Saturday afternoon seems like a good time for some pet updates.
My little Henry has been itching and scratching and getting ear infections, which says allergies to me. So I talked with the vet and we did the blood testing for allergies.
I had guessed that Henry was allergic to the tomatoes he is always stealing from the garden, so that was no surprise. I feed Tucker and Henry Pork & Peas dog food because Tucker is allergic to beef and chicken and lamb and rice. But it turns out that Henry is allergic to peas. Of course he is!
I literally snorted all those years ago when we got the allergy testing back from Tucker and his highest allergy was to cats, because of course I had just gotten my two kitties, Willow and Mr. Bear.
Anyway, I have pulled my tomatoes for the year, so we are good there, and I will have to find another food for Henry. Then we’ll see how he does with all the other stuff he’s allergic to. For Tucker, all it took was changing his food to the Pork & Peas and then he was able to deal with his cat allergies.
I haven’t heard anything more about Molly, and I think Raven will likely chime in with an update about Tai.
So what’s going on with all your pets? Anyone thinking of adding another furry guy to your family? If anyone wants to send a photo, I can add the first 10 to the post.
Joey Maloney
I was away for several weeks and when I got home all the cats ran from me. The blind one was the first one to remember me but once I fed everyone they decided I was probably ok, whoever I was.
trollhattan
Our first Dalmatian was a gatherer and organizer. He LOVED tennis balls and because a comp tennis player friend kept us well supplied, we would find tennis ball nests in the house and yard.
Then Bruno discovered tomatoes on the vine and decided they too, were tennis balls and we began finding nests of green (like the tennis balls) tomatoes in the backyard. One day I caught him in the act of picking and tried to take it from him. He ran off and chomp discovered they weren’t just toys, they were also FOOD!
Our tomato harvest plummeted and his skin problems increased. Next year I moved where I planted because that was not a battle I was winning.
He also discovered broccoli heads were fun to remove.
raven
Artie is doing well. We had to board her last weekend because of the wedding but our friend has “privileges” at the vet and she sprang her Saturday and took her to a bunch of the dog parade sponsors and got pics! The princess was worried that she has a urinary tract issue so they tested her and found she was ok. Then the vet texted me that they would like samples for 3 days. People here probably know of the horrible abuse Artie suffered and, while she is doing great, she is really spooked by anything in your hand. I tried to slide the pie plate under her and she absolutely freaked out. The poor little thing rolled over and was terrified. I ain’t doin that to her again.
Percysowner
I’m impressed at your vet. My Shiloh has allergies, but the vet said they could only test for non-food allergies. They found an allergy to mites and mold (both pretty much everywhere). They said that to test for food allergy I would have to go the give her a restricted diet then start adding things back in. My life doesn’t allow that. ( I take care of my granddaughter at their house and they have dog food down for their dogs and never remember to shut the door leading down to the cat food. Plus a 3 year old won’t stop giving treats to the dogs, because she wants them to love her.)
I give my girl Benedryl and do the best I can.
raven
Oh, we never did an update on Tai. I feel awful that I did a bleg and then got no communication from the people asking for help. It turns out the owner did die and the son decided to keep her. I won’t be so quick to ask for help again.
WaterGirl
@Joey Maloney: That’s so sad! Except for the part where I laughed out loud at your last sentence.
Does another human live in your house, or did someone come in to feed them while you were gone? Asking because I suspect they may have known exactly who you are, but were giving you the kitty finger because you left them for so long.
MomSense
My pup is great for a thief who won’t follow any of the rules.
She had an unfortunate encounter with a porcupine several weeks ago that meant a trip to the emergency vet.
realbtl
Had a dog that loved cherry toms but only ripe ones. She would go get one, bring it back to the lawn and then bite into it. If ripe all good, if not ptui onto the grass. Made for a messy back lawn.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: Rut roh. Still stealing cheese, I presume? Our on the porcupine. That’s gotta hurt!
WaterGirl
@realbtl: Henry does not discriminate. He doesn’t care if it’s green and hard, or white on the way to yellow, or yellow on the way to orange, or ripe and red.
WereBear
Morgen Le Faye, our little black panther, is six months old now! And being a Panther, she’s turbo-charged.
Fortunately, Bud and Lou have stepped up their kitten game and wears her out, so much so that when Mr WayofCats and I watch TV in the evenings, she’s a little sleeping pile on his chest or leg. He asked me to get him a Heart Cat, and he says I did it!
This gives Rhiannon and Tristan a break from play requests they don’t want. Which increases their friendship.
As I explain in this post, Morgen has really completed our Civilization of Cats. She was a wonderful pick, if I do say so :)
WereBear
I agree. Hurt feelings! How could you!
raven
Artie visiting a sponsor.
raven
oops
indycat32
I’m feeding some “neighborhood” cats, 2 adults (now fixed) and 4 kittens (older one fixed). The young ones are about 8 weeks old. I want to adopt the female (she’s absolutely gorgeous) – she’s semi-frendly, lets me pick her up when she comes over for breakfast, BUT I’m sure she has fleas and I can’t risk bringing her in the house. It’s a dilemma.
cope
Wow, pressure’s on, guess I have to make a comment. As we quickly learned, terrier comes from the French for “dog of the earth”. Jesse loves to dig and that is why she is so dirty. When we first got her, she dug multiple tunnels under our common fence to get to her friends
Gage and his brother Draco used to live next door. They recently moved but their owner brings the boys over a couple of times a week. When both pits are here, all bets are off. Jesse completely reigns over them both.
The terrier is our St. Croix rescue Jesse. She is shown here in repose with her pit bull boyfriend Gage. Guess who’s boss?
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
Been lurking a bit. Thinking about coming back. We’ll see how it goes.
The current status of my pets is that I collect cats with disabilities. Finnick has three legs. Charles has one I. Harry has half a brain. Lord, Harry is stupid. Very sweet, but stupid.
Finnick spends much of his time outside. 90+% of it during the summer, much less when it’s below zero. I don’t like letting my cats outside, but he started ripping screens open and jumping out of second story windows. At that point, he wins. If I could keep a collar on him, I’d get one with a paratrooper badge.
My writing has completely stalled out over the last several years. I really need a writers group, but I can’t find one that both would be a good fit and has an opening.
MagdaInBlack
What email do I use for this photo I may impulsively send?
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
Cheese, Tupperware lids, any food you turn your back on for five seconds, shoes, guitar picks(!!).
She had a lot of quills in the roof of her mouth.
Jess
Hey Watergirl,
About the Pea thing: they’re starting to suspect that peas may be culprit in the increasing number of dogs on grain-free diets getting cardiomyopathy. Proceed with caution!
Jess
My new good boi, a street dog from Russia, just started his new training class today. He whined a little at the other dogs, and gave one brief growl, but otherwise was amazingly good! He’s reactive to other dogs, and we’ve been working on that. It’s great to see progress.
NotMax
Not pets but if anyone wants to peek in on the world’s biggest aquarium (a/k/a Pacific Ocean), here ya go.
;)
Fair Economist
Ooh, I get to merge this with one of the discussions on the previous thread!
Our rabbit developed mushy poop because our son gave him too much banana. He’s recovering on a low treat diet, although very frustrated he’s not getting his regular banana treat! Most of the gooey poop blobs were on our tile floor, which is no problem, or on an all cotton area rug which we just washed. BUT – one of his favorite hangouts is the hearth of our fireplace –
Which is made of brick. And is now “decorated” with several areas of remarkably tough drying rabbit poop. Scraping has been only minimally effective. I guess I’ll have to go at it with a bristle brush, which I’ve been reluctant to as I fear I’ll spread it around.
WereBear
@Fair Economist: Ammonia dissolves such biologic matter. Also, look into those enzyme cleaners. Soak the spot good, and it might help you take care of the problem.
Jess
@Joey Maloney: My kitty usually gives me good hard chomp when I return from a trip. After that, we’re usually good.
She also hissed at me when I wouldn’t help her down from a tree. She got down by herself and hissed as she stalked past me back to the house. That was hilarious.
WaterGirl
@indycat32: Take her straight to the vet. Or, alternatively there’s something called Star*Cap that kills all live fleas in some small amount of time, so you could give that tiny little pill before bringing her home.
Something to ask the vet about, anyway.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Jess: One day, I heard the very loud noise of a cat fight out the window. Afraid that Finnick was in trouble, I rushed out to save him. I found him at the bottom of the stairs, watching two other cats fight. I picked him up to take him inside. Then he started hissing and growling.
What a tough guy.
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: my nym at balloon-juice.com
WaterGirl
@MomSense:
Ouch, it hurts just to read that.
Another Scott
Our mutt Ellie has been having some food issues. She’d been on Nutro Ultra dry for ages and seemed to do well with it, but J noticed her licking her paws and shaking her ears so the vet suggested trying chicken-free food. We tried some Merick lamb and sweet potato and she seemed to love it (lots more calories than the Ultra, so no doubt!) and that seemed Ok for at least a while but she was still doing the licking and shaking stuff. So we tried some Merick lamb and brown rice. That didn’t seem to agree with her at all, to the extent that we put her briefly on some Hills GI food. So, after hunting around to find it again, we’re back on the Nutro Ultra and she seems back to normal (and no more midnight emergency potty breaks!). (The grain-free stuff makes me nervous from the various heart-related reports about it.)
It’s mysterious because the Ultra has rice as an ingredient and there was a time in the past when we tried feeding her fresh chicken and rice and it didn’t agree with her at all. The Hills stuff has rice and she does fine on it. ?♂️
A vet here on an earlier thread said that allergies are usually seasonal and maybe that’s the case here with Ellie, too. (If she even has allergies.) It’s really hard to troubleshoot this stuff… Especially when she eats anything that is even potentially food-related on our walks unless we watch her like a red tailed hawk. Cicadas! Banana peels! Acorns! Paper! Fox poop! Worms! Fallen cherries!! (sigh)
We’ll try be careful about mixing the remaining Merick stuff in with her Ultra, but may end up getting rid of it.
Cheers,
Scott.
MagdaInBlack
@NotMax: Ooooh, I love this. Thank you. I see several like a friend had in his reef tank, especially the yellow tang. And did I see a trigger?
WaterGirl
@Jess: Thanks for the heads up. Not sure what I could feed Tucker besides pork & peas, because of all his allergies. I’ll have to check into it.
Timurid
The lump on my cat’s back turned out to be a sebaceous cyst instead of a tumor, so it was a good day…
Another Scott
@Jess: Anecdotes are not data but decades ago, my great aunt would mix in a can of peas with her old Pomeranian’s food every day. Lived a good long time (10+ years, maybe longer). I have no idea if she had any heart issues or not.
(To be clear, I’m not disagreeing with you – I don’t know. It’s really hard to figure this stuff out – bodies are really complicated!)
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@Timurid: Yay for that!
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: Thank you.
WaterGirl
@MagdaInBlack: If you want to tell us more about La Gordita, I can move the photo down to your comment. In the meantime, the photo is at #18. What a lovely photo!!
MagdaInBlack
@WaterGirl: Here ya go: That photo was taken earlier this year before I put the plants outside. That’s her bird and squirrel watching spot. A current photo would show too much dust ?
StringOnAStick
When I was a kid we would drive to CA for two weeks every summer to see my dad’s parents. I had adopted my first cat at age 5 before we left CA, so for many years after the annual two week absence she would give me the cold shoulder for many days, but fewer each year until she was elderly and just happy to see me again. I’m not sure if she lost her memory of time or just realized we always came back.
Mike in Oly
Our kitty Marley is going to the vet today. Have to use the emergency one as ours is so booked up they can’t see him m for three weeks (this has been a problem all year). He’s had a weird lump on his chest for years, and we’ve always been told it was just a benign cyst. This week it became infected and last night it broke open and is draining a nasty fluid. Time for it to be seen again. Poor boy. It is obviously irritating him. Miss Pearl remains her bossy little plump self.
WaterGirl
@StringOnAStick: Love that story.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Oly: Oh, sweet boy. I hope you get good news and that it’s easily treated. Let us know how it goes.
WaterGirl
@Mike in Oly: Wow, that picture could be a painting!
So beautiful. I was crossing my fingers before seeing this photo, but now I am a bit teary-eyed. Beautiful boy.
MagdaInBlack
@Mike in Oly: Oh my he is so handsome! I hope it turns out well.
WaterGirl
When I was 20 I was too stupid to know that you don’t get a puppy and then take a month-long trip just a few weeks later.
So I took my cocker spaniel puppy to stay with my sister for 4 weeks. (i was an idiot!) I stayed for a couple of days and then they saw me off on the train. 4 weeks later I return on the train, and it was a reunion for the ages. I’m on the ground on the train platform, I’m crying she is jumping all over me and licking my face. So happy to see you! I love you so much! I love you I love you I love you!
People stopped to watch this beautiful tearful but joyous reunion.
Eventually we get up and load my suitcase in the car and head for my sister’s house. There must have still be bench seats in the vehicle, because my beloved puppy sat totally next to my sister on the way home, leaning on her and giving me the total brush-off.
Back at the house, I was totally ignored by my pup all evening, and she stayed glued to my sister. Slept with my sister, ignored me in the morning. We all went out to breakfast in the morning, and when we returned from breakfast I had to go back to the car or something, and I walked in a few minutes after everyone else.
That finally broke her silence; she had feared that I was gone again and she was so happy when I walked in the door. All was forgiven. But she was plenty mad at me that first evening and the first morning before breakfast!
debbie
@MagdaInBlack:
That’s a nice spot for any kind of watching!
Kristine
Gaby suffers seasonal allergies. In past years, they were usually limited to paw issues–she would lick at least one pad raw, but silver cream would clear it up. Once the autumn chill arrived, no issues.
This summer has been the worst. Allergies plus buggy as hell. Gaby and I both had to deal with chiggers. Add in Gaby’s age–she’s 14+, and allergy/skin issues can worsen with age. I’m on the second tube of silver cream. I’m reluctant to try Benedryl because she’s already on several meds and I’m concerned about interactions.
In other news, Gaby had also been exhibiting restlessness at night–constant moving from bed to floor and back again, panting, walking into the kitchen and just standing there but not wanting to go outside when I opened the door. Looked up nighttime restlessness and anxiety online, and read all sorts of descriptions of Canine Cognitive Dysfunction. Long story short–took her to the vet, and had that diagnosis confirmed. Vet had to deal with the issue personally as one of her dogs had taken to barking at walls in the middle of the night. She hadn’t had much luck with available drugs overall, and so recommended a dietary change. I never thought I would try a Purina product, but vet said that their Bright Minds food helped her dog so I’m giving it a shot. I’m also adding a nutraceutical called Senilife, a mixture of antioxidants that’s supposed to help aging canine brains. It may be too late–I apparently should’ve started dealing with this 7 years ago. But I’ll try these remedies, see how Gaby tolerates the new food–she seems to love it, but it might not love her back–and go from there.
I admit feeling shaken by all this. I knew she was old. But it seems like they just pop along, and then within a year or so all these changes just snowball. The good news is that during the day, she’s fine. She still wants her morning walk. She loves to splash in the lake. Her backyard squirrel hunting days are over–she culled the slow, dumb ones over the years, and the current crop outrun her. She spends most of the day sleeping in the backyard, barking at delivery drivers and people who have the gall to walk down the street.
MazeDancer
@indycat32:
Fleas are an easy fix. Just take her to the vet, which you would want to do anyway before bringing inside. They give you the dab-on medicine. Bye-bye fleas.
They will likely give you enough doses for everyone.
Jess
@WaterGirl:
@Another Scott:
I read all the studies I could find on the subject, and they still haven’t figured out what the link is between grain-free and cardiomyopathy, but they have found that peas can block the absorption of taurine. I’m still going grain free, but I’m trying to rotate ingredients as much as I can, as well as avoiding the cheaper versions of grain-free food.
MagdaInBlack
@debbie: Her Serene Highness La Gordita, agrees. She’s snoozin’ there now.
Gvg
Last November my neighbor and I finally managed to catch a litter of feral cats born under her porch. They were 6 months old because mama cat had gotten very cautious after 3 litters. The rescue that does local neutering wouldn’t try to tame them that old, said to release them. My neighbor had a friend with cancer to care for, so I took them. They took a long time to tame. 1 at a time though they have. I need to find homes but I am kind of a loner anyway and the pandemic has meant I can’t really have people over. These cats are shy but really like petting, except the last one. The last holdout got on the bed last night and sniffed my toes. Past experience predicts about a month till he gets petted.
Anybody know someone who wants a cat in Florida? There are 2 blacks and 2 black and whites. The male black and white is bold, curious and athletic. Food motivated so he tamed pretty fast, pushy about his share of pets and likes you tube bird and squirrel videos. I have been calling him Ace.The next to tame was a black female with really soft fur. Really likes petting and not as food motivated so she took a while. Now very friendly after you sit down. Last to tame was a female black and white. Likes food, discovered she likes petting. Now demands attention but was very defensive for a long time. Spits if she is startled. Also acts very nice once you sit down. Likes toys. She was defensive and afraid a long time but after she allowed petting, she just melted within 2 days.
Last one not tame yet is a very long black one, pretty sure it’s a male. He isn’t hiding and he is watching me with the others.
All of them used the litter box immediately. All of them like to play in the water dish too which is odd for cats. They stand in it and splash.
indycat32
@MazeDancer: I would love to. Problem is it takes weeks to get an appointment and that would probably be the day she decides to not let me touch her.
Soprano2
Killer the yellow cat is doing well. He is back to his spunky self, always demanding food. I think he’s a teenage cat! He is putting on weight since we started giving him kitten food. We put a blue collar on him so people know he has a home. He’s mostly sticking close to our house. He keeps looking in the door, and he’s come into the living room a few times. We’re still working on getting Nitro, our black dog, used to him. Max, our red dog, is fine with him already, but he was used to cats inside the house. We’re hoping to have Killer inside by winter.
WaterGirl
Here is edna rose from Jay C:
RedDirtGirl
My search for my first ever dog continues. Instead of being discouraged after deciding not to take Molly, I found myself motivated, and sent out 5 applications to local rescue groups the next week. Two are in process. While I have specific dogs in mind, I am treating it a bit like online dating – never get invested before meeting in person.
some of the dogs are being fostered out of state. I’m quite leery of adopting without actually getting to spend some time with the dog, so that may limit me somewhat. It seems there are a lot of people who are able to make the decision based on a virtual visit.
SkyBluePink
With the exception of 2020, I lost either a cat or a dog per year from 2017 to 2021 (so far)
In May, I became dogless after 30ish years (still have 3 elderly cats). I decided to take a break from the responsibility of a dog.
It couldn’t hurt just to look at the local shelter’s site, could it?
She’s younger and wilder than I had planned, but Pony Girl (nicknamed because of her total joy and abandon when running) joined our home. She is a delight!
Jay C
@WaterGirl:
Edina and I thank you.
Kristine
@SkyBluePink:
Famous last words.
Congrats on the new pupster.
Dr. Daniel Price (Saint Vincent)
Topaxi, the slightly used orange tabby, has recently joined the family. He and Cathulhu have not figured one another out yet; each acts as though he wants to play with the other but does not understand the other’s wishes and rules. Here they are, though; if they are not yet friends, perhaps they are not full-time antagonists either.
NutmegAgain
Murphy is still trundling on. She’s amazing! Wobbly, and more so by the day. But I was recently reminded of how well she’s doing when I got a call from the town dog officer. I never got Murphy’s annual licence, since her prognosis was so dim back in the spring. But here we are, and I’m a happy dog license delinquent.
Ruckus
WaterGirl
I had extremely good luck with Fromm dog food for Bud. He liked it, but then he’d eat anything so that might not be the best endorsement. They do several types for different needs.
https://www.frommfamily.com is the website address. They are located in Wisconsin but they sell widely in most places, they have a store locator on the website.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: I love Fromm, and all 4 of my guys are on Fromm, but it’s interesting that peas seem to interfere with the taurine. So I don’t think Fromm itself is the problem, it’s the peas portion that is the allergy issue.
As I said up top, Henry is allergic to peas, and the tricky part will be finding another Fromm food for Tucker because he is allergic to chicken, beef, lamb, etc.
Complicated!
danielx
It is 88 degrees on the back porch and Kiara (aka Keekers) is lying in the sun napping, even though she is a tubby tabby with thick tabby fur. Must catch her rays before winter, naturally.
JeanneT
Raleigh (14 years old) has just completed a week of wearing a cone – he had been chewing hot spots on his hind leg, and the cone was the only way to let those sores heal. Now he’s ready for a good grooming session – the cone was really hard on the hair on his neck and throat, so he’s full of snarls.
I’ll be taking him in for a vet consult soon – I think he’s showing signs of canine cognitive disorder but I want to rule out any treatable conditions. So hard to think of him growing old!
WaterGirl
@NutmegAgain: Every day is a gift.
WaterGirl
@Dr. Daniel Price (Saint Vincent): They are having out together, that’s halfway to friends. :-)
WaterGirl
@SkyBluePink: “I’m not ready yet, but it can’t hurt to look.”
Famous last words! Great news that you have some dog joy and delight in your life again.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@MagdaInBlack: Ooh, she’s beautiful. I adopted a seal-point from an animal shelter about two years ago who looks just like her, and Mei-Ling is very sweet, but I’m starting to think I should rehome her if I find a perfect home since she is totally intimidated by my husband’s tuxedo tom (neutered, but still). I think she was not well socialized to other cats when growing up, since she is very timid, and can’t seem to deal with normal interactions. My sweetie Ayla will give her licks, and they get along pretty well, but even Ayla will freak her out (producing growls, and retreating to the bathroom windowsill, her safe place). She really needs a place where she can be Only Cat (sigh).
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@danielx: I read somewhere that cats have a much higher normal body temp than people do, and lying in the sun, even on a hot day, is energy efficient in keeping their body temp up. You’d think with all that fur it would be too hot, but apparently not.
DocH
Not a pet, but one of the local black bears got into my beehives Thursday night/Friday morning. Not a great thing to wake up to; it’s on me – I’d /intended/ to put up an electric fence, but… The good news is that all the hives seem to be ok (though I’m going to need to feed them to get them ready for winter) and they’re now protected. Pix and more info ava if you want.
way2blue
My son just adopted two rescue kittens to add to a ‘hand-me-down’ rescue cat from his sister. Sent a cute video clip of them encountering each other yesterday. (A feral cat in his Oakland neighborhood kept having litters till someone was able to catch her and have her ‘fixed’. So these kittens are part of her last litter… ) Wishing them a trauma-free adjustment.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
Just checked and the one that worked best and that Bud liked best was the Salmon La Veg mix. And yes it has peas in it. And he did eat any of the flavors but then he’d eat anything, food, trash, junk….
Shana
My daughter’s cat, who used to be my father’s cat, is slowly dying of kidney failure. She’s 15 and so far doesn’t seem to be in terrible shape although declining. It’s our last tangible connection to him so she’s very bummed about it but realistic about the eventual need to have the cat put down. Still sad.
VeniceRiley
Kilo is in England with the fiancé… had a bout of pancreatitis this week. Is feeeling much better now. I’ll send you his pic!
WaterGirl
From IdahoGoatGirl: (great nym!)
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: I love this picture!
WaterGirl
@VeniceRiley: Oh my god, so adorable!
WaterGirl
@Shana: I’m so sorry to hear that. I totally get it, the connection to your dad.
karen marie
Watergirl, I’ve got a great food for you – Natural Balance. They do a number of limited ingredient varieties. I had my previous Cockers on this, because my boy had a food allergy (to what specifically, I have no idea) and his 11 years of really bad, chronic ear infections went away within 36 hours of changing him to Natural Balance from Science Diet.
I had my current girl (3/4 Cavalier King Charles, 1/4 Cocker) on it until about 18 months ago. She has a very iffy gut that gets inexplicably cranky, so my current vet put her on a prescription “sensitive intestines” food. I’m not willing to have her major organs biopsied, so no one has been able to tell me even vaguely what’s going on. She’ll be 12 in April though, so I think she’ll survive.
Good luck!
VeniceRiley
@WaterGirl: He’s 10! And an absolute gem. Loves people.
PS – a fainting goat?! How cool is that!
WaterGirl
@karen marie: I will check that out. thanks!
WaterGirl
@karen marie: I knew a Cavalier King Charles – a real sweetie. Adored her human dad.
WaterGirl
@VeniceRiley: I know! I want to know how much she weighs.
WaterGirl
I have really enjoyed getting to see all these photos. Hope you all have, too!
We’re at 8 photos, so we can still take 2 more if anyone is interested.
MazeDancer
@indycat32:
Here is a televet that supposedly writes prescriptions. Have no idea if they are any good. But you just need enough doses of Paradyne – or something like it – for everyone.
https://helloralphie.com/?sscid=91k5_kkidy&
Also, have you tried combing the spot where her tail meets her back with a flea comb to see if she actually has fleas?
Dr. Daniel Price (Saint Vincent)
@WaterGirl: Hoping so. My bride needed an orange tabby in our life. The line continues, from Murphy Junior to Orion and now to Topaxi.
Ann Marie
I had to say goodbye to my older cat, Louie, a week ago. He had been doing okay but then over the course of a few days declined dramatically. I hoped the vet could pull off a miracle, but she said it was time and I had to agree. But he was 19, a good age for a cat, and had a healthy, happy life for most of it. For the first few days, my younger cat, Harley, kept looking for Louie, but now he is getting used to being an only cat. I plan to get a second, but not until tax season is over (October 15) so I can give the new cat some quality time. Probably another big brown tabby male — I have a type!
Heidi Mom
@Kristine:My mixed-breed rescue dog Heidi, who is about 14 if the original estimate was correct, LOVES her wet Bright Mind food. I think of it as “Bright Eyes” because that’s how she looks when I get it out. Whether there’s a cognitive enhancement or she just loves the taste, I can’t say.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
I’m pretty late with this, but the last time I checked in with news on my cat Loki, it was to say that he was not responding well to his chemotherapy for lymphoma and we didn’t expect him to have more than a month or two. The good news is that that was two months ago, he has gained 1/2 pound, and seems to have turned a corner. His oncologist saw him for a checkup on Monday, wants to see him in a month, and if he’s doing as well in October as he is now, she won’t see him again until January. I know his time is limited, but he’s still enjoying his life, and we’re enjoying our time with him. If he makes it to January, and even beyond, that’s more than I expected when we started this journey.
Ann Marie
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)):
Weight gain while on chemo is good news! Sounds like he is tolerating it well.
Kristine
@Heidi Mom: I’m still transitioning Gaby from her old food, but she’s eating mostly a mix of Bright Mind kibble plus the turkey & rice wet food. She loves it. Sometimes I give her the beef & rice wet food for a change of pace, but I’ve never fed her much beef and I’m reluctant to give her too much. I’ll give it a couple of months to see if it’s working. I hope it does.
WaterGirl
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): That’s such great news. I have been where you guys are, generally speaking, though the details are different.
Every day is a gift, and our time together those last few months brought us even closer together.
The Oracle of Solace
We have rescued the runt from a barn-cat’s litter. She’s a little black kitten (which I think helps increase my witchy-goth credibility), and I have named her Requiem. She was weaned, but had survived on scattered dog food and whatever she could forage. Now, after two months, she is receiving good nutrition and affection, has had two favourable check-ups at the vet, and is putting on weight and substantially more active. We’ve taken so many photos of her, and I even put a phone video of her lapping water from a goblet in the credits of my latest video. I’m so happy with her and for her. Now if I could only figure out why my hands and legs have so many scratches…
Ann Marie
@The Oracle of Solace:
Congratulations on having Requiem join your household! My Harley is also from a feral background and my knees look like pincushions. Not intentionally, but he has yet to learn to retract his claws when pawing my knees. He’s worth the scratches though, and I’m sure Requiem is too.