Pets chit chat thread

[Shahaku]

Our Boston had a really bad seizure yesterday (either an extended Grand Mal or cluster seizures) he was in and out of them for at least an hour. The emergency very got him stable and we're taking him in today for blood work at our usual vet, but it's not looking good. He's almost 8. There's likely an underlying cause and if it's anything serious we're going to have to put him down.

The Newfie we adopted a year ago is doing well. We got her on a jointjsupplement and she's had regular pain meds for the last year, but she's happy. And we adopted an Australian Shepherd/Burnese mountain dog mix shortly after we adopted her. The mix has been a real good friend to our Boston, they've been buddies since day one.

This sucks.

UPDATE:
He passed away last night. The seizures overcame the medicine he was on and he had three in as many hours. The first two were short and stopped on their own after a minute or so. The last one we had to give him an injection to get it to stop (my girlfriend is trained as a vet assistant so thankfully they sent us home with some stronger meds to keep him comfortable until we could get him to the vet to be put to sleep).

[Shahaku]

Wow, this is a throwback, and is putting my anxiety riddled brain into a bit of a sad phase, reading my last post. It's been almost a year since we lost Stoeger. I thought I'd hop over here to give an animal update, especially since I knew it had been awhile since I saw this thread.

All three of our cats (Yoshii, Iridian, and Freya) are now microchipped. Yay! They're all doing well, but their hair is annoying. I am slightly allergic to cats and any time I get a bit of dandruff or hair in my eyes it really irritates them and I can never seem to keep up with all the fur in our house. It doesn't help that they sneak into our closet all the time. We've kind of given up on keeping them out. I'm awake right now because the little rascals decided to play in the middle of the night again and our room is their toy box apparently...

Our Burnese/Aussie mix, Griffin, lost the weight he needed to in the last year, so we get to take him off his diet (he gets an extra half a cup of food a day compared to the last year). I'm pretty happy about that because it means that he'll be a bit less hungry and it might help with him stealing our food. I can't wait to have a dining room that I can lock him out of. Hopefully when we're able to buy a bit bigger house in a few years.

Our Newfie, Molly, is doing well and she didn't have any bad spills on the snow/ice which is what I've been most worried about. She likes to take the stairs fast, but if she trips going down them her legs could give out and that would be very bad. I wish we had a ramp, but it's just not in the picture right now. I am really struggling to keep up on her coat. It seems that no matter how much I brush, it doesn't work, I can never quite get all the loose hair out and next thing I know it's starting to mat. When I asked in a FB group the advise was basically to take her to a groomer, but she's old and tired. Car rides are hard on her, and she can't stand for extended periods and I worry that a groomer would make her stand longer than she's comfortable.

We also have a husky mix, Alphonse, living here now, but he's my brother-in-laws dog. He's great. He cuddles a lot, which I'm loving. I haven't had a dog to cuddle with since Stoeger died since the two we have aren't very good or happy at cuddling. They love pets but neither is really interested in the just laying next to you and chilling type thing. So that's great. But it's also a bit of a thorn in my side. His sister is the dog we rehomed for a myriod of reasons when Nova was a baby, and Al lived here back then too. He wasn't house trained at the time either and when we rehomed our husky the BIL moved out and took his dog with him. Thankfully when he moved in with his mom, they had a fenced back yard and helped get Al house trained. It still regret rehoming ours and it's really upsetting to think about but I do feel like it was the best thing for her at the time.

[Sollomyn]

I've always wondered how one would go about taming a wild wolf to become an animal companion. I recently watched the movie Alpha about a primitive tribal boy who formed that first bond between man and man's best friend (no sexism intended).

The story in the movie goes that the boy was being chased by a pack of wolves, he climbed a tree to escape them, having to use a stone blade to slice one of them open to make it let go of his leg; the wolf then falls down with a yelp. The other wolves in the pack eventually give up on waiting for the boy to come down from the tree, and they leave their wounded pack member behind with the boy, as they run back off into the wilderness. A short time later, the boy comes down from the tree, but, not being the typical warrior his father hoped he would be, his heart was kind, and when he saw the wounded wolf was still alive, he couldn't bring himself to leave it there to die, nor could he bring himself to end it's life himself either, so he decided to cautiously nurse it back to health.

The wolf was, understandably, reluctant to let the boy get too close; growling, snarling, and bearing it's teeth when ever the boy approached with the herbs, yet the wolf was in no condition to fight, so the boy was successful in nursing the wolf back to health, slowly but surely. Between providing food and water for the wolf, and doctoring it's wounds, the wolf came to trust the boy and see him as his friend, making the boy the alpha of the new mini pack they formed together, (even when the boy tried leaving the wolf once it was back at sufficient health, the wolf continued to follow the boy, never leaving his side).

I'm not sure if that's how the story actually went 20,000 years ago or so, but it seems feasible enough. Interesting story nonetheless; if on my quest I have to protect myself from a pack of wolves, I'll definitely keep this story in mind; a dog would be a very handy companion in the wilderness; alerting to danger, retrieving small game, and protecting against predators, (reminds me of a scene in Alpha involving a wild cat).

[Optimistic discord]

And don't forget the companionship element of a dog in a survival type situation.
The benefits to mental health from having a dog, cannot be underestimated.
The bond our two species has is amazing, and I wish I could see where it takes us in 50-100'000 years time.

[Prickly Pear]

Our dog died a year ago this week, and we put off getting a new one due to grief and financial reasons- too many human vet bills right now. We still have our bird, who is enjoying some extra attention, but it seems this isn't enough for us. We have named a spider that moved into the kitchen windowsill, we almost never damage the web, and last night my husband found the first few springtime ants and fed them to the spider, who promptly made a feast. Frankly, Stripey the spider is one of the best roommates that I have ever had- quiet, contains its mess, and helps with pest control.

Last summer we also had a cute little black widow living in our irrigation water spigot access. She was very shy, so we left her and were just very careful to look before reaching in- you could always see her scurry off and cringe in the corner. I doubt she made it through the cold. If she left one visible offspring, we will probably do the same, but if we find multiples, I guess we'll have to get rid of them. It's too early to get in there though. It is offset quite far from the house- we don't let them nest in the house.

[faye_cat]

So last October there was this little kitten in the road and I barely managed to rescue him. He ended up needing a leg amputated. We named him Dash because he crawled into my dashboard and hid when I got him in the car. You never know when you rescue an animal, especially a young one, how they are going to do. We were going to find him another home after we got him healthy but we spent so much money and it was apparently kitten season around here (saw about 5 posts a day about someone trying to rehome kittens) so we decided to keep him. We have 3 kids and two older cats and it can be kind of chaotic around here so I was really worried because he was so scared.

But he is really coming into his own now. He still hides during the craziest parts of the day, but he'll come sit right next to me if I'm working on my computer. And he dashes into my bedroom (only room cats aren't allowed due to husband having minor allergies) and then when I go to pick him up and he stretches out and just wants to cuddle. And it's just, I don't know. It just means so much to me to have that trust considering I was the one who got him off the road (terrifying him because I couldn't pick him up the most gentle way) and then took him to all his vet visits and he wouldn't let me touch him for several days. I really can't wait to see how his personality develops even more.

[Shahaku]

I'm a little worried about our Newfie. She's nearing 12 and had issues when we adopted her two years ago with hip dysplasia, ligaments being weak, and arthritis. Her back end is getting lower when she walks, and she's showing signs of slowing down more now. She hasn't reached a point where we know she's not happy, she still has some quality of life, is enjoying belly rubs and couch beds, still has tail wags. My gf will wait until there's a clear sign that she's done, like not walking anymore. Until then, we may have to up her pain meds again.

[Hawkfeathers]

Awww - Newfs are so big I can imagine it's hard for them to get around as they get older. Hope she has lots of happy times left.

[Shahaku]

Awww - Newfs are so big I can imagine it's hard for them to get around as they get older. Hope she has lots of happy times left.

Yeah. We keep her happy. It's just the first time that there hasn't been a clear indicator. I worry that she's in more pain than we know, and what's the most humane route. She does seem happy still. Our last two dogs who passed, it was quick. One had a liver tumor that ruptured and the other started seizing and wasn't responding to medication. It was very clear that they were done and it was a happy one day gone the next type thing. This is such a slow deterioration that I'm worried we'll miss the signs that quality of life is gone until she just gives up.

On a happier note, the house we're looking at buying (contingent on selling ours) has a privacy fenced back yard, with a door that leads straight out, which is awesome.