Seewalds 29: Still Marketing Cute Kids

[Shadoewolf]

@Texas Heifer I worked for Banfield for 2 years. After taking a pet food education class a few years before,  I got myself kicked out of both the Science Diet and Royal Canin prescription diet visits when I dared question the rep about their ingredients. I also got in trouble with the vet because I'd often get asked what food I use or recommend (especially new puppy/kitten owners), and he wanted me to answer Purina Pro Plan, but I wasn't the type to lie so I'd say Taste of the Wild, 4Health, Acana or Orijen. Yup, busted! I'm a pet food snob too.

[Texas Heifer]

@Shadoewolf, I think my husband is a little in love with you right now! 

He told me he asked our vet's office a few years ago what the medicinal ingredient was in Science Diet (he just said, "Science Diet is the bottom of the barrel"), and none of the techs could tell him. This was before we'd ever tried to feed it to our Mr. Picky, who then refused to eat it...which turned out to be a good thing.

It has grains and byproducts, too. Yuck. When the first ingredient is ground yellow corn, you know you've got a loser. And it's expensive! Nope nope nope.

According to husband, without the urinary acidifier, Science Diet and Royal Canin are no better than Meow Mix.

[Percy]

1 hour ago, Jigsaw3 said:

I searched and couldn't find the thread.  Do you mind linking? I'm interested. The language in the article is pretty obfuscatory.

I'm always interested in institutional governance, especially when it comes to financial malfeasance and doctrinal arguments. This looks like it involves both? Or the financial issues are being used against someone who has a doctrinal disagreement?

(Also, thank God it's not sexual harassment. I'm happy to read a plain old embezzlement case these days!)

I don’t know how to link.

It is in quiver full of snark under a Greg Locke.

[front hugs > duggs]

When cat dung is more interesting than these people .... 

I actually don’t mind it though :shrugs:

[melon]

I have 7 cats...yes 7 cats. One of my male cats,a big black cat,started getting UTI and partially blocked with crystals.I was feeding all of my cats Taste of the Wild.Shadow kept having this problem.I'd have to take him to the emergency vet,they'd have to insert a catheter..then I'd transfer him to his Vet for a few to a week.Oh,they told me to put him on Science Diet Urinary Stress.I think SD is crap,and the Vets promote this food because they receive a cut back.Like pediatricians with formula.I could be wrong.He still became  partially blocked,until he had PU surgery.My Vets don't do that surgery,they have a Vet who is retired and helps them a few times a week.He did the surgery at my Vet.The ER Vet wanted to bring in a specialist for twice the amount.I was reading about cat food,and the problem,my cat Shadow had,it said it was important for them to drink water.I noticed how much the cats were vomiting and that grain-free cat food is better for them.I went back to grain free,they love it and are throwing up much less.Ok,sorry for the TMI,two of my cats have longer hair....one got S@#* all tangled in his  hair back there.I had to wipe him....he growled pitched a fit.He is 11 and had never growled at me.His sister,a tortie,same scenario.Not only did she growl at me,when I had to do clean up...she hissed.But they got over it.

 

[Azriel]

Nothing to add. I just wanted to share pictures of my fur babies.  The first is Simon. He is my older boy. The second is Jade. She is

the princess. The last is the baby, Gus. He started life as Boris but he turned into a lap fungus and was nicknamed Gus.

 

 

[Shadoewolf]

And the urinary acidifier can be substituted with diluted apple cider vinegar. Mix a little with purified water, dunk paws in it so they lick it off. Wet food to help with hydration. Bye bye crystals!

[HarryPotterFan]

37 minutes ago, Azriel said:

he turned into a lap fungus

Amazing. Good little snuggle kitty.

[SapphireSlytherin]

@Azriel - Simon has the BEST wingnut head!

[HarryPotterFan]

My mom is currently helping boy kitty get cat nip out of a toy because he’s having trouble. Once I asked her why she lets the cats have cat nip, but she’s never given me pot. She said it’s because they don’t drive. Hello, I didn’t drive when I was their age either...

[rainbowbabycakes]

Here are my furbabies... This is Beast, she's about 13 I think? your average bossy cat, lol. Heaven forbid there is an empty spot in her food bowl and you can see the bottom.

 

This is Spazz, she's Beasty Cat's baby, and she's 11 or 12. We call her Ninja cat. She's semi feral, which is weird, considering she was raised with people from birth. She likes to hide, and tends to come out at night when I'm trying to sleep, and forces me to pet her. Other than that, don't even try. When we moved, it took us 3 days to catch her in an empty room, in an otherwise empty house. She was was scaling walls and jumping over our heads. She is also very loud, lol

This is Connor, my 9 year old viscous, evil Pit Bull  He lost his front leg to cancer in October, but he doesn't let it slow him down at all. He's my 10 year old's best friend. This is him showing off the beanie my son got for Christmas

 This is them when we got him home from the vet after his surgery. He had to be kenneled, and we don't usually use one, he usually sleeps with us. Little man didn't want him to be alone, so he slept with him in the living room.

 

This is how they usually sleep, lol. 

[Azriel]

2 hours ago, HarryPotterFan said:

Amazing. Good little snuggle kitty.

He snuggled me all through  grad school

@SapphireSlytherin - Doesn't he though? He is a ball of personality

[Texas Heifer]

2 hours ago, Shadoewolf said:

the urinary acidifier can be substituted with diluted apple cider vinegar.

I'd read about wiping it on their hindparts to disinfect the area during a UTI/when they're having poop issues, but I 'd never considered this! Thanks!

Also read about diluting it and squirting it down their throats with a syringe, but this seems a lot less painful for all involved.

[church_of_dog]

Re the cat & dog thread drift:  thank you admins for making the heart/love reaction emoji the easiest one to reach -- that has saved me so much time on this thread and all the other furbaby discussions!

[neurogirl]

@rainbowbabycakes Connor and his best friend are just melting my heart. Sending them wishes for many many happy years together <3

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

For anyone who is tired of cat butt stories, I put my story under a spoiler, so you can just skip it. 

Spoiler

12 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

I keep vowing to shave their asses so the turds don't get stuck, but I value my life enough that I'm not even gonna try it.

 

12 hours ago, HarryPotterFan said:

I really never ever want to have to shave a kitty butt.

My parents used to have a long haired cat named B.C. (among other names). He was a back yard rescue (like most of my parents' cats) and most likely a mixed breed, but he looked a lot like a Maine Coon. He developed a problem with klingons (my family's name for turds stuck in the fur), so I got to shave his backside about once a month. He wasn't happy about it, but with my mom holding him, he mostly just meowed and wiggled. If it had been their other cat who hated my guts, I would never have tried it.

As someone who worked in vet clinics a tiny bit, I often get persuaded to perform procedures for my family's pets. Shaving a cat butt isn't the worst thing I've ever done for family pets.  

 

9 hours ago, front hugs > duggs said:

When cat dung is more interesting than these people .... 

I actually don’t mind it though :shrugs:

You summed it up so well! 

[sta_sha]

I've had a rough few weeks. Between this thread and the thread drift on perfume, FJ has consistently been something that makes me smile. Thanks all! 

[Threff]

I mostly lurk, but have been inspired by all the cat-love. And dog-love. Here is ours, looking soggy (hence the tea towel), and wistful.

 

[Threff]

Also, I should mention that I find you all clever, funny, and a lifeline to help me survive the horrible alternative timeline I seem to be living in, right now.

[Threff]

By “alternative timeline”, I mean Brexit and Tr*mp, obvs. Just in case you thought I was a weird fascist troll, or something.

[Meggo]

On ‎1‎/‎9‎/‎2018 at 3:26 PM, karen77 said:

Only a few species (African Grey's being one of them) can mimic the voice, most just mimic the words

The guy I dated in high school had a bird before I met him. This bird would only every say "Grapes". Until one night his brother (named Matt) was sneaking into the house and the bird said "MATT!" and scared the crap out of Matt.

[Meggo]

On ‎1‎/‎10‎/‎2018 at 2:17 PM, SapphireSlytherin said:

I vote for a solid black male. They're the most awesome cats. Ours fetches, comes when he's called, and even (sometimes) deigns to walk on a leash. He's a lap boy, and he sleeps under the covers on our bed.

Agreed!! My first kitty was a black male and he was awesome. He played with bottle caps, he came when called etc.

So I decided I will always have a black kitty in the house. Now that my first cat is gone - I have two - Shadow (black male cat) and Dexter (gray/white male). I went to the Humane Society for a black kitten and they suggested these two yahoos. (Dex was a baby, Shadow was a little older - but they're super close).

Shadow is my 4 years old best friend. Shadow sits on the toilet when my son is in the bath, he sleeps on his bed, he used to sleep in sight of the crib and then come get me when my son (as a baby) cried. He is patient with the dog, he was at the vet yesterday and purred his entire exam.
 

I will always always have a black boy cat. (and will always strive to adopt black pets since they don't get adopted as quickly)

 

[SamiKatz]

As I said upthread, my black cat has cost me mucho dinero with various and sundry ailments.  I always fed him cat food I got fromt he vet, but after he was diagnosed with diabetes and had a hypoglycemic episode (which was very scary), I started to research cat food and was really surprised at how not good for cats most "prescription" cat food is.  I switched him to a wet food only diet (Fancy Feast) and he was able to go insulin free within a few months, and has had no issues since.  

I aso switched to unscented clumping kitty litter and neither of my cats has had bladder issues since either.

2 hours ago, Meggo said:

I will always always have a black boy cat. (and will always strive to adopt black pets since they don't get adopted as quickly)

 

I'll only get black (or tuxedo) kitties from now on for that reason.  My black cat is a real sweetie, I always tell him I call him Sugar Boo 'cause he's so sweet!

[Runningfromreality]

Any chance to share pictures of my baby! He's a 6 year old coonhound. We got him from a shelter a year ago, and as far as we know, he had at least 3 families before us. It breaks my heart because he's a wonderful dog and is losing a bunch of extra weight now that we've finally got him on thyroid meds  Here he is in his fanciest Christmas sweater  

 

[Jenn The Heathen]

Interrupting all this cat talk to share a pic to shed some light as to why I’ve been MIA (amongst other things).

The black dog is Milo, he’s two and we’ve had him since he was a puppy.  He’s a very mellow yorkie poo that favors his poodle side.  But apparently we just weren’t busy enough so we got him a brother.  Meet Barkley, he’s a 4 month old Lhasa poo and a real handful.  He’s lucky he’s so stinking cute.