To all cat lovers.....
Posted By: concerned on 2009-02-17
In Reply to:
My SO will be moving in with me in a few months. My cat is male, 14-years-old, has never seen or been around another cat and rules the roost. His cat is a female, 8-years-old and gets along well with other cats. I have researched on introducing them but am very worried that my cat will not be able to handle the stress. SO was here for a month and my cat seemed to like him very much. I am at the point that I am having second thoughts of moving in together although my friends tell me I am being rediculous and I know I am - sacrificing my happiness for my cat. Can anyone give me some pointers? Thanks!
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I don't know. Dog lovers are dog lovers. I know
in my case, with my brood, I didn't really enjoy all the effort it took to have someone care for the dogs in my absence, etc., to then be with even my family, who were NOT dog lovers, always had a deep resentment of my love for dogs and my choice of a lifestyle that was full of animals. We animal lovers sense it, and, in all honesty, I don't like to spend time with humans who belittle me and belittle animals. It just is a reflection of one's soul and temperament. So, my business was also dogs, and always did serve a perfect excuse for me not to have to travel and/or spend extended amounts of time with supposed loved ones who didn't really love me. You make your disdain of dog lovers very clear - and believe a dog is a dog is a dog. Your mom is probably way painfully aware of this, and you make her feel bad. Just pointing out to you how the other side feels. 
Any Starbucks lovers out there?
I am spending too much money on white chocolate mochas lately, and I'm wondering how I can make this myself. Obviously I need to get the expresso maker, but does anyone have a recipe or link to where I can get the stuff to make my own?
attn: cat lovers - you may not know -
My less than 3-year-old cat went into acute renal failure several weeks ago - he spent a week on iv's and we are still not sure he is going to make it. The vet couldn't make any sense of why - but one thing I learned although it didn't prove to be my case - is that lillies of almost every type - the absolute worst being Easter lillies - are extremely toxic to cats - all parts of the plant - so do not bring any lillies into your house - that includes day lillies, oriental, stargazers, callas. I've heard of other things but never this. If they are outside cats, English Ivy is equally as deadly.
Okay cat lovers - I need some advice!
I have a 21 pound Maine Coon cat who I'm told is a little bit overweight. Apparently, it is dangerous for this kind of cat to be overweight. So, the vet told me to cut back on his food a little. However, if I do not give this cat food when he decides he wants it, he starts going around the house knocking things over and just generally being destructive. Right now he's in my office chewing on my notebooks and tearing papers out of them. I've tried squirting him with water, which does not help because he actually LIKES playing in water. I have no idea if he is actually hungry and his tummy is hurting, or if he's just being a brat! Anyone else have a similar issue with their cat? Any ideas on how to get him to stop being destructive? He's obviously a big, strong cat and he does quite a bit of damage! 
Any chihuahua lovers out there?
A friend of mine has 2 chihuahuas that need homes. They're brother and sister, about 3 years old, fixed. The usual story, have kids, no longer want dogs. I tried to talk her into keeping them, but not working. I can't take them, cause my house is already full to the max of fur kids. They're located in PA. I would hate to see them end up at the humane league, but that's where they're heading. So if anyone is interested let me know. 
Dog lovers look at this link.
Can't you smell the puppy breath?
These puppies are related to the dog I lost recently. Breeder is in Tennessee, and I go to the sight for the puppy breath.
Of interest to Pet Lovers
Wanted to share a link for an email from my friend in Australia....
Calling all cat lovers - I'm at my wit's end
To make a long story short I need some expertise. My male cat was a sprayer before we got him fixed way back when. Then he decided to pee in our dining room and we took up the rug and put in a wood floor (this was quite a few years ago - cat is 11). Then he proceeded to pee in all the corners of the family room. We just had wood floor put on there and all has been well. Until about a week ago, he decided to pee again on the dining room wood floor, no where else, but he still uses his litter box. I had cleaned it with vinegar and it seemed like the smell went away and I thought all was well until I again caught him peeing on the wood floor in the same area more than once. My husband has had it (he destroyed a lot of things already from when we first got him). He is ready to take him away somewhere. I don't know what to do next. My husband doused the area with vinegar again. Anyone have any ideas? Anything that will keep him away, or any other tricks to get he smell out. Any help would be appreciated. Tonight will not be a very happy night.
OK all you animal lovers...
We have a Basset hound puppy, around 7-8 weeks old; we've had her a week now and she is going absolutely NOWHERE with her potty training. We are trying to crate train her, but she just can't get the idea. We take her out on a regular schedule, feed her on a regular schedule, and make sure she poopies and pees before she comes back in, but it never fails that she will, at least once a day, poopie in her crate...SO DISGUSTING! I'm at my wit's end and ready to give her up, but she's sooo adorable, I really don't want to.
Of note, I am not a huge animal person, can take them or leave them, but she stole my heart and I love her! I seriously am looking for some answers here. 
All you CAT/animal lovers have to see this one. SM
it is short but so sweet.
http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2008/cat-adopts-bunny-p1.php
Any Music lovers out there?
My anniversary was last week, and I had no idea what to get my husband, so I made him a guitar pick necklace. He really liked it and I had two or three people ask me to make them one, so I decided I would make some and see if people liked them. Here's a picture of a few I made.
If anyone's interested let me know! Or if you have any ideas! I went to Micheal's this weekend and bought a bunch of goodies so I'll be making more!
Question for the dog lovers - cut pad of foot
My dog cut it's pad probably this past Sunday. He came limping home on Monday morning but by then it wasn't even bleeding. He is used to being outdoors (we live in the country and he can run free) and is about to go crazy because I have kept him either tied up or in the garage to give this time to heal. I have soaked his paw daily in warm salt water and have applied neosporin to it as well. It is looking good and there does not seem to be any infection, swelling it totally gone, and I can manipulate it without it causing pain.
This is on the main part of his foot and it is quite a slice causing a large flap to just kind of hang. A friend who had this similar incident said her vet had her apply ointment and then wrap the pay with masking tape to keep the flap against the paw so that it would heal shut. I have been doing this for the last several days. He will only keep it on there for 5-6 hours and then he'll pull the tape off.
Here's the question - is there some kind of product that I can safely use to "glue" this pad back to his paw? I know in surgical reports I have heard about a surgical adhesive that they use but is there something over-the-counter that I can get for this or even home remedy stuff to try. I hate for him to lose the substantial part of his pad and leave his paw prone to injury with more tender skin. I have been told that I can cut it off but I don't want to do that unless it is a last resort. I tried to "goggle" this subject and came up with a board where it was suggested to someone else for them to just use crazy glue and glue it back in place. That didn't seem quite appropriate! Hopefully someone can help me figure this out!
Any bird lovers out there? I have a question sm
I have had to female (didn't want to deal with breeding, been there done that) Cordon Bleu finches for almost 3 years. My hubby purchased them for me for out 17th anniversary. It has been just the two of them in their cage since we brought them home and they hang right beside my desk so I can see them when I work. Last night we found 1 dead. The other one has been chirping continuously since early this morning. They are not extremely vocal birds (usually the males are) but they would normally chirp a little and would fly around quite a bit. I know Roxy is probably wondering where Velma is and that is the reason for the continuous chirping (including a weird sing-sing-whisthiling noise that I have never heard before). I have been searching on the web about getting another bird for her to have as company. I can't find anything definite. We brought these birds 3 hours from here as our local pet store only carries zebra finches. I haven't spoken to anywhere there yet but plan to. Does anyone have any suggestions? My heart just breaks for the lone bird but am not sure if getting another bird is the best idea.
Need reassurance from animal lovers
Tell me I'm not crazy but my rental agent just called asking if I will be renewing my lease - I live in NJ and I pay 1300 a month. Since MQ took everything away, I just skim by with bills now. I had to say yes as my cat is 14 and is blind but in good health. He went blind in this apt and at 14, I would hate to stress him so much as he knows this place so well. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to keep up with it. Would anybody else do this for an animal?
Calling all coffee lovers!
I'm so excited! I signed up for that Gevalia coffee club and the UPS man just delivered my way-awesome coffee pot, coffee and accessories. My old coffee pot was an old white plastic 4-cup model that had started to leak. With this one I'll be able to auto-program it to brew my coffee in the morning so it's ready when I wake up. How 21st century of me, lol!
Anybody else subscribe to this coffee service or had their coffee? While I wait for my first pot to brew, I thought I'd see if anyone can weigh in on whether their coffee is comparable to the taste of Starbucks or other coffee brands.
TIA!!!
Coffee lovers: Here's another possibility
Anybody tried a little gadget called the Aeropress?
http://www.aerobie.com/Products/aeropress_story.htm
It makes a pretty chewy cup of coffee, and it's VERY easy to clean and maintain. And it's CHEAP! (Not quite as cheap as a cup-top filter thingamajig, but very cheap compared to a full-blown espresso machine.)
Ok, probably animal lovers might blow a gasket but
I have 3 cats. When I got the younger cats they were swimming in fleas. I would say they were maybe 6-8 months old. I visited the vet, got the medicine they have as in your posts and it just was not working. The cats were scratching themselves to death. While at the vet place 1 of the ladies told me if I got fleas in my carpet I could use Borax washing powder. A light went off in my head. I thought if I can use on the carpet, why not the cats? I was very careful about protecting their eyes but tried it and my golly, the fleas died almost instantly and they have not been bothered since then. They are now over 2 years old, brothers from the same litter. This was the most effective thing I had ever tried including all the flea remedies they have at the vets and pet stores.
Music lovers, check this out, inspirational! sm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA
Animal lovers . . If you have not had a good cry yet today SM
watch this very touching video.
http://videos.komando.com/2008/06/26/christian-the-lion/
Animal lovers... another great video for you!
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=yNy9jTeolUk
The lazy days of summer :)
I know there are a lot of animal lovers here, so I thought I would share...
Back in March I posted on this board about my lab puppy that died from parvo. After that happened, we bleached our house from ceiling to floor and poured buckets and buckets of dilute bleach on our yard. About a month later, I was approached by a neighbor who's boxer had had puppies and since the neither of the parent boxers were registered, she was selling them of $100 a piece. I've always wanted a boxer, but refused to pay $400 for a dog. So I jumped at the chance to get a boxer, but I was a little leery because of the parvo incident. So my hubbie and I again bleached our house from top to bottom and bleached our yard, pretty much killing the grass. We made sure the puppy had her first set of shots including a parvo vaccination and even made a point three months ahead for her second parvo booster. We brought her home and she did great. We thought we were successful at decontaminating our house. She was healthy and happy until about three weeks ago. She had gotten into the trash and got a hold of some raw chicken bones and then the next was lethargic and heaving like she wanted to throw up but couldn't. As luck would have it, it was time for her appointment for her shots and booster. So I get to the vet and tell her what was going on with her and even the vet agreed it was probably the chicken. So they checked her out and she had a temperature. So the vet said she couldn't give her shots, but they could do the flea treatment. Then vet asked me about doing a parvo test. At first I was like no way could she have parvo. She's been living in our house for four months now and is just now getting sick? But then I said just to rule out, let's do it. Well, she had parvo!
I was just sick and crying. I didn't want my kids to watch another dog die, but I didn't want to euthanize her either. She wasn't as sick as the other dog had been. She hadn't had diarrhea, just a little vomiting. I just didn't know what to do. I couldn't afford the $600 my vet was telling me would be the cost to hospitalize her and give her IV fluids and antibiotics. So I took her home and gave the sad news to my husband. Then I got mad and said there has got to be something else we can try. So the MT in me took over and I got online and started researching. I found a couple of articles where vets had tried Tamiflu in dogs with parvo and that the Tamiflu had actually helped. It had shortened the length of the illness, hindered the spread of the virus throughout the dog's intestinal tract, and made the symptoms less severe. Basically, given a dog a better chance for survival. Luckily (LOL) my entire family had had the flu back in February and I happened to have some Tamiflu on hand that my husband hadn't taken. I found that the vets had given the parvo dogs 1 mg per pound to the sick dogs twice a day for five days which in my dog averaged to about 30 mg twice a day. My Tamiflu was 75 mg capsules. So I figured I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. So I did it. She wouldn't eat at first, so putting the pill in a hotdog wasn't an option. So my husband held her mouth open and I dropped a pill in and used a baby medicine dropper to squirt water into her mouth. Then we held her mouth closed and made her swallow. Day two, she seemed a little perky and actually got up to drink water on her own. By day three, she was eating tiny pieces of poached chicken and taking her pill on her own.
Long story short, we are now two weeks out from Sugar's 5-day Tamiflu treatment and she is 100% recovered! She is chasing the cat, chewing up my shoes, and just generally wreaking the wonderful havoc like she has always done! I told my vet what I did and she's going to do some research on her own and she may even try it on other dogs in the future. I just wanted to share my story here because so many times people think parvo is a death sentence or that the only thing to save your dog is expensive treatment that people have a hard time justifying. I also wanted to share how my career as an MT probably saved my dog! Had I not had honed all those researching and investigative skills we need as MTs, I would have never found the information that ultimately saved my dog.
Torn Between Two Lovers, Feeling Like A Fool, Loving Both
nm
Animal lovers, be sure to watch/record Oprah today. sm
Lisa Ling is reporting on puppy mills. It looks like it will be a very powerful show. I know that 'dog people' have been trying for *years* to get Oprah to do a show on this, and I'm so glad she finally is. I desperately hope it will make a difference. The dogs in the mills have been suffering far too long. We need to put an end to puppy mills. Please, pass the word.
Calling all you animal lovers - live and let live or intervene? - sm
I have a dilemma. I am an animal lover and have something I cannot come to a conclusion about. At a restaurant where I eat lunch every Friday with a friend of mine, I have noticed a young male kitty hanging around outside looking for food. This past week he ran up to my friend and rubbed her legs and quietly meowed. I purposely did not try to pet him because I knew I would get attached and ignored him. Well, ever since then I find myself thinking about him and wanting to rescue him. Meanwhile, I already have 4 inside cats (2 rescues, 2 Maine Coons) and hubby really does not want another cat in the house because a few years ago I promised we would never have more than 4 (had up to 5 at one point previously). I actually have a huge screened deck he could stay on indefinitely because I do not believe in letting cats run loose for their own safety. I could provide plenty of food, a warm place to sleep, and veterinary care. At some point I would even probably work him into our household, but I just cannot do it at the moment. Just not sure I would be doing right by that kitty because I am sure he would be upset and confused for a good while as to where he was and what was going on, but is that better than being hungry and cold? I know there are lots of animal lovers out there. What does everyone think??
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