@somf69 This, 100%. I’ve taken on high-labor pet care (think 4 laundry loads of soiled bedding a day, plus special food, lining the car seat for outings, vet bills…) and still grieved so much when she was gone.
@brainmist@somf69 I’m at that stage with my 16-year-old girl right now, luckily the medication she’s on helps with the incontinence to some extent, but she also has elevated liver enzymes & possibly Cushing’s, so I’m trying to enjoy the times where she still acts like a puppy, having the zoomies, jumping around the car like a kangaroo on crack, barking at me to wake me up (or for no reason, or reasons known only to her ). The zoomies are getting less frequent, but give me hope that she’s still doing pretty well for such an elderly grande dame.
@ircon96@somf69 I had to have Raven put to sleep right before Christmas, and I still cry when I talk or write about her. Excuse me while I get a tissue.
@brainmist@ircon96@somf69 It seems like the breeds that tend to live the longest are the really small ones. I like medium to large dogs, ~40+ lbs. My Dalmatian was 15 when we had to have her put to sleep, which isn’t bad. I definitely didn’t make it any easier to say goodbye.
@brainmist So true. It seems like, with purebred dogs, the goal of breeders is just the opposite–they couldn’t shorten their lives more if they tried. They perpetuate so many genetic conditions that the poor things often don’t have a chance to make it to their golden years!
I do think a lot of large dog stats are influenced by the increased likelihood that previous measures include farm/ working/ outdoor dogs, who, like barn cats, likely received less care and had higher risk of violent death (human or otherwise).
My dogs have died of diseases/ old age (and one, tragically, from rimadyl toxicity; do NOT let your vet prescribe this or its generic, carprofen, for your big/ senior dog!) And, except for the poisoned one, they lived for 15+ years.
@brainmist@ircon96@somf69 That’s a good point about working dogs. It’s like how life expectancy in previous centuries is skewed young because of the high infant mortality rate.
I gave Raven carprofen all the time for her arthritis. How does the toxicity affect dogs?
@ircon96@lisagd@somf69 Kidney and/or liver failure, which is more common in larger/older dogs. There’s an FDA customer information sheet, which my vet didn’t provide; when I asked about side effects, he only identified possible stomach upset and recommended giving it with food.
She had half the red flag symptoms. She died in pain less than three weeks after starting treatment. For a stubbed/sprained toe.
@narfcake Cats shed more directly on their servants.
We had a very small dense-furred mostly-white shorthair who could out-shed all of the rest put together. She walked around in her own little private cloud of fur. We called her Spot, which meant that the hair and lint sticky rollers were known as Spot Removers.
@narfcake@werehatrack so the “long hairs” I have to declump. Get some underhair. I… Don’t get me started on what’s going on in the bed sheets. But the hair picker upper works there.
The problem is I shave my head and my beard. So… They are Velcro for cat hair. Never mind at hair on plates and cups and… Anything that comes out of the cabinet.
There is always more hair than I come equipped with. It’s not at a… Greek level. But you know long hairs hanging off your head because you laid down on the couch…
@narfcake@werehatrack We have two cats and a dog. All shed of course, but while the cats like being brushed/combed, the dog hates it and he won’t stand still for more than a few seconds of it. I’ve tried various (soft) brushes and combs on him with no luck. Oddly, he likes/tolerates it if I just use my fingers/nails to brush through his fur. Weirdo.
For some reason it’s cheaper than when I bought it over a year ago and it’s showing a 40% off coupon check box for me… But it’s amazon. So. You may not see that.
Don’t have a dog. And I bought that one to try and deal with the puffy cats undercoat getting bunched up. They mostly like it. It definitely doesn’t get everything/I find it weirdly satisfying to gently breakup/pull out those clumps by hand… But they don’t always like that either.
Anyway dog cat also likes it and it actually does get some out of him even though he is a shorthair
Thought was it you were using a soft brush but he likes the fingers… Maybe something a little harder.
I don’t do the with all of them but a couple I pull it through their tail. With. A good bit of resistance. But they like it/I get some junk out.
@unksol Some of our cats will lay still while I go over them with a Furminator, others will tolerate a currying brush, a couple are just not down for any of that. At the moment, none of them are having issues with mat buildup.
@werehatrack I don’t think they have issues really. What tends to happen is I’ll just be petting them and I encounter a dense area that could mat and I just want to pull it apart before it turns into one.
They’re all over the place on that though. Most really like it around the head. Abdomen is a little mixed. Ass area they generally are not into. For some reason
@narfcake@werehatrack I have the really fine metal deshededding tool. Never did much. I had a silicon one like the video. Someone must have relocated it though. I never got much results wise with that style either
@narfcake@unksol@werehatrack I have a Furminator. It worked great on my former dog (she had a thick, fine undercoat) and the cats like it too (except when it hits a knot!). Current dog - not so much. I think the dog’s issue may be extra sensitive skin - he has (mostly) white fur plus blue eyes. And the skin under the white fur is quite pink.
@unksol@werehatrack Some of my cats love being groomed and will push whomever I am grooming out of the way so they can have it done. Then I have one who tries to push me out of the way as she hates it. Too bad so sad. She sheds like crazy so I have to hold her down to do it. Never been bit or scratched but if looks would kill I’d be dead meat.
@narfcake Our Furminator has a green handle; we had a shedding brush/comb thing that had a purple grip, but it vanished quite a while back. (I still suspect that one of the cats gravitied it into a wastebasket. This would, of course, have been entirely accidental.)
@narfcake@unksol@werehatrack
Those silicone brushes are really effective but Toby isn’t crazy about them either.
I want some of the cat-shaped cardboard scratchers in the video!
@haydesigner@narfcake Our next door neighbors have a pair of mastiffs. The male is huge, ~200lbs and a 30 inch! neck (they had to have a custom collar made for him when he outgrew the old one).
@werehatrack@yakkoTDI It’s a little funny. I had one doggo who would absolutely have gotten lost behind the couch… and my couch isn’t even against a wall.
She was…er… not my smartest dog. But sometimes my most exciting… like when she snagged a 25 pack of bottle rockets and circled the frantic humans gleefully shooting bottle rockets out of her mouth.
(@ircon96, if you need a break from ugly crying, just picture that day. It was her happiest EVER.)
@ircon96@werehatrack@yakkoTDI She was unpredictably awful, and came with the house. Early on, as I (with no real furniture) was setting things up, she trotted around the room where I was sorting papers, found the most important pile… and peed on them.
“Hi, I need to request a new copy of X. Um. The original? Was…er…peed upon.”
the whining and lack of cuddles. she’s a god dog (catahoula mix) but whines like crazy in the car and is not affectionate. her love language is throw a stick for me
@Oldelvis@unksol Hairball is better than a puddle of overeating upchuck. An acquaintance has a cat that he dares not feed more than a few tablespoons of gooshy at a timne. Put out a whole can, and she’l make it vanish and reappear in about fifteen minutes all told, particularly when it’s her favorite.
@Oldelvis@unksol Much depends upon the presentation. A splat of upchucked goosh is by far preferable to a splat of similar-physical-characteristics fully-processed used food.
One of my dog’s many nicknames was Farty McSnorington. She earned it fair and square. I’ve never had a dog that snored so loudly, or who dreamed so much.
@davehr2d2 I’m lucky that my current two aren’t too stinky… but the younger one will fart while licking her own butt, then attack her butt with extra zeal because HOW VERY DARE IT!!!
@brainmist@davehr2d2 That’s funny, when my dog makes an audible toot, she looks back at her butt with a very accusatory expression. I guess she thinks her butt has a mind of it’s own…?
@davehr2d2@ircon96 Mine definitely has no idea that her butt is connected to her head.
When she was a pup, she’d try scratching with her ridiculous jack-rabbit legs, end up kicking herself in the head, then try to catch and chew on the offending foot.
@brainmist@ircon96
My cat actually plays with his tail. There’s a tiny white spot right on the end and he’ll stare … and then pounce! Sometimes he’ll even somersault trying to catch it.
@namnamnat, my shepherd I was still finding fur a year and a half after he passed. My mastiff, she was all about the slobber. I was cleaning walls about every 2 weeks.
@kittykat9180@namnamnat My daughter had a mastiff for a while (her husband’s idea). She complained of having to clean slobber off of the ceiling. The dog would shake is head and the drool would go flying.
@kittykat9180@macromeh@namnamnat@narfcake We have a slightly chonky cat who drools when she’s particularly happy, and shakes her head to send it flying all over everything.
Them climbing in the drier when my wife wasn’t looking.
Don’t worry. Didn’t end tragically. She turned it on, heard “thump thump” so stopped to see what was banging. Out ran the stray that had adopted us a few years before looking a little terrified but completely unharmed.
@OnionSoup yikes. Close one. I keep the laundry room shut although I wish I didn’t have too. That’s mostly cause I think someone will piss on something but.
Aunt accidentally killed their ferret, who was actually pretty cool, cause he was in the dryer and she didn’t realize.
I was finishing loading the dishwasher this morning and turned my back for a second. Had to extract an orange cat in the back I almost didn’t see past all the plates and silverware. I swear…
@OnionSoup@unksol@werehatrack Many years ago, the live-in girlfriend of a buddy of mine had 2 ferrets that she let run free in the house. I remember going over there and being hit at the door by the musky smell of their urine that they marked everything with. Apparently, the residents had gotten used to it and didn’t notice anymore. I was sitting on the couch and suddenly felt one of them climb up inside my pant leg. Startling, to say the least.
@macromeh@OnionSoup@unksol@werehatrack My sister had 2 ferrets years ago. Stuff that she brings from her condo still has a tinge of that smell.
When we moved into the house I’m in now, we had to tear out the carpet in the guest bedroom because it reeked of ferrets. Such a strange smell, not at all like any other animal. Almost like some sort of weird industrial cleaning solution. I hate it! They’re adorable but peeuww!
@Kyeh@macromeh@OnionSoup@werehatrack
Well they did let him run loose and we did help them move stuff once and there was. Some ferret poop under their sons bed. So I’m sure that’s a thing. Don’t remember smelling him though and he was very cute. Rode around on the big black labs back.
The cats have done some damage. I did ask my sister if it smelled like cat piss in here when she came a few months ago. I don’t think she’d lie…
Worst part is death watch, or hospice. Certainly an emotional roller coaster.
Will they pull through? Will they not?
Is there anything more we can do to make them comfortable?
Out of the over seventy cats we’ve had in the past 38 years, only one died at home (our only purebred, a Maine Coon). All the rest were taken to the vet when it was their time (the oldest was 23).
We’ve had cats who lived for years after being diagnosed with and treated for kidney disease. Others who only lived for months. You just don’t know.
When we took Charlie in last month, the vet said something about me having a sixth sense of the possible problems.
@lisaviolet I was lucky in the sense that my dog had two strokes, the second one while we were at the vet, so it was clear nothing could be done. It saved me questioning for the past 8 months whether I’d made the right decision, but it didn’t make it any easier.
Bodily waste in places you don’t want it.
@yakkoTDI since this is an actual on going problem. Yes.
When they cross the rainbow bridge
@somf69 Don’t make me ugly cry!
@somf69 This, 100%. I’ve taken on high-labor pet care (think 4 laundry loads of soiled bedding a day, plus special food, lining the car seat for outings, vet bills…) and still grieved so much when she was gone.
@brainmist @somf69 I’m at that stage with my 16-year-old girl right now, luckily the medication she’s on helps with the incontinence to some extent, but she also has elevated liver enzymes & possibly Cushing’s, so I’m trying to enjoy the times where she still acts like a puppy, having the zoomies, jumping around the car like a kangaroo on crack, barking at me to wake me up (or for no reason, or reasons known only to her
). The zoomies are getting less frequent, but give me hope that she’s still doing pretty well for such an elderly grande dame. 
@somf69 I have a curio cabinet containing six little cedar boxes that agree with you.
@ircon96 @somf69 I had to have Raven put to sleep right before Christmas, and I still cry when I talk or write about her. Excuse me while I get a tissue.
@ircon96 @lisagd @somf69 It’s been a decade and…yeah.
@ircon96, I’m glad your girl is still living life! The good times make it so worthwhile.
Of all the traits we’ve bred into dogs, I will never understand why longevity hasn’t been the top one.
@brainmist @ircon96 @somf69 It seems like the breeds that tend to live the longest are the really small ones. I like medium to large dogs, ~40+ lbs. My Dalmatian was 15 when we had to have her put to sleep, which isn’t bad. I definitely didn’t make it any easier to say goodbye.
@lisagd @somf69
@brainmist So true. It seems like, with purebred dogs, the goal of breeders is just the opposite–they couldn’t shorten their lives more if they tried. They perpetuate so many genetic conditions that the poor things often don’t have a chance to make it to their golden years!
@brainmist @ircon96 @somf69 Mutts FTW!
@ircon96 @lisagd @somf69 Definitely mutts FTW!
I do think a lot of large dog stats are influenced by the increased likelihood that previous measures include farm/ working/ outdoor dogs, who, like barn cats, likely received less care and had higher risk of violent death (human or otherwise).
My dogs have died of diseases/ old age (and one, tragically, from rimadyl toxicity; do NOT let your vet prescribe this or its generic, carprofen, for your big/ senior dog!) And, except for the poisoned one, they lived for 15+ years.
@brainmist @ircon96 @somf69 That’s a good point about working dogs. It’s like how life expectancy in previous centuries is skewed young because of the high infant mortality rate.
I gave Raven carprofen all the time for her arthritis. How does the toxicity affect dogs?
@ircon96 @lisagd @somf69 Kidney and/or liver failure, which is more common in larger/older dogs. There’s an FDA customer information sheet, which my vet didn’t provide; when I asked about side effects, he only identified possible stomach upset and recommended giving it with food.
She had half the red flag symptoms. She died in pain less than three weeks after starting treatment. For a stubbed/sprained toe.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://animaldrugsatfda.fda.gov/adafda/app/search/public/document/downloadLabeling/403&ved=2ahUKEwiYgrm9xqSBAxUTkIkEHWuOD4gQFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2prvm9Egny5Nyj8z8Hjf_D
@brainmist @ircon96 @lisagd @somf69
/image sad
When she tries to eat my food.
/image cat hair shirt
/image dog hair shirt
@narfcake Cats shed more directly on their servants.
We had a very small dense-furred mostly-white shorthair who could out-shed all of the rest put together. She walked around in her own little private cloud of fur. We called her Spot, which meant that the hair and lint sticky rollers were known as Spot Removers.
@narfcake @werehatrack so the “long hairs” I have to declump. Get some underhair. I… Don’t get me started on what’s going on in the bed sheets. But the hair picker upper works there.
The problem is I shave my head and my beard. So… They are Velcro for cat hair. Never mind at hair on plates and cups and… Anything that comes out of the cabinet.
There is always more hair than I come equipped with. It’s not at a… Greek level. But you know long hairs hanging off your head because you laid down on the couch…
@narfcake @werehatrack We have two cats and a dog. All shed of course, but while the cats like being brushed/combed, the dog hates it and he won’t stand still for more than a few seconds of it. I’ve tried various (soft) brushes and combs on him with no luck. Oddly, he likes/tolerates it if I just use my fingers/nails to brush through his fur. Weirdo.
@macromeh @narfcake @werehatrack
Have you tried one like this?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EZ7UOCM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
For some reason it’s cheaper than when I bought it over a year ago and it’s showing a 40% off coupon check box for me… But it’s amazon. So. You may not see that.
Don’t have a dog. And I bought that one to try and deal with the puffy cats undercoat getting bunched up. They mostly like it. It definitely doesn’t get everything/I find it weirdly satisfying to gently breakup/pull out those clumps by hand… But they don’t always like that either.
Anyway dog cat also likes it and it actually does get some out of him even though he is a shorthair
Thought was it you were using a soft brush but he likes the fingers… Maybe something a little harder.
I don’t do the with all of them but a couple I pull it through their tail. With. A good bit of resistance. But they like it/I get some junk out.
@unksol Some of our cats will lay still while I go over them with a Furminator, others will tolerate a currying brush, a couple are just not down for any of that. At the moment, none of them are having issues with mat buildup.
@werehatrack I don’t think they have issues really. What tends to happen is I’ll just be petting them and I encounter a dense area that could mat and I just want to pull it apart before it turns into one.
They’re all over the place on that though. Most really like it around the head. Abdomen is a little mixed. Ass area they generally are not into. For some reason
It’s an oddly satisfying thing to correct
@unksol @werehatrack The brush isn’t purple by any chance, is it?
When I had my doggie, I used a furminator. She didn’t mind it at all.
@narfcake @werehatrack I have the really fine metal deshededding tool. Never did much. I had a silicon one like the video. Someone must have relocated it though. I never got much results wise with that style either
The cats relocate things so who knows
@narfcake @unksol @werehatrack I have a Furminator. It worked great on my former dog (she had a thick, fine undercoat) and the cats like it too (except when it hits a knot!). Current dog - not so much. I think the dog’s issue may be extra sensitive skin - he has (mostly) white fur plus blue eyes. And the skin under the white fur is quite pink.
@unksol @werehatrack Some of my cats love being groomed and will push whomever I am grooming out of the way so they can have it done. Then I have one who tries to push me out of the way as she hates it. Too bad so sad. She sheds like crazy so I have to hold her down to do it. Never been bit or scratched but if looks would kill I’d be dead meat.
@narfcake Our Furminator has a green handle; we had a shedding brush/comb thing that had a purple grip, but it vanished quite a while back. (I still suspect that one of the cats gravitied it into a wastebasket. This would, of course, have been entirely accidental.)
@narfcake @unksol @werehatrack
Those silicone brushes are really effective but Toby isn’t crazy about them either.
I want some of the cat-shaped cardboard scratchers in the video!
@Kyeh @narfcake @werehatrack target acquired
@Kyeh @narfcake @werehatrack @unksol
Well, I was going to say “litterbox,” but @somf69 really had the right answer.
@Kyeh Yep, that’s the one!
All of the Above, plus I guess most likely then is when they Cross the Rainbow Bridge.
Since I have two 16+ year old pups, I have to agree, the rainbow bridge.
I love dogs, have had at least one throughout my whole life. The bigger the better, IMO.
Of course, the bigger the dog… the bigger the amount of
to pick up. And when you have a small yard, it can get ugly quick.
@haydesigner, my Anatolian would sometimes have double hand pick ups (with poop bags). He also refused to poop in his yard, he made me walk him.
@haydesigner My late doggie was a lightweight at 100#. Also she thought she was a lap dog.
(Female English mastiffs are usually 120-170#).
@haydesigner @narfcake Our next door neighbors have a pair of mastiffs. The male is huge, ~200lbs and a 30 inch! neck (they had to have a custom collar made for him when he outgrew the old one).
@haydesigner @macromeh @narfcake
Picking up the poop.
@kittykat9180 Totally!
Losing them.
@brainmist Sounds like you should invest in some of those GPS collars! JK, I’m just trying to avoid ugly crying again.
@brainmist @ircon96 Try to get an IRK next time; you’ll probably get some Trackrs you can use.
@brainmist @ircon96 @lisagd Did you check behind the couch?
@yakkoTDI Not funny.
@werehatrack @yakkoTDI It’s a little funny. I had one doggo who would absolutely have gotten lost behind the couch… and my couch isn’t even against a wall.
She was…er… not my smartest dog. But sometimes my most exciting… like when she snagged a 25 pack of bottle rockets and circled the frantic humans gleefully shooting bottle rockets out of her mouth.
(@ircon96, if you need a break from ugly crying, just picture that day. It was her happiest EVER.)
@brainmist @werehatrack @yakkoTDI That’s hilarious! What a little scamp!!
@ircon96 @werehatrack @yakkoTDI She was unpredictably awful, and came with the house. Early on, as I (with no real furniture) was setting things up, she trotted around the room where I was sorting papers, found the most important pile… and peed on them.
“Hi, I need to request a new copy of X. Um. The original? Was…er…peed upon.”
the whining and lack of cuddles. she’s a god dog (catahoula mix) but whines like crazy in the car and is not affectionate. her love language is throw a stick for me
They have no concept of time or personal space. Jump up on the bed and wake me up at all hours. So cute I can’t stay mad.
Random Hairball Surprises, usually barefoot.
@Oldelvis better than the other end though
@Oldelvis @unksol Hairball is better than a puddle of overeating upchuck. An acquaintance has a cat that he dares not feed more than a few tablespoons of gooshy at a timne. Put out a whole can, and she’l make it vanish and reappear in about fifteen minutes all told, particularly when it’s her favorite.
@Oldelvis @werehatrack still… Better out the front than the back. Probably.
Maybe it’s equivalent when you get used to the shit show
@Oldelvis @unksol Much depends upon the presentation. A splat of upchucked goosh is by far preferable to a splat of similar-physical-characteristics fully-processed used food.
@Oldelvis @werehatrack literally listening to someone puke something somewhere.
@Oldelvis Dead animals, barefoot. Or half a rabbit on my pillow.
@brainmist Yeesh, it sounds a little like Fatal Attraction up in that hizzy!
Lol
@ircon96 They just want me to know they love me!
Dog farts.
@davehr2d2 One advantage of a farty dog is you never have to take the blame for your own.
@davehr2d2 And how they give you the dirty look.
One of my dog’s many nicknames was Farty McSnorington. She earned it fair and square. I’ve never had a dog that snored so loudly, or who dreamed so much.
@davehr2d2 @lisagd
My cat had a nightmare the other night! He was crying out loudly, but sound asleep. I stroked him to try to soothe him.
@davehr2d2 @Kyeh One time, Raven was moving so much, I started wondering if she was having a seizure. The little noises they make are so cute, though.
@davehr2d2 @lisagd They are! I’ve said this before, but - I hate hearing humans snore, but hearing my cats snore has always delighted me.
@davehr2d2 I’m lucky that my current two aren’t too stinky… but the younger one will fart while licking her own butt, then attack her butt with extra zeal because HOW VERY DARE IT!!!
@brainmist @davehr2d2 That’s funny, when my dog makes an audible toot, she looks back at her butt with a very accusatory expression. I guess she thinks her butt has a mind of it’s own…?
@davehr2d2 @ircon96 Mine definitely has no idea that her butt is connected to her head.
When she was a pup, she’d try scratching with her ridiculous jack-rabbit legs, end up kicking herself in the head, then try to catch and chew on the offending foot.
@brainmist @ircon96
My cat actually plays with his tail. There’s a tiny white spot right on the end and he’ll stare … and then pounce! Sometimes he’ll even somersault trying to catch it.
The fur and them dying
@namnamnat, my shepherd I was still finding fur a year and a half after he passed. My mastiff, she was all about the slobber. I was cleaning walls about every 2 weeks.
@kittykat9180 @namnamnat My daughter had a mastiff for a while (her husband’s idea). She complained of having to clean slobber off of the ceiling. The dog would shake is head and the drool would go flying.
@macromeh @namnamnat, my Neapolitan was the same. And when she drank water. Or saw you eating.
@kittykat9180 @macromeh @namnamnat BTDT with my late mastiff. Also dropping slobber around her water dish.
@kittykat9180 @macromeh @namnamnat @narfcake We have a slightly chonky cat who drools when she’s particularly happy, and shakes her head to send it flying all over everything.
@namnamnat Every now and then, I still find a spiderweb-thin hair of chow undercoat (it’s very fine). I used to say “X got in my eye…”
Them climbing in the drier when my wife wasn’t looking.
Don’t worry. Didn’t end tragically. She turned it on, heard “thump thump” so stopped to see what was banging. Out ran the stray that had adopted us a few years before looking a little terrified but completely unharmed.
@OnionSoup yikes. Close one. I keep the laundry room shut although I wish I didn’t have too. That’s mostly cause I think someone will piss on something but.
Aunt accidentally killed their ferret, who was actually pretty cool, cause he was in the dryer and she didn’t realize.
I was finishing loading the dishwasher this morning and turned my back for a second. Had to extract an orange cat in the back I almost didn’t see past all the plates and silverware. I swear…
@OnionSoup @unksol
http://jacquemarshall.net/words/weasel.html
@OnionSoup @werehatrack lol I was thinking of that when I posted. I have it bookmarked although at one point I think it stopped working
@OnionSoup @unksol @werehatrack Many years ago, the live-in girlfriend of a buddy of mine had 2 ferrets that she let run free in the house. I remember going over there and being hit at the door by the musky smell of their urine that they marked everything with. Apparently, the residents had gotten used to it and didn’t notice anymore. I was sitting on the couch and suddenly felt one of them climb up inside my pant leg. Startling, to say the least.
@macromeh @OnionSoup @unksol @werehatrack My sister had 2 ferrets years ago. Stuff that she brings from her condo still has a tinge of that smell.
When we moved into the house I’m in now, we had to tear out the carpet in the guest bedroom because it reeked of ferrets. Such a strange smell, not at all like any other animal. Almost like some sort of weird industrial cleaning solution. I hate it! They’re adorable but peeuww!
@Kyeh @macromeh @OnionSoup @werehatrack
Well they did let him run loose and we did help them move stuff once and there was. Some ferret poop under their sons bed. So I’m sure that’s a thing. Don’t remember smelling him though and he was very cute. Rode around on the big black labs back.
The cats have done some damage. I did ask my sister if it smelled like cat piss in here when she came a few months ago. I don’t think she’d lie…
@macromeh @OnionSoup @unksol @werehatrack Is that a ferret in your pants or are you just ha- OH, oh it IS a ferret!
The best part is the unconditional love. Everything else is the worst part.
Worst part is death watch, or hospice. Certainly an emotional roller coaster.
Will they pull through? Will they not?
Is there anything more we can do to make them comfortable?
Out of the over seventy cats we’ve had in the past 38 years, only one died at home (our only purebred, a Maine Coon). All the rest were taken to the vet when it was their time (the oldest was 23).
We’ve had cats who lived for years after being diagnosed with and treated for kidney disease. Others who only lived for months. You just don’t know.
When we took Charlie in last month, the vet said something about me having a sixth sense of the possible problems.
Nope. Experience.
@lisaviolet I was lucky in the sense that my dog had two strokes, the second one while we were at the vet, so it was clear nothing could be done. It saved me questioning for the past 8 months whether I’d made the right decision, but it didn’t make it any easier.
@lisagd @lisaviolet
@lisagd
buy poodle mixes. no hair.