Pets - General

[femmedyke]

Sachita I'm thinking about you during this very difficult time. I know folks sometimes say how lucky our beloved pets are to have us, but really, we're so very lucky to have them in our lives.

When Piscean and I merged our little lives together we came out with some kind of Brady Bunch. I had three cats, she had three cats and a pup and as luck or fate or I don't know bleeding hearts would have it, together we rescued four more pets. Three more cats and another dog.

Our pups are both rescued wheaten mixes, Fossil came with Piscean and is a darling and stubborn Wheaten Lhasa mix. Atticus is a wheaten poodle mix who is c-r-a-z-y but so very loving and sweet.

Our cats are all amazing, you would never even imagine how well (and clean) our household runs with eight cats. It is formerly nine, we just lost our beautiful 15 year old Petunia from cancer. We miss her very much; our sweet little tomboy girl, with her big red bell.

Caring for our brood is a part-time job but I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. We're also lucky that we both work for specialty and referral hospitals so we get a very large break on vet bills, medications, care.. etc. I think, of course this is the only way we could have this many pets. Five years ago I am not sure I would have considered chemotherapy for any of our pets, but with the access to the medical care chemotherapy gave Piscean and I two more beautiful, good months with Petunia. I'd do it in a heartbeat again.

Last night in the ER at work we had our very first 'overheated' dog. The owners have been leaving their 14 year old lab outside because she had been urinating in the house. Well, yesterday it was 96 degrees out and Brandy literally fried. She presented with a 105 temp (likely had been 107 before she came) and had to be euthanized. It was hard to feel sorry for the owners (the adults) but very, very sad for the 10 year old young man who kind of understood what had happened and was losing his best friend.

...So a very random and all over the place (typical for me) post, but thought I would share.

[kannon]

Originally Posted by femmedyke

Sachita I'm thinking about you during this very difficult time. I know folks sometimes say how lucky our beloved pets are to have us, but really, we're so very lucky to have them in our lives.

When Piscean and I merged our little lives together we came out with some kind of Brady Bunch. I had three cats, she had three cats and a pup and as luck or fate or I don't know bleeding hearts would have it, together we rescued four more pets. Three more cats and another dog.

Our pups are both rescued wheaten mixes, Fossil came with Piscean and is a darling and stubborn Wheaten Lhasa mix. Atticus is a wheaten poodle mix who is c-r-a-z-y but so very loving and sweet.

Our cats are all amazing, you would never even imagine how well (and clean) our household runs with eight cats. It is formerly nine, we just lost our beautiful 15 year old Petunia from cancer. We miss her very much; our sweet little tomboy girl, with her big red bell.

Caring for our brood is a part-time job but I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. We're also lucky that we both work for specialty and referral hospitals so we get a very large break on vet bills, medications, care.. etc. I think, of course this is the only way we could have this many pets. Five years ago I am not sure I would have considered chemotherapy for any of our pets, but with the access to the medical care chemotherapy gave Piscean and I two more beautiful, good months with Petunia. I'd do it in a heartbeat again.

Last night in the ER at work we had our very first 'overheated' dog. The owners have been leaving their 14 year old lab outside because she had been urinating in the house. Well, yesterday it was 96 degrees out and Brandy literally fried. She presented with a 105 temp (likely had been 107 before she came) and had to be euthanized. It was hard to feel sorry for the owners (the adults) but very, very sad for the 10 year old young man who kind of understood what had happened and was losing his best friend.

...So a very random and all over the place (typical for me) post, but thought I would share.

I'm blessed cause all 3 of my dogs have good health. Maggie is 11, Miguel is 6 and Tyler is 3. Still, it cost a pretty penny for routine health care. Worth every penny though.

Maggie goes outside whenever she wants. I have a doggie door. She gets overheated when she stays out too long hunting. It was 105 today. She doesn't know when give it up. I've had to spray her with water a couple of times to get her temp down. I worry about her when I'm at work.

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by kannon

I'm blessed cause all 3 of my dogs have good health. Maggie is 11, Miguel is 6 and Tyler is 3. Still, it cost a pretty penny for routine health care. Worth every penny though.

Maggie goes outside whenever she wants. I have a doggie door. She gets overheated when she stays out too long hunting. It was 105 today. She doesn't know when give it up. I've had to spray her with water a couple of times to get her temp down. I worry about her when I'm at work.

Routine health care and good food! There are some good studies showing that nutrition does prolong lifespan for our fur-kids.

yes, I understand over heating- I have had short-nosed dogs for years (Boxers & now my Frenchie) and even in a more mild climate, hot days can be very bad. Glad i don't live in some of the areas I did for years- all were very hot in summer. Big time air conditioning costs.

[Toughy]

Things you can do when camping with doggies.........

run a line between 2 trees (bushs, staked to the ground, etc) that are close together (make sure you don't damage the tree bark), attach a 10-20 foot lead to the line and the doggie.....make sure you have fresh water in a bowl that the puppy can easily reach....they can get tangled up so keep an eye on them...

get a couple (or 3 or 4...however big you want it) of xpens attached to each other and make a dog enclosure....they come in various heights....remember to stablizethe pens in a couple of places so it doesn't fall down if they bump it and again lots of fresh water inside the pen.....

also if you live in poison oak or poison ivy country, you can get pet wipes for their coats that will remove the poison stuff.....ask at your local pet store (go to a locally owned one...only go to the pet express, petco if that's all that is available to you)

[betenoire]

I have a question about cats who groom themselves bald.

When I brought Elphaba home she had lots of bald patches. Now, she was a rescue kitty and I know where she came from and it was a really bad neglect situation - so I attributed the bald patches to that. I figured they'd grow back in.

They didn't, and they got worse. Her entire belly is entirely bald (well, there's peach-fuzz/new growth hair but no real fur coat) as are the insides of her front legs. I've taken her to the vet and ruled out the regular stuff (no UTI, she's totally healthy, no fleas) and she isn't a stress bucket (she's actually the friendliest and most snuggly cat I've ever met) but for some reason she continues to lick herself bald. Her skin is fine and intact (no scabs or scars) so I'm not SUPER worried - but I do wish she'd stop because I always think she's going to get cold (drama).

I've seen her doing it several times, and it's just -really- hard grooming, no pulling or biting of the hair. When I've seen her doing it I've tried distracting her with love - but the truth is that I see her doing it very rarely. I think this is probably something that she does when I'm out of the apartment.

I figure it's an abandonment issue thing, because the person she was with before me would leave her locked out on the balcony and go away for weeks at a time (no food, no water, dirty litterbox, no love, nobody popping in to check on her) so she probably gets upset when I go to work. I've tried the feliway plug-in diffuser which is supposed to make cats feel calm and comfy...but it didn't help at all.

Is it -really- not a big deal (the vet says it's not, but I don't believe him)? Is there something else I can/should try?

[Martina]

Given the things you have ruled out, it is most likely to be a grain allergy. Buy grain free food. i would bet money that within a week, you'll notice less grooming and in a few weeks the hair will be noticably thicker in those areas.

Originally Posted by betenoire

I have a question about cats who groom themselves bald.

When I brought Elphaba home she had lots of bald patches. Now, she was a rescue kitty and I know where she came from and it was a really bad neglect situation - so I attributed the bald patches to that. I figured they'd grow back in.

They didn't, and they got worse. Her entire belly is entirely bald (well, there's peach-fuzz/new growth hair but no real fur coat) as are the insides of her front legs. I've taken her to the vet and ruled out the regular stuff (no UTI, she's totally healthy, no fleas) and she isn't a stress bucket (she's actually the friendliest and most snuggly cat I've ever met) but for some reason she continues to lick herself bald. Her skin is fine and intact (no scabs or scars) so I'm not SUPER worried - but I do wish she'd stop because I always think she's going to get cold (drama).

I've seen her doing it several times, and it's just -really- hard grooming, no pulling or biting of the hair. When I've seen her doing it I've tried distracting her with love - but the truth is that I see her doing it very rarely. I think this is probably something that she does when I'm out of the apartment.

I figure it's an abandonment issue thing, because the person she was with before me would leave her locked out on the balcony and go away for weeks at a time (no food, no water, dirty litterbox, no love, nobody popping in to check on her) so she probably gets upset when I go to work. I've tried the feliway plug-in diffuser which is supposed to make cats feel calm and comfy...but it didn't help at all.

Is it -really- not a big deal (the vet says it's not, but I don't believe him)? Is there something else I can/should try?

[betenoire]

Originally Posted by Martina

Given the things you have ruled out, it is most likely to be a grain allergy. Buy grain free food. i would bet money that within a week, you'll notice less grooming and in a few weeks the hair will be noticably thicker in those areas.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.