Bliss

I just found two worms the size of caterpillars, plus hundreds of little ones, in my puppy's bowel movement. I'm not kidding. If I hadn't seen it myself, I'd never have believed it. He's three months old and the lady at the rescue I adopted him from said he's been wormed three times already. I'm taking him to the vet on Monday, but my question is, did that woman lie to me? Is it really possible for him to have worms of that size if he's been wormed three times and he's only three months old?

I'm really upset about this. I've only had him for about 30 hours and he clearly doesn't feel well. His little nose is dry, he barely eats, and he has no energy at all. I suspect he wasn't treated very well at the rescue, but I'm not knowledgeable enough about dogs to be sure. What do you think?

The Iams website says that a dog should always have a two syllable name. I understand the reason for not giving a dog a huge, long name, but they also said that if a dog has a one syllable name, it will confuse its name with the one syllable commands. That makes no sense to me. If a dog can learn the difference between come, sit, stay, heel, etc. then why can't it also figure out a one syllable name?

I'm adopting a three month old Labrador Retriever/American Eskimo Dog. Both breeds are prone to overeating and obesity, so I don't want to feed him too much, but I also don't want to feed him too little and have him be hungry. How do I figure out how much to feed him now and as he grows?

There seems to be a war going on in this section and I wonder if maybe it's because we have different ideas about what the word "feminism" means.

The Oxford American Dictionary defines feminism as "a supporter of women's claims to be given rights, opportunities, and treatment equal to those of men."

I believe that was the original goal of feminism, and if I believed that were still the true goal, I'd support it, but it seems to have been twisted into something ugly. It seems to be just a movement to reverse the gender being downtrodden by sexism, rather than a movement for equal rights. I don't call myself a feminist, because to me, the word is about sexism.

What does the word mean to you?

I heard there are programs that allow hackers to hijack any webcam they want, allowing them to spy on us with our own webcams without or knowledge or permission.

I don't know whether or not it's true, but just in case, I keep mine facing the side of my computer desk so that if they try, they'll only see a brown screen.

Is it really possible to do that, and if so, is there anything we can do about it?

I've noticed that some users constantly allow their questions to go into voting. That makes me wonder if they even read the responses they get. In that case, there's not much incentive to give a thoughtful response. Do you pass over those questions, or answer them? Would Y!A be better without a voting option?

A relative recently told someone I'm a Pagan witch and I have no idea why. She seems to have meant it as an insult (she's a bible-thumper), but I didn't take it that way. Her comment just got me thinking. I've always been curious about Paganism but I know next to nothing about it, nor do I know anything about witches outside of "examples" in the media.

I have psychic abilities, especially regarding how people are truly feeling. I can sense energy and often I know more than I should about a person. Sometimes, I can get a feel for a person, or a flash about them, by holding an object that belongs to them. I can sense entities around me, and their intent, and sometimes I even see them. I get pictures in my head, flashes of events, that often come true. Sometimes I hear things or smell things that I can't explain.

The last time I had a dog, nothing of that nature was available. My dog loved to look out the window and watch the world go by, but I worried that he wasn't belted in like the humans were. If I had been in an accident, the poor dog might've been hurt or killed.

I want to adopt a dog, but before I do that, I want to figure out how to make car rides both enjoyable and safe. I wouldn't want to use a carrier, because they prevent the dog from looking around and enjoying the ride. Does anyone have any suggestions?

And....

Have your kids ever embarrassed you in public?

When my son was five, he told me he knew where babies came from. I thought I was going to die, but I calmly asked him where he thought they came from. He explained that you simply go to the McDonald's playground and pick out whichever one you want. I said, "Yep! You're right!" ;-)

You guys know what I'm talking about, right? I swear, that stuff is like cement and it grosses me out! It laughs in the face of Comet and refuses to budge. The last time I tried CLR was over a decade ago at my parent's house, but I don't remember it working all that well, either. I know a pumice stone would get rid of it, but it's too big to fit around the faucet and it might leave scratches.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

When I come across someone who is obviously knowlegeable and helpful, I like to add them so I can easily continue to learn from them. When it's possible, I ask their permission and if they don't tell me it's ok, I don't add them, nor do I take it personally.

The problem is that some people don't allow email or IM, so it's impossible for me to ask their permission. In a few such cases, I just added them and hoped it would be ok. Is that acceptable, or was I being rude?

If I go into a room and close the door, my black cat starts yowling. If I open the door to let her in, she just looks at me like I'm stupid and won't come in. Then, when I close the door again, she starts yowling again. Her sister, my tortie, isn't like that. If she yowls at a closed door, she runs right in when I open it.

My tortie loves messing with me, too. If I'm not busy and I try to pet her, she sticks her tail up and walks away, but when I'm busy, she demands my attention. When I stop what I'm doing in order to pet her and play with her, she decides she can't be bothered and walks away. She only allows me to love on her when she decides the time is right, but even when she doesn't want my attention, she asks anyway just to prove she COULD have it. But her sister, my black cat, wants to be loved and petted every minute of the day.

I think my beloved cats get some perverse joy from messing with my head. Has anyone else experienced this?

Is it ok to keep filing until the nerves are exposed? When he is thus rendered defenseless, is it ok to subject him to a brutal beating? It’s NOT acceptable, but it did happen.

Christopher Lee Barnett, of McMinnville, TN., beat his Siberian Husky, almost to death, and filed his teeth down until the nerves were exposed. Barnett makes his living working with horses and likely used a hoof rasp to do this damage to Lucas' teeth. When Lucas was finally rescued, it became clear that he had suffered multiple brutal beatings.

At this point, Barnett is only being charged with a misdemeanor. Tennesseeans Opposed To Animal Abuse is circling a petition in hopes of putting pressure on District Attorney Lisa Zavagiannis. They want his charges upgraded to a Class E Felony, Aggravated Animal Cruelty, under Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) 39-14-212.

Many people are having problems with "trolls" constantly reporting them, even when they're not guilty of violating any guidelines, simply because the trolls are drunk on the power of having posts removed and, in some cases, getting people's accounts suspended. Sure, we have the right to appeal, but every good troll knows that Y!A is completely backlogged and appeals sometimes take months. (See forums if you don't believe me.)

There are limits for asking/answering questions, so why can't there be limits on reporting, too? That would force people to learn what constitutes a violation and be more selective about what they're reporting. That could seriously hinder the trolls' ability to harrass others.

What do you think about imposing daily, or weekly, limits on reporting abuse? Could this help stop the YaTrolls or would it make things worse?

I have a decent percentage of best answers (21%) and I'm not a top contributor, but I've seen several people with that badge who had a much lower percentage of best answers. I'm only at level two, but so are many top contributors. Is it because I jump around too much? I'm interested in many different topics and the questions I answer reflect that. I'm all over the map. ;-)

I don't particularly care whether or not I ever get a top contributor badge, but I am curious about how it works.

Have you noticed that the first answer to a question often has no merit whatsoever? I'm talking about answers like "idk", "ewwww", "f$#! off", or "LOL."

Informative, in-depth answers such as those (yes, the sarcasm IS dripping from my computer screen as I'm typing), clearly don't help anyone and they certainly won't be considered for a best answer.

They'll get two points for answering, if they're not reported for "point gaming", but those two points can't compare to a possible ten points for an actual answer. That makes me wonder what possible motive could be behind such behavior.

Is there some sort of reward that encourages nonsensical first answers?

The mean kitty's name is Sparta. His owner is Cory Williams of SMP films. Sparta has an interesting background. He was originally owned by a little girl whose mom said she couldn't keep him. If the little girl couldn't find a home for him, he'd be taken to the pound. The little girl went tearfully door-to-door until she found a man who agreed to take him. This man decided he couldn't keep him because he was a biter and the man had small children, so he gave Sparta to his friend, Cory.

Cory has several videos on youtube.com about Sparta and they're all hysterical. My personal favorite is the one where Cory enlists the help of a witch doctor to help Sparta quit biting. Here' a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQqingUyRWg

Enjoy!

I found this "Cat's Secret Diary" online. I laughed so hard my cats thought I was having a mental breakdown. They had to come over to see WTF was going on!

DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.

DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair... must try this on their bed.

DAY 762 - Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep depriving, incessant pleas for food at ungodly hours of the night.

I finally found what might be a decent cat food at Walmart. It's called Maxximum Nutrition. The first four ingredients are chicken, chicken meal, corn gluten meal and poultry fat preserved with a form of Vitamin E. It also contains brewers rice, ground beet pulp, fish meal, ground wheat and dried whole eggs. It has NO bi-products of any kind. It appears to be preserved only with natural substances. The corn gluten meal is the only thing I have reservations about.

I live in a very small town. We don't have a Petsmart within 100 miles. I want to feed my cats the best possible food, but I also have to work within a realistic budget. I've heard there are sites that deliver high-quality pet food to your door, but I'm worried I may not be able to afford the food AND the shipping costs.

Is Maxx Nutrition a decent food? If not, are there affordable foods online? I'd appreciate any input.

P.S. Maxx nutrition is $5.49 for a 4 lb. bag.

I've always referred to a Coke, Pepsi, etc. as a "pop" and I've heard others refer to them "soft drinks." Until I moved to Tennessee, I didn't realize there were other terms and my ignorance almost earned me a beating.

I was working at an assisted living facility for the mentally ill and one of the residents asked me for a "cold drink." I took him literally. I offered him punch, ice water, juice, and iced tea. He became very aggitated and aggressive and I couldn't figure out why. Those are all cold drinks, right?

It wasn't until he started banging his fist on the Coke machine that I figured out what he was talking about. So I said, "OH! You want a pop!" He said, "NO, I don't want a pop, whatever the hell that is! I want a COLD DRINK!"

Have you ever had a similar experience?