Rindawg

I've got a chihuahua that is a little over a year old. Recently I noticed some dry, flaky skin on the top part of her ears. They aren't scabby at all and it doesn't seem to be affecting her inner ear at all. I recently changed her food so I'm wondering if that might have something to do with it. I tried putting coconut oil on them and it didn't really help so I have been using a tiny amount of my eucerin intensive repair hand creme on them and it seems to help at least momentarily. Any ideas???

The other night my finger got caught in an immersion blender and I sliced off a large chunk at the tip essentially what makes up the fingerprint area down to the bone. It was connected by a small piece of skin so the chunk stayed on in a flap. I went to the ER and got five stitches to reattach the flap. It healed well for the first few days but then I tweaked it in a strange way and felt like I had ripped a stitch or something, it was just extremely painful. Later that night I noticed what looked like a 'bubble' of flesh between two of the stitches. It is extremely sensitive to the touch and seems to be growing, the piece of the flap that previously had blood flow seems to be turning white. Does anyone know what this little 'flesh bubble' could be?? Is it something I should be concerned about? Should I see a doctor about it?

I recently began having yeast infection symptoms and some weird opaque pinkish discharge. I've read online that pink discharge can be an early sign of pregnancy and I am freaking out. It is accompanied by a fishy smell and itching/burning. I had unprotected sex at the beginning of my cycle although he pulled out and I took Plan B afterwards. I'm also on birth control pills that I take regularly. I took two First Response home pregnancy tests today and both were strong negatives. This made me quite a bit relieved until I realized that I'm still six days away from my period. Help!!! What do I do??? I'm really concerned because the lack of protection wasn't exactly... consensual.

I recently began having yeast infection symptoms and some weird opaque pinkish discharge. I've read online that pink discharge can be an early sign of pregnancy and I am freaking out. It is accompanied by a fishy smell and itching/burning. I had unprotected sex at the beginning of my cycle although he pulled out and I took Plan B afterwards. I'm also on birth control pills that I take regularly. I took two First Response home pregnancy tests today and both were strong negatives. This made me quite a bit relieved until I realized that I'm still six days away from my period. Help!!! What do I do??? I'm really concerned because the lack of protection wasn't exactly... consensual.

Honest, sensitive answers only please.

So I met someone the other day on a common internet dating site. We messaged back and forth for a few weeks before deciding to meet, and when we met things went pretty well. He was very polite, gentle, non-threatening, honest, and humble. I don't necessarily have romantic inclinations towards him, but we got on really well and I think we would both like to stay friends in the future.

During our initial online conversations, he admitted to me that he has struggled with severe OCD and depression in the past and is still recovering from what I understand to be a breaking point in his condition earlier this year. We are both young people who have suffered severe setbacks in our lives due to unusual medical conditions, (I've got a chronic, misunderstood nerve disease) so it was a matter we were able to bond on somewhat. He told me that he entered an inpatient program and has worked hard to reach a level where he can function essentially normally in day to day life. He certainly behaved normally when I met him, showing no aversion to any type of contamination exposure, which is what his particular disorder centered around. He was able to pet my service dog, share food and drinks, take a bite with my spoon, etc. He didn't even flinch when my dog had to take a pitstop on a walk.

Over the next few weeks we continued to talk and decided to hang out again. After another very normal outing, we stopped by his apartment so that he could show me his zen garden. Now I'd gotten some insight into the severity of his OCD through our conversations, and I tried not to judge him because I know how much it hurts to be judged for something you cannot control, but what I saw in his apartment was still rather shocking.

At first it seemed just like a normal college student's studio, perhaps a bit tidier, but fairly unexceptional. He had a specific carpet near the door where you had to stand before removing your shoes, which wasn't too unusual. As I got further in I noticed that he had a washing machine in his room, which is hard to find around here, and he said he had it installed before entering treatment. I noticed quite a bit of tape on the floor and he explained that it was there also from before his treatment because when something he viewed as 'unclean' touched the floor, he would cover the area it touched with tape. I again brushed it off in an attempt to be understanding and we talked about his lovely garden for a while. On my way out, I happened to glance into the bathroom and it completely took me aback. It looked like something I had seen on some crime investigation show. The floor and the walls were covered in layer upon layer of aluminum foil and tape. Still other components had been plastic wrapped and duct taped and otherwise completely covered. He made a move to close the door and I pretended I hadn't seen anything. After that, he walked me back to my car and we said goodnight and agreed we should meet again sometime.

After I got home I started mulling over the images from his apartment and I felt slightly uneasy about the potential for continuing a friendship with him. I feel terrible for suspecting him of being potentially dangerous because he suffers from a medical condition, but I have to remind myself to be extremely careful as I am a petite, disabled, woman and I did meet him online and have been taught that anything out of the ordinary is cause for greater scrutiny. He's given me no cause for concern in the way that he treats me, or the way he acts towards things around him, and he is a very nice person and I feel doubly bad for judging him. So I suppose my question is this: Are these compulsions remainders of a fairly benign condition? Are these symptoms common of patients with OCD? Is there anything about the information provided above that should raise any red flags? Am I judging this poor young man unfairly? How can I stay cautious and yet still remain sensitive to his condition? Are there any resources out there that could help me understand his condition better?

I hope you can help! Sorry to be so long-winded, but I wanted to be thorough!

I've got an 8 month old chihuahua mini pinscher mix that has lately developed a disturbing condition. Ever so often she emits a strong foul odor from her backside that smells like rotting fish. Sometimes she notices the smell and sometimes she acts like it never happened. Sometimes whatever she is sitting on at the time retains the foul odor after it has dissipated elsewhere. She hasn't been scooting or licking excessively but the odor is overpowering.

It started happening two weeks ago when I changed her food, something I usually refuse to do, because her usual food was unavailable. Recently these episodes have become more and more frequent. I took a long car trip with her today and it was almost unbearable.

Do you think her anal glands need to be expressed? I've never run into this problem with a dog before and am inexperienced in dealing with this issue. Should I take her to the vet or to a groomer? Also, would it be wise to attempt this at home?

I'm watching my boyfriend's green cheek conure for the week and I'm trying to keep him occupied so he won't be consumed by separation anxiety. Someone on this forum advised me to crack open a walnut and give it to him to tear into and eat. He wasn't interested in the walnut, but he seemed very interested in some brazil nuts I was cracking open and eating. I gave him small pieces, but he kept wanting to steal shells from the bowl I was using. Finally I gave him a bit of brazil nut shell that still had some of the nut stuck to it. He greatly enjoyed that and went back to the bowl for an almond shell that he ate a bit of.

Is this a safe and healthy thing for him to do? It's really the first activity he's seemed truly interested in. We have walnuts, almonds, brazil nuts, and hazlenuts. Are these, including their shells, safe for him to consume?

My boyfriend is out of town for the week and I agreed to watch his green cheek conure. He is typically a very sweet bird, and we've grown very close, but I'm afraid that seperation anxiety has set in. This afternoon he suddenly became insolent and refused to come out of his cage. When I tried to get him out of the cage he would bite me. Eventually he came out but he was still angry and pooped on my shoulder, a behavior he has never shown before. When I asked my boyfriend about his peculiar behavior, he said it was likely due to the fact that he's never left him for more than a few hours.

I'm afraid that I may be worsening his anxiety by not providing him enough stimulation. I have him out of his cage whenever I am around and he is either on his perch or on my shoulder (or head most of the time). He plays with a pencil, but other than that he doesn't have much to keep him busy.

What can I do to keep him entertained? Are there any tricks to helping him deal with his separation anxiety? I'm home all day for the most part so I have a lot of time to pay attention to him. Because he is not my bird, I would prefer not to spend money on toys, but I do live in a forest so I have a lot of natural resources and foliage around me.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated, I'm new to the bird thing and I want to care for the little guy as best I can.

I have two lovely corgis, one who is two years old and the other who is just four months. The elder is a 'close coat' which basically means she doesn't have an undercoat or the characteristic "fluffy pants". She also has a natural tail which keeps her rear end free from debris.

Our puppy is much different. She is a regular undercoated corgi but she is a natural bobtail, which means she was born with no tail. This lack of tail and the presence of the "fluffy pants" means that a lot of fecal matter gets retained around the anus. She's constantly trying to scratch her backside and appears to be in great discomfort. A recent bath revealed that dried fecal matter has actually resulted in hair loss and irritation on her backside.

Seeing on how our other corgi requires very little maintenance, I'm unfamiliar with how to deal with this situation. Do we need to take her in for regular grooming in that area? Does her fur need to be clipped a certain way? How can we help bring this little dog some relief?

I would like to get a very small heart tattoo that could be mistaken for a freckle or a birthmark. I am getting it as a tribute to all the seemingly insignificant and overlooked hearts of aborted babies. I would like it to be the same light brown colour and approximate size of my natural freckles. Is this possible?

I have two wonderful Pembroke Welsh Corgis, one two years old the other fourteen weeks, who are completely fixated on my cat. Any time she ventures downstairs to eat, they both bark like mad and charge her as though their lives depended on it. While she is up on the counter, they jump up and whine, waiting for her to make the inevitable jump from the counter to the stairs. Once on the stairs (which are blocked off from the dogs), they bark incessantly and try to find anyway they could get to her.

I feel so bad for the poor little animal and I really want to stop their obsessive behavior towards her. I've tried squirting them with water, distracting them, impulse control exercises like 'leave it', but they don't seem to get it. With all the other dogs I've had, it just took a few whacks from my cats for them to learn their lesson. These dogs have been hit, hissed at, and bit, but they don't seem to get the message. Fortunately she hasn't scratched either one of them.

The oldest corgi almost died at birth and has a possible learning disability, as she doesn't seem able to remember more than two commands at a time. She's an absolute doll with people, children, and other dogs, but she can't seem to leave the cat alone, and unfortunately she's teaching her baby sister very bad habits.

Has anyone else had this kind of problem? Has anyone had this problem with corgis? If so what has worked for you? How can I keep the puppy from developing these habits? Please... anything helps.

My beautiful black moor, Google, has just developed some troubling spots on the top of his head. He's just recently come into season and so his breeding stars are in full swing, but today I noticed two new, more pronounced, raised white spots on his head. The tiny bumps are no bigger than a tiny seed and are present just above his left eye. He hasn't been acting differently but I am concerned that this could be a bad sign.

His tank is in need of a good cleaning, and I've been meaning to get around to it but I've been sick lately and now I'm afraid my fish may be too. I've had experience with the ich parasite in past aquariums, and these look nothing like the light dusting of salt effect that ich can have on fish. Because there are just two of them, I've pretty much ruled out white spot disease of any form.

Besides the decent scrubbing his gravel could use, is there anything that I can do to prevent him from developing more a serious illness? What should I be looking out for over the next few days? If his behavior hasn't changed, should I be concerned?

I am already planning a gradual water replacement and a full nitrate and ammonia analysis. Also, my gravel vacuum is going to get some good use over the next few days.

Hey, a few buddies of mine are looking to get tattoos tomorrow but they are new to the area. Really the only shop that any of us has heard of is 'Slave to the Needle' which is too expensive for their tastes. If any of you know of some great, reputable, and clean shops around the Seattle area that are reasonably priced, we would love to get your input! We live in the Northgate area, if that means anything. Thanks for the help!

I am currently under treatment for a malarial type infection and have been at my parents house for weeks recovering. A few days after starting a new antibiotic, my body went into shock from something called 'die off' effect. Die off is basically where the bodies of bacteria are killed off so quickly that they block your filtering systems, allowing poisonous back up to occur.

After a few hours of intense nausea, I started walking towards my dad's office to tell him something was wrong. On the way, I passed out on the floor. When I awoke, I couldn't move or speak. I remember feeling internally conscious, and praying in my head for someone to find me.

The maid was there that day so I knew she would have to walk into the kitchen and find me eventually. Lying there in a puddle of drool, passing in and out of consciousness, I listened and waited for someone to find me. Finally, about an hour after I had initially passed out, the maid walked into the kitchen. In my head I was screaming for help, but not only did she walk by, but she stepped over me and continued with her cleaning.

Lying there on the floor, panting, half conscious and unable to move, I tried desperately to ask for help, but no sound would come out. She was in the kitchen with me for more than half an hour before she moved on to the rest of the house.

About an hour later, my dad came into the kitchen to get some water and found me unconscious and unable to move. He immediately recognized something was wrong and picked me up and rushed me to the hospital. When I woke up, I was in the car on the way there.

Eventually the shock passed as I received an overload of fluids at the hospital to flush out my kidneys. But I will never forget the let down when that maid stepped over me and left me helpless on the floor. The maids came again today and I stayed in my room until they left, unable to face the woman who ignored me in my time of severe medical need.

My question is, how should I deal with this maid in the future? Should I report her to her company? Should I fire her outright? Should I continue allowing her to work here knowing what she did to me? Should I just assume that alerting someone to my unconscious state was beyond her duties as a maid or human being? How can I face her knowing what she did?

I realize this is a sticky situation, but any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm really not sure of how to handle things. I figure some outside advice would be helpful as I know I am too emotionally invested in this to make objective decisions. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

I am currently under treatment for a malarial type infection and have been at my parents house for weeks recovering. A few days after starting a new antibiotic, my body went into shock from something called 'die off' effect. Die off is basically where the bodies of bacteria are killed off so quickly that they block your filtering systems, allowing poisonous back up to occur.

After a few hours of intense nausea, I started walking towards my dad's office to tell him something was wrong. On the way, I passed out on the floor. When I awoke, I couldn't move or speak. I remember feeling internally conscious, and praying in my head for someone to find me.

The maid was there that day so I knew she would have to walk into the kitchen and find me eventually. Lying there in a puddle of drool, passing in and out of consciousness, I listened and waited for someone to find me. Finally, about an hour after I had initially passed out, the maid walked into the kitchen. In my head I was screaming for help, but not only did she walk by, but she stepped over me and continued with her cleaning.

Lying there on the floor, panting, half conscious and unable to move, I tried desperately to ask for help, but no sound would come out. She was in the kitchen with me for more than half an hour before she moved on to the rest of the house.

About an hour later, my dad came into the kitchen to get some water and found me unconscious and unable to move. He immediately recognized something was wrong and picked me up and rushed me to the hospital. When I woke up, I was in the car on the way there.

Eventually the shock passed as I received an overload of fluids at the hospital to flush out my kidneys. But I will never forget the let down when that maid stepped over me and left me helpless on the floor. The maids came again today and I stayed in my room until they left, unable to face the woman who ignored me in my time of severe medical need.

My question is, how should I deal with this maid in the future? Should I report her to her company? Should I fire her outright? Should I continue allowing her to work here knowing what she did to me? Should I just assume that alerting someone to my unconscious state was beyond her duties as a maid or human being? How can I face her knowing what she did?

I realize this is a sticky situation, but any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm really not sure of how to handle things. I figure some outside advice would be helpful as I know I am too emotionally invested in this to make objective decisions. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

My goldfish is having some problems floating tail up on the surface and I was advised to feed him some peas to help alleviate any problems that may be causing him to do this. I'm glad that I can help him, but I have no idea how to go about feeding him peas.

He is a black moor about 7 inches long and 2 inches wide. How many peas should I feed him? How should I prepare the peas? I have either frozen peas or dried split peas to work with. How long should I feed him these? Should I feed him his regular pellets with them? If not, when should I resume his regular feeding?

Please, as you can tell, I'm new to this and could use any help I can get. I'm sure he'd appreciate too :)

My boyfriend is moving into town and as a house warming present I am considering getting him a bubble-eyed goldfish. We've both long admired them (their little 'cheeks' are so cute!) and I know he's upset about not being able to have pets at his new place, so I was thinking this could be a good solution.

I have a one gallon tank that I can give him while it is a baby (complete with a carbon filter) and would likely purchase the rest of the accoutrements closer to his arrival (or possibly with him so that he understands how to use everything properly).

Would this be a good gift for a person fairly new to fish (he's had several betas)? Should I buy him a bigger tank than the one gallon I already have? Do bubble-eyes require any sort of special care that is different than regular fish? Besides the tank, filter, sand, stress coat, and feed, is there any thing else I will need? I'm also considering getting him a book from the pet store about goldfish care.

The date of his arrival is fast approaching, so any advice would be wonderful and greatly appreciated. :) Thanks for taking the time to answer my question!!

I recently moved my beautiful black moor, Google, into a bigger tank because my parents had been keeping him in a one gallon tank with horrible water condition while I was away at school. At first I had some concerns about his health, including white spots on his front fins and head (which I later discovered were actually breeding stars), some fin and body damage (likely caused by trauma from his old filter, which had a tendency to float and expose rough edges) and what appeared to be problems with his swimming bladder (floating vertical on the surface with his tail sticking up).

Fortunately, he seems to be improving rapidly with the new aquarium and better water quality. Tonight, though, he exhibited some strange eating behaviors that I've never seen from him. I gave him the usual amount of pellets and as soon as they hit the surface he attacked them as though he were ravenous, like he hadn't eaten in days. Confused, I gave him some more which he consumed with equal ferocity. He probably ate four times the usual amount of pellets by the time he was satisfied.

I have no idea what could have caused this interesting feeding, because I have personally fed him every night for the weeks that I've been home. He doesn't at all appear to have lost weight since being in his other bowl.

What could elicit such behavior from a goldfish? Could it have anything to do with his increased level of activity in his new tank? Could this be a sign of a more serious problem I should look out for? Should I increase his pellets? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My first year of college I bought a black moor as a baby and gave it a one gallon tank to fit in my apartment. After freshman year, I joined a sorority and had to surrender my goldfish to my parents until I graduated and had a place of my own. Every time I came home, the fish seemed to have doubled in size, and I soon became concerned about its living situation, but I let it slide.

I graduated this June and returned home to find my goldfish in absolutely deplorable conditions. The now 7in long fish (tip to tail) about 2in wide was still living in the one gallon bowl. There was a filter in the bowl, but the water was still green with neglect. Horrified, I quickly set up an old ten gallon aquarium and transferred the fish into a better home.

Once in the tank, I was shocked at her appearance. There are white spots on her eyes and front fins, and one eye looks like it was damaged in some sort of trauma. Some scales were missing due to her struggle in transport, but quickly small patches of white fuzz grew over the wounds. Half of her beautiful tail seems to have fallen off in the other bowl, and parts of fins are torn on both tail and dorsal fins. Most concerning, however, is her tendency to float with her tail pointed up on the surface. She frequently swims quickly to the surface and appears to be gasping for air.

I realize that there are several parts to this, and I apologize for the long explanation, but I'm concerned about her health and how I should proceed with tank treatments. I'm fairly new to larger aquariums so any help would be greatly appreciated. My biggest concern is bringing this fish relief as fast as possible.

I have an OSX Macbook Pro that isn't recognizing my camera when I try to use video on facebook, Skype, or iChat. I've clicked on preferences in each instance and it said that a camera was not connected. When I click on the system preferences for the Mac, I can't locate the camera to see if its connected properly. Potobooth seems to be picking up the camera alright, but nothing else is. I recently downloaded the Adobe flash that allows you to post videos on facebook and I'm thinking that may have something to do with my camera's sudden elusiveness. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.