All About Our Pets(Pics, Advice, Etc)

Veterinary Science Graduate Certificate from UofI
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So glad your roommate was home... what a nightmare, wildcat. Something that I always fear...
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wildcatj said:
Very very narrowly avoided having a dead cat this evening. My cat somehow managed to hang himself on my blind strings. Thank god my roommate was home and heard him thrashing around. He couldn't even get the strings off his neck and had to cut him down.
I'm freaked the f out, my cat is acting like nothing even happened. Minus the fact he peed himself everywhere he seems absolutely fine. I don't even want to think about coming home and finding him dead. I would have been inconsolable.
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having lived through the nightmare of coming home to find a pet dead, i hope that no one ever has to go through that. its just unimaginably awful
 
wildcatj said:
Very very narrowly avoided having a dead cat this evening. My cat somehow managed to hang himself on my blind strings. Thank god my roommate was home and heard him thrashing around. He couldn't even get the strings off his neck and had to cut him down.
I'm freaked the f out, my cat is acting like nothing even happened. Minus the fact he peed himself everywhere he seems absolutely fine. I don't even want to think about coming home and finding him dead. I would have been inconsolable.
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OMG I'd be devastated. I recently became paranoid about making sure the lines are never tangled after reading another story about blinds.
 
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Just discovered my paralyzed dove has had a preen gland impaction for who knows how long. I used to express her preen gland every few days because it tended to full of thick gunk since she has trouble reach it when she preens. But I had stopped being able to get the thick stuff out of it no matter how hard I pushed, and it seemed like a small amount normal clear fluid was coming out, so I stopped worry about it. I always thought her gland looked a bit large, but it's looked like that for as long as I could remember, so I didn't think much of it. Just looked at it tonight, and there's a big gaping hole in the back of it and I was able to push thick, yellow, gunk out of it with no end in sight. And out of the blue she's had diarrhea for the past day or so and was looking kind of down today... I can only assume it's related. I'm really worried about her. She's been so stable these past 8 months since she's been off steroids, I think I sometimes forget how fragile she really is. I mean hopefully a course of antibiotics and some good wound care will fix her up, but if she needs anything more invasive, I'm not really sure she'd survive it. Nor am I convinced it would be right to put her through it. I just feel so horrible. I should have listened to my initial suspicions and had her gland checked out months ago. But I was so hesitant about having to find a vet for her here that wouldn't disapprove of her condition (being unable to walk), like I know so many people do, especially when I thought it was probably nothing and was being overly sensitive, like I have a tendency to be with her. And the worst part is, I'm just so worn out from school and meetings and trying to get my summer figured out that I feel like I just don't even have it in me to be all that upset right now. I mean, I'm bummed, but I'm more worried about my damn path exam and job interview on thursday than I am my own precious bird who I usually dote upon like crazy. And that just feels wrong.
 
It's ok dovelover. I still haven't truly grieved for Alvin or Libby and it has been 2 months and 6 weeks, respectively. You are trying to get through everything right now. You obviously love your bird very much. I think it's a protective mechanism. Wall off the emotions to get through everything.
 
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Norbert's new brother! He needs a name. It was Theo but it doesn't really fit. He is small, spunky, and friendly. He and Norbert have already had floor time together and it went very well :)
 
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ky261682 said:
It's ok dovelover. I still haven't truly grieved for Alvin or Libby and it has been 2 months and 6 weeks, respectively. You are trying to get through everything right now. You obviously love your bird very much. I think it's a protective mechanism. Wall off the emotions to get through everything.
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Thanks. She's doing okay for now, so I'm feeling a little better about it. Just worried that a few weeks from now the problem's going to recur and we're gonna have to do something to open up her gland and that's when things are gonna get rough. I just have such weird emotions where she's concerned. Part of me is starting to feel bad for her continuing to live with her condition for two years now and is kinda waiting for a serious medical problem to come up so I feel comfortable with the idea with euthanizing her, and part of me loves her too much to think I could ever make that decision and very much fears waking up to find her dead one morning. Bleh. I never really expected her to live this long, so I never predicted this would become an issue.
 
Cody.jpg

After coming home after my most sh*ttiest exam of my first year I came home to this face. Cody is such a happy little fellow and he always can make me laugh when I want to cry. He is an amazingly well behaved puppy and he just brings me so much joy! He also gets me out of the house on a regular basis which has greatly increased my energy level.

Also just to rave about his breeder, his sister has been donated to a PTSD therapy dog training program! Apparently she donates a puppy to them every few litters. She's "almost" as cute as Cody is ;)

CodysSister.jpg
 
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Gave my dog a bath today and his feet are already disgusting from the roads. Why does he have to have white feet?

Also, while I feel like I'm making progress with his training in some regards, I still feel like we're not making much progress in other locations. His loose leash walking is still not that great and we end up doing some "yo-yoing" or I have to stop and wait for him to come back to me. He's not full on pulling but he'll walked ahead of me and make the leash taunt. The other thing I want to get him to chill out with is his excitement with food. It makes training some new tricks hard when all he's focused on is the food. And it's not helping his weight either. He's starting to play with toys, but they're definitely not as much of a motivator. Wish I could actually afford to work with a trainer so that I can see if it's more an issue with my timing/not being clear enough.
 
orca2011 said:
Gave my dog a bath today and his feet are already disgusting from the roads. Why does he have to have white feet?

Also, while I feel like I'm making progress with his training in some regards, I still feel like we're not making much progress in other locations. His loose leash walking is still not that great and we end up doing some "yo-yoing" or I have to stop and wait for him to come back to me. He's not full on pulling but he'll walked ahead of me and make the leash taunt. The other thing I want to get him to chill out with is his excitement with food. It makes training some new tricks hard when all he's focused on is the food. And it's not helping his weight either. He's starting to play with toys, but they're definitely not as much of a motivator. Wish I could actually afford to work with a trainer so that I can see if it's more an issue with my timing/not being clear enough.
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I haven't had to handle the white feet issue, but I have experience with being overzealous with training treats and walking fast. When I first started training my boy, he thought his liver treats were so exciting that he would just stare at my hand instead of listening to anything. I broke them down to smaller pieces and when that didn't work I put them away completely.
My boys was pretty happy to have a toy as well so I switched to that instead. I would play with him and then, after a while, before another throw we would work on a trick (old or new). That way he'd drain some energy and he was actually listening. Of course, doing that made him the frequent ball chaser he is today, but now I can use either one to motivate him.
As I'm sure you know everything will take time (and patience!) but that will hopefully help.

The pulling/fast walking thing is still in the process, but I recently invested in a Halti. I've only used it once, but I certainly noticed a difference in how he responded to corrections on his speed. I also worked on walking faster/jogging early in the walk so that he'd get some of it out of his system before too long. From what it sounds like, you're working in the right direction by stopping the walk and waiting for him to get back to heel before moving on. Encouraging him to do as you ask in order to get what he wants to do. Keep in mind that corrections should be short and immediate with praise for doing what you want. I have to smile at my pup because even a happy "yes!" or "good boy" gets him so jazzed up that he walks fast all over again. I might also recommend turning around every time he goes past where you want him to be. You might be turning in a few circles and feeling a little bit foolish, but you can't truly expect to keep all your dignity and end up with a well trained pup! :)

What ever you decide to do, be consistent with how you walk/train him even when you're frustrated and/or tired after a day of work/school.

Best of luck to you on your training efforts!! I'm certainly not an expert, but if you want to discuss it further feel free to PM me!
 
ZiskaShepherds said:
I haven't had to handle the white feet issue, but I have experience with being overzealous with training treats and walking fast. When I first started training my boy, he thought his liver treats were so exciting that he would just stare at my hand instead of listening to anything. I broke them down to smaller pieces and when that didn't work I put them away completely.
My boys was pretty happy to have a toy as well so I switched to that instead. I would play with him and then, after a while, before another throw we would work on a trick (old or new). That way he'd drain some energy and he was actually listening. Of course, doing that made him the frequent ball chaser he is today, but now I can use either one to motivate him.
As I'm sure you know everything will take time (and patience!) but that will hopefully help.

The pulling/fast walking thing is still in the process, but I recently invested in a Halti. I've only used it once, but I certainly noticed a difference in how he responded to corrections on his speed. I also worked on walking faster/jogging early in the walk so that he'd get some of it out of his system before too long. From what it sounds like, you're working in the right direction by stopping the walk and waiting for him to get back to heel before moving on. Encouraging him to do as you ask in order to get what he wants to do. Keep in mind that corrections should be short and immediate with praise for doing what you want. I have to smile at my pup because even a happy "yes!" or "good boy" gets him so jazzed up that he walks fast all over again. I might also recommend turning around every time he goes past where you want him to be. You might be turning in a few circles and feeling a little bit foolish, but you can't truly expect to keep all your dignity and end up with a well trained pup! :)

What ever you decide to do, be consistent with how you walk/train him even when you're frustrated and/or tired after a day of work/school.

Best of luck to you on your training efforts!! I'm certainly not an expert, but if you want to discuss it further feel free to PM me!
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I definitely do the circles (also because he's leash reactive towards dogs, so it's important for removing him from situations) but I just feel like he should be better than he is since I've been working on it since I pretty much adopted him in July. I definitely think we're making progress, but I'm just still a bit surprised over how long it's taken. He can do it perfectly in the house and passed that part of his CGC test (failed walking past another dog, even though he had no issue with any in class and walked by them...)with no problem, so I know we definitely need to be on the street working with distractions. I also keep my treats in a bag so that's he's not focusing on them, but more on me. I am planning on trying to do more "attention building" games but it's hard to find a not super crowded, open area in Philly where I feel comfortable dropping his leash and have him run after me and things lie that. I'm also going to start doing more direction changes in general on our walks so that I keep him guessing. Part of it is that he also just wants to smell EVERYTHING. I really want to teach him a "go sniff" command but that's definitely a challenge at the moment. Maybe I'll try bringing one of his toys on our next walk and see how he does. He doesn't tug very well so it might fail, but it's worth a shot. My

I'm also probably am more frustrated with school right now and am having it influence my training (not in a sense that I get mad at him/overcorrect, etc) but in that it is altering my expectations if that makes any sense. Kind of just want to feel like I'm making progress somewhere since this semester blows.
 
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Traverse.jpg
I just love this pup.:love: He's super smart and lots of fun to work with. He loves everyone, is always happy, and always cheers me up when I'm stressed out about school. I'm really going to miss raising these dogs next year, and I'm going to miss this guy when he leaves for final training. Someday I'll get around to posting pictures of my previous pups. They're all pretty cute, and of course I'm not biased or anything.;)
 
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So now that it's almost official... this is the kitten I'm adopting on Saturday (this picture's a couple weeks old, so she's a bit bigger now). Trying to come up with a name. So far, my long list includes Alice, Rosalie, Primrose, Violet, Petunia, Jasmine, (Lady) Diana, Artemis, Arya, Lily, Iris, Orchid, Margorie... I'm looking for something pretty (like she is) but with some spunk behind it... and not too long or easy to shorten, as I get very lazy with pet names... Anyone have any ideas?


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WildZoo said:
I really like Artemis :)
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That name actually comes from the fact that my current cat is named Apollo, and I almost got a second cat when I got him that I was going to name Artemis... my only concern with that name is that my current cat pretty much only goes by the name Apollo at the vet these days, and is otherwise known as Bug, and I fear that the name Artemis may end up going the same way, haha. That's one reason why I was thinking Diana, since that's the Roman version of Artemis and I could shorten it to Di, but my sister-in-law's name is Diane, and I thought it might be a little weird to more or less name my cat after her.
 
SQUEEEEE!!!!!
I've been contemplating foster kittens again... I think it may happen.
 
dovelover said:
That name actually comes from the fact that my current cat is named Apollo, and I almost got a second cat when I got him that I was going to name Artemis... my only concern with that name is that my current cat pretty much only goes by the name Apollo at the vet these days, and is otherwise known as Bug, and I fear that the name Artemis may end up going the same way, haha. That's one reason why I was thinking Diana, since that's the Roman version of Artemis and I could shorten it to Di, but my sister-in-law's name is Diane, and I thought it might be a little weird to more or less name my cat after her.
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my cats are artemis and apollo. :)
 
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dovelover said:
That name actually comes from the fact that my current cat is named Apollo, and I almost got a second cat when I got him that I was going to name Artemis... my only concern with that name is that my current cat pretty much only goes by the name Apollo at the vet these days, and is otherwise known as Bug, and I fear that the name Artemis may end up going the same way, haha. That's one reason why I was thinking Diana, since that's the Roman version of Artemis and I could shorten it to Di, but my sister-in-law's name is Diane, and I thought it might be a little weird to more or less name my cat after her.
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Well if not Artemis (the only shortened version I can think of is Arty...) or Diana, I also like Iris.
 
my kitty's name is mac but only responds to meow meow
I guess he would just meow so much that I started calling him that ahaha
 
One cat I actually call his real name, Patterson. The other one is named Elliott. I started calling him Smelliot and now I almost exclusively call him Smells. He doesn't even stink.
 
dovelover said:
That name actually comes from the fact that my current cat is named Apollo, and I almost got a second cat when I got him that I was going to name Artemis... my only concern with that name is that my current cat pretty much only goes by the name Apollo at the vet these days, and is otherwise known as Bug, and I fear that the name Artemis may end up going the same way, haha. That's one reason why I was thinking Diana, since that's the Roman version of Artemis and I could shorten it to Di, but my sister-in-law's name is Diane, and I thought it might be a little weird to more or less name my cat after her.
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My vote is to stick with tradition - name her Artemis and call her Moose :D Then you have Apollo and Artemis OR Bug and Moose. It works either way! BTW - she is adorable! Makes me want another kitten, but Addy would not approve. FYI an example of a moose bug is Fascioloides magna and I will never forget that even if they didn't want the scientific name on the exam.

Just thought of this - you could nickname her Missy or Miss as well. She looks like a spunky little missy.
 
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I call my cat "cat". Yep. My other cat was "Jazzy cat". Snickers and Jasmine were for official paperwork only hehe.
 
kcoughli said:
It works either way! BTW - she is adorable! Makes me want another kitten, but Addy would not approve.
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Well, wanna pet sit her (and the rest of my critters, of course) for me in a few weeks? I need someone who will to spend some time playing with her :)
 
I vote Artemis ... because it's my BFF's name (we've been friends since preschool!) :smuggrin:
 
My husband and I recently adopted this dog :biglove: ... She's ~6 years old, 30 lbs, obviously a cattle dog mix. Any guesses to what else she's mixed with? We love her like mad - she is so sweet, a go everywhere dog, and she's a phenomenal running buddy and hiking partner.

(Sorry, can't figure out how to make the picture smaller)

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I don't have time or really the money right now for a dog, which makes me sad :( However, my parents live on the other side of Raleigh so I can go over on the weekends and bother this little squirt :)
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wildcatj said:
One cat I actually call his real name, Patterson. The other one is named Elliott. I started calling him Smelliot and now I almost exclusively call him Smells. He doesn't even stink.
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Our family beagle (the one in my avatar) is named Stella, which frequently gets changed to Stellakins, which then becomes Smellakins, because she DOES stink. :laugh:

All of my pets have at least a dozen nicknames each. Some of them don't even make sense.
 
BlackDog17 said:
Our family beagle (the one in my avatar) is named Stella, which frequently gets changed to Stellakins, which then becomes Smellakins, because she DOES stink. :laugh:

All of my pets have at least a dozen nicknames each. Some of them don't even make sense.
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Same.

Mowlgi = Mowgi, Mowgs, pig pig
Solstice just gets to be called pig pig too. I don't really have another nickname for her.

Geordie is Geords, Geordies (said normally and in a super high pitched voice), Scampers and Scamps.
 
lol, for my cat alone I have:

Julius = Jules, Julesy, Julio, Kitten (also sometimes pronounced "keeeeeyyyttaaahhhhhnnn!"), Kittenpants, Julius C. Kittenpants, Purrface, Meowpants, Kitten McKittenpants, Little Bugger, BratCat, and of course Shutupyouannoyingpainintheass when he's meowing at the door for hours on end. :laugh:
 
My cat's name morphed from Apollo (or Mr. Apollo, as my Dad calls him) to schnookums, schnookies, schnookie monster, Bugaboo, Bug (which has become his official name, with the exception of at the vet), Bugster, Little Bugger, Mr. Bug, Mr. Boo, Booger, Boogie Monster, Boogie Man, Boogie Pants, and Monster (another common name these days.)
 
New Kitten!!!!!! Still working on the name... it's down to Artemis, Lady Diana, Cricket, or Peanut. Based on her facial structure (kinda hard to tell in these pics), she looks like she's going to grow up to look very much like a Siamese, rather than just a DSH with point coloring. She acts very much like a Siamese too, haha.
IMG_0050* small.jpg
IMG_0052* small.jpg
 
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dovelover said:
New Kitten!!!!!! Still working on the name... it's down to Artemis, Lady Diana, Cricket, or Peanut. Based on her facial structure (kinda hard to tell in these pics), she looks like she's going to grow up to look very much like a Siamese, rather than just a DSH with point coloring. She acts very much like a Siamese too, haha.
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She is sooo cute! Oh my goodness, makes me want a kitten.
 
dovelover said:
New Kitten!!!!!! Still working on the name... it's down to Artemis, Lady Diana, Cricket, or Peanut. Based on her facial structure (kinda hard to tell in these pics), she looks like she's going to grow up to look very much like a Siamese, rather than just a DSH with point coloring. She acts very much like a Siamese too, haha.
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looks like a cricket to me.
 
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Lab Rat83 said:
Obviously you've considered the challenges and are ready to undertake them. Good luck with the adoption process! Keep us updated!

As for my own news! Look who we welcomed home this weekend. His name was supposed to be Odin but after getting him home it didn't really suit him. So after being nameless for 2 days and running through about 500 names we fell in love with the name Cody. So here is Cody. Our lovely 9 week old smooth collie.
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I adore Collies! So jealous, what a beauty :)
 
EngrSC said:
My husband and I recently adopted this dog :biglove: ... She's ~6 years old, 30 lbs, obviously a cattle dog mix. Any guesses to what else she's mixed with? We love her like mad - she is so sweet, a go everywhere dog, and she's a phenomenal running buddy and hiking partner.

(Sorry, can't figure out how to make the picture smaller)

View attachment 180753
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Catahoula leopard dog is the only other big one I can think of that is speckly like that. Super cute!

You guys are making me so jealous of your pets. I'm looking forward to finding another dog when I finish school :)
 
I'm proud of my golden boy for earning three straight RAE legs this weekend in Rally Obedience! He Q'd 6 times in a row in the Excellent and Advanced class (and even managed a 4th place, once! Which is great, since some of these dogs and owners were getting perfect scores). Just 7 more legs to go.
 
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dovelover said:
New Kitten!!!!!! Still working on the name... it's down to Artemis, Lady Diana, Cricket, or Peanut. Based on her facial structure (kinda hard to tell in these pics), she looks like she's going to grow up to look very much like a Siamese, rather than just a DSH with point coloring. She acts very much like a Siamese too, haha.
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Wow, she's adorable! Congrats! It's a little hard to tell on my phone... Is she tortie point?
 
TheComfyCat said:
Wow, she's adorable! Congrats! It's a little hard to tell on my phone... Is she tortie point?
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I had to go google Siamese cat colors to figure this out, but she very well may be a tortie point, since that seems to be the only color that will have splotchy colored points like she has, particularly on her feet. It's mostly cream/grey patches, but, she does seem to have some more orangish/brown fur mixed in with the dark fur in some areas, particularly on her one ear & her tail, which I had actually been wondering about. And actually, it would actually make sense for her to be a tortie point, because she had one black littermate and one orange tabby littermate, so she must have gotten a little of everything! Now I want to go read more about the genetics of coat colors. I guess that will be tomorrow's procrastination topic.
 
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dovelover said:
New Kitten!!!!!! Still working on the name... it's down to Artemis, Lady Diana, Cricket, or Peanut. Based on her facial structure (kinda hard to tell in these pics), she looks like she's going to grow up to look very much like a Siamese, rather than just a DSH with point coloring. She acts very much like a Siamese too, haha.
View attachment 180943 View attachment 180944
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Cricket is my cats name! (my other cat is named Spyder :) ) I vote for Cricket! Such an adorable kitten
 
My kitten's had mild diarrhea since I got her... pretty sure it's just stress/diet change induced. But I'm studying for my infectious disease final tomorrow and one of the categories is enteric diseases... and every single one I get to I'm like, "omg, what if she has this?" It's almost as bad as trying to diagnose yourself via Dr. Google and becoming paranoid that you have some serious chronic and/or fatal illness, haha.

PS... She's been officially named Artemis. I know that wasn't the popular opinion (either here or on my facebook, haha), but as fitting as Cricket was to her personality, when I tried it out I just felt awkward calling her that out loud. Of course, she'll probably end up getting called something completely random and unrelated a year from now.
And... just because she's so cute and I want to torture you all with the desire to get a new pet:
IMG_4853**small.jpeg
 
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