The Pet Thread

[JasonCSU]

Originally Posted by pennsiveguy

Maybe, but she definitely saved mine. I was at a real low point, with a sucky job and a violent drug-addicted wife. Having her to take care of might have made the difference when I thought about maybe not sticking around any longer. It's as if God or the universe or whatever looked at the two of us and said, "You two aren't doing so hot. Work together and help each other out." And we did.

It sounds like the two of you came into each other's lives at just the right time. I'm glad it worked out that way.

[Littlebear]

I'm glad you found each other, Mr. Pennsive!
My last two Samoyeds have been therapy dogs. They never fail to elicit joy.

"The more people I know, the more I like my dog." anonymous(?)

[Run Silent]

Max being photogenic.

[Ickdeep]

Happen to take my camera with me this time to the park

[upstatedoc]

stop eating grass!

[Littlebear]

Good dog. Stay!

[aozer]

enjoying some warm weather in the TX hill country over christmas break

[Teufel_Hunden]

Pretty much how I'm feeling right now

[pennsiveguy]

Trying to teach my cat to grill. She's impatient and wants to eat everything raw, before it even hits the grill. She's also not grokking the whole concept of "rub" which she thinks is something I should do to her tummy several hours a day. Any pointers?

[roastbeef]

He loves to help his papa in the garage.

[Littlebear]

Originally Posted by pennsiveguy

Trying to teach my cat to grill. She's impatient and wants to eat everything raw, .... Any pointers?

My pointer: raw is good. More nutritional, & keeps the vermin population down!

[Rmtt]

So the kitten/cat I mentioned earlier in the thread that my daughter has had to be euthanized yesterday. It broke her heart...which in turn just broke mine.

They tried everything, even an experimental medicine that has been showing some promise in the FeLV area.

When she got the kitten as a baby, she had taken it to get all the vaccines, but apparently it was lying dormant. It took almost 8 months to show up.

She contacted the people she got it from, and the parents and the litter they still have were tested and it was positive as well. However none of them are showing symptoms and are fine as of right now.

They found a vet that comes to the home for this type of stuff, so they spent all day with him yesterday before letting him go.

[pennsiveguy]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

So the kitten/cat I mentioned earlier in the thread that my daughter has had to be euthanized yesterday. It broke her heart...which in turn just broke mine.

They tried everything, even an experimental medicine that has been showing some promise in the FeLV area.

When she got the kitten as a baby, she had taken it to get all the vaccines, but apparently it was lying dormant. It took almost 8 months to show up.

She contacted the people she got it from, and the parents and the litter they still have were tested and it was positive as well. However none of them are showing symptoms and are fine as of right now.

They found a vet that comes to the home for this type of stuff, so they spent all day with him yesterday before letting him go.

Ugh, my heart sank reading this. Pets are family. I've liked most of my pets more than I like most of my human family, truth be told. Wishing you and your daughter peace and strength.

[Clark_Kent]

Originally Posted by Joekerr

Anyone had a dog with a partial acl tear? My dog has not gotten better and its been over 6 months. Any exercise and he is limping around and holding the leg up off the ground.

Sucks to see him like that, worried the other back leg might go and we'd have to put him down which I really don't want to do.

Surgery is too expensive. We are trying a weight loss regimen and keeping him on leash to limit the bursts of speed which I think is what keeps him triggering the tear.

Rosemary tore the ACL in both rear legs at different times. You can take the guess work out of it because they're definitely in pain. We had TPLO operations and the cost associated with both procedures was north of $10,000. We have pet insurance so they covered 90% of the cost. We got our dog at 8 weeks and bought the policy for her the day we got her (30 day lockout period). I'm not your "extended warranty guy" but the risk manager in me made it a no brainer. Even if there were no policy in force we would've paid. We view Rosemary as a family member and would never withhold care because it's "too expensive".

With all of the issues she's had, securing a policy early is one of the best financial decisions I've made. In total the policy has paid out close to $20,000 in about 3.5 years. She recovered nicely and is back to normal. She can run just as fast as before, catch frisbees, run gassers in the backyard, goes swimming, etc.

[Littlebear]

There is a theory that early spay & neuter might contribute to ACL probs.
They know that the normal hormones influence bone length & density, but I don't think there are definitive studies to tie ACL weakness to early altering... yet.
It does seem to be epidemic now.

Murf

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by Littlebear

There is a theory that early spay & neuter might contribute to ACL probs.
They know that the normal hormones influence bone length & density, but I don't think there are definitive studies to tie ACL strength to early altering... yet.
It does seem to be epidemic now.

Murf

On a similiar note, Our vet told us that there was an enhanced chance for small breeds to develop Intervertebral Disc Herniation among other issues if "fixed" before 12 months of age when we picked up our Mini-Schnauzer Axle.

I remember doing some research on it back during that time, and there were a few studies out that showed a higher risk ratio, but it didn't seem alarming. But I only looked at research with Male dogs that had not went through "puberty"...not Female.

However, we waited until after the 12 month period before Axle had his procedure.

[Littlebear]

Lately I'm thinking ~ 18 months if you can for altering. Most breeds are pretty mature by then.
Unfortunately, Onslow was so Macho we had him done at ~ 11 months. Didn't calm him one bit. No ACL probs yet, though.

[Littlebear]

Originally Posted by Rmtt

On a similiar note, ....

Great Breed.

[twin fed]

So after about 15 months since our Odie (Beagle), and 8 months since Sadie (Airedale Terrier) passed and we have grieved enough to move forward, and last night we secured our next dog. He is a 10 week old Airedale Terrier and he will be arriving next week. I am so excited for a new puppy. We are surprising our girls. I will post good pics when we get him. Can't Wait!!!!

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by twin fed

So after about 15 months since our Odie (Beagle), and 8 months since Sadie (Airedale Terrier) passed and we have grieved enough to move forward, and last night we secured our next dog. He is a 10 week old Airedale Terrier and he will be arriving next week. I am so excited for a new puppy. We are surprising our girls. I will post good pics when we get him. Can't Wait!!!!

That's awesome. When my wife's dog of almost 19 years passed away, I gave her about 6 months to grieve and then picked up Axle. The two have been inseparable ever since!

[Rmtt]

Originally Posted by pennsiveguy

Ugh, my heart sank reading this. Pets are family. I've liked most of my pets more than I like most of my human family, truth be told. Wishing you and your daughter peace and strength.

Thanks. My daughter's birthday is tomorrow....actually it's today as she was a leap year baby born on February 29th, but we selected March 1st. But my wife has a special present for her.

I don't think I've ever mentioned on here, but my wife is an artist as a hobby. But her tastes are very eclectic. So a lot of her work I look at and wonder what it is..... really Picasso like.

But she took a different route and did a realism piece of my daughter's cat to give to her.

[kscarrol]

Your wife is very talented!