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I don't want to be argumentative but we practice good medicine and the cost is fair. A routine spay or neuter I could see being $300 or $400, but not a dental, unless some teeth needed to be extracted, or something like that. This, again, is without doing radiographs, which our doctors don't really view as necessary for the average dental. Radiographs would definitely tack an extra $200 or more onto the end result for us. I guess we've had different experiences. There are other places in the area that will just push some telazol and scale teeth for the same price or more, so maybe there's justification for charging more for taking precautions/doing quality work, but charging what we do, we still manage to pull a profit.
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# ? Sep 25, 2010 21:42 |
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# ? Jun 4, 2024 21:32 |
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The ongoing saga of getting Nova to tip top health. Backstory: Nova is an adult cat maybe 8-12 years old who was taken from a hoarder's house. After a short foster with a nice woman who has helped rescue dancing bears and 6 weeks in a no kill shelter, she came to be my first kitty about a month ago. It's been a big learning expeirence as she was taking liquid antibiotics when I first got her. Shelter said she had a URI and had a reduced appetite before they started the antibiotics. She's a little sneezy when I get her, and assume it's just the URI. A few days after getting her, one eye's lids became swollen and her pupil constricted. So a call to the e-vet and a next day trip to the vet, I learned a lot about feline herpes and giving eye drops to a cat (oh boy fun!) I added 500 mg l-lysine to her diet and the eye got better quickly. Oh and at the vet we discovered she has really really bad teeth and needs a few extractions. It ]\\\[[[zswseemed (sorry she just walked across they keyboard) IT SEEMED that her sniffles were getting worse. I scheduled her dental for 2 weeks later, thinking that would clear up. She has this little spazzy fit where it almost sounds like she's coughing in and out. She did the leaning forward coughing like a cat with asthma a few times, where it seems like she brings up a tiny bit of mucous. The cough does seem to have a part where her diaphram? is spasming. I'd say she has a little cough (out - in -out) once and hour, and the scarier coughing once a day. I called the vet today and they want to postpone her surgery until we figure it out, but I need to do it Thursday because I'll be traveling and then defending my dissertation in the next 2 months. Vet thinks it's maybe hairballs, so we're doing laxatone for a few days to see if it helps. She had a few hairballs when I first got her, but with good food, cooler weather, and daily brushing she's shedding much less. I'm doubtful about the hairballs, I'm wondering if it's some sort of mild asthma. If it is, would dental surgery be risky? I want her to be healthy and happy. I worry her teeth are going to get infected if I wait a few months, and that would be really bad.
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# ? Sep 26, 2010 04:00 |
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Octoduck posted:I have a one year old German Shepherd who has, within the last month, begun to show aggression towards strangers both in and around our home. We used to take him out off of the leash to run around in a field near our apartments. He has always ignored people and other pets, but recently he has taken to running off whenever he sees someone, forcing us to keep him on the leash. The change is likely because he's starting to reach maturity. It's around this age that a lot of dog's true personality comes out. He's becoming more independent and is doing a lot of the same stupid poo poo teenagers do as they try to become more self reliant. Check out/post in the Herding Dog Megathread for a few more opinions, as WolfensteinBag suggested. My Aussie Shepherd does similar things -- she wants to run up to people playing in the field where I walk her, and will bark at and run after bicycles if left to her own devices. For the most part I've been able to curtail this behaviour, but I still have to watch her like a hawk so she doesn't make the executive decision for herself and run out of range. The contributing factors at work here are likely:
Training with treats tends to have a calming effect on dogs (whereby training with play/toys has the opposite effect, it will build drive). Work on basic recall from a distance. Start in easy areas and gradually add more distractions. Some self control exercises you can teach are food bowl manners (where they must sit and wait for their food without you telling them sit/stay/leave it/whatever) kennel/door manners (where they must wait for you to invite them out instead of charging the door), basic NILIF training (where the dog doesn't get anything it wants without first giving you something you want), and more. Also, check out this video: It's Yer Choice I clicker train, and I reward my dog for coming when I call with awesome treats. I reward more if she sees someone she wants to chase and she calls off. And I give a huge jackpot if there's something she normally wants to chase and she sticks by my side without me having to give her a command. Anyways, to sum up, work harder on basic obedience and don't allow the dog an opportunity to repeat this behaviour -- walk on leash or walk elsewhere until you've laid the ground work for him ignoring these distractions. Try your best to keep him calm. What you described isn't aggression, but a herding behaviour based on either insecurity or excitement. a life less fucked around with this message at 14:57 on Sep 26, 2010 |
# ? Sep 26, 2010 14:54 |
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pandaid posted:I called the vet today and they want to postpone her surgery until we figure it out, but I need to do it Thursday because I'll be traveling and then defending my dissertation in the next 2 months. Vet thinks it's maybe hairballs, so we're doing laxatone for a few days to see if it helps. She had a few hairballs when I first got her, but with good food, cooler weather, and daily brushing she's shedding much less. I'm doubtful about the hairballs, I'm wondering if it's some sort of mild asthma. If it is, would dental surgery be risky? I want her to be healthy and happy. I worry her teeth are going to get infected if I wait a few months, and that would be really bad. Unless you have a reason to not trust your vet, I'd follow their recommendations for when to do the dental. She's had progressively shittier teeth for 8-12 years, so putting it off for two months isn't as big a deal as what might happen under anesthesia with an unknown respiratory problem.
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# ? Sep 26, 2010 16:11 |
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If you get a regular ant and put him in a tube, what can you put for food? Can you put water or will he drown? I already have a cat so I don't want a big pet, this is the right size for me.
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# ? Sep 26, 2010 23:29 |
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Empire State posted:I don't want to be argumentative but we practice good medicine and the cost is fair. A routine spay or neuter I could see being $300 or $400, but not a dental, unless some teeth needed to be extracted, or something like that. This, again, is without doing radiographs, which our doctors don't really view as necessary for the average dental. Radiographs would definitely tack an extra $200 or more onto the end result for us. I guess we've had different experiences. That is pretty much the opposite of what I have experienced here. I volunteered at a vet clinic for a year, and a spay or neuter would cost $250-350 or so, but a dental is way more. It takes way longer to do a thorough dental cleaning than to do a spay or neuter, which means you need more fluids, and more anaesthesia. A cat neuter only takes 10 minutes, a dog spay maybe 30-40 minutes, but a dental was always at least an hour, and we've had some dogs with particularly tough tooth extractions that were under anaesthesia for 3 hours. Dentals would start at around $500, and that's even with them trying to cut prices wherever they could to try and encourage people to get their dogs' teeth cleaned. Extractions could easily bump that price to $800-$1000. Our clinic used to do cat dentals, but stopped doing them because they didn't have dental x-rays, which they considered essential for cats since their teeth can have problems that you wouldn't know about unless you a) had an x-ray done, or b) dug at the cat's tooth for 30min before realizing what had happened. They now refer all cat dentals to a cat clinic. I'm not sure what they charge; I've heard that they try to keep it very reasonable, but it's probably more than a dog's due to dental x-rays. Lackadaisical posted:e: I actually have a second question. My cat is acting completely normal and is eating and drinking normally. That said, my cats nose has lost all color today. It's normally pink but today it's just white. Also, her fur is normally orange and white but the orange color has been getting paler over the past month. Could stress be doing this? I'd take her to a vet ASAP but other than the color issues, she seems completely fine. Is it just the nose? Check her ears and gums, maybe press on her gums to see if the colour returns quickly. You could also try calling your vet and explaining what's happening and see if they think it's important that you bring her in.
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# ? Sep 27, 2010 00:56 |
Hope this is the right thread: Anyone have any experience with or know where to buy a doggie backpack for a small (8 pound or so) dog? If it doubled as a vest to attach a leach to it, all the more perfect. I would like to be able to store poo poo (cell phone, keys, money) in my dog's backpack and put her to work. I would also love it if there were LED lights in the backpack to light her up at night. The reason for wanting a backpack for the dog is simply that I like to walk her in gym shorts that dont have pockets.
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# ? Sep 27, 2010 05:56 |
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M R GALLETA posted:If you get a regular ant and put him in a tube, what can you put for food? Can you put water or will he drown? I already have a cat so I don't want a big pet, this is the right size for me. If you give her a drop or so of sugar water it should retain enough surface tension to stay in drop form, and she can stay mostly dry and just suck some water up as she needs it. Remember, without her queen she won't live past a day or two. Maybe an insect that doesn't rely so much on the hive mind would be a better fit - try a night crawler or a slug?
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# ? Sep 27, 2010 15:41 |
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I've got two Great Dane pups that are about 2 1/2 weeks apart in age, with the oldest one being just over 5 months old. The younger one was an unplanned adoption from a coworker that had small children that didn't mesh with the puppy, so we've had him just over a month now. We had the older one for at least 2 months before that. Now, here's my issue. They get along just fine. They play correctly and not too roughly. They don't have any problems drinking out of the same bowl together, so there's no real aggression between them. However, I can't get them to stop playing. I'd love to have them both out and have them being calm, yet, if they are both out, they are playing. I've even let them play for about 30-40 min straight before and they continue to play. From everything I've read and heard about danes and from my trainer, it's not good to let them do this much. I've tried to use a spray bottle so that they break up and will stop for a while, but the older one is starting to get a bit immune to that. So, I know they are puppies and puppies play, but I'd love to be able to have them both out of their crates at the same time. Anyone have any suggestions to how I can help them be a bit calmer?
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# ? Sep 27, 2010 17:38 |
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My friend recently posted an album full of pics of her new bunny. I don't know a single thing about owning rabbits, but something about her setup put me off. It looks like the cage is too small for the bunny, the bottom is metal and shapped like a grid which I've read can be bad for their feet. I recommended she buy bitter spray for her cords because she had pics of it out of its cage, and I don't think she'd know that is an issue with small animals. Other than that any other recommendations or I am overreacting because I know nothing about rabbit care?
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# ? Sep 27, 2010 23:36 |
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This Post Sucks posted:Anyone have any suggestions to how I can help them be a bit calmer? Maybe give each of them a stuffed Kong to work on? I know when I need my dog to be quiet and out of the way (like when I'm cooking or ) a Kong full of peanut butter or yogurt will distract him pretty completely.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 00:24 |
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Opera Bitch posted:My friend recently posted an album full of pics of her new bunny. Yeah that's pretty much terrible. Tell her to visit rabbit.org. There's a new bunny FAQ here but there's too much for me to summarize everything in one post. The three big things: 1. A rabbit needs free access to unlimited timothy hay, not a small handful in that little ball (which is hard to get the hay out of). 2. A rabbit needs to be neutered/spayed. If it's a girl and she's not spayed, she's got about an 80% chance of developing uterine cancer by age 3. Intact rabbits spray, bite, and destroy far more than altered ones. 3. Without a larger cage and a litterbox, a rabbit will never learn to be litter trained. The wire floor is the least of that rabbit's problems.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 15:20 |
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RazorBunny posted:Maybe give each of them a stuffed Kong to work on? I know when I need my dog to be quiet and out of the way (like when I'm cooking or ) a Kong full of peanut butter or yogurt will distract him pretty completely. The problem with this is they are just like kids. If one has something, the other wants it, even if they have the exact same thing.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 15:57 |
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I think one of my cats has broken her tail! Yesterday, she ran into my room with her tail dragging along on the floor, barely able to walk with her hind legs. Feeling for some sort of trauma, I felt that she had a distended lump about the size of a handball in her lower abdomen. I fear that this is a distended bladder because she's not able to lift her tail to use the restroom. This morning, nothing is better. Pinching her tail lightly at the end produces no response; I'm worried that she has no sensation in her tail. In fact, I can run my finger up her tail until I reach nearly the rear of her back and she lets out a yelp. I really, really don't have the money for it but I'm going to take her to the vet today. I hope I don't get screwed and I hope I don't have to make the decision between having her live and living with massive credit card debt and letting her die.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 16:09 |
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This Post Sucks posted:The problem with this is they are just like kids. If one has something, the other wants it, even if they have the exact same thing. Put them where they can't see each other.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 16:20 |
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Superconsndar posted:Put them where they can't see each other. That's not the problem. They can sleep and be right next to each other in their crates and not be trying to go at each other. The original question was how to get them to be civil and not playing the whole time in the same room with them both out of the crates. Sorry if I didn't say it right
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 17:05 |
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Well, unless they've exhausted themselves playing with each other (which only lasts probably 30 minutes), you can't. They're puppies.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 17:10 |
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paisleyfox posted:Well, unless they've exhausted themselves playing with each other (which only lasts probably 30 minutes), you can't. They're puppies. Yeah, this. You've got two huge-rear end great dane puppies. At their age you can't really rely on exercise to tire them out because too much walking/strenuous exercise will gently caress a giant breed puppy's joints, so all they have is play. They're going to drive you absolutely crazy and be total terrors until they mature. If giving them stuff to chew on doesn't work, all you can do is keep them separated, though you SHOULD be letting them play, because well, they're puppies. Having one puppy, much less two, means being driven crazy until they mature. I have an 8 month old working-bred APBT puppy in a 1 bedroom apartment. I spend a lot of time wanting to either kill him or die myself. That's just how it is.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 17:19 |
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Ok, thanks! That's what I was thinking. Currently, at the advice of our trainer, I'm limiting their play time. They are getting to attached to each other, and not attached enough to me, which is causing some training/focus issues. I have been watching their walking/exercise too due to the joint problems, so looks like it's more one on one play time!
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 18:20 |
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Also, hopefully your trainer is discussing this with you, be sure that when you do training do them individually (but obviously with same cues etc.) That'll up the bonding etc. and you can work on training/obedience whatever with them together later once you have the basics and foundation with them individually. And I've noticed a serious lack of puppy pictures.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 18:32 |
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paisleyfox posted:Also, hopefully your trainer is discussing this with you, be sure that when you do training do them individually (but obviously with same cues etc.) That'll up the bonding etc. and you can work on training/obedience whatever with them together later once you have the basics and foundation with them individually. Yeah, I'll work about 20min a day with each of them on an individual basis. They are just too crazy with each other to do anything together, anyhow. And, I'll post two puppy pictures for you (mainly cause I've already posted all of these in this thread before ):
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 19:02 |
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Oh my gosh they got so big. They're so floppy.
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 19:07 |
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Kerfuffle posted:Oh my gosh they got so big. They're so floppy. Those pictures are from about a month ago too The older one is taller than me when we both sitting on the ground now. He's just over 5 months old and probably around 65lbs. And yes, still floppy as ever!
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# ? Sep 28, 2010 20:55 |
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alucinor posted:Yeah that's pretty much terrible. Tell her to visit rabbit.org. There's a new bunny FAQ here but there's too much for me to summarize everything in one post. Thanks so much, I'll pass the link along to her although I am not too optimistic about her doing anything to give the rabbit a better life if it involves money: she doesn't make a whole lot and I am betting the rabbit was a gift or an impulse buy. At least I wasn't being overly reactionary and can now point her in the right direction. Edit: It seems she actually adopted the bunny, but I don't know details about it. Opera Bitch fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Sep 29, 2010 |
# ? Sep 29, 2010 04:40 |
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Crooked Booty posted:Your vet is going to be the best expert on whether or not surgery is risky for her right now. If your vet thinks you should wait until her respiratory issues are figured out, I would wait. If it is asthma, there are several really effective treatments that would help minimize any risks during surgery, but giving Laxatone a chance first is pretty standard procedure for these symptoms. As for her teeth getting infected, I really wouldn't worry about that too much. It's not going to change how many teeth need to be extracted, and if her mouth is as bad as you're making it sound, they'll be putting her on antibiotics after the dental either way. Nova went to the vet today after she had some congestion on Sunday (sneezing boogers, ew). We're doing a round of a different antibiotic than the one she was on at the shelter, to hopefully get whatever bacterial infections may be lingering. As a cat from a hoarding situation, apparently she could just have too many nasties, and it's taking her longer to recover from the normal shelter URI. The hope is she'll improve and we can do the surgery at the end of October. She also got her temperature taken and microchipped. She was a fan of neither. Particularly the evil thermometer.
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# ? Sep 29, 2010 05:16 |
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Small question! Apologies if this is already answered somewhere; I searched a bit and couldn't find anything. My little rear end in a top hat cat (redundant, right?) liked to scratch the couch and carpet, so now we stick softpaws on her. Problem is, she also likes to chew on the softpaws until she gets them off. It'd be really nice to not have to constantly re-apply them. (I know they fall off anyway as the claws grow, but she manages to get them off in just a few days.) Would it be feasible to put bitter apple spray on the softpaws right before application? I know it can be useful for deterring chewing on household objects, but I feel a little weird putting it on something attached to her paws, considering how much cats wash their heads with their front paws. It seems like it could work if the taste wore off quickly and just stuck around long enough for her to think "bleck, not worth chewing on these," but I wouldn't want to make her miserable with it. Bonus picture of Koshka looking psychotic while playing:
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# ? Oct 2, 2010 01:00 |
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I personally wouldn't feel right spraying bitter apple spray on a cat's paws. Chewing them off isn't uncommo. Sounds like they just aren't for your cat. Trimming her claws would help the worst of the damage, and it's possible to move their scratching habits onto good things like scratching posts. Try both floor and vertical ones. Catnip can be encouraging as well if your kitty is into it.
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# ? Oct 2, 2010 01:30 |
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How terrible would it be to just stop trimming my dog's nails? I ask because Bug, my 14-year-old Yorkie, has developed Cushing's on top of the dementia (canine cognitive dysfunction), and he's also gotten some pretty nasty soreness/arthritis in his front paws. Any handling of his front paws, even gently, hurts him a lot despite the Cosequin supplements and special foods. We have a dremel because due to a prior incident with a bad groomer, regular clippers freak him out and the dementia makes that worse - but the vibrations from the dremel will hurt like hell. He's due for a trim now, but if he can just live out the rest of his life (which isn't gonna be all that long, he's going through that last phase of perkiness before everything goes to poo poo) without needing to experience more pain than necessary, that would be awesome. Or would I be off-base in asking my vet for a mild painkiller I could give him before trimming his nails?
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# ? Oct 2, 2010 07:11 |
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What do his nails look like? Are the really over-grown at the moment, or still short but just need the tips cut off? Do they grow straight forward, or curl under as they grow, and how is his mobility, and how will it be affected by long nails? You have to weigh all of this out and decide whether a few minutes of discomfort is worth sparing your dog if he's going to have a hard time the rest of the time with getting around. Also, if the nails curl under you have no choice, because you can't have them growing into the pad, this is REALLY painful, and can become infected. Also, if you quit cutting them for awhile THEN decide they're getting too long and he's having problems with them, you'll have no choice but to actually use clippers on them, because they'll be far too long to be able to grind down. It's like any hard decision with your dog, only you know him and what's best for him. Just don't decide to put it off because it's easier and cause a bigger problem down the road.
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# ? Oct 2, 2010 12:26 |
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AltoidsAddict posted:How terrible would it be to just stop trimming my dog's nails? I've seen longer nails that impair mobility, causing the dog to walk on the "heels" of its pads. I could imagine that this awkward position would exacerbate his arthritis. I would say that if you notice it effecting his posture to bite the bullet and cut the nails.
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# ? Oct 2, 2010 14:33 |
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a life less posted:I've seen longer nails that impair mobility, causing the dog to walk on the "heels" of its pads. I could imagine that this awkward position would exacerbate his arthritis. I would say that if you notice it effecting his posture to bite the bullet and cut the nails.
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# ? Oct 2, 2010 14:49 |
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Thanks for your responses, everyone. The pain doesn't seem to be that bad when he walks around or jumps which is why he's not on pain meds, just when there's contact or pressure from the tops of the feet. That could be the Cushing's, that could be his prior retardation making him not really aware of it until he's sitting still, that could be CCD. We were treating CCD and his liver with Anipryl and Hepatosupport anyway, and due to his age and joints, we felt that all things considered the Cushing's is probably helping him more than hurting him. Hell, it's probably extended his life a few months - when he started getting that gaunt/potbelly look is when he really started perking up again. His nails don't curl under, but I see your points about walking on the heels eventually hurting him more than a few minutes of pain. I'll ask the vet for some anti-inflammatory.
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# ? Oct 2, 2010 17:43 |
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So my cat has reached the distinguished gentleman stage of life, and he seems very...licky, but only very recently. He has (in the past month or so) suddenly started drinking water/soda/anything ever on the floor in a glass/I'm holding in a glass. He has his own water. I have checked. It is clean and full. It is roughly 10 feet away. Is there a reason he is going after my water? Is he just bein' like "HOHO, you think this is your water, but it is MINEEE!" or is he actually craving water/it is just closer? Could he be more thirsty than usual? What would that mean? In short, my cat is a pushy water stealing freak.
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# ? Oct 3, 2010 21:44 |
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Stuntcat posted:So my cat has reached the distinguished gentleman stage of life, and he seems very...licky, but only very recently. He has (in the past month or so) suddenly started drinking water/soda/anything ever on the floor in a glass/I'm holding in a glass. He has his own water. I have checked. It is clean and full. It is roughly 10 feet away. Is there a reason he is going after my water? Is he just bein' like "HOHO, you think this is your water, but it is MINEEE!" or is he actually craving water/it is just closer? Could he be more thirsty than usual? What would that mean?
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# ? Oct 3, 2010 21:48 |
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Stuntcat posted:So my cat has reached the distinguished gentleman stage of life, and he seems very...licky, but only very recently. He has (in the past month or so) suddenly started drinking water/soda/anything ever on the floor in a glass/I'm holding in a glass. He has his own water. I have checked. It is clean and full. It is roughly 10 feet away. Is there a reason he is going after my water? Is he just bein' like "HOHO, you think this is your water, but it is MINEEE!" or is he actually craving water/it is just closer? Could he be more thirsty than usual? What would that mean? A lot of pets like drinking from several sources, so setting out extra bowls of water in different places of your house can help encourage him to drink more. However, lots of pets inexplicably love drinking out of cups. My ferrets knock cup over to drink from even when they have a dish and bottle in the cage and two bowls in the kitchen. Science will never be able to explain this behavior.
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# ? Oct 3, 2010 22:29 |
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My dog has recurring hotspots. They seem to come in maybe once or twice a year, right near the base of his tail. I only recently inherited him from my parents and this is my first time really caring for a dog. He'll bite at the spot until it's raw and bleeding and when I try to clean it to apply medicine he gets very antsy and tries to bolt (he doesn't like people touching his tail as it is, let alone an open wound). He did this tonight and I couldn't get him to sit still (quite a large dog). So I guess any tips on getting a large dog to sit still or at least stop biting himself? If I can just apply the medicine he should be good.
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# ? Oct 4, 2010 03:26 |
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What food is he on/Do you know if he has any seasonal allergies? Has a vet said anything about the hot spots?
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# ? Oct 4, 2010 03:43 |
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Crooked Booty posted:How old is he? Renal disease is extremely common in older cats, and increased thirst is usually one of the earliest apparent symptoms. There are several other diseases common in older cats that can cause increased thirst, too. I'd probably get a vet appointment to have some bloodwork run. Even if it comes back normal, it's a good thing to start doing annually in older cats, if not more often. In the meantime, you might want to offer him canned food or get a cat water fountain. He is 14. This is worrisome, I'll talk to my vet about it, I guess. He is on a mixture of canned and dry food, and has a water fountain, but I think I'll set out a few other dishes too to see if that helps.
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# ? Oct 4, 2010 03:50 |
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Stuntcat posted:In short, my cat is a pushy water stealing freak. I swear to god they just do this to be assholes. Or perhaps HEY HUMAN YOU'RE DRINKING THAT IT LOOKS NICE I WANT SOME WOAH MY FACE FITS IN HERE AWESOME But a vet checkup is always a good call on older cats.
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# ? Oct 4, 2010 14:14 |
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# ? Jun 4, 2024 21:32 |
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My one yr old cat is crazy for yogurt, the plain kind (low fat, no sugar and non-flavoured). It's her favourite treat and the only food she'll beg for while I'm eating. Sometimes I give her a little bit (less than a tea spoon) because she loves it so much, but I'm afraid it's not good for her. I know that cow milk is not for kitty consumption, but what about other dairy products, anyone knows?
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# ? Oct 4, 2010 14:48 |