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Pet fountains: Has anyone seen a drinking fountain that included carbon filtration, but didn't require proprietary cartridges that you swap out? I'm looking for one where you can replace just the granular carbon itself. A large tub of activated charcoal (for aquariums) is like $10 at Walmart and would last forever in this application. Edit: I ended up sawing the plastic cartridge open. I dump the old carbon, refill it, and use some nylon fabric to keep the cartridge together and contain the carbon granules. Macatt fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Aug 1, 2021 |
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Mar 22, 2012 21:37
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Just skip using the filter? It's not like your pet needs drinking water that has been filtered through carbon anyway. And if you feel like it does, fill the fountain from your Brita pitcher.
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Mar 22, 2012 21:52
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How do you deal with the horrible horrible pain of losing your first cat to old age. Oh god.
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Mar 23, 2012 17:38
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Two nights ago my cat Jamie was trying to pee every five minutes and nothing was coming out. He was crying and howling, obviously in a lot of pain. After giving him some apple cider vinegar/water mix (which I use when my other cat is showing signs of blocking), he did finally manage to pee small amounts and there was a lot of blood in it. I thought he was blocked/blocking so I brought him to the vet. They said they'd never seen so much blood in a cat's urine before, but when they drew the urine directly from the bladder, there was no blood whatsoever so the blood was happening somewhere in the urethra. After further tests, it was determined there were no crystals and no infection, pH was normal, it appeared that it was just a sudden inflammation of the urethra but they don't know why. He's on pain meds now and the inflammation has gone down, he's peeing almost like normal now and there's only a tiny bit of blood in it and decreasing every time. I think it's weird the vet has no idea what this is... any ideas? He's a neutered 8 year old male, by the way. He eats only Trader Joe's wet food, which has no by-products or meal. I don't know if this is relevant, but he's pretty overweight even though he eats only wet food and only small amounts. Any ideas?
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Mar 23, 2012 21:32
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SeanBeansShako posted:How do you deal with the horrible horrible pain of losing your first cat to old age. I'm so sorry for your loss. You do whatever you want. Cry, look at pictures, donate to an animal charity in the cat's honour, talk to like-minded people about your grief... Whatever. Your heart is broken and that's okay. One thing that I wouldn't do is listen to another person's opinion on when you're "ready" for a new pet. You might need a new cat to help you cope tomorrow and if you think that you'd be a strong and good cat owner who wasn't replacing a pet, then go for it. Or, you might not want another pet for a long time because you're scared to give your heart up again. My boyfriend's dog passed away in his teen years, and he didn't get another dog until he was in his mid-twenties. Whatever works for you.
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Mar 24, 2012 00:25
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Crying helped a lot. I must have wept my eyes sore. Then I had a beer the size of my head and slept for a bit. Now I'm over the stages, I feel sorta sad. But relieved the worst is over. I'm so glad I got many fine memories of the old family tom and pictures too. It is going to odd getting used to not doing the usual stuff for him. And we've got two much younger cats too to help comfort us. One of the worse things though next to the kidney failure of our old cat was the fact my folks had to pay 70 pounds to put him down.
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Mar 24, 2012 05:17
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Hey there PI, have a quick question for you knowledgeable folks. I wouldn't be surprised if this has been asked before, tried to go through the thread and find it but 238 pages FULL of interesting distractions is not going well. My dog apparently decided to get the runs yesterday AM early (4 or so, hard to say as he pooped inside for the second time in his entire life with me). I cleaned it up, took him out, went to bed with him and thought I'd wait and see how this shaped up. 9 AM rolls around and he wakes me up, which is very unusual, as he tends to like to pass out with me for... Extended periods. I take him outside and "whoop there it is" he's crapping a storm. He has been doing so like clockwork every forty minutes up until basically half an hour ago. I have been keeping him hydrated and taken away food, he's otherwise normal. Hes a lab and Pitt mix who will eat ANYTHING so stomach issues are a problem every now and then, but it's usually vomit, not diahrea. What I'm wondering primarily is... How long until I take him into the vet? Any signs I should be looking for of a more serious issue then just an upset stomach? Is withholding food the right call? I would appreciate any advice you could give me.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:06
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If he started having diarrhea yesterday and is having episodes every forty minutes, I would call the vet right now.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:21
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I'd wait a while longer before I'd say it's vet time. Keep an eye on his energy level, and ensure he's well hydrated. If he becomes lethargic, or other symptoms crop up then I'd be more concerned.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:24
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2508084 posted:If he started having diarrhea yesterday and is having episodes every forty minutes, I would call the vet right now. Perhaps I didn't make it quite clear enough... He started having diahrea at 4 - 5 am this morning, and the last few episodes haven't been huge swaths of death just... Dry spells? Eight hours of runs at this point, basically.
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Mar 24, 2012 21:25
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I have a two year old male tuxedo cat that recently grew a small black dot on the pink part of his nose. It's flat and looks like a mole. Is this normal? His nose is half black and half pink.
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Mar 25, 2012 02:29
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heyniceperro posted:I have a two year old male tuxedo cat that recently grew a small black dot on the pink part of his nose. It's flat and looks like a mole. Is this normal? His nose is half black and half pink. Hrrrm. I know that orange cats tend to get a lot of brown/black dots on their nose that come and go like freckles. I don't know if other coat patterns also get freckly things. I'd mention it to your vet at his next regular appointment, unless it seems irritated or inflamed, or if it grows.
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Mar 25, 2012 06:24
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Really concerned for my friend's Australian Shepherd. He's a rescue dog and has been with my friend for around 8 months. Really good dog but really obese with he was rescued. Really obese. Couldn't even jump obese. The vet says that he's 7 years old, and the people who gave him up claimed he was 3. I'm guessing this dog has had years of neglect. Currently, this dog is eating maybe two mouthfuls of dog food a day but drinking water without a problem. He's making GBS threads more than he's taking in and it's not solid but not watery and no worms. His personality is plain weird at the moment. He used to be very social and happy (even if he couldn't jump), but now he doesn't want to come inside. He'll lay in the yard in freezing temperatures and doesn't want to move. He will fight/bite/growl you if you try to move him at all. Friend's taking him to the vet tomorrow, but what sort of diagnosis should we suspect?
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Mar 25, 2012 06:48
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They signs you are describing sound like inappetance, maybe lethargy, and maybe some sort of pain that makes him not want to be moved or touched. Many many diseases cause inappetance and lethargy, so hard to narrow down the possibilities there. Not wanting to move could be some sort of orthopedic pain, especially with him being obese, but belly pain can also look like that. Basically he needs a complete physical exam to narrow down where the problem might be, and I wouldn't be surprised if bloodwork was recommended to chase down the inappetance and lethargy, and maybe x-rays or ultrasound to look at any particular part of the body more closely depending on physical exam.
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Mar 25, 2012 14:37
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Veruca Salt posted:Two nights ago my cat Jamie was trying to pee every five minutes and nothing was coming out. He was crying and howling, obviously in a lot of pain. After giving him some apple cider vinegar/water mix (which I use when my other cat is showing signs of blocking), he did finally manage to pee small amounts and there was a lot of blood in it. I thought he was blocked/blocking so I brought him to the vet. They said they'd never seen so much blood in a cat's urine before, but when they drew the urine directly from the bladder, there was no blood whatsoever so the blood was happening somewhere in the urethra. After further tests, it was determined there were no crystals and no infection, pH was normal, it appeared that it was just a sudden inflammation of the urethra but they don't know why. He's on pain meds now and the inflammation has gone down, he's peeing almost like normal now and there's only a tiny bit of blood in it and decreasing every time. I think it's weird the vet has no idea what this is... any ideas? Does anyone have any suggestions, it seems like the issue is starting to occur again and I don't know what to do 
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Mar 28, 2012 18:19
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Veruca Salt posted:Does anyone have any suggestions, it seems like the issue is starting to occur again and I don't know what to do If a urinalysis showed nothing, the next step would be x-rays, an abdominal ultrasound, then potentially a cystoscopy. The x-rays and ultrasound could scan for masses, stones and other abnormalities in his urinary tract. However, if the problem is localized in the distal urethra, you have to shove a camera up there (cystoscopy) to see what's going on. This would require anesthesia. As for what could be causing the bleeding, it's possible there are issues higher up in the urinary tract such as stones in the bladder that were simply missed by the urine testing vs. a mass in the urethra or a severe form of feline lower urinary tract disease. Good luck with your kitty; these urinary issues can be so scary and frustrating.
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Mar 28, 2012 22:28
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How much salt is toxic for cats? I know they can cause themselves kidney failure very easily and just caught my two year old tuxedo, Bones, licking the bacon grease and cleaning salt out of the cast iron. I don't know how much he had but I'm worried he's going to cause himself AKI.
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Mar 29, 2012 01:55
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EAT FASTER!!!!!! posted:How much salt is toxic for cats? I know they can cause themselves kidney failure very easily and just caught my two year old tuxedo, Bones, licking the bacon grease and cleaning salt out of the cast iron. I don't know how much he had but I'm worried he's going to cause himself AKI. Salt won't cause kidney failure. Your cat is most likely fine. He'll probably drink more, but then he'll pee it out. Salt toxicity at extreme levels would cause neurological signs. (Edit: And toxic in the way of your cat just ate 1/2 pound of salt or ate a LOT of paintballs. (Salt is also not toxic as long as adequate levels of water are made available, thus they can drink and pee it out without dehydrating themselves)
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Mar 29, 2012 04:55
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It's only after kidney function has been compromised that sodium should be kept to a minimum.
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Mar 29, 2012 04:58
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How many horse goons read this forum? I ask because my horse is being a turd and I'm having a hard time telling if it's mental or physical. He usually only acts like a turd when he's hurting somewhere, but I can't pinpoint what might be hurting him (he had a sore back a couple weeks ago, but that seems to be better). He's acting differently than he usually does when he's just being an rear end in a top hat for the sake of being an rear end in a top hat. If I don't know what's wrong I can't fix it, but I don't know whether to call a trainer or the vet first.
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Mar 31, 2012 00:14
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As of a couple days ago, my (8-year old) cat doesn't want to jump up on her cat tree anymore. We've always put her food dish up there to keep the dog from getting at it, so it's not like she doesn't know what she's supposed to be doing. I noticed in the last few days before she stopped jumping up there she was taking an unusually long time positioning herself to jump up. Otherwise, she's not behaving any differently—not showing any signs of pain or anything. She's still jumping up on our bed, and that's about the same height. Is this something I should be concerned about? Edit: And now she's fine again. She's a pretty stupid cat, so I'll chalk it up to that. Rollersnake fucked around with this message at 04:43 on Mar 31, 2012 |
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Mar 31, 2012 01:52
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:How many horse goons read this forum? Describe "being a turd". Skittish? Jumpy? Throwing you? Lethargic in the pasture? Pushy? Getting in your personal space? Refusing to lift his feet? Not affectionate? Bitey? Headshy? Dicking around with the bit? Not responding to leg cues? Oversensitive to leg (or hand) cues? Refusing to turn or refusing to go down straights? Doesn't want to leave the barn or go back to it? What's his normal assholishness look like? Rollersnake: If she's forsaking the jump even at the cost of food, and doing so for several days at a time, it may be optimal to see a vet and get her joints checked. 8's not that old but it's old enough for some arthritis to be happening, or it's possible she injured herself. If she goes up there to eat but doesn't seem to want to, it could still be pain or it could be that the dog torments her or something when she's up there and she doesn't associate it with safety anymore. Cats do a lot to hide pain though, I'd see a vet unless it clears up/gets better in 24 hours or so.
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Mar 31, 2012 02:26
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InEscape posted:Describe "being a turd". Skittish? Jumpy? Throwing you? Lethargic in the pasture? Pushy? Getting in your personal space? Refusing to lift his feet? Not affectionate? Bitey? Headshy? Dicking around with the bit? Not responding to leg cues? Oversensitive to leg (or hand) cues? Refusing to turn or refusing to go down straights? Doesn't want to leave the barn or go back to it? He's been off work for a while due to weather and random small issues one after the other (latest being his back being sore due to him pulling a muscle in his hip, which he pulled trying to mount a mare through a fence. He's a gelding  ). Since he hasn't been ridden in a while I decided to lunge him before I got on just to make sure he's sound again. He'll go about 3/4 of the way around the circle, then throw his head down, then face me and rear (not some pissy little rear, full on hi ho silver! rear) then not move till I chase him out again, repeat ad nauseum with no improvement. He does it both directions. I tried walking him around by hand and he'd do the same thing. He's his normal overly affectionate "I LOVE YOU MOM!!" self otherwise so this doesn't seem to be a malicious "gently caress you I'm not working" thing, he was real excited and happy to go down to the ring.His normal assholishness is running and bucking, which usually resolves itself after a few laps so this is totally new behavior. I can't pinpoint any specific ouchy spots. His back wasn't sore before or after the rearing episodes, nor does he have any swelling anywhere. He has minor arthritis in his hocks, but that's been there since the day I got him 8 years ago. This has happened on two separate occasions, I was hoping the first one was just him being an rear end in a top hat. I am at a total loss here. The jerk in question: 
Problem! fucked around with this message at 04:00 on Mar 31, 2012 |
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Mar 31, 2012 03:54
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Many months ago one of my cats died of old age and our other cat (who is 15+ years old), since then, hasn't been taking care of herself. She stopped cleaning herself and her eyes gunk up so bad they glue themselves shut. She drools when she eats really bad. My father and I are thinking about giving her a bath just because of how gross she has become, so I have a few questions. 1. Is baby shampoo okay to use? 2. Is there anything we can do to try and keep her from falling apart further? 3. Is this because she's missing her sister of 13+ years?
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Apr 1, 2012 00:10
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Lately my cat has been cleaning himself a lot more because he started shedding. I noticed he was messing with his front right paw a lot when he was grooming but didn't really think about it. Today I went out to feed him and noticed he was limping a little and sitting holding that foot off the ground. When I looked at the paw I saw he has a big pink spot just above the pad where it looks like he's licked all the fur off. It's swollen and he didn't like it when I touched it. It also looks like he bit the main pad too. Here's the best picture I could take with him flailing around (he hates being held like that): I'll probably be taking him to the vet soon anyways for his regular checkup and such, but is this something that I should go sooner for? Is there something I should do for him? He's a regular shorthair, 16 years old, outdoors, FIV+, otherwise healthy, active, and adorable  .
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Apr 1, 2012 00:55
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It looks like it's bothering him a fair bit if he's licked all the hair off. It could be an insect bite or something like that. Also it looks like his pad is broken and it could get infected. I would take him to the vet sooner rather than later. 
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Apr 1, 2012 04:44
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JimBobDole posted:Really concerned for my friend's Australian Shepherd. He's a rescue dog and has been with my friend for around 8 months. Really good dog but really obese with he was rescued. Really obese. Couldn't even jump obese. The vet says that he's 7 years old, and the people who gave him up claimed he was 3. I'm guessing this dog has had years of neglect. The vet said that he was still getting used to moving to a new house and put him on dog antidepressants. He died today. My friend found him this morning in the garage with blood running from his ears. He was already stiff as a board. RIP, big guy. You were loved and you will be missed.
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Apr 1, 2012 05:42
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Oraculum Animi posted:Many months ago one of my cats died of old age and our other cat (who is 15+ years old), since then, hasn't been taking care of herself. She stopped cleaning herself and her eyes gunk up so bad they glue themselves shut. She drools when she eats really bad. My father and I are thinking about giving her a bath just because of how gross she has become, so I have a few questions. By "died of old age" what do you mean? Cats can get a variety of viral/bacterial infections that manifest in the eyes, nose, and mouth. The drooling can be a sign of mouth/throat pain (inflammation, ulcers, etc.) or nausea. There are a lot of things that could be going on. With a 15+ year old cat who starts to have an unkempt coat, thick eye discharge, and profuse drooling, I would recommend a vet visit.
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Apr 1, 2012 05:53
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Aquatic Giraffe posted:He's been off work for a while due to weather and random small issues one after the other (latest being his back being sore due to him pulling a muscle in his hip, which he pulled trying to mount a mare through a fence. He's a gelding I would call that being a turd. He's taking advantage of you. Are you using a lunge whip? If so, you're not using it correctly. If not, get one. He's turning your lunging into a game when it should be work - him turning towards you is a lack of him going forward. You need to be the center of an rotating pie slice and he needs to know that it is work time. A horse should never ever allowed to turn toward the lunger because that gives the horse control of where he wants to go and what he wants to do, which is a poor plan. If he turns towards you, swing your lunge whip above his hocks and drive him forward. If he rears while facing you, swing it against his whole side. He'll get the picture after the first couple of tries as long as you are consistent and clear. I'm guessing you likely ride jumpers or event by the bridle. If you don't know how to handle the behavior or don't feel safe doing so, a good event trainer or dressage trainer would be your best bet for help. Some jumper trainers are decent at lunging as well (although I wouldn't necessarily expect it of most American jumper trainers) and most hunter trainers flat out blow chunks at it.
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Apr 1, 2012 08:24
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HelloSailorSign posted:By "died of old age" what do you mean? She was 15+ years old and we suspect she had a stroke or something because she wasn't able to walk straight and she stopped eating. The thing is that we don't have a lot of money and I don't know if we'll be able to take her to the vet, especially if they're just going to tell us our (living) cat is on the last leg of her life. How much do vets usually cost? We don't want her to suffer, she is old, but if she just needs a bath and can't eat dry food because her teeth are pretty much gone we can handle that. We definitely couldn't bring her in the state she's in now, it's like she sneezed on half of her body and it just stuck. And the eye gunk is thick and greenish. do u believe in marigolds fucked around with this message at 09:08 on Apr 1, 2012 |
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Apr 1, 2012 08:51
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Oraculum Animi posted:We definitely couldn't bring her in the state she's in now, it's like she sneezed on half of her body and it just stuck. And the eye gunk is thick and greenish. Wait let me get this straight. You can't bring her to the vet because she is too dirty due to being sick? .....what nobody can diagnose your cat over the internet. your cat is sick, and needs to go to the vet. your other cat probably didn't have a stroke, or die of old age either. that one was probably also sick.
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Apr 1, 2012 09:12
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JimBobDole posted:The vet said that he was still getting used to moving to a new house and put him on dog antidepressants. Oh wow, that sucks
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Apr 1, 2012 09:26
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Oraculum Animi posted:She was 15+ years old and we suspect she had a stroke or something because she wasn't able to walk straight and she stopped eating. You have teenage cats and you have no idea what a vet visit generally costs? Being "old" is not a thing, your cat is ill and needs to see a vet.
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Apr 1, 2012 14:39
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Enelrahc posted:I would call that being a turd. He's taking advantage of you. Are you using a lunge whip? If so, you're not using it correctly. If not, get one. He's turning your lunging into a game when it should be work - him turning towards you is a lack of him going forward. You need to be the center of an rotating pie slice and he needs to know that it is work time. A horse should never ever allowed to turn toward the lunger because that gives the horse control of where he wants to go and what he wants to do, which is a poor plan. If he turns towards you, swing your lunge whip above his hocks and drive him forward. If he rears while facing you, swing it against his whole side. He'll get the picture after the first couple of tries as long as you are consistent and clear. Funny thing is that he does this more when I get out the whip. Usually I lunge him in the round pen without a lunge line and just a lunge whip and it works well when he's not being a jerk wad, gives me a lot more maneuverability without worrying about getting tangled up in the lunge line and he's very good with it 90% of the time. Most of the time I don't even need a whip, he'll just follow voice commands. He'll start slowing down and I try to get him to move forward with the whip and that's when he'll come to a complete stop/rear/be an rear end. It's like the whip is totally ineffective. He's really really intelligent for a horse which is both a blessing and a curse. I'm almost certain he's figured out that I'll never outright hit him with it so he's chosen to ignore it. Even if I give him a gentle tap with it, he's still like "LOL NOPE." If I get on him with a whip he freaks the gently caress out though (yay off the track horses). I'm definitely gonna give a trainer a call, I've been able to work through his turdiness every time before but he's being extra stupid with this and I'm at the end of my rope (literally, ha). There's a lady who has her horse out at the barn who specializes in horse behavior and doesn't do any one discipline in particular who I think will be able to work with him. This might be really vain, but I don't want to break anything or get a black eye this close to graduation, don't want to look like a domestic abuse victim in my graduation pictures or walk to get my diploma on crutches 
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Apr 1, 2012 19:04
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My two cats survived my apartment burning down. I've been having the hardest time getting them to take meds, advice? Also, one of them stayed in the apartment the whole time. He came out soaked, but he's doing well now. The vet cleaned and dried him. The other cat, however, smells really strongly of smoke, 5 days later. How should I clean her?
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Apr 2, 2012 16:27
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6-Ethyl Bearcat posted:It looks like it's bothering him a fair bit if he's licked all the hair off. It could be an insect bite or something like that. Also it looks like his pad is broken and it could get infected. I would take him to the vet sooner rather than later. Thanks for the advice! It looks a bit better today and the hair is starting to grow back but I'm taking him to the vet on Wednesday just to be safe.
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Apr 2, 2012 18:38
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dopaMEAN posted:My two cats survived my apartment burning down. I've been having the hardest time getting them to take meds, advice? Wow, that's pretty hardcore. Glad to hear your cats are ok. For the meds, it can depend on what type they are (pills, liquid from a syringe, etc). There's always the tried-and-true "hide it in stinky wet food" method. For a smoky cat, I dunno. My sister-in-law smokes, and when my cat came to live with me after a few weeks at her house it took forEVer for the cigarette smell to wear off. Maybe an actual bath, or some of those pet-wipes?
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Apr 3, 2012 07:48
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Eucalyptus scented pet shampoo and a bath. That stuff gets out the most horrific and persistent smells, in my personal experience with "outside" dogs. Unless it's skunk, because skunk is like super-stink. Quick question regarding dog-related things. How can I tell when my dog needs a new collar? The collar he has now seems a little taught, so I adjusted it but it still doesn't seem to fit right. Wasn't there some rule of thumb regarding two fingers being able to fit between the dog's neck and the collar? I know, dumb question but I haven't owned a dog that has a collar on constantly until now.
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Apr 3, 2012 14:20
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I wouldn't use eucalyptus scented stuff on a cat, it is pretty toxic to them. Two fingers in between the neck and collar is correct. So many people have collars too loose though.
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Apr 3, 2012 14:34
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What, really?  I am so sorry, I honestly had no idea. And yeah, looks like his collar is about right then. Oh god I feel like a tool for not looking that up fucccckk
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Apr 3, 2012 14:44
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