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Animal companions in our happy homes

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  • Jane RJane R Shipmate
    If you have a dog that likes to roll in fox poo, you do need shampoo. I have escaped this experience so far, but I know someone whose dog does it regularly and it is a revolting smell. Worse than the perfume the dog-groomer uses.

    We don't wash Minnie very often, and when we're not in lockdown we take her swimming at a doggy swimming pool once a week. She has a shower (just in water) after getting out of that and that's usually enough to keep her clean. We only use shampoo when she's rolled in something smelly. She likes baths, because she associates them with getting lots of treats.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Jane R wrote: »
    If you have a dog that likes to roll in fox poo, you do need shampoo. I have escaped this experience so far, but I know someone whose dog does it regularly and it is a revolting smell. Worse than the perfume the dog-groomer uses.

    We don't wash Minnie very often, and when we're not in lockdown we take her swimming at a doggy swimming pool once a week. She has a shower (just in water) after getting out of that and that's usually enough to keep her clean. We only use shampoo when she's rolled in something smelly. She likes baths, because she associates them with getting lots of treats.

    Cowboy Magic is the best thing by far - and I have plenty of experience!

    https://tinyurl.com/uj4n8a9t

    It’s good for anything stinky - dead deer, rotting fish, fox poo etc.

    Yes - Tatze has rolled in all of the above. :holdsnose:



  • Jane RJane R Shipmate
    Dogs, eh. My mum's (late lamented) dog had to be shampooed very thoroughly after rolling in cowpats and turning himself into a West Highland Green Terrier.

    One of the many reasons why I'm glad we have a black dog.
  • Worst mine rolled in was rotting dead rat. The vet reckoned I'd saved the dog from a nasty case of mange or worse by my rapid and thorough shampooing. That was a much worse smell than fox poo.
  • MooMoo Kerygmania Host
    When there was a thunderstorm and we weren't at home, our dog used to immerse herself in a nearby swamp. The dog belonging to a friend used to do the same thing. Apparently the dogs believed a swamp was a safe place.

    The stench was bad.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Boogie wrote: »
    Sounds like an invitation to play @Huia 🙂

    Thanks Boogie, I've seen dogs do something similar, but not cats, then I realized that we hadn't played as much recently as I haven't been well. I tossed her tiny tennis ball around her while she was sitting up her climbing tree. She watched it, but didn't move until I came closer, when she snagged it and played furiously for a while, but when I the the back mouse she really came alive. This is black mouse number 8 or so as she rips their tails, ears then covers off them and is not all all interested in the plastic underneath.

    On Monday I am going to buy more black mice as she hides them when she has finished.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    We are car-less until the end of July when the new one arrives. So we are walking everywhere. Luckily the nearest woods are only 20 minutes walk away. My hands and arms are still very poor, so I attach her lead to a belt round my waist, this works really well. Once we get to the woods she’s off lead and can have a good run around and explore.

    Tatze had a nice romp around with a Newfoundland puppy when we got there. The pup was really well trained - only 11 months old.

    On the way home Tatze was on lead when she suddenly stopped stock still and then pulled me back in the direction we had come from - very strange behaviour for her. I had dropped my glove and she was taking me back to it. Clever girl - all our scent training has paid off - and saved me from losing a good, new leather glove!

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/nwpw33wbUaXGcBoH7
  • Clever girl indeed.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Clever Tatze! :)
  • A consequence of the sad death of Griffon The Cat was that we had to try out the humane mouse traps and were (sort of) happy that every morning for four days we caught one, who was carefully taken well away from the house. Then my wife asked if it might possibly be the same one... Well; it was beginning to look familiar, so upon the fifth day we drove the beastie several miles and let him/her (pronouns uncertain) loose in the woods and haven't seen another one since. I wouldn't say I was becoming attached to it, but it seemed quite friendly, and knew where to get a meal, safe from large predators.
  • I watched Molly, nose to the ground sniffing, circling, very excited looking for a lizard, while the lizard calming sat on the water faucet just above her head watching. It was very amazing as all Molly needed to have done was raise her head and they would have been eye to eye. Molly finally gave up and trotted off and the lizard came down and went about its lizard business. Meantime I had been planning a lizard rescue if need be.
  • I just received a notice telling me Molly's dog tags were overdue, and pay up adding a late fee or if we have moved out of the county notify them we have moved, ( which I had already done) The overdue notice was mailed to our new address out of the county. ????
  • Bees are sort of pets. This is a short video about a rescue. The narration is something else
    "Luckily I had an extra queen (bee) on me". https://twitter.com/hasunohanas/status/1399575026542821380?s=20
  • Amazing. "Lucky I had an extra queen bee with me," boggles the mind.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Much as I approve of bees, and think they should be protected, I really couldn't watch much of that video; the thought of being in such close proximity to so many bees would scare me rigid.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    I loved that video @NOprophet_NØprofit ! Honeybees are some of my very favorite creatures! Piglet, many of my friends would completely agree with you, so I'm really glad to know there are bee rescuers!

    When my laurel oak blooms in December or January, the tree is full of honeybees. I love standing there just liste
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    jedijudy wrote: »
    I loved that video @NOprophet_NØprofit ! Honeybees are some of my very favorite creatures! Piglet, many of my friends would completely agree with you, so I'm really glad to know there are bee rescuers!

    When my laurel oak blooms in December or January, the tree is full of honeybees. I love standing there just listen

    Lovely!

    We get lots of honey bees in our garden as the local comp has hives. 🐝

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I'm in awe of people who can rescue bees; there were videos circulating on FB last week of people doing just that, but the sheer numbers in NP's video were terrifying.
  • FredegundFredegund Shipmate
    We're hosting a beehive for a clerical friend. It's fascinating - I go and talk to them most days, from a respectful distance. Since Spring has finally arrived they are madly circling the alliums. Will be interesting to see/taste the honey - if L1 doesn't turn it all into mead.
    PS Sorry for silence - life, the universe, and agnosticism.
  • AravisAravis Shipmate
    Lyra, our younger cat, went missing yesterday evening. The teenage boys next door were having a party in the garage and the noise probably scared her. She hadn’t returned by this morning so we started asking various neighbours to check their garages; we didn’t check our own, as we knew it had been shut and locked since lunchtime.

    That, of course, was where she was. The contents of a shelf had all fallen off (and smashed a jar of turpentine). As far as we could work out, she’d climbed up the clematis and wriggled through a mouse-sized gap under the corner of the roof, fallen against the shelf and knocked it over, and then had no means of climbing back up to access the gap. We’ve now blocked it up with an old sponge while we look for a more permanent solution.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    I'm so glad Lyra is safely home, Aravis!
  • AravisAravis Shipmate
    Thank you! It doesn’t seem to have worried her too much, so I hope she doesn’t try similar tricks with other garages in the neighbourhood…
  • I just purchased and put up a new hanging trash can for the bathroom, In my excitement of all things new I did not put the floor, trash can into the sink as is my usual routine. All of this relates to the fact that Molly goes rummaging at night through the can. So this morning from the bathroom to the living room were half-chewed tissues and such. I can always tell because she looks so guilty when I get up. Oh well one last adventure Molly, I have outsmarted you this time.
  • CathscatsCathscats Shipmate
    Today we moved house. Domino the cat has had three days of packing and removal men (she doesn’t know there is still the day of delivery to come). For days 1 and 2 she decamped to hide in the neighbour’s garden. Today I incarcerated her in the bathroom where she went to ground behind the toilet. Then I made her get in her carrier, which was a struggle and she had to drive for almost 2 hours. She only cried for the first one. Once here she would not get out of the carrier and though I got her out for some intense stoking, she is safely back in there now, but purring. Tomorrow will be another day in a different bathroom before she can really begin to get the hang of this being a home.
  • Poor Domino, they like routine. I hope she adjusts quickly to her new home.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Won't she have a field day once you unpack all the boxes?

    When we were packing up the house in Belfast, our neighbours' cat thought all his Christmases had come at once (it was a very warm day, and we had the back door open, so he got in).

    In the end we had to ask them to lock him in their house, as we were worried he'd get trapped in one of the boxes and turn up six weeks later in Newfoundland.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    Today I spent the afternoon with Keir and his owner. Keir is four years old now and still working beautifully as a dual trained guide/hearing dog.

    An afternoon to treasure.

    🐾💕

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/AnvS1k8eVD8ZEG4X6
  • A warning to UK cat-owners.
    If you feed your cat/s on Applaws dry cat food, Sainsbury's Hypoallergenic dry cat food or any version of AVA dry cat food, please stop immediately and check the Royal Vetinerary College website for up to date advice.

    Cats have been coming down with an illness called Panleucopenia, which is usually fatal, and the only thing which seems to be linking the affected cats is what they were being fed on from one particular factory in the UK.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Boogie wrote: »
    Today I spent the afternoon with Keir and his owner. Keir is four years old now and still working beautifully as a dual trained guide/hearing dog.

    An afternoon to treasure.

    🐾💕

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/AnvS1k8eVD8ZEG4X6

    What a gorgeous boy! :heart:
  • SnowgooseSnowgoose Shipmate Posts: 23
    Hello (again), everybody!

    Last time I was aboard the Ship I had four cats. Since then we have lost 3 of those: Brunnhilde from hyperthyroidism and general old age at 16 or so (she was a grown cat when she adopted us so not sure of exact age); Portia from cancer at 15; and Jenny, who was only 10 at the time, of an aortic thromboembolism (which was terrifying). All three died within the space of one year.

    We still have Pandora, but she is elderly with multiple health problems. We know it will not be long before she leaves us too.

    We were kind of in shock after three cat deaths and not interested in getting another cat yet, but then a friend of my older sister rescued a little half-starved feral kitten. The little guy needed a home, so of course we ended up with a new kitty. We named him Conan but it quickly got shortened to Coco. He is a little monster and we love him. He is around 15 months old now.

    Coco was making Pandora's life miserable so we decided to get another kitten so he would have someone to share all that kitten energy with. A friend of mine who volunteers for Siamese Rescue had some kittens, so my husband drove 500 miles to Virginia to get one of the kittens for us. She is a Siamese-Burmese mix and we have named her Miss Molly. (Old hands here will remember a beloved deceased shipmate by that name.)

    The two kittens get along brilliantly and Pandora has some peace and quiet.

    So things have changed quite a bit here cat-wise, but we have settled to the change.
  • A joy to hear about your happy new family. Love that one is named for Miss Molly.
  • jedijudyjedijudy Heaven Host
    It's so good to see you, Snowgoose! I'm so sorry you had such heartache in such a short period of time. Pandora is lucky to have you as her people! I'm sure Coco and Miss Molly :heart: are a delight to you!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Wishing health and long life to your cats and their staff! :)
  • I've had quite an array of dogs over the years. Currently my companion is a Husky, a bit of a switch from previous breeds! She's so fun, though.

    However, the poor thing got attacked by a cat tonight. My dog kept trying to play, even while the cat took swipes with its claws. Fortunately my vet has someone on call 24 hours, who patiently talked me down and coached me on how to clean the multitude of wounds on the nose.

    Hoping she doesn't develop a fear or aggression towards cats, but the doofus dog was still wagging her tail as I dragged her away from the scene of the crime. I suspect she'll be ok.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Poor wee dog! :cry:
  • Piglet wrote: »
    Poor wee dog! :cry:

    Indeed. I'm happy to report that it looks much better today so I don't think there was much damage after all. The dog is her usual happy, chill self. No psychological damage apparent either!
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Glad to hear your dog is recovering well Lowly Worm.

    Went I was a teenager a dog from about a mile down the road used to visit on a regular basis (just the dog, we didn't know the family). Our cat usually ignored him, but one day she raced out of the house, scratched his nose and kept on going. He looked utterly bewildered. The cat had just had a litter of kittens, so I think that was why she was she was aggressive.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    I’ll just pop this little gem here 🐾💕

    https://youtu.be/gEw1KUCa7KE
  • SnowgooseSnowgoose Shipmate Posts: 23
    Lowly_Worm wrote: »
    Piglet wrote: »
    Poor wee dog! :cry:

    Indeed. I'm happy to report that it looks much better today so I don't think there was much damage after all. The dog is her usual happy, chill self. No psychological damage apparent either!

    Very pleased that she is recovering from the attack of the Demon Cat. Those claws can do some serious damage. When Coco was a small kitten I had so many little scratches on my hands and arms from his tiny paws that it looked like I had been pruning the roses without gloves. Grown cats have much sturdier (but still quite sharp) claws, and can show such precision in using them that it amounts to artistry.

  • Thanks @Snowgoose and Huia! Yes, cat claws are quite an invention. Dog seems fully recovered. No signs of infection or trauma thank goodness. She's sturdy.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    For a short time (though it felt like forever) I worked at the Accident Compensation Corporation which is like a Government department providing insurance for accidents. A bloke came in one day who had several fingers amputated because he tried to break up a cat fight and the scratches got infected.

    Which is why I use the hose on fighting cats. A nearby squirt is usually enough.
  • More likely infected bites. Animal bites tend to be deep and if you are unlucky enough to cop a deep puncture wound in a hand/ finger which involves a tendon sheath the results can be catastrophic. Main reason to amputate a finger is if the consquence of an untreated ( not taken to theatre for a thorough cleanout and then IV antibiotics for a week) is a stiff unuseable finger). These are fortunately rare and a consequence of delayed treatment.

    Very sensible to break up fight with water.
  • Lowly_Worm wrote: »
    Thanks @Snowgoose and Huia! Yes, cat claws are quite an invention. Dog seems fully recovered. No signs of infection or trauma thank goodness. She's sturdy.

    Several days later and signs of physical trauma are emerging. It seems I missed a spot when cleaning her wounds. She has been scratching her cheek against corners and I think in the process scratched off the scab that formed. I will keep a close eye on it and clean several times a day. Poor thing. I feel bad for having missed it! :disappointed:
  • The goldfish is dead. It is my daughter’s fish, given her with two others for Christmas when she was 6. She is now 21. She named them Mary, Joseph and was prevented from calling the third Jesus, so compromised with Manger. But we never knew which one had which name. One, we have called it Mary, died when in mistaken kindness my brother gave us a filter for the tank and Mary leapt to her death to escape the vibrations in the water. We removed the filter. One died of old age and now this last fish seems to have flipped his last tail fin. It is hard to feel too sorry…….
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    edited August 2021
    That’s a good age for a fish.

    My three fish needed to be re-homed. They are six years old and have grown too big for my pond, so my friend has re-homed them. They are shubunkins and were tiny when I got them, they are nine inches long now!

    In their new home they live with giants! They are very bold and happily swim up to the koi and compete with them for food, but the three stay together at all times. They are called Sunshine, Patch and Tiddles.

    https://youtu.be/EVj7vTALqdM

    https://youtu.be/D9pf7NYqL58
  • @Cathscats I had no idea goldfish lived that long! Impressive.
  • AravisAravis Shipmate
    Our first goldfish were called Tiger Tail, Whizzy Wagon and Grapefruit Sunshine (named by a 3 year old).
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Just doing some research for my next needlework project. I have seen the saying One cat short of crazy. I am wanting to stitch it on a wall hanging.

    Crunch question; How many cats is that?
  • Fewer than you want, and more than you oughtta.
  • Mr Alba was heard to murmer something about a dog today…..apparently it would have to be something very different to his previous dogs.

    Last one reached the end of the road round about lockdown in spring 2020.
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