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!
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awe, sarah, you're so adorable! haha.
i love feeling belly fat on my kitties and scrunching it and saying, "who's my little butterball?!!!" they purr so i guess they like it. haha. i used to do it to stripe, too. i like it when my kitties are not overweight, but not skinny either. like a healthy plump. skinny with a little belly, i guess.
they were so cute when we first got them as babies because they had such round potbellies... apparently that was because they had worms from their bio-mommy and the bellies went away after they finished their medication. regardless, they were cute!
RD, it's so good to know I'm not the only paranoid mommy!
I'm afraid whiskers will get singed when I'm baking, so I try to shoo them both out of the kitchen before I open the oven... but it never works well because they're so clingy and always have to know what I'm doing.
When we first got Pouncival, I was making Josh call the vet at least twice a week to see if whatever I imagined I was worried about was normal.
He was yeowling at the walls and door frames (which he hasn't done since we got Etcetera, oddly enough), and when Josh called the vet to ask about it, she said "He's probably just crazy."
So, we have a diagnosis of "probably crazy" for our cat.
;D
hahaha! i have pet insurance on all eight of my babies because i'm so paranoid that i take them to the emergency room anytime something weird is happening. little tiger has been to the emergency room quite a few times! this is also the reason why their primary vet is also the 24/7 emergency clinic.
He was yeowling at the walls and door frames (which he hasn't done since we got Etcetera, oddly enough), and when Josh called the vet to ask about it, she said "He's probably just crazy."
So, we have a diagnosis of "probably crazy" for our cat.
;D
our kittie, ivan, has anxiety problems. he yowls like he's super hurt and of course when i hear a baby crying "in pain" i rush to see what's wrong, but then i find him and it's just ivan sitting there and he looks up at me like, "hi mom!" and is suddenly happy again. his anxiety also causes other behaviours like tearing up the carpet by the front door (when we leave and he's waiting for us to return) and peeing on OUR things (such as our reusable shopping bags which i guess is because he associates them with our being gone for a long time). we got him a plug in pheromone diffuser called "comfort zone with feliway" in the front room and we added a pheromone collar (i think it's called "good behavior" or something... it's purple and makes him smell like a big flower! lavender and chamomile) that follows him around when he leaves the front room. this combination seemed to help A LOT. he stopped crying, peeing on things, and tearing up the carpet!
too bad we didn't discover this stuff a year ago. we would have so many shopping bags, blankets, pillows, and possibly our apartment deposit! the carpet is practically bald by the door so i've already kissed that deposit good bye.
eta: we considered getting him "kitty prozac" if this didn't work, but for now i think this stuff will suffice.
Pouncival never tore anything up, and he's never had behavioral peeing issues (expect that time we got him a harness and leash and took him on the porch. He did NOT like the porch, and peed on our laundry to show it).
Apparently, he was just lonely. He used to yeowl at the walls or run around all crazy and stop suddenly, grab the door frame, and stare up at the ceiling yeowling.
He hasn't done it a single time since we've had Etcetera. He's too engrossed with whatever she's doing, and she follows him like a tiny little skinny shadow.
I worry about their weights, too. Pounce is a bit "big-boned" and Etcetera is skinny as a rail. But she is part Siamese, and she gulps down her dinner every day so she can go help Pouncival finish his.
So, she's not missing out on food... and he can stand to lose a bit of chub. I guess they're fine. :)
how funny. ivan is quite "teddy bear~esque" (over 15 pounds and is only a year old! eep!) and his little sister, zoey, is super skinny. we leave kibble out for them to munch on all day and then split a can of wet food among the three of them at night. ivan and tiger nibble on their food and then they will get full and walk away. zoey inhales hers and then moves on to the boys' plates when they walk away and finish them up. you would think ivan would be the little piglet!
RD, is the pet insurance expensive? I've never checked into it but probably should. Monk's vet bill from his urinary blockage was over $3000.00 :o & worth every penny....we got our sweet kitty back. He was so sick & we couldn't put him down without trying to save him. The dogs are healthy boys but I still worry about Monk. There is always that chance that he'll develop stones again. Their health shouldn't depend on my finances.
we added a pheromone collar (i think it's called "good behavior" or something... it's purple and makes him smell like a big flower! lavender and chamomile)
This made me smile. I am picturing a big hippy cat with flowers in his hair :)
Edgar. My crab. Is missing a leg.... I dont know when he lost it, but i cant find it. And now i'm sad... I havent had the crabbles walk around lately so i decided to get them out and i could tell he was walking funny...
Poor edgar =[
But i've heard of this, and if he molts the leg will come back, but he just molted. I guess i'll have to get them new food, their diet must be wackey
RD, is the pet insurance expensive? I've never checked into it but probably should. Monk's vet bill from his urinary blockage was over $3000.00 :o & worth every penny....we got our sweet kitty back. He was so sick & we couldn't put him down without trying to save him. The dogs are healthy boys but I still worry about Monk. There is always that chance that he'll develop stones again. Their health shouldn't depend on my finances.
we added a pheromone collar (i think it's called "good behavior" or something... it's purple and makes him smell like a big flower! lavender and chamomile)
This made me smile. I am picturing a big hippy cat with flowers in his hair :)
pet insurance isn't as expensive as going to the vet and spending $3000 for an emergency visit!
for the kitties, we get the whole care which covers check ups, shots, preventative stuff, as well as emergency stuff. it's a bit more expensive for them because of that, but for all three kitties, three bunnies, and the bearded dragon i think it came to about $1,300 for the whole year. the kitties were between $100 and $200 each per year. i go through VPI. if you pay all at once, you save enough to get like a month free or something. or you can do monthly payments. last year i paid all at once but this year i cannot afford to do that so i'm trying to figure something else out. they each come out as a separate transaction, so eight transactions is a bit hard to remember.
i love feeling belly fat on my kitties and scrunching it
Yes. I have to give Wilma a daily "belly inspection" She always passes with flying colors :)
Edgar. My crab. Is missing a leg.... I dont know when he lost it, but i cant find it. And now i'm sad... I havent had the crabbles walk around lately so i decided to get them out and i could tell he was walking funny...
Poor edgar =[
But i've heard of this, and if he molts the leg will come back, but he just molted. I guess i'll have to get them new food, their diet must be wackey
oh no! that's terrible! i loved letting my hermit crabbies walk all around and my really big ones (henri & gaston; they all had french names) especially loved hanging out with me. philippe was small, but he loved me the most. he would crawl all around me and hang out in my hair or on my shirt while i watched tv or typed on the computer. rachelle, however, pretty much didn't care much for me. she would only come out of her tiny shell if she thought i had left forever. in fact, i once thought she was dead because i was giving them baths and she was the only one that wouldn't come out of her shell to get away from the water. i even tried poking her pincher with tooth picks to see if i could get a reaction. i put her in the isolation tank to make sure she was dead before i did anything with her. i left for a couple of hours, when i got back she was on the totally opposite side of the tank. the little brat was alive, but just didn't want anything to do with me! i was relieved, of course. after that, i was never concerned when she didn't come out at bath time. i just made sure not to leave her in the water too long.
none of mine ever lost legs, but i've also heard that it's common and since they *are* arthropods, they can regenerate them no problem. what do you feed them? mine ate so little, a bowl of food could easily last a month! i'd give them slices of fruits, veggies, and breads to go with their "crab food" and take out anything that they didn't eat by the next morning, but the dried food lasted forever.
Mine have like, 4 different kinds of crab food that i rotate. They always have a dish of the fruit kind (Which they love) and this one of 2 different ones mixed together. and whenever i eat/have fruit or anything i put a piece in there for the day. I change it all the time... And i've been doing this for over a year and they've been fine and even molted successfully. And they have a calcium block thing to help their shells and calci sand.
Idk, lots of things stay stress, but i dont know how he's been stressed?? I'll just keep on the lookout for anything new with him. He seems fine though, he walked around all day fine and all. He has this gooey little stub where his leg was. I'm just happy it wasnt a claw or anything. I know if he molts again it can come back. Ughhhhh i hope hes okay... I cried when i saw it =[
i love feeling belly fat on my kitties and scrunching it
Yes. I have to give Wilma a daily "belly inspection" She always passes with flying colors :)
I didn't scrunch Cat's belly, but I'd bury my nose in it and sniff. He thought I was strange and would hold still so that maybe the crazy person would lose interest and go away.
you know, hh, i do the same thing... and i think my kitties think i'm strange, too.
i don't understand people who say that they "don't like cats". they must be crazy. cats are so perfect. and they know it! (the cats, not the people)
A lot of my co-workers don't like cats. They're also the ones that supported Prop 8. Hmmm...
hmmmm... i've never noticed that possible connection. are they crazy like i think?
brittney "didn't like cats" when i met her. now she's a super proud mama b of three kitties who she adores.
Crazy describes it.
Pouncival doesn't like it when Josh picks him up and cuddles him every day.
But, if I pick him up and cuddle him, he makes no protest.
Mama's boy? Seems like it!
Also, Etcetera is obsessed with Josh. She freaks out when he leaves for work every day, sitting at the window and meowing and clawing at the glass.
She doesn't do that for me.
Daddy's girl.
Cats are awesome.
I used to "not like cats." I've always been really, really allergic, and all the cats I knew were really snobby and rude. The majority of dogs are not snobby. HOWEVER, I now know that I love all animals, and I've met some very grand cats. I think I'm less allergic also..hopefully. I wish we could feel safe about getting a kittweas, but they are just so against the rules.
Anyway, don't judge me. ;)
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