dances with cats

I just took in a bearded dragon from a home where the kids had stopped feeding it. I actually have a small rescue for elderly cats but know nothing about bearded dragons. It is 4 years old and in a 10 gallon tank. They gave me the light bulbs it needs but other than that I am at a loss. I would like a few links to GOOD reputable sites so I can feed and care for it properly and even get it a bigger and more appropriate set up. I've looked up several sites and can't tell which one to go with. He's very cute and active and has quite a personality! Any GOOD help would be greatly appreciated, by me and the little guy. Thanks.

So I have this adult cat at the shelter where I volunteer. She was obese and has had pelvic injuries. She became constipated. As a result she also stopped eating and became anorexic and I'm now fighting HL with her. I have been trying to get the shelter to take her to the vet for a week and they FINALLY called their vet today and their backup vet. Neither could see this poor cat who by now has not pooped for over a week! The one vet said just give her a Fleet enema. So the shelter director forgets to get one and says wait until tomorrow. Well I'm not having the poor cat go another day so I stop by the pharmacy and get the only one in town (1000 people in the middle of nowhere). As I was reading up on how to give a cat an enema, I see that everyone says no phosphates as that will kill a cat- it's toxic. So I get to the shelter and mix just warm water and mineral oil and give her a small enema (she didn't do much yet as it will have to be done again). Anyways, the cat is jaundiced and when I call the director to find out what they want me to do tonight, she gets annoyed with me that I did not use the pre-mixed enema as I told her the stuff was toxic to cats and you can't give a cat the same amount you can an adult human anyways. See she is always leaving stuff out of orders and conversations so I didn't know if the vet specified what type (like mineral oil enema) or if he even said how much to give the cat. I don't want to have them think I am going to second guess the vet all the time or not follow prescribed care but I didn't want to harm the cat. What would you have done?

Hi, I volunteer in a no kill shelter and usually take care of the cats. However, we recently got in an 8 year old cockatoo (yes the big white one) that was not socialized much. She likes me and will talk to me and hold my hand. She has a huge cage with tons of toys. Her main problem is that she picks and chews her feathers. Her head and crest are fine but her body is almost completely bald. I realize birds molt but this is not from regular molting, her previous owner said she has done it for years and that the poor thing was always hideous. How can we help her break this bad habit and stop her from chewing and plucking herself bald.

I have met some people claiming to be vegan, even going so far as to buying veganized powdered sugar BUT at the same time, these same people drink beer or eat yeast bread. How is beer and yeast bread considered to be vegan (even though they use soy milk and vegan butter product when making the bread). There was some debate as to whether yeast was a fungus or an animal, since it eats sugar and poops alcohol and produces gas. Your thoughts?

I foster for my shelter and have always used KMR. When I started several years ago all of my foster babies on KMR had normal looking kitten poo. Now it seems that they all get some kind of diarrhea even when the KMR is still being mixed the same way and everything is the same. I looked in my supplies catalog today and noticed the price per 5 pound bag of KMR is going down. Has anyone heard if they are changing the mix or making it cheaper? I wonder what has changed. I was also doing an adoptathon weekend at PetSmart this past weekend and noticed that they no longer carry KMR but a different brand. Thoughts on this from anyone else that regularly uses KMR?

I never thought I would have this problem but even as I am sitting here reading questions I hear a loud thump from behind me and turn to see my poor Catadon picking himself up off of the floor after falling from the arm of the recliner- yet again. He sleeps so deeply that he just falls right off and I am concerned that he is going to seriously injure himself one of these times. Any advice on how I can help him? Luckily he prefers the arm of the chair and not a higher perch when he is sleeping. Oh and he is about 4 years old, neutered male, indoor only rescue cat. He's healthy so no underlying illness causing the falls. He just sleeps so deeply and then slides right off :o\

LOL anyone else out there want to find the writer of that stupid show and b!otch slap them for a bit because of the M on the forehead meaning Maine Coon tripe? I work in a shelter and can't count the number of people who suddenly became "experts" after watching that show. People please! the M on the forehead is just part of tabby coat pattern markings. It does not mean that every long haired cat with an M on their forehead is an "abandoned" $600+ purebred Maine Coon cat that a breeder "forgot" to register.

Yikes, my baby just bit my dog! I am pretty sure it would take a few years to train the baby not to bite and I really don't want to invest so much time in it anyways. So should I have this drooling, crawling, menace to society put down before it bites someone or something else?

ok background info. I had 2 litters of 5 kittens that I was fostering for the shelter where I work. Litter #1 was born with panleukopenia. all but 1 died. Litter #2 had been exposed and 2 have died from it. I have worked closely with the shelter vet and he did necropsies and confirmed panleuk. It is a swift acting strain that kills kits within hours of the only symptom which is extreme onset of lethargy. The survivor of the first litter was vaccinated over 2 weeks ago and is fine. The vet had me vaccinate the 3 survivors here on friday. They are about 7 weeks old and so far very healthy and active. 2 of them are completely fine but around midnight last night (monday) the large male kit had edema in his hocks and hind feet and genitals. The swelling was not there an hour before when they had their cage cleaned and were fed supper. He was awfully messy so he got a bath and the swelling seemed to go down a bit. His rear joints are sore but he is still active and walking and playing. He is not having any other problems. I have no way to get in touch with the shelter vet or with the shelter director until morning. Has anyone ever experienced this before? The injection is subcutaneous and was given in the scruff skin and there were no problems there. There is no rash, no sores, no bites.. nothing but this swelling. I have never encountered this before. The vaccine was fel-o-vax IV from fort dodge and I can't find anything about side effects related to that particular vaccine.

I have 5 (8 to 10 week old) foster kittens that are giving me fits. They refuse to be weaned from a bottle. They will not eat or drink anything except formula. I have tried meat baby foods, formula, kitten glop, kitten chow mush, various canned cat foods and have tried to feed them out of everything including, syringes, jar lids, plates, saucers, banana split bowls, low sided bowls- anything and everything and still they refuse to have anything to do with the food or the delivery system. I can no longer feed them from a nurser bottle as they will go through 6 tablespoons of formula each for every feeding and they have started biting the nipples off each feeding. I can't go through 20 nurser nipples every day and I am scared they will choke. I asked my shelter director about what to do as I have never come across this before. she had no answers either. oh and I have tried dipping the corner of a wash cloth in formula and trying to get them to go to that and then to the plate but they just chew the washcloth!!! Even on the bottle they fight so much that it would be preferable to try to nurse tiger cubs or bear cubs. I have never had this much trouble with any of my foster babies before! HELP!

I have been using frontline plus on my cats for years but lately it seems to not be working. I work at a shelter and it is not working on the cats out there either. My cats have fleas and they are all indoors only so usually I only have to treat them during the warmer months when fleas can come in on shoes or pants. I was wondering if anyone uses advantage or revolution and if they work better than the frontline plus? Also, the vet tech that the shelter uses said there was a new product out but that she couldn't remember the name of it but it was a bit more expensive than the frontline (she was going to look it up for me). If it works it would be worth it. Has anyone heard of a new flea treatment on the market?

My elder kitty went in to have a mammary lump removed today. The vet tech said they were going to give her a painkiller shot before surgery and then would send some home for the next few days. Problem is the med is metacam, which I have read causes renal failure in cats and can kill them. I said ok to the shot (as she will be there if anything starts to go wrong) but not to them sending anymore home. I asked if they had anything else to give her and they said no. The tech even brought the bottle out to show me that it can be used for cats and argued with me. I don't want her to be in a lot of pain but I sure don't want her developing renal problems especially because of her age. What are some safer alternatives?

She is at least 9 years old. Spayed. 9 1/2 pounds. Great health other than having the one mammary tumor.

I understand why the judge had to excuse the two dogs from the terrier group but I am a bit angry about it. Those dogs are champions and have won so many shows this year and they finally get to be best of breed at Westminster and then because of some stupid business deal by the humans, don't even have a chance to be best of group or best of show. Poor dogs! They should have shown them a little longer.

I think the judge should have turned down the offer since he already knew that it was a possibility that this could happen.

The judge had loaned the owners of the two excused dogs money for their breeding businesses.

What do you think should have been done?

This beauty was inherited by the neighbors when their dad died, then they moved to Florida and left the poor thing here to suffer Illinois winter. I am trying to trap her so I can have her spayed and hopefully adopted out through the shelter where I volunteer. Right now she is too wild. Anyways, She is GORGEOUS and I would love to know what breed(s) she might be and what would you call the coloring? Thanks!

Here is a link to her pic on my blog:

http://dezbird.multiply.com/photos/album/6/The_Who...

If so, is it a good alternative to ebay? I am just about fed up with ebay's glitches, paypal mess ups, and their strong arm tactics. Need a good alternative. Looked at ebid.net but would like to hear from actual users.

have you ever been rickrolled? if so, how long did it take you to recover?

I am one of many volunteers at my local shelter and take care of the cats and small animals. The "office" people are not really computer or internet savvy. I have permission to post pictures and descriptions of the kitties so they can be adopted out but I need some free web space. I can link to their petfinder page but I want to build something a little more eye catching. Need room for at least 120 pictures (jpg format) and text descriptions. Anyone have any ideas? I don't mind banner ads but don't want pop-ups. We are donation and volunteer only so we don't have any money to spare. Thanks!

I have heard that it is good but I would like to hear from someone that has actually used it on their pets. Does it work as well as the telly says it does?

Yes south park is rerunning the cheesing episode, so before the boards get flooded with the idiotic question of whether or not you can get high from cat urine..the answer is NO!!! that is just plain moronic...so now you know and do not have to ask 40 times tonight. This preemptive strike has been sponsored by crazy cat ladies everywhere.

oh my question... hhmm.... have you ever seen the movie Heavy Metal? (yes I have many times, it came out when I was in highschool)

she means the world to me. I can't be there in person to have cake with her but her presents or on their way. Happy Birthday Tammy C!!!

How do you celebrate birthdays where you are or what are important birthday traditions in your culture? (for adults or children)