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Hi I currently have a beta fish living in a classic fish bowl. I want to get another beta fish but not another bowl. Will two beta fish be compatible in one bowl. Thanks
Hi looking for some advice. I have contacted almost every source of Google and rescues possible. I am a single mom with an 8 year old son. Recently we had to put our cat down. He was older than my son. On top of that, my son has not heard from his father in 2 years. He is having a hard time and really wants a kitten. I don’t know if they have any programs to help with long term care for people with disabilities. . therapy animals maybe? I have also spoken to some shelters offering to volunteer in turn for help with the new kitten. So we are both helping each other. It seems that the shelters are over crowded with animals looking for loving homes and I can definitely give that!! I am not sure about my financial future as a new single mom and want to be safe.. not making mistakes in the long run. Can anyone point me in the right direction?? Thanks!!
Hi!
As you’ve already had experience with a cat and know the cost and care that ar associated with it, perhaps adopting an adult cat instead of a kitten would be better? At local shelters you can usually see the cats and play/interact with them. That way you can also get a sense of the personality… plus it’s already litter trained, had its shots and is probably spayed/neutered too.
I agree with Sarah!! The cost of adopting an adult is a fraction of a kitten. And if you adopt from a rescue they have usually provided all the medical care needed for a while (about a year, because all cats should receive yearly examinations). But please ask about the appropriate diet and exercise plan to save on emergencies like urinary tract infections and urinary blockages.
I have a very heavy heart right now, BlackJack is acting up again, well I don’t think he ever stopped, he has been growling and snapping at my husband and he did it to my daughter as she walked by him one night in was in our bedroom on the floor sleeping, he is no longer allowed to sleep in the bedroom, last night he snapped at my husband Jack was downstairs my husband went to the kitchen jack got on the steps and wouldn’t move for my husband to come back up stairs when he grabs his collar he snapped at him. I called the gentlemen you guys told me about back in May, but his cost is 2,300.00 to try and fix him I just don’t have that kinda of money. Is there any type of medications I can give him? I really don’t want to put him down it is killing me to think about it but him growling at my daughter was a little to much. I keep him away from guest when them come become I never know how he will react. Please if there is anything I can give him I will try.
Did you get him checked with your vet to make sure this isn’t a medical issue?
Medications may or may not “work” to calm your dog, and they should not be used as a replacement for training. You NEED a behaviorist to work with you and your dog. If this isn’t feasible, please consider finding him a new home. He hasn’t yet bitten anyone, correct? If this is true, then he may very well be trained away from this behavior, but it needs to be in a home truly invested in his training and overall well-being.
I am a university student that lives with family. I do live in a flat in their yard, but they have a fairly big yard so size isn’t a problem. I am however away from the house from 06:15 the morning till sometimes past 18:00. I am an animal lover and been very lonely since leaving my house to study, because I grew up with a lot of dogs. Is there any pet, preferably dog big or small, that can adapt to these conditions and that does not mind a good amount of loving as I am very attached to my pets.
I think that any dog that is with a loving human will adapt to its living situation. The only thing is that it seems like it will be alone for long periods of the day., and it isn’t your house. Have you spoken to the family that you are living with about this and gotten their approval? Perhaps you can find a way to spend more time with it, or bring it with you or maybe the family that you are with can provide companionship when you are not around? Another nice option if you don’t currently have the means or enough time to devote to a pet full time, would be to volunteer at a local shelter. My friends an I did this in college aswe were not allowed to have pets, and I have to say it was quite fulfilling and we helped an awful lot of animals.
I would not keep a dog in that particular situation unless your family agrees to take care of him when you aren’t there. Maybe a cat is a better option? Or simply waiting until you aren’t in school with a crazy schedule, instead. Think of the animal’s needs, not your desires.
Hi pawbly friends…
It was a snowy, no school day here. Try as I might, I could not get the dogs to stay in while the kids were out playing in the snow, and all that running and horse play took a toll on our 12 year old GSD Butch. He just fell going down the stairs…. not the whole stair case, the stepto get onto the landing. My husband picked him up and rather than having him try to use the stairs tonight, we brought him round the outside way to use the hill instead. He seems fine on his walk just now, but slow going. My question is this: he’s got rimadyl that we give him sparingly for pain from his arthritis. Should I give him some tonight, or wait til morning when he will probably be really stiff, or give tonight and tomorrow? Thanks for anyand all advice!
Just to update:
Butch is stiff this morning, so I did give him his pill. I did not give it to him last night because when I went fir the dogs last tuck in, he was already comfortable. He had a tough time getting up the stairs this morning, and we had to help him… he needs a little help most mornings, but again after all his playing and running yesterday its no surprise he needed more help than usual this morning. If any of you have any other advice on how to help him recover from thinking he was 10 years younger yesterday, please share.
I didn’t see this last night but I wouldn’t give NSAIDs preemptively.
I think I would try to work on leashing him if he’s going to go a little off his rocker on snow days. 😉 That or work on the kids not letting him out.
Oh, and for recovery, crate rest for the day.
Hi Sarah, just wondered if you had considered Acupuncture for Butch? I know it helps a lot of dogs.
You could also ask your Vet about Gabapentin as an alternative to Rimadyl. It gives good pain relief and has no side effects in canines.
Do hope Butch is feeling better soon ?
My 6 year old shar pei/golden retriever mix has a mysterious bump on her lower leg. It appeared out of nowhere on Jan 1. She doesn’t seem bothered by it, it just looks like a pink bump really. I took her to the vet who took one look (barely a look at all because it had all of the fur covering it) and said it was either a cyst that maybe was a little infected or a pappilloma. She said to put neosporin and aloe vera on and cover with a sock daily. I have done that for more then a week and the bump looks the same (I trimmed the hair to get a better look). Do you think I should be concerned or push for a further look or is something like this just that easy to diagnose as she seemed to think?
Hi Amy, If you are concerned then go back to your Vet…or see another one if you were not happy with the initial examination. I enlarged the photo and there seems to be a mark in the middle of the lump. I wonder if it could be a bite of some kind? If so she would probably need antibiotics. If she were my dog I would definately take her back to the Vet for a more in depth examination.
I agree. I would call my vet and explain that there has been no improvement and you are concerned. Have them take a closer look.
Hello,
I agree with Julie and Sarah. If you are worried about it and it isn’t resolving express your concerns to your vet. It does look like a mass, per se, it looks more like an injury, but I would have expected it to be better by now if it was. It is so hard to diagnose via a photo. You are better off with your vet looking at it in person. Please let us know what happens.
Finally after I stopped put on the neosporin and the aloe vera and just let it alone for a few days it seemed to start getting smaller and smaller. Now it is just a tiny scab! Thanks everyone for your advice.
Our 8-9 month old cat is a stray adoption from the humane society, but he is a total pig! You would think he is starving all the time. We have another cat in the house, but if he’s not at his dish during feeding time Jimmy will eat his own food and the other cat’s food. I have tried feeding him several smaller meals throughout the day or a large one in the morning, but nothing seems to satisfy him. He is on his way to being too fat. Any suggestions for satisfying his appetite or giving me some peace with his constant begging?
We feed twice a day- that’s it. Dogs and cats in our house get their food at 4/4:30 am and then the cat gets a 2:30/3 pm meal and the dogs get a 7 pm meal. We train with treats -dogs and the cat-throughout the day as well. It took everyone about a week, maybe a little less to get in tune with the schedule, but now it’s very routine and works for our household. My point is, perhaps setting up a feeding schedule of some sort will be helpful. This way there isn’t food out unless it is time to eat. (Ignoring the cries for food for a few days can be challenging, so toys help redirect here.) Best of luck?
Hello,
The vet inside of me always has to recommend that you do a full work up to make sure there is not an underlying medical reason for the polyphagia (excessive hunger). Also make sure there is no access to any medications or plants or toxins that might influence this (people in the house using steroid creams or plants). Then addres the diet choices you are offering him. Try switching to a high quality wet food and add water. Offer organic cat grass. Or catnip. Or toys. Or even start taking him for walks in a harness on a leash. My point is to offer lots of options to food. See if this helps. If not ask your vet for advice or visit a cat specialist for more tips and tricks.
I often rescue strays and it seems the longer they’ve been on the street the more likely it is they do this. Most likely because they are used to not knowing when the next meal is coming from and when it’s coming. I have one cat that will beg for anything with pasta sauce on it. You just have to try to show them they will have food all the time it might be easier because he’s young but there’s really no telling how a cat will delve lip with time.
I agree with Starr – if he was a stray for some time, he may has learned to eat as much and as fast as he can, as he never knows when or how much food comes again. We experience this sometimes with cats we take in in our shelter.
It may take him a while to realise that from now on he doesn’t have to worry anymore. I would still have him checked, to make sure he’s healthy.
For everything else I agree with what Krista said.
Hi, I brought my cat to the vet on Thursday. She has been straining to urinate since Wednesday night. She had also been throwing up her food and had had diarrhoea on the Thursday morning. The vet prescribed antibiotics for cystitis and I am brining her back after a week for a recheck. She had quite a lot of blood in her urine before she started the antibiotics but this has stopped since. She is still frequently going to the litter tray and is still straining and doesn’t seem to be able to get much out. She has stopped getting sick and is eating and drinking as normal. Apart from a little bit of diarrhoea on the Thursday morning she has not defecated at all and prior to that it had been at least 4 days. Could you give me some advice on when I should begin to see improvements?
Thank you for your responses. I rang the emergency vet today and she told me that it would take a few days until she is urinating normal again and as long as she is eating and drinking she should be ok. She no longer has blood in her urine, however I am still quite worried as there doesn’t seem to be much improvement in the volume of her urine output and she seems to be straining a lot with only a a little dribble of urine each time. She is also licking the area after every time she tries to urinate. Other than this her temperment seems normal and she is lively.
Hi …if you are in any way concerned please take your cat back to the Vet before her check up is due. If she is still straining to urinate and has not defacated for 4 days it could be something other than cystitis.
Take a urine sample to the Vet with you and perhaps ask for blood tests to check kidney function etc. I hope she recovers soon.
If she still has blood in her urine and is straining to get somethign out I would visit the vet again. Maybe she has bladderstones or something else partly blocks the way.
Same if she can’t defecate. Sometimes it takes a while after diarrhoea until the colon starts working again normally, but if shes eating normal since 4 days and wasn’t able to use the toilet since then I would get that checked, too.
I am very very worried that the cat is unable to urinate which is an emergency. Please go immediately to the vet now!
We just adopted a rescue cat and he is very timid. Hides under furniture, won’t come out. Is this normal? He has barely eaten and has not urinated or had a bowel movement. It’s been about 24 hrs since we got him.
Yes, this is normal. The rescue didn’t explain a proper introduction to your home? I would keep him in one room, with the door shut, for at least a week, but ideally longer, especially if you have any other pets in the house. Keep a litterbox, his food, and his water in there. Go in for chunks of time each day, and totally ignore him – take a book and read, or do some other quiet activity. This gives him a little time to acclimate to the new home and new people in his life. Rehomed animals, particularly adults, NEED a significant period of time to adjust.
It’s all an adjustment for the cat. And just like people, different pets have different personalities. Some adjust more quickly than others. You’ll have to take cues from them about certain things. For instance, when we brought our most recent cat home, she preferred to remain in our finished basement for about three days. It seemed odd to us since the dogs were usually down there with her and not upstairs with us. So I would go and sit on the sofa, watch the news, have my tea etc. then, on that last morning, she decided that yes, this house was hers and that was that. So it just has to go it’s own course. Be patient. If he gets hungry enough, he will eat. But if you are still concerned, I would call my vet. Congratulations on your new furry family member!!
My 5 year old bob tailed cat has a new Pomeranian roommate that he didn’t quite hit it off with. We tried a very gradual introduction. He’s a big cat and she’s a tiny dog and we’re afraid he thinks she’s a squirrel. He got along with my old roommates’ dogs fine after a time, so I’m hopeful this could be the case.
She’s very energetic and he’s friendly and playful for the most part but gets reserved around her. Any advice?
Hello,
Very gradual sometimes is waaay longer than we think it might be. Be patient. Provide lots of play and stinuli apart from each other and keep your cats nails trimmed and the dog supervised. I bet they will be ok soon. It doesn’t sound like outright aggression it sounds like tentative curiousity. What do you think?
First off, a bowl is a horrible situation for a betta. They need an actual tank with filtration. Secondly, putting two male betta in a tank together will guarantee the death of at least one of them. They fight. A female is also risky – the most successful situation would be a sorority tank of only female betta.
PLEASE research proper betta care and upgrade your fish’s living conditions.