutt, Clover, with me. We spent the whole night breaking up what I thought were fights between her and his three cats. I got to see one, finally. His elderly 18 year old cat with no teeth or claws swiped at her, didn't make contact, and she slammed into the ground yowling. My dog is taking dives. (we went out for breakfast and she scaled a babygate at the top of the steps. Apparently then all three cats swarmed her and she poo poo herself in fear and then peed. 60 pound dog. Come on dog.) Rodent Mortician fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Dec 17, 2012 |
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Dec 17, 2012 19:17
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Just found out yesterday that notmypuppy has Coccidia. Just had to pick up and pay for the meds for the family because they didn't have time to go over the weekend. Cool.
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Dec 17, 2012 20:00
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So I live in a moderately rural area, where there really are not many (well, any) positive trainers. The only local one is big on dominance and I personally think ventures into abuse fairly often--not anything the authorities would handle, but things like using a shock collar to punish the dog for "disobedience" when it's clear the dog just has no idea what it's being asked to do. I've been helping friends with some minor behavioral problems with their dogs, just informally, with great success. This weekend I had a couple of people at a party ask me if I would consider running a basic obedience group class. I have no credentials, I'm not the most educated on canine behavior (though am working on it), and initially I went, "No way, I'm not qualified!" But actually I am, I'm quite experienced with basic obedience even with difficult dogs and for this area I'm extremely good, both results-wise and knowledge-wise. I also know enough to know when I'm in over my head and refer someone elsewhere. I have the time and the space, and as I get increasingly serious about sports and work with my personal dogs, I think working with a variety of canines can only help. I've found that teaching has always helped me progress in my own understanding and skill, and imagine that will be true of dog training as well. I am thinking I won't charge much, and wouldn't charge at all except that I am going to get insurance for it, because there's no way I'm teaching a class for dogs at my house without it! Right now I'm thinking that if I do this, I'll just charge enough to cover the insurance and any equipment I decide I'll need. I guess I just wanted to throw this out there since I know PI has some trainers and a lot of people who work seriously with trainers. It's just a really basic thing that I kind of see as community service in a way. We're a kind of remote community without a lot of dog knowledge and I think it could help people a lot. But I never really thought about training dogs like that before and I wanted to know if I'm missing anything or hear what you guys think. ButWhatIf posted:Most books written by trainers tend to completely disregard or throw the concept of social hierarchies out entirely because it plays almost no role in training. However, books written by CAAB's and ethologists sometimes make mention of it, because like it or not, a handful of breeds of dogs are still capable of reading social dominance cues and forming social hierarchies when their ecological niche calls for it (which is exceptionally rarely). People attending Jean Donaldson's Academy have told me that she dismisses the concept outright, which scientifically you just can't do. It may not be thoroughly understood yet (which is par for the course in animal behavior), but the majority of ethologists agree that dominance does play a role in some of the agonistic displays of some wild canids. Yeah, I've read a few things by Coren and some has helped me a lot--his explanations of how dogs experience the world on a sensory level were a bit of a breakthrough for me, because although I knew in theory how different dogs and people were, it was the first time I really understood it, if that makes any sense. But he definitely has some weird and/or outdated ideas on the behavior front. I still read his articles and such when I come across them, but you definitely need to take it with a grain of salt.
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Dec 17, 2012 20:02
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