So I just got back from the vet with Little Ricky

He just had to go in to get his booster shot. The Vet took his temperature first after he weighed him( he gained a pound) and his temperature was high. I said he had been running around a lot at home before we came in( vet is right down the street 2 minutes away) so we let him relax a little for 15 minutes before he took it again. It was still high 103.4 both orally and rectally. He asked if he has been coughing or sneezing. No to both. He eats real good, drinks enough water,poop is fine AND plays and runs around like a lunatic. He gave him an antibiotic shot ( I didn't want to deal with pills or liquid in a syringe too soon after Panda and sad memories still). And I need to bring him back in a week. If I notice any coughing or sneezing or any changes at all bring him back immediately

He said it could be an airborne virus? Could I be bringing something home from the shelter. I am so careful. Take my clothes and shoes off in garage and immediately get in shower. Neither cat is touched till I am squeaky clean.

Any ideas what this could be? Now I have to watch Tuxie too ( not that I don't already) cause he could have given it to her. She is almost 11 and in good health thank god.

Anybody else have this ever happen. High temperature, but no symptoms?

Behavioral Change in a Cat

We took in a stray male cat last summer, so we've had him just over a year. He is fixed and UTD on shots and vet care. For the first few months he was here, he was pretty quiet. After a few months of steady meals and a warm bed, he filled out (he gained five pounds and his ribs still stick out; that should tell you how skinny he was when we found him). Once he settled in, he seemed to be gaining confidence. He started playing with his "brothers" and even walking around with his tail in the air once in a while.

Since then, something has happened to make him act in a very odd manner. He has used the litter box from day one, but I suddenly caught him peeing on the living room floor. I can tell he's still doing it; it smells like pee when you walk past a certain spot, and if you touch that part of the carpet with your hand, your hand ends up smelling like cat urine.

When I saw him pee on the floor, I made a vet appointment and took him in. The vet didn't find anything wrong, but she gave him steroid and antibiotic shots in case he had a UTI. She also had me give him a bag of treats designed to promote bladder health in cats. If anything, the vet visit made him worse. He's very sensitive to sounds (afraid of aluminum foil, shopping bags rattling together, plastic wrap being pulled off the roll, etc.), and the vet's office has a set of sleigh bells on the door to alert staff members when someone walks in. Every time the door opened or closed, the sleigh bells would clang, and he'd freak out more and more each time. The visit ended with three techs, all wearing metal-reinforced gloves, kneeling over him and trying to give him the shots as he yowled and foamed at the mouth.

I think he's traumatized by the vet visit, and he's not snapping out of it. I also can't figure out what made him start peeing on the floor out of the blue. Any ideas? We haven't changed food or litter brands since he came to live with us, so he's not upset about that. He gets along well with three of the other four cats; they pal around and take naps together. The fourth cat doesn't really get along with anyone, but he's always just ignored/tolerated her. We've been adding Cat Attract to the litter boxes to entice him to use them.

I haven't added anything to the room. In fact, I purchased some votive candles and then got rid of them because they were too strong for me. But that was after he started acting weird.

Yes, the other cats were here prior to his arrival. He never had any problems with them. He's not fighting with anyone now, either. He seems to really like three of the four other cats. He likes to drink running water from the tub faucet (he actually refuses to drink from a bowl), and two of the cats get in the tub with him, and they all take turns batting water droplets around. He also takes naps with the other boys.

I was going to say I think the 4th of July fireworks scared him half to death, but we were finding poop on the floor well before the 4th of July (poop, but no pee). Now it's pee but no poop. Not sure what happened, but we're moving into a new (rental) house next month, so I really need to work on curbing the behavior. We can't have him peeing in someone else's house.

I scrubbed the carpet with Nature's Miracle so he wouldn't want to keep peeing in the same spot, but it didn't discourage him from doing it as I had hoped. You need to really soak the area and let it dry thoroughly. Get yourself a black light pee-finder, too, and look for the yellow stains with it There may be more than one area you need to treat. You may have to treat it more than once, too. But you have to SOAK the area, not spray it, not dampen it. SOAK. Then let it dry, and remember the smell isn't gone until it's really dry; as it's working the smell can seem intensified; it isn't dry yet. Maybe you'll need to re-treat if you can still detect the odor.

It has worked for us, and we have an incontinent mastiff and had an incontinent elderly cat. Buy it by the gallon at Drs. Foster and Smith online, much cheaper than Petco or Petsmart.

There's a very good cat pee removal recipe online, just google it. Dawn dish detergent (regular one), baking soda, hydrogen peroxide. This works really well, too. I've done it when my mastiff had an accident on brand new carpet. Really worked, and that was A LOT of pee. Google it, it's super easy, just follow the instructions.

Oil in my hair?

If I put olive oil or coconut oil in my hair, how do I wash it out. Wouldn't oil make your hair oily and hard to wash it out? The answer is you want it to absorb into your hair. Leave it on the bottom third of your hair for as long as possible, then shampoo and condition normally. You can also use a tiny amount on the ends after your hair is dried. It will soak in. Shampoos are designed to dissolve oil. It's not like shampoo is water, where water and oil don't mix. Shampoos have the chemicals (or even natural things) to break down oils. It may take a few rinse and repeats to get it all out, but it shouldn't be that big of a problem.


Check out Beauty Brains and they explain that coconut oil is one of the few oils that actually penetrate
the hair shaft. I find mine sucks it up like a sponge. However you should only use it from about half the
hair shaft down. Make sure you only apply the oil to the ends and not on scalp which is where the natural oils of your hair is produced.

How can I get my toddler not to feed my dog?

I know this is not a forum for asking parenting questions, but I was hoping to get some advice from other parents who have dogs. One of my dogs is getting chunky and she is on diet food. Not free-fed. She eats 2x a day. The problem is that my son (2 years old) feeds her all the time. Usually I gate her in a different room from him but if I don't she is right by his chair waiting for him to drop something. Any tips on training my toddler or dog? I'd like for him to not feed her and for her to not sit right by him waiting and staring.

I'm thinking about starting to raw feed my dogs. I am hoping raw feeding will help her be less food obsessed because it's all natural and not junk dog food meaning it'll help her feel more full. I have been doing research online. Is it really as easy as buying a cut of meat & bone/a chicken/fish and some veggies and just giving it to your dog? Any tips and suggestions would be helpful!

I have a 5 month old Border Collie & 1 year old Corgi.

Our cat is starting to vomit a lot

I am catsitting two adorable boys for the summer while their owner is on extended vacation. One of them has occasionally vomited, no biggie, cats do that. A few days ago, he started to vomit every single night (and without fail, on or under my bed, thanks so much!)

He looks fine and healthy, has a cold nose, eats well, eliminates properly, and hasn't lost any weight. I feed them hairball-reducing dry food and brush both of them daily, so it shouldn't be a hairball issue. He does not properly chew his food though but rather inhales in the space of 5 seconds flat, but still, the daily vomiting is new, and he doesn't puke solid particles but brown liquid. He is 5 years old.

I tried to contact the kitties' owner to ask if that was normal but he is gallivanting around China so I guess he hasn't had a chance to check his email for a few days now. He expressly forbade me though to take any of them to a vet unless it's a real emergency. (I took one cat to the vet for a checkup after a fall/jump out of a third floor window, and the owner was pretty upset with me for taking him.)

Can you trust your Veterinarian?

I’m thinking that some vets are more interested in the money than the pet. Because of being unemployed and living on $1155 SS a month I use the clinics when they are in the area. (Yes both of my dogs are UTD and yes I was working when I adopted one of them. I was watching the other dog while an ex co-worker went on vacation and never came back.)

Today I took fecal samples to the vet to be tested. The dog that I was watching had whip worms when she came to stay with me and she was dragging her butt and I thought that maybe she has them again. The vet wouldn’t take them because the dogs hadn’t been seen in a year. The reasoning was that if they proved positive they wouldn’t treat them.

If there was something wrong I would bring them in and give up something else. (I have bought heart worm and flea/tick meds and skipped my own on occasion.) The vet wants me to spend $58 for each dog for an exam plus $28 each for the test. That’s $172. Then if they do have worms it’s another $58 plus meds for each dog. It’s money that I just don’t have.

Another example for thinking the vets over charge is because a month or so ago my cat (indoor) got cut on something and I did take him to the vet to make sure it was taken care of properly. That cost $58 for the office visit and they wanted another $77 for a shot of antibiotics. I refused the shot and asked for a script which I took to the pharmacy and got the meds for free.

If money was no object I would have taken the easy way out, but I’m not working and have all the time in the world to give oral meds every day for 2 weeks. Isn’t $77 a lot for antibiotics?

Just need a little pep talk

We just rescued a big mastiff mix. He is GREAT! I am home all day for the summer (teacher here) After three days, I have taught him his name, to sit and to shake. He is cute as can be and is going to be fine with the older dogs. But... I am tired! Playing peek-a-boo and "go get your ball" is exhausting. Also, my poor husband came home today so sad because the dog hasn't really gotten to know him yet, so the dog is sticking to me like glue. I know it is going to be great, but I need a little pep talk please.

The problem is, if it is a problem, I am home all day so I am really working with him. Hubby just wants to have the dog sit with him to watch the olympics, and hang out. Puppy was not treated well by his first owner. We assume a man had him. We were told the dog spent the first 7 months of his life on an apartment patio on a chain. Poor hubby says, "But I didn't mistreat him." 

I'm trying to get him into the Baby step mode. Small accomplishments are big celebrations. We are making progress. I showed him how I put a leash on the other dogs. Guess what happened... New guy grabbed the second leash out of my hand and ran with it across the yard! I could hear the "Nah nah nah nah nah" in my head Progress!