The Everything Pet Thread
Posted by biodancer on Jul 04, 2008 · Member since Jul 2007 · 978 posts
I wanted to start this thread to be all about our pets. Ask questions, help answer questions, tell a funny story about something your cat/dog/ferret/bird/rat, etc did, update everyone on your pet's health, tell us about a new pet, vent, grieve, laugh, etc. I know I'll be posting here a lot and I hope you'll join me!
:)>>> :)>>> :)>>> :)>>>
Ok. I will never understand my cat. We are still working out the kinks of the dry to canned transition. I have several different types of food that I am rotating in order to find one that she likes the most (and for some variety). The other day I gave her a new can of Nature's Variety and she seemed to really like it. So I gave her the same thing yesterday before I left for work. When I came home she hadn't eaten any of it and was yeowling for food. So I gave her another bowl of it with a little canned salmon on top for some temptation. She turned her nose up at it. So then I opened a fresh can of Wellness brand and she ate that. Turns out the picky little girl only likes freshly opened cans of food. But she doesn't eat a whole can at once so I put what's left in the fridge. I know cats don't like cold food so I try to get it to room temp or heat it in the microwave for a couple of seconds to get the chill off. It's so hit or miss with her now. I never know what she is going to eat.
I think Wellness might make smaller cans (like 3oz or something like that). Maybe you could get some of those? They are more pricey per oz, but if she won't eat the reheated stuff anyway, then you're really not losing any money.
Picky kitty ::) One of our cats, Mom, gets like that sometimes. She just won't eat if it's something she doesn't like (some days it's refridgerated food, others it's venison, etc. etc.). Good thing they're cute ;)b
my cat has fleas!!! :'(
she is totally indoor so i think she got them at the vet when she had her tail surgery. Im so worried my house will be infested.
what do you guys use? what can i do???
i've never dealt with this before!!!!
my cat has fleas!!! :'(
she is totally indoor so i think she got them at the vet when she had her tail surgery. Im so worried my house will be infested.
what do you guys use? what can i do???
i've never dealt with this before!!!!
I found out Wilma had fleas last year when i took her to the vet. I had no idea because I never saw them on her or me and she sleeps next to me every night. She's always indoors so I don't know how she got them either. My vet gave her a treatment, Advantage I think. One time and it cleared up. I don't know how long she had them before I found out and my house never got infested.
Pepper is officially ours!! went to the vet today, no microchip, and in perfect health!! got her first shot done, so she's sleepy (I found her passed out in the middle of the kitchen floor, curled up with a paper bag!) but other than that, perfect!!
this evening we had a horrible scare, our friend (the man who she followed home) was keeping her in his apartment below us because of my boyfriend's birthday party tonight. we put her in the washroom with food, water, and a litter box, and shut the door so she wouldn't get into his stuff. he went down to check on her every 45 minutes or so. well, he goes down around 8:30, goes into the washroom, and can't find her!! after hunting around, he noticed a rip in the window screen that she couldn't possibly have made herself. he called my boyfriend to tell him the cat was missing, so of Course Dan freaked out, and started running up and down the street screaming "where the f**** is my cat?!". a few minutes later, a woman comes to my friend's door, and tells him she has the cat upstairs in her apartment. apparently she had heard her crying, came down and "rescued" her by tearing the screen and pulling her out!! she then had the nerve to tell Dan that his swearing was inappropriate, and he was upsetting people on the street!! the best part of all this is, the woman is the assistant building manager, and she did this while she was on duty!! so not only did she break into my friends apartment, but she also tried to steal our kitten!!! I mean, I can understand smashing a car window when there's a dog trapped inside, but breaking in to someone's apartment because a kitten is crying? kittens cry, doesn't mean they're in trouble!! you don't assume someone's neglecting their child just because you hear it crying; bust in to someones house and try to take their kid, you'll be charged with kidnapping! I don't care how good that woman's intentions were, she's nuts, and I hope she gets severely reprimanded!!!
poor little Pepper, what a week!!
my cat has fleas!!! :'(
she is totally indoor so i think she got them at the vet when she had her tail surgery. Im so worried my house will be infested.
what do you guys use? what can i do???
i've never dealt with this before!!!!
Your cat can definitely get fleas at the vet, along with other things, if they are not as strict with hygiene as they should be. Animals go there with all kinds of problems, just like human clinics. I myself have come home from a vet's office where I was helping out, with a flea or two.
Pepper is officially ours!! went to the vet today, no microchip, and in perfect health!! got her first shot done, so she's sleepy (I found her passed out in the middle of the kitchen floor, curled up with a paper bag!) but other than that, perfect!!
this evening we had a horrible scare, ......
poor little Pepper, what a week!!
HOLY SHIT!! wait, first congrats on the new family member!!
totally talk to someone about that. i can't believe that! you two did the best thing you could for her to keep her away from the party since she's soo small and new to the family. and she just breaks in and takes the kitten? the only time i would do that is if i looked in the window and saw the cat needed help (you know, dirty bathroom, no food/water, looks sick/underweight, etc). otherwise, i would guess that the baby was new and they were "adjusting it" to the house (you know, when you lock them away for a bit to chill out?).
:o :o :o :o >:( >:( >:( >:(
the cops just left (my friend called them), and they believed her story, which surprise surprise, doesn't match what she told both him and my partner yesterday! apparently Pepper cried for 20 minutes, so she went down and found her sitting on the grass, so she took her inside. last night she said she "took the cat from the window because it was screaming," and there are a couple of other things that don't quite add up. first, this kitten was found running down the street less than a week ago, if she had gotten out the window she wouldn't have waited around, she'd have been gone in 30 seconds flat! second, we have the same screens in our apartment, and our 13 lb cat HANGS from them!! no way could a little kitten break a hole big enough to crawl through!! we could hear her screaming at my friend from outside, yelling "you're f***ed, you're f***ed!" does that not sound like a threat to you? something tells me we're not finished with this situation, and I doubt this is the last time the cops will be involved. I feel badly for my friend, not a good introduction to what is normally a very friendly building!! :(
Wow tink, that's really weird. I'm sure in her head she thought what she was doing made sense but obviously something is off about her.
HH, I saw you posted about picking up Cat's ashes today. I just wanted to tell you that you are in my thoughts. Hugs for you.
I believe it. When I was 18 (and looked 12), I was driving through an intersection and a car traveling in the opposite direction ran their red. They told the cops I ran the red and the cops wrote it up that way. I call it law en-farce-ment.
Thanks, bd. Believe it or not, the support of vegwebbers is what got me through this.
Pet related question--I would ask Di but she is on vacation...: Does anyone know what it means when male budgies (parakeets) "bob" at you consistently for like 5-10 min? He will chatterchatterchatter, then stop and "bob" his head up and down, then his whole body like he's made of a spring! It's cute, but it also gives me the feeling he has something he wants to communicate--Urgently!!
Pet related question--I would ask Di but she is on vacation...: Does anyone know what it means when male budgies (parakeets) "bob" at you consistently for like 5-10 min? He will chatterchatterchatter, then stop and "bob" his head up and down, then his whole body like he's made of a spring! It's cute, but it also gives me the feeling he has something he wants to communicate--Urgently!!
Hmm. I am no birds expert. My only experience comes from living with my ex who had 5 parrots. His one parrot was in love with a statue. I posted the story in this thread. He used to "bob" at the statue all the time. He would "preen" it a little and then bob, preen and bob. Maybe your bird is flirting with you. It might be a "hey baby, how you doing?" signal :D
Well, as long as he does it at me... :)>>> I'm just cool.... ;)
When I was in elementary school I had a hand-trained female parakeet who would regurgitate to "feed" me. Fortunately she only tried to "feed" my fingers, maybe that's where I got the handwashing obsession.... ;D
Here's a question about pets! Specifically, moving with them.
My little sister is moving on Friday, and she's driving her car there and bringing her two cats. She's never moved with pets before (neither have I), and she's worried about what to do when she needs to stop to go to the bathroom on the way there (it's far enough she won't be able to wait the entire time). It's supposed to be 98 degrees Friday. How long can she safely leave two cats in the car? Or has anyone found a place to stop that would let you bring cat carriers in with you? I assume restaurants would say not to that, but I don't know about gas stations...? Anyway, she's really stressed about this, so I think any idea would help.
I dunno about cats........but whenever my family and I went on vacation every year...we took our dog. I'm from TX...so...it's hot. If there's a breeze...and some shade...they will be fine with the windows rolled down a bit...in the shade...for a few minutes. Our dog doesn't really drink/eat if we aren't around...but we always left plenty of water. If it's a bit cooler/breezier...we felt more comfortable going in somewhere to eat, if not..we just took picnic meals and brought her outside with us. They will definitely be fine for bathroom breaks though. She can take some groceries with her..and stop at a roadside place...let them out (in carriers, or whatever...I dunno about cats), and eat there.
How long is the drive?
Here's a question about pets! Specifically, moving with them.
My little sister is moving on Friday, and she's driving her car there and bringing her two cats. She's never moved with pets before (neither have I), and she's worried about what to do when she needs to stop to go to the bathroom on the way there (it's far enough she won't be able to wait the entire time). It's supposed to be 98 degrees Friday. How long can she safely leave two cats in the car? Or has anyone found a place to stop that would let you bring cat carriers in with you? I assume restaurants would say not to that, but I don't know about gas stations...? Anyway, she's really stressed about this, so I think any idea would help.
We just moved 1600 miles with three cats. When we stopped for potty breaks, either we took turns (not an option if your sister is moving by herself) or we just left them in there. We never ate meals in restaurants. We just grabbed stuff and ate in the car with them. We moved from AZ to CO, stopping in AZ, NM, and CO in mid-May and it was hot. They wil be fine in the car for a few minutes while she runs in to go to the bathroom and grab something to eat.
Also, we fasted our cats before the move so that they wouldn't need a litterbox. We've tried traveling with a litterbox before and it's not fun. The cats are stressed, so 1) they either won't want to get out of their carrier to go potty; 2) they will freak and possibly get loose; or 3) they won't need to go anyway. Have your sister take away their food about 8 hours before she plans to leave and the water maybe 3-4ish hours before she plans to leave, so that it will all have time to get out of their systems. They will be fine until she gets to her destination. We stayed overnight in NM on our way to CO (found a pet-friendly hotel ahead of time) and gave them access to food, water, and a litterbox when we got there. Then, we took the food and water away before we went to bed.
Make sure she has ID tags on all of them (whether or not they are microchipped) with her current phone number JUST in case they manage to get away from her. Moving with cats isn't as stressful as it sounds. ;)b
Well Wilma is finally starting to come around to the wet food. Yesterday I gave her half a can of Nature's Instinct Lamb in the morning and when I came home from work it was all gone. I happily gave her the other half (which I now keep covered and stored in the microwave rather than in the fridge) when I got home and she went right for it. ;)b
I called the vet about her blood tests and was told they came back and her calcium levels are elevated. The vet is doing some research about how to treat that with Wilma's specific condition. In the meantime she is doing well and I feel comfortable leaving her at my parents for the week while Jason and I are away.
New question:
Tony Danza (i.e. - the other cat we rescued when we got Houdini) has been having some problems. Back when Houdini got sick in December, Tony became aggressive toward our other cats. Then she started pulling out her fur. I attributed this to her best bud becoming ill (the stress). Fast forward six months...Houdini dies and Tony begins to rapidly deteriorate. Diagnosis of FLUTD, two teeth pulled, severe gingivitis, more intense fur ripping. We did antibiotics for the FLUTD, a tooth cleaning/extraction, and a prednisone shot for the 'allergic skin condition'. Now she's losing weight, still ripping out fur and her breath is smelly again (a sign of plaque buildup). She's also basically stopped eating, started acting evasive with DH and I, and basically lays around.
The vets swore that Houdini had some mysterious type of FeLV (Feline Leukemia) but they couldn't find it. Now, looking at the symptoms, I'm starting to wonder the same thing (about her and possibly Tony). Tony's never been tested. Since reading Dr. Goldstein's book, my approach to treatment would be different with Tony than it was with Houdini, but I need a diagnosis to work with first.
I'm thinking about taking her to the vet for some diagnostics - CBC/organ function panel, FeLV/FIV screening, etc. No meds or invasive procedures. I admit I'm scared. I know that FeLV is treatable, but I HAVE 7 OTHER CATS. Those of you that have been hanging around for awhile know what I went through (and am still going through) with Houdini's illness and death. I can't do it again.
Advice?
My Stanley has had FeLV since birth so I have a lot of experience with this.... I gave him Interfiron A for the first 2 years of his life, after that he went into 'remission' meaning the disease is still detectable but he is healthy for the most part. He's had a few problems, mainly teeth issues. Your kiity seems to have the same issues as mine acutally.... teeth and skin scabbing kinda... My vet seems to think the skin condition is related to the mouth infections. I've never read Dr. Goldstein's book,never heard of it. If your kitty is loosing wieght it could be from mouth pain. Have you asked your vet about the wieght lose? With FeLV when they start to go down hill it's really fast, I'd try and figure out what is going on with kitty and get kitty on meds asap.
((mdv))
It's too soon to go through this again. Ever would be too soon, but this is much too soon. I'm sorry Tony Danza has symptoms. FeLV seems to be the only thing Cat didn't have. I wish I could help you find answers. You won't know anything until you get the tests done. I hope they find something concrete. I wish I could help more, just ((mdv & family)).
Do you think she'd eat in your bedroom after she's slept in there overnight and maybe feels better?
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