[Astaldo711]

Cosmo likes to eat crayons so his poop is a rainbow of colors!

[skybandit]

  Feed your dogs rubber-bands and the turds come out with handles.

[Astaldo711]

Or Zip-Loc bags and they'll be pre packaged.

[narfstar]

Is that more efficient than a pooper scooper sky?

[skybandit]

   An old George Carlin routine.
   I only steal from the best!

[Jenice2010]

oh..I'm sorry to hear that.
I'm actually a pet lover and I empathize your story.
Pets amuse us, make us laugh, improve our moral. Pets need love, companionship and attention no different than the rest of us.

[bbbrown]

  Feed your dogs rubber-bands and the turds come out with handles.

Our young lab eats enough stringy things that at least once or twice a month some one has to go pull it out of her, sometimes up to about 18 inches worth of whatever partially poop covered thing it is.  She looks very sad and pitiful when it happens and she has to come over to you.

[narfstar]

You gotta really love your pet to take such care

[bbbrown]

I am lucky that I can't go outside without help during the winter to I haven't had to deal with it since last November or so.

If the weather keeps up in another week or so I should be outside with the dogs a few hours a day, cutting into my online time even more until I get a battery for the laptop Dad just passed down to me when he got a new one.  Most of the time will probably be spent tossing a ball or a frisbee for the young lab and just making sure the older dog, a springer gets enough time being petted he doesn't start snapping at her because of being a grumpy, old, jealous 11-12 year old springer with sore hips that still wonders why we got this yellow monster.
I would say the dogs rate rather high with us.  After all most people yell at the dogs to get off the furniture, we yell to get off the floor and up onto the furniture with us.

[Astaldo711]

I enjoy it when my dog lays on my lap. Our dog is a Cocker Spaniel and doesn't shed so we don't have that problem. He doesn't need to go outside to run around. He'll just suddenly decide it's time to tear ass through the house. We try to go outside with him but our backyard is fenced and not a lot of room. Front yard is open but with all the bears around I'm afraid he's going to think he's tougher than he is and become a chew toy.

[bbbrown]

Our lab won't settle down for the night until she has spent at least 15 minutes curled up in the chair with my wife.  We bought a chair and a half for her before she had her first knee surgery just because of the dogs always sitting on her left side.  Some nights abbey will hop up onto me and lay part on me, part on the arm rest before she goes over to my wife, but unless she does the short little nap with my wife the night will turn into her whining and going up and down the stairs.  It also has to be after I have finished eating anything too, as she sits there waiting thinking she is going to get something from the plate or bowl but never does.  She MIGHT get to lick it afterwards, but not often as the older dog normally takes that privilege if offered.

Abbey is about 70lbs but feels like a ton when she bumps into you on her way to the door or when she wants to be petted.

That running around are what we call the zooms.  We had one lab I used to call my pain in the ass as when she was younger and would get them in the house she would run around and use me, who would normally be kneeling over a couch arm (bad hips, most comfortable way to use the computer) and use my rear to launch her self on the return trip around the house.

We don't have any bears, but have been some coyotes in the area. 

[Jedifish]

No matter what time of night I get the dogs and bring them into my room to sleep, Sparty always immediately rolls over on to his back and has to have his belly rubbed before going to sleep. It's kind of cute (but a little annoying if I'm realllly sleepy). And Holly has to be petted, too, or she feels left out.

Our dogs, from last football season

[boox909]

Those are cute dogs Jedi!

[Astaldo711]

Awww, that's sweet!

[narfstar]

gotta luv em

[Jedifish]

Thank.

Hopefully they are our good luck charm this weekend at the Final Four.

[darkmark]

Wouldn't want to leave the thread here with anyone thinking I'm catless.  Some months ago, probably not as long as a year, I went to the Animal Shelter to find a new cat.  The felines there all wanted an owner (read:  somebody to get them out of those cages before they were put down) but the one who sold me was an orange tabby who put his head up against the bars to nudge my hand.  I went home, got my cat cage, and went back to purchase said tabby.  He was nervous as heck for the first day and hid under the bed, with me trying to coax him out and leaving dishes of water and food near it.  After the Shelter people reassured me he was just nervous, I waited, and he came out.  At first I considered calling him Flashman, but, since he looks like the cartoon cat Jaune Tom from GAY PURR-EE, that's the name I gave him.  Jaune is quite affectionate and a great companion now.  No cat will replace Spooky, but he's good in his own right.

[narfstar]

No cat will replace Topples for my wife. While visiting my family in PA someone dropped of a kitten barely weaned. It was so small it tripped over larger clumps of grass hence the name Topples by my sister. We brought him home and my wife loved him and she does not like cats usually. Topples only lived for two years before I found him dead in the yard do not know how. She frequently says no cat will replace my Topples and she does not want to try. We still have two cats in the house.

[Captain Audio]

Well we back to four cats now.
A friend had kept his late wifes Manx cat and not realized that the Manx had not been fixed.
The Manx got out and had a litter, which my friend couldn't care for.
Anyway I offered to take one, but its sibling escaped from the carrier and hid under my toolshed for a week. I finally caught it and the kittens are so attached to each other I decided to keep both.

The one I'd picked takes after its mom, but unfortunately suffers from an all too common birth defect of Manx and other tail less cats.
When born her lower spine had not fully formed and she had a severe incontinence problem. The vet said there was not enough nerve and muscle tissue to allow proper control.
Luckily after a couple of months her stub tail began to develop, and she has gained some control. She no longer makes much of a mess, her feces are now solid and easy to pick up with a tissue without leaving residue, and she seems to do most of her pooping while asleep, I'd already gotten her acustomed to laying down only where I'd placed folded towels for her use.
She has also begun trying to use the litter box, with some success.

Apparently the muscles of a cats tail are a necessary part of their ability to use the litter box when they want to.
Otherwise the feces just build up till internal pressures force them out. Rather than having nothing to hold them in, the lack of muscle control means they can't release when they should. This can lead to irritations and infections that are often fatal to kittens.

With any luck her plumbing will sort itself out by the time she is one year old, and as the situation stands she seldom makes a real mess.
We do have to clean her bottom once a day and wipe with baby wipes every so often. If any reddness shows we apply a vet approved diaper rash ointment. 

Due to her spine problem when we first got her she was only about half as long as her head and legs would indicate she should be. She weighs about 2/3 as much as her sister that has a tale and is normally porportioned.
As her spine has straightened out she has gotten a bit longer, which is a good sign that she should begin to develop normally now.

I've considered making her several sets of granny panties by cutting the toe off old white socks and cutting leg holes.
I decided not to since this might increase the diaper rash problem, but now that she has improved I figure to make a couple of pairs of undies for her to wear when roaming around the house and when sitting on a convenient lap.

As is I got a pack of baby blankies and let her sit on my lap on one of these. This pleases her no end, shes such a lovable little character and very gregarious.

[boox909]

Bless your kitty's heart!!! 

[narfstar]

Captain Audio the patron saint of needy kitties.

[Captain Audio]

An update on the tiny Manx.
She has developed her own martial art form.

When her sis gets the upper hand in there daily contests the Manx has begun streaking away, spinning and charging back. When she gets within range she leaps, turns 180 degrees in mid air and gives her sis a flying stink face.
After knocking her off balance she then mule kicks sis under the chin and knocks her a flip, then streaks way for another run.

Little Manx was trying to use the litter box again last night, and I think she is at least able to urinate voluntarily sometimes now. She hasn't left any wet spots as she had been.
With any luck she'll finally develop her elimination faculty in coming months.

All the cats are doing fine.
The dog is healthier now than he has been in the last year. He's getting around much better now since he lost a bit of weight.
Just got through brushing him for his trip to the dog groomers tomorrow.

[CharlieRock]

I've got a mix of American and Canadian cats at my house. My wife, MrsCharlie, is from Ontario and brought her cats when we got married and moved Stateside. Since then we have adopted two American kitties from the local vets when we heard the alternative was for them to be put to sleep. Coincidentally the Canadian kitties have shorter, stubbier tails.

[josemas]

The wife and I lost one of our cats this past week. 

He was a sweet little tuxedo cat. We named him Belly because when he was a little kitten he was so fat his belly literally dragged the ground.  Of course he grew up to be a very skinny cat but we kept the name just the same.  He was very friendly to everyone.  Perhaps too friendly. 

He didn't show up one day for feeding and then staggered in the next day bleeding from the mouth, and obviously severely injured. It's believed that he was either hit by a car (perhaps on purpose as he was very street savvy about cars) or some unscrupulous person may have purposely beaten him (we've had problems in the past). 

The wife and I took turns comforting him in his last hours.  Our other cats were pretty freaked when he finally passed away.

He'll be greatly missed around here.

Joe

[builderboy]

Joe,

A very sad story, particularly with the suspicion of cruelty involved. My best wishes to your family. I know the passing of my former pets (schnauzers) have each left a mark in my memory. Sounds like Belly was a cool character.

-builderboy