|
I have a kind of off the wall question. I was talking to my boyfriend and an old memory came up and I'm wondering if this is even possible or if I'm remembering it wrong. One of my friends growing up had a hamster, one day she want to check on her and all was not well. She had chewed a giant hole in her stomach and essentially eaten herself to death. Can they do this? Do they do this? If anyone has any little questions that they feel don't deserve a thread of their own, feel free to drop it in here.
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 05:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 09:31 |
|
|
 Does anyone know what the animal on the left is? I gather it's a rabbit of some type.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 12:02
|
|
|
Ooh, I have no clue, but it's really cute. Sorry.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 15:43
|
|
|
Olive Bar posted:One of my friends growing up had a hamster, one day she want to check on her and all was not well. She had chewed a giant hole in her stomach and essentially eaten herself to death. Can they do this? Do they do this? That is very odd, while it's not impossible, I doubt that was the real case. A lot of little animals get tumors or abscesses from small infected cuts. With many rats who have tumors, it's not uncommon for the rat to eat it's own tumor off, and then die from blood loss. It's very gross, but they basically cut themselves open, and rip it out. I think that this is possible with hamsters as well. It's possible that your friend's hamster had an abscess or tumor and chewed at it, then died from blood loss. That rabbit looks like a baby common wild hare.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 17:37
|
|
|
Unagi posted:That rabbit looks like a baby common wild hare. With a god-damned attitude to boot.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 19:22
|
|
|
How long do most flea drops take to work, anyway? As in, when should my pet stop scratching himself incessantly? Also, are Cheetos directly harmful to cats in small amounts? My cat insists on trying to steal from me whenever I have some Cheetos, and, as much as I try to stop him, sometimes the sneaky bastard is successful.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 20:04
|
|
|
Unagi posted:That is very odd, while it's not impossible, I doubt that was the real case. A lot of little animals get tumors or abscesses from small infected cuts. With many rats who have tumors, it's not uncommon for the rat to eat it's own tumor off, and then die from blood loss. It's very gross, but they basically cut themselves open, and rip it out. I think that this is possible with hamsters as well. It's possible that your friend's hamster had an abscess or tumor and chewed at it, then died from blood loss. Hmm, interesting. Yeah, I didn't think animals were capable of suicide. Thank you.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 20:22
|
|
|
beckyogg posted:How long do most flea drops take to work, anyway? As in, when should my pet stop scratching himself incessantly? This depends on LOTS of things. First of all, what treatment are you using? Advantage claims to stop the fleas from biting in 3-5 minutes, with 98-100% of the fleas dead in 12 hours. Frontline claims 98-100% flea death in 24 hours. Revolution claims at least 98% flea death within 36 hours. Capstar kills adult fleas within 30 minutes but is only good for a day. Program doesn't do jack poo poo for adult fleas, but will stop flea eggs from maturing. That said, if your pet is allergic to flea bites, it could take much much longer for the irritation to go away, and in some cases even require veterinary care, such as steroid or antihistamine injections/pills. If it's determined that your pet is in fact allergic to flea bites, do him a favor and stay on a very strict schedule of flea prevention. It's so much easier to prevent the allergic reaction than to treat it. You can also call your vet and see if there's a dosage of Benadryl you can try to help alleviate the itching once the fleas are gone. If you're using anything other than the products listed above (and K-9 Advantixx, which I won't talk about because it's toxic to cats, and there may be new products I'm not aware of - talk to your vet), you have no guarantee of how well it will work. Hartz products, Zodiac, any of the cheap spot on products are a bunch of crap and aren't worth the money. Any preparations containing garlic should be used with caution if at all - garlic may or may not repel fleas, but it also can make a dog or cat sick, and it's hard to know what a safe dose is for any particular animal because sensitivities seem to vary between individuals.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 20:52
|
|
|
My mom stopped at Petsmart to pick up flea drops, and all I really told her was "no Hartz, that can be deadly". She ended up picking up some "natural defense" stuff, which I'm a bit dubious of. I may simply stop by the vet for some Frontline if the fleas continue to be a problem, but my cat calmed down within a couple hours of applying the "natural" stuff. He does smell strongly of peppermint oil now, though.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 21:25
|
|
|
beckyogg posted:My mom stopped at Petsmart to pick up flea drops, and all I really told her was "no Hartz, that can be deadly". She ended up picking up some "natural defense" stuff, which I'm a bit dubious of. I may simply stop by the vet for some Frontline if the fleas continue to be a problem, but my cat calmed down within a couple hours of applying the "natural" stuff. He does smell strongly of peppermint oil now, though. I really like the idea of doing things in a "green" manner, but I really don't think anything but chemicals does the trick for fleas and ticks. Plus, even natural stuff that is harmless to us can be toxic to some of our pets.
|
|
#
?
Dec 3, 2007 21:34
|
|
|
My cat's ears are getting dirty on the inside; what's a safe way to clean them? I know when I had guinea pigs, my vet commented once at a check up that their ears were getting dirty and that I should wash them using mineral oil and a q-tip. Is this appropriate for cleaning a cat's ears too? Could anything bad happen if some mineral oil leaks down into the actual canal? Should I just not clean the ears? Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 02:29
|
|
|
Camembert posted:My cat's ears are getting dirty on the inside; what's a safe way to clean them? I know when I had guinea pigs, my vet commented once at a check up that their ears were getting dirty and that I should wash them using mineral oil and a q-tip. Is this appropriate for cleaning a cat's ears too? Could anything bad happen if some mineral oil leaks down into the actual canal? Should I just not clean the ears? I personally prefer white vinegar and cotton balls. You shouldn't need to clean down past where cotton balls can get to on a cat. If his ears seem itchy, smelly or the "dirt" comes back quickly, you should have the vet take a look and see if there's an infection or earmites.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 03:08
|
|
|
beckyogg posted:My mom stopped at Petsmart to pick up flea drops, and all I really told her was "no Hartz, that can be deadly". She ended up picking up some "natural defense" stuff, which I'm a bit dubious of. I may simply stop by the vet for some Frontline if the fleas continue to be a problem, but my cat calmed down within a couple hours of applying the "natural" stuff. He does smell strongly of peppermint oil now, though. I tried that natural oils flea stuff, but it didn't work. Plus, it doesn't actually kill any fleas IIRC, just repels them. I think the "repelling" effect lasted at most a week before I started finding lots of fleas again. AND the fleas were biting me more, since I didn't reek of peppermint oil. When you compare the price of the stuff that doesn't work to the stuff that does - its pretty clear that the Advantage or Frontline is worth the price. I believe that because I tried a bunch of OTC stuff first, that I ended up with a much bigger infestation of fleas than if I had just gone with Advantage from the start of the problem.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 04:27
|
|
|
My 10-12 week old kitten (found him so we're not sure how old he is exactly) has recently started this really strange thing where he attacks his own tail. I don't mean in a cute playful way, but he nips and bites at it and makes kitten screams that really alarm me. I know that he currently has fleas, as does my older cat, but there's not much I can do about it until their appointment with our vet next Monday. It's the earliest appointment I can do because of the vet's schedule clashing with my on call schedule so my hands are really tied. Could the tail maiming be caused by flea itches? Is he just being overly zealous in his play perhaps, or do I need to invest in some Feliway until Monday? I've noticed him do this perhaps two to three other times, though he wasn't as pissed sounding when he was biting himself, today though I was so worried I just scooped him up and gave him a bath followed by tons of cuddles. Three hours later though and he just did it again. My main concern is that psychological issue that some cats have where they maul themselves and have to be put down or have things amputated. If it's fleas, I can pick up some flea treatment to last us 'til Monday and try to soothe him, if it's something more then I don't know what the gently caress.  When he does this, he generally bites at his tail, then runs a bit as if he's trying to get away from it, all while making an extremely annoyed wailing, screaming noise. If left to his own devices, he'll keep at it, though I'm not sure how long for. I just know that after the first wail, I have to go distract him. The other day though my older cat took care of him after he made the noise while I was in the shower. I got out and they were all snuggled up.  What could this possibly be and I'm sorry for the long post and oh god I'm such a bad cat-mom my kitties have fleas and are emo. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 04:29
|
|
|
The tail biting could definitely be from fleas. If you know your cats have fleas, go out and get some Advantage. You don't need a prescription for it, and many pet stores sell it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 04:33
|
|
|
Dr. Housecat MD posted:I personally prefer white vinegar and cotton balls. You shouldn't need to clean down past where cotton balls can get to on a cat. If his ears seem itchy, smelly or the "dirt" comes back quickly, you should have the vet take a look and see if there's an infection or earmites. Thanks for the advice, I'll try that and contact my vet if it seems like there's a problem.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 04:41
|
|
|
I have a male cat about a year old, Stevie King. We adopted another male cat a few weeks ago, and they get along great. One weird thing though, Stevie keeps trying to make it with Dexter. He'll get up on Dexter's back, bite down on his neck and make strange mewling noises. Stevie was neutered about six months ago, and Dexters neutered too. Stevie also does a little "sexy" dance sometimes, where he kneads his paws, and his butt hovers above the bed and he mewls and walks in cicles. He's tried to hump my arm once or twice while doing this dance. Why is my cat so horny?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 05:03
|
|
|
Jayded posted:My 10-12 week old kitten (found him so we're not sure how old he is exactly) has recently started this really strange thing where he attacks his own tail. I don't mean in a cute playful way, but he nips and bites at it and makes kitten screams that really alarm me. Depending on how fiesty your kitten and cat are, you could give them a bath with dish soap, and let the soap sit on the cat for a few minutes, hopefully a full 5 minutes. Dish soap does a really good job of killing fleas. You could also try dosing kitty with some Benadryl to help with the itching. I'm not sure on the dosing though, but I think there's some threads about that around here somewhere.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 05:25
|
|
|
I just got a christmas tree! Hooray! However, it's a real christmas tree, and according to what I've been able to google, pine seems to be a toxin to cats. This would be an indicator to toss the tree, but other sites say to just keep an eye on pine needles, and pick up any dropped ones. Other people have said they've had live trees several years without incident. What are other peoples experiences?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 06:53
|
|
|
mrbucket posted:I just got a christmas tree! Hooray! One thing I've heard people do is spray the tree and surrounding floor with some sort of distasteful liquid. Water with some habanero juice, lemon juice, whatever. I've only had fake trees so I can't say from personal experience that it will work. I have a question regarding kittens with weight issues. I have one that's about 7-8 months old, and her kitten belly has turned into a fat rear end. She isn't beachball-sized yet, but she's definitely rolly-polly. Generally I free-feed a good dry food with occasional moist food treats. The obvious solution is to quit leaving the dry food out all day and take away treats until she learns portion control, but I feel like that would be punishing my other two cats who do just fine cutting themselves off when they've had enough. A secondary issue there is one of the other cats is tiny-bodied and willowy and always delicately pecks at food a bite or two a time as it is - I worry that she simply wouldn't get enough if she had a restricted food supply. The one idea I had was to maybe leave a weight-control formula out for the free feeding, and supplement by giving the other two cats a bigger serving of wet food while the fat kitten gets put in a different room with a much smaller serving. The big problem there is I'm not sure that it's safe to put a 7-8 month old cat on a lower-calorie adult food and don't know that a teaspoon of wet food every day or two will give her enough of whatever it is that baby cats need. Anyone have any recommendations?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 08:19
|
|
|
Carlton Banks Teller posted:fat kitty feeding issues A fat cat will continue to get fat on anything that is left out. My mom has the exact problem that you do: a tiny little picky eater, a normal-sized, active cat, and a fatass. She worked out a system where she feeds them all twice a day, in separate rooms. Willy (the fatty) just gets a tiny amount of food, which balances out the food/trash/dog kibble he inevitably manages to steal. He's lost weight, and is just chunky now, not obese like he was. And he doesn't get winded after 20 seconds of playing anymore! Tisha (the little one) had trouble adapting at first and needed extra treats, but now she can polish off her plate of food pretty quickly, as long as she's in a room by herself so that she can't be chased away from it. Just try giving your little cat some extra-rich food if she doesn't seem to be eating enough. The last thing you want is her filling up on weight loss formula. I have a question of my own: Is there any reason why a healthy 1 1/2 year old, neutered male dog should suddenly be regressing on his potty training? We got him at about 4 months old and had no trouble training him. He hasn't had a slip up since, until the past 6 weeks or so. Now all of the sudden he's spraying on furniture, pooping on the floor, and generally being ornery. His appetite and energy level haven't changed, and his poop looks normal. He looked right at me and lifted his leg on a bag of groceries last night. The following things have been different lately: -It has been really cold. Too cold for him to spend much time outside. -We've been spending a lot of time at my parent's with him. Their pets have been known to poop/pee in the house. -I'm pregnant. (can dogs sense that?) So what do I do about this?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 15:16
|
|
|
Every couple of months (since as far back as I can remember) my elderly cat will flip out and begin yowling at the top of her lungs. She's always been very vocal anyway, but in addition to the outright screaming that she does, she also tries her very best to escape, pushing past us to get outside. This cat was adopted by my family over a decade ago with papers claiming she was spayed by the first people who owned her. Do elderly cats still come into heat, and is it possible that she was never actually spayed?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 15:33
|
|
|
I was late on giving my dog her Revolution this month, by almost four days. The south apparently has horrible heartworms, should I take her in to get retested? (Her last test was in October and she came up negative). Also, would it be okay to do it on the 15th of this month (as it should have been in November) or wait until the 19th? One last thing, after putting the Revolution on her I developed a nasty stye, my boyfriend was checking the instructions to see when we could give her a bath after putting her drops on her, and read that humans can get styes as a side effect of administering it to their pets, does this occur a lot?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 16:03
|
|
|
wannabenomad posted:
I don't know how to stop the bathroom behavior unfortunately, but I do know that one day our German Shepard kept laying his head down on my mom's stomach and suddenly got VERY protective of her. 8 months later I popped out. So he knew before she did. I think there's definitely something to that, I think they can smell the hormones or something. He continued to lay his head on her stomach every chance he got through the whole pregnancy.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 16:12
|
|
|
wannabenomad posted:I have a question of my own: Is there any reason why a healthy 1 1/2 year old, neutered male dog should suddenly be regressing on his potty training? We got him at about 4 months old and had no trouble training him. He hasn't had a slip up since, until the past 6 weeks or so. Now all of the sudden he's spraying on furniture, pooping on the floor, and generally being ornery. His appetite and energy level haven't changed, and his poop looks normal. He looked right at me and lifted his leg on a bag of groceries last night. Try getting him a coat and booties to go out in, or go out more frequently and supervise him. Bring treats to reward him when he does go. Cold weather makes my dogs regress too. It's been really cold here too, and this last week has been a trial. I feel your pain.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 18:09
|
|
|
We found a cat that we have taken in, and will hold onto in case if we find his owner. (He's been declawed and neutered, so we know he was someone's pet.) I took him to the vet, which cost just $126 for the vet to check his heartbeat, put the thermometer up his butt, and check for feline leukemia. We also had to buy a $26 bottle of shampoo, because he had some strands of hair that came up on the UV light reading for ringworm. She said it'd be $60 simply just to culture it, so I asked her if I could instead buy the shampoo and try it out. Since we've been using it, the little spot on his back where the hairs were has not gotten worse, he has stopped shedding clumps of hair, and it looks like that the fur is growing back. He's been segregated from our cats for almost two weeks now, because we don't want to get our kitties infected. We've had the shampoo about nine days, and have washed him three times already (the bottle said twice a week.) When could it be safe to let our cats intermingle? We have him inconveniently locked up in a room that we and the cats use, and it's closing them off from one of their areas. I also want to let him eat normally and free-feed in the kitchen, instead of hearing him crying at 4:00am because his little food bowl is low. Basically, I'm trying to avoid a $60 fee to tell me something we already know, and want to let him wander around instead of cooping him up in the back.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 18:18
|
|
|
Feeding Tube posted:I was late on giving my dog her Revolution this month, by almost four days. The south apparently has horrible heartworms, should I take her in to get retested? (Her last test was in October and she came up negative). Also, would it be okay to do it on the 15th of this month (as it should have been in November) or wait until the 19th? I personally don't trust Revolution for heartworm. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I know for a fact that my dog got her whole dose of Ivermectin/Heartgard because it went down her throat. What if for some reason the Revolution isn't fully absorbed? That makes me nervous, though IANAV. I'd call your vet to be sure about retesting, but I'm pretty sure four days isn't going to be any concern at all.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 18:52
|
|
|
Disclaimer: None of the pets of me or anyone I know are pregnant! I know you can have cats and dogs spayed if they are already pregnant but how long into it is that an option?
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 19:33
|
|
|
MockTurtle posted:Disclaimer: None of the pets of me or anyone I know are pregnant! This is mostly going to depend on your vet's comfort level with the procedure, and possibly some moral/ethical issues. I've seen spays done late enough that puppies were given euthanasia solution.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 20:52
|
|
|
I'm looking for the name of a cat toy I saw in PI. Basically it's a glove you put on that has a ball at the end of each finger.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 23:17
|
|
|
Bolkovr posted:I'm looking for the name of a cat toy I saw in PI. Basically it's a glove you put on that has a ball at the end of each finger.
|
|
#
?
Dec 4, 2007 23:40
|
|
|
Cuddlebottom posted:Kitten Mitten: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3261+1897+2875&pcatid=2875 I recommend this product highly! The three feral kittens I used it with grew up to have excellent claw control. PetCo and/or PetSmart carry them too.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 00:40
|
|
|
Cuddlebottom posted:Kitten Mitten: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3261+1897+2875&pcatid=2875 My cats were very confused by this, having been trained not to attack hands.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 00:42
|
|
|
Dr. Housecat MD posted:My cats were very confused by this, having been trained not to attack hands. Now that you mention it, Shosta my adult cat didn't go for it either. My kittens all loved it though.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 00:45
|
|
|
In some thread around here not long ago someone mentioned something about adolescent cats having spots on their legs. I can't for the life of me find that thread or posting. Googling didn't turn up anything useful either. Did I dream this, or do young cats really have spots on their legs?
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 05:15
|
|
|
Dr. Housecat MD posted:This is mostly going to depend on your vet's comfort level with the procedure, and possibly some moral/ethical issues. I've seen spays done late enough that puppies were given euthanasia solution. Thanks, the reason I was asking is becuase I was watching some show about animal rescue, and they got a whole ton of cats from some collector and there was a pregnant one in the bunch. Instead of giving her a spay they had her have the kittens. I just was kind of confused because it seems like with a zillion cats that already need places to go, having more cats would be something that especially a rescue organization would try to avoid at all costs...
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 05:45
|
|
|
MockTurtle posted:Thanks, the reason I was asking is becuase I was watching some show about animal rescue, and they got a whole ton of cats from some collector and there was a pregnant one in the bunch. Instead of giving her a spay they had her have the kittens. I just was kind of confused because it seems like with a zillion cats that already need places to go, having more cats would be something that especially a rescue organization would try to avoid at all costs... A lot of people are uncomfortable with performing a late term spay on a pregnant animal, particularly if they're almost ready to pop and the vet would have to extract the uterus full of squirming kittens or puppies and euth them all.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 06:23
|
|
|
MockTurtle posted:Thanks, the reason I was asking is becuase I was watching some show about animal rescue, and they got a whole ton of cats from some collector and there was a pregnant one in the bunch. Instead of giving her a spay they had her have the kittens. I just was kind of confused because it seems like with a zillion cats that already need places to go, having more cats would be something that especially a rescue organization would try to avoid at all costs... Pineapple is right. Another reason they might have decided to go through with it despite the large number of cats is the high adoptability of kittens. Cats can stay for months in shelters, but kittens usually only stay a few weeks or less once they become old enough to adopt out.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 06:32
|
|
|
beckyogg posted:Pineapple is right. Another reason they might have decided to go through with it despite the large number of cats is the high adoptability of kittens. Cats can stay for months in shelters, but kittens usually only stay a few weeks or less once they become old enough to adopt out. I wish I could teach people that adult cats are so much better, especially if you've never raised a kitten before. Kittens (and puppies) are wretched little arseholes, much of the time, while adults are usually more calm and appreciative. YMMV, though.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 06:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 18, 2024 09:31 |
|
|
Dr. Housecat MD posted:Kittens (and puppies) are wretched little arseholes, much of the time, while adults are usually more calm and appreciative. YMMV, though. Right now Charlie is being a wretched little arsehole, in that I'm awake doing a paper and his dad is in the other room asleep. Rather than curling up with his human, he's out here bugging the crap out of me. I guess I'm a lot more likely to pet him than the sleeping guy. But the cat and my laptop do not both fit on my lap, and that is a fundamental problem for him.
|
|
#
?
Dec 5, 2007 08:17
|
|
