SEPFan89

We live in the UK in a rented Housing Association property. We have a front door and back door but the lock at our back door has broken leaving us unable to unlock and open the backdoor which the lanlord refuses to do anything about for 5 weeks until February! Is this a safety hazard? Is it legal for the housing association to leave it unaddressed for so long?? The windows surrouding our back door don t open either!

My cats kittens are 5 weeks old in a couple of days, one of them is weaning quite well and will go over to the shallow bowl I set out and eat his kitten food/KMR (milk formula) concoction rather well along with his mummy whilst the others aren't as keen yet and will only lick bits off my finger so as of yet they are still relying heavily on their mother's milk.

However I am getting worried because she is quite thin. I give her kitten food of which she has about 6 pouches a day and I also give her KMR (kitten formula), cooked chicken breast, tiny bits of grated cheese and something that I read a lot of positive reviews about which is Nutri-cal ( a high calorie paste packed with nutrients). However my cat is really thin and weighs between 3.5 and 3.7 kilograms (7.8 - 8.1 pounds). I don't know what else I can give her. I was giving her bits of raw food (turkey thigh, chicken thigh, chicken breast, chicken liver and some taurine) but my vet told me not to give her raw food and that it is not good for cats. I am thinking of ignoring that and giving her the raw food anyway because I don't know how else to help her gain weight!! I also don't trust my vet's opinion when it comes to cat nutition because she also told me that all cat food is decent quality and not to worry about feeding her cheaper brands of food - I don't believe that is true because I am aware the cheaper brands are packed with grain.

She seems reluctant and go and feed them as if she is too drained to do it.

My cats kittens are 5 weeks old in a couple of days, one of them is weaning quite well and will go over to the shallow bowl I set out and eat his kitten food/KMR (milk formula) concoction rather well along with his mummy whilst the others aren't as keen yet and will only lick bits off my finger so as of yet they are still relying heavily on their mother's milk.

However I am getting worried because she is quite thin. I give her kitten food of which she has about 6 pouches a day and I also give her KMR (kitten formula), cooked chicken breast, tiny bits of grated cheese and something that I read a lot of positive reviews about which is Nutri-cal ( a high calorie paste packed with nutrients). However my cat is really thin and weighs between 3.5 and 3.7 kilograms (7.8 - 8.1 pounds). I don't know what else I can give her. I was giving her bits of raw food (turkey thigh, chicken thigh, chicken breast, chicken liver and some taurine) but my vet told me not to give her raw food and that it is not good for cats. I am thinking of ignoring that and giving her the raw food anyway because I don't know how else to help her gain weight!! I also don't trust my vet's opinion when it comes to cat nutition because she also told me that all cat food is decent quality and not to worry about feeding her cheaper brands of food - I don't believe that is true because I am aware the cheaper brands are packed with grain.

Can anyone help me out? My cat and her kittens have been wormed by the way.

I'm kind of confused because I had done quite a bit of research on raw feeding for cats and found a good recipe and although I don't feed it to my cats every single day, they do enjoy some raw food so I was surprised when I mentioned it to my vet and she was horrified. She told me not to believe all the hype and that it is way too risky and that the cats could get Salmonella or E. coli and to never feed them raw food.

Can anyone explain this to me? I thought raw feeding was healthy for cats????

Our cat had 4 kittens on Saturday and they are nice and healthy etc. I had read before that they should be gaining around 8-10g a day. Well, ours have gained between 18g and 24g since just yesterday. Does that mean they are feeding too much on their Mother and being greedy?? Is this too high a weight gain. They are 4 days old now and the smallest kitten is 146g and the biggest kitten is 183g. I just don't want them taking too much from their Mummy. She is on kitten food herself as well as KMR and of course fresh water. Any advice??

My cat gave birth on Saturday and birthed 2 stillborn kittens as well as 4 healthy ones. We took her to the emergency vet clinic as we thought there may be some placanta or another kitten stuck and she had an xray and the vet assured me there was no kitten but possibly a bit of placenta so just in case my cat had 2 different injections that the vet said would help "flush" out anything remaining and a course of anti biotics too to kill any infection that could potentially develop - that was 2 days ago. Since then my cat has been nursing her kittens well and eating well as well as having fresh water and KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) and she had been using the litter tray ok too. However today, she hadn't pooped until tonight and when she was in the litter tray she kind of growled as if she was in pain and looked like she had to strain a bit to get the poop put and now she is leaking but its not think blood or anything its more like water that has had a few drops of blood blended in so bacically a light red/pink watery type leakage. Could this be from straining to poop? It happened as soon as she stepped out of the litter tray. Should I be worried?? She is booked in at the vets tomorrow with the kittens but until then can anyone give me any advice or ideas of what this is??

We have an 11 year old Jack Russell Terrier and in recent years he is becoming more and more picky about eating. He will sometimes eat larger dog biscuits and cold meats like beef, chicken, turkey, ham etc and has no problem chewing treats and table scraps but he constantly just picks at his dog food and wont eat properly. He won't eat dry kibble either. We give him liver once a week and I get him lean turkey mince and lean beef mince twice a week but I can't get him to eat properly the rest of the time. Any ideas? I've never personally fed him table scraps but my Aunt (whose dog he is and who I live with) has done it from him being a puppy. Should I scrap the dog food and try him on home made food instead? If so does anyone have any good recipes?

I did used to buy him raw tripe from our pet store but he's gone off that too.

Any tips, advice or recipes would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :)

My cat is black, I'm not sure who she mated with as she is a house cat and got out one night accidentally before she was due to be spayed! I ask because he mother was a grey cat. Not sure if she was a pure breed russian blue or british blue but she was all grey.

My girly is all black (with the cutest little face) - could she have some grey kittens or kittens with grey in them or does it just depend on the colours of the mum and dad cat??

And before anyone says, yes she will be being spayed ASAP and will be going to the vets with her kittens to be checked when they get here.

The vet constantly recommends Hills Science Plan (mostly because it is what they sell I think) but I have read that it is by no means the high quality food it is made out to be.

What are some really high quality kitten foods I can get in the UK?

Any breeders or experienced cat owners have any recommendations? I don't want dry food recommendations either because I have my own views on that and I don't want them on dry food. The wet food I have looked at that are supposedly excellent brands have 4% meat in them and no doubt filled with ceral and other crap. Help please!

Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated, thanks!

To say I am stressed right now is an understatement. I have had to stop working because I was feeling weak, exhausted and being in constant pain all the time and it was discovered I have Fibromyalgia and although I am on medication to try and control the symptoms and try to stick to a graded and gentle exercise program, I feel like it does not help. I have expressed this to my GP and he is referring me to a physiotherapist. On top of that I have so many other worries and I literally feel sick to my stomach! I've never really experienced this level of stress and worry before. I feel sick, I get all shaky, I feel light headed! Is this normal? Does anyone else experience this? I literally feel like I'm falling apart! That is the only way I can describe it. I am supposed to be going to see a psychologist but I am not looking forward to it because last time I only had one session and I felt so overwhelmed, I didn't go again!

Our tabby cat seems to have lost her markings? I know that sounds weird but on both her sides her fur is just a creamy brown colour whereas before it had stripes. This has happened over about 2 months but we've noticed it more recently. Is this normal or does it indicate a health problem? She is 2 years old - we recently rescued her because she was left in a cat carrier and abandoned but we have had her since xmas. She has lost weight recently and we took her to the vets and they simply told us to worm her which we have but she hasn't gained any weight since and it was quite a broad spectrum wormer. She gets 3 pouches a day and eats quite a lot and it doesn't seem to make a difference so we are taking her back to the vets this week on payday! I just wondered in the meantime is there a reason she has lost the pattern on her fur and could it be health related. I would also add that she sits in the window a lot in the sun. Could that bleach the pattern off her fur? And info or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I have suffered with depression and anxiety since I was about 11 years old - I am now 24. I would range from being very excited and would talk a lot without realising until it was pointed out to me and would behave very silly/excitedly which became annoying to friends/family and was also pointed out to me but I felt on top of the world and like the possibilities were endless. I would obsess over things for days/weeks at a time and sometimes spend a lot of money impulsively.

I have also self-harmed in the past, attempted suicide and struggled with Bulimia in my teens up until I was about 21. My Aunt, who is a psychiatric nurse, told me she thinks I have some sort of personality disorder or bipolar.

Other times I would lie in bed for days so depressed and feeling alone, anxious, empty - like life had no meaning. It was pointed out to my mother at a parent/teacher conference that they thought I was depressed. My friends in high school also mentioned it to me and I was humiliated and outraged! "how could I be depressed?" Yet I stayed home for days unable to cope with things.

Since reading about BPD I have picked up on my fear of abandonment which in my head I knew was ridiculous but I still couldn't help feeling that way. I would obsess over things I may have done wrong if my friends took more than 5 minutes to text me back or feel extremely jealous, lonely and rejected if I knew a group friends had gone out without me or if my best friend had made plans with someone else......

Lately (within the last 3 - 4 months) everything I eat goes straight through me and I have been getting very painful stomach cramps. A while ago when this kept happening I had some blood in my poop (gross I know!) and I told my Doctor and they said I probably have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (My Mother has it too) but they didn't do any tests. It settled for a little while but now it's bad again.

I haven't "noticed" anymore blood but everything just gives me the runs. My stomach pain is often a dull sort of pain but still very uncomfortable and sometimes I get really bad pains that make me feel like my appendix are about to explode or something and I am doubled over in agony!

Could it be something more serious like Crohn's disease or is this normal with IBS?? I haven't lost any weight except a few pounds and I'm never sick although I sometimes feel nauseous.

Idea's??

Lately (within the last 3 - 4 months) everything I eat goes straight through me and I have been getting very painful stomach cramps. A while ago when this kept happening I had some blood in my poop (gross I know!) and I told my Doctor and they said I probably have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (My Mother has it too) but they didn't do any tests. It settled for a little while but now it's bad again.

I haven't "noticed" anymore blood but everything just gives me the runs. My stomach pain is often a dull sort of pain but still very uncomfortable and sometimes I get really bad pains that make me feel like my appendix are about to explode or something and I am doubled over in agony!

Could it be something more serious like Crohn's disease or is this normal with IBS?? I haven't lost any weight except a few pounds and I'm never sick although I sometimes feel nauseous.

Idea's??

So, my family laugh and say I have a "bleeding heart". Whatever that means.

The thing is, I cannot walk past a homeless person and not give change without being wracked by guilt.

I'm in the process of going vegan because seeing things on PETA just gets to me so much and I can't stand the thought of an animal dying so I can have it on my plate.

I cannot bare so see an animal suffer etc I even take care of all my family's animals because I would rather do it if I see that they aren't doing what they are supposed to.

No matter how many times people let me down I end up feeling sorry for them!

My sister told me she saw a dying cat on the side of the road about 20 minutes away from our house and I almost went to look for it and I haven't been able to stop thinking of it since then.

I guess I have a problem staying emotionally distant from things??

My best friend will be giving birth to her second baby later in the year. She already has a 7 month old and she got pregnant (unintentionally) again.

When her new baby comes or even before than when she is tired or feeling unwell with a baby already there to look after, I know she will struggle to cope when her husband goes back to work. What kids of things can I do to help her? When she had her first baby I wasn't too sure about being at her house a lot because I know when you have a baby everyone wants to visit and she might want time to herself.

New mothers...what would you say helped you or what kinds of things would help when you have a new baby?

That question sounds juvenile I know but I am just wondering. My friend gave birth last year and I was very involved in the process and now she is pregnant again and wants me to be there at the birth. Sometimes when I hear about how she hasn't slept or doesn't have time to herself I am glad I don't have kids yet but then another part of me thinks it would be nice to be in her shoes no matter the hardships. Don't get me wrong, I would not bring a child into this world on a whim but I feel really broody being around her and the baby. Has anyone else made the decision to try for a baby after their friends have started to settle down and start families??

My best friend is Married with a beautiful baby whom I adore! She is now expecting again and she wants me to be there when she gives birth this time which I feel truly honored about but I can't help feeling left out. I am not married and I don't have kids. I feel as though I am missing out. Is that weird? Last year when she gave birth I started to feel really broody! I am only 24 and my friend is only a year older than me but doesn't it seem like everyone is settling down early these day's?? Or is that just me?? I almost feel weird for not being attached! Is there still something to be said for being single and without kids? I feel that even though we are close and I spend time with her and her baby, she finds better company in the women around her that have children/babies too. Is there really some secret mother's club that I don't know about?

P.S I have asked this question twice in 2 diff categories because I want the opinion/advice about this from people in my position and also people in my friend's position to get their perspective.

My best friend is Married with a beautiful baby whom I adore! She is now expecting again and she wants me to be there when she gives birth this time which I feel truly honored about but I can't help feeling left out. I am not married and I don't have kids. I feel as though I am missing out. Is that weird? Last year when she gave birth I started to feel really broody! I am only 24 and my friend is only a year older than me but doesn't it seem like everyone is settling down early these day's?? Or is that just me?? I almost feel weird for not being attached! Is there still something to be said for being single and without kids? I feel that even though we are close and I spend time with her and her baby, she finds better company in the women around her that have children/babies too. Is there really some secret mother's club that I don't know about?

I'm 24 (female) and I'm still a virgin (cringe) because up until a couple of years ago I was involved in and brought up in a religion that did not believe in sex before marriage. You can imagine now trying to get out there would be quite difficult and hard to explain to guys that I am a virgin. Would you be put off? Don't get me wrong I am in no way naive. I have had opportunities but hold back for this reason because I find it really awkward and embarrassing....