Pet Thread

[dodint]

We have hardwood and tile in the house, with some rugs in one or two rooms to keep noise down. Our dog already has mobility issues and it has been getting worse progressively since we got her a few years ago. Our vet went to school with another vet that invented 'toe grips', which are little rubber bands that go on a dogs toenails and provide supplemental grip.

https://toegrips.com/



That image might as well be my dog. She immediately stopped slipping, sliding, and falling around the house. Somedays it looked like she was on a sheet of ice and I would have to hold her hips while she got the first few steps in. Now she's getting around unaided.

My hope is that after a a week or so of getting around by herself she'll stop being as sore (from falling awkwardly, and hard on her hip). The she can start to build strength as she moves around with less pain and more confidence. Try and get her to actually exercise those muscles through use instead of just tentatively getting around doing the bare minimum.

They're pricey at $40 for a set of 20 (you use 16, so 4 spares). But I wish I would've done this months ago.

Because of a deformity to her front feet she 'swipes' when she walks, and the fronts came off pretty quick. We'll have to superglue those ones on; Buzby has videos showing how to do all this stuff. I'm very happy with the product, it's made a substantial difference and did so immediately.

[NTP66]

My first thought after seeing the image was of those plastic claw gloves for cats. You know, the ones that have never in the history of cats worked.

[meow]

I’ve seen those and was interested. Our GSP could have used them in his last few weeks

[genoscoif]

Those look awesome, especially if they work as intended.

To NTP's point, we tried them on our cat's front paws when she was young. She basically bounced straight up in the air for 3 straight minutes like she was popcorn popping, then flopped on her side and refused to move until she successfully chewed 2 of them off (we removed the rest). The shoulder we got for the rest of that day hovered around zero degrees Kelvin.

[tifosi77]

My first thought after seeing the image was of those plastic claw gloves for cats. You know, the ones that have never in the history of cats worked.

Our critter had.... a set? applied to her back left paw because she has an abrasion inside her ear and obsessively scratches it open and bleeds a lot. The vet put these little pink socks over each of her death daggers, and................................. they don't not work, but they don't work work, either. They just make her look slightly more stylish.

[RonnieFranchise]

My 19 year old cat seems like she had a stroke today. She can barely walk and lift her head. She was fine for breakfast. At this point we're just taking turns cuddling her and waiting for what we assume is the inevitable.

It seems pointless to take her to an emergency vet. She's 92 in cat years. We're going to make her as comfortable as possible and if she's hanging in there early next week, have her put down. We want to be with her when she goes and the places we have found who will do that with you present, don't do it on the weekend.

Sigh. This cat's been with us more than 1/3 of our lives.

[genoscoif]

So sorry Ronnie.

[NTP66]

Sorry to hear that, RF.

[RonnieFranchise]

Thanks guys. Petunia passed away in Mrs. F's arms around midnight. My daughter took it especially hard. This is her first day without her cat.

She was born in a barn in the winter and was the only kitten to survive from her litter. 19 years is a good long life for a pet, but that doesn't make it any easier.

[NTP66]

You got 19 great years with her - that's outstanding.

[dodint]

Glad she went out in comfort.

[skullman80]

Sorry Ronnie.

[meow]

ugh that stinks RF. you can have my ball in a box.

[genoscoif]

Anyone ever use one of the 23 and me like services for dog breed identification? We always thought they were kinda sus, but had a friend suggest it when you have a mixed breed with no info of the parents/lineage. We know our pup has a lot of Blue Heeler, but there is definitely a bunch of other stuff in there. The thought is there are breeds that have predispositions for certain health issues, and it's good to know.

I'm still not sold on how legit it is, tbh.

[tifosi77]

We did it for Moo. (She's about 75% pitbull, 10-ish% Chihuahua, and then 'other') It's a useful way to find out if your dog might have any predisposition for genetically-influenced illness. Outside of your own dog's benefit you can contribute to overall canine health. I don't think there's any strict regulation on canine DNA testing, so some of the services can be dodgy.

*shrug* ymmv

[skullman80]

We did one of those on Murphy. Results seemed interesting but accurate. Was more for fun than anything else.

[genoscoif]

Which one did you use? I see there is one through Chewy that seems highly rated.

[skullman80]

I remember the group we adopted from recommended one so we used that. I think it was either embark or wisdom panel but I’d have to find the paperwork.

[mac5155]

Any recommendations on NutriSource food? It's what the breeder fed our puppy and seems to be working just fine but damn it's not cheap

[tifosi77]

Wisdom, I think? (Geno)

[genoscoif]

Thanks Skull and Tif. I think we'll look into Wisdom.

[genoscoif]

So out of the blue the foster we got our pup from texted my wife. The couple that took Lucy's sister just got results from a DNA test they submitted, and said it was okay to share with us!

34% Blue Heeler (which we knew)
30% Shetland Sheepdog (had no idea)
10% Lab
9% Treeing Walker Coonhound This definitely explains her long legs, long skinny tail, and her roomba like snarfing of our floor and yard.
3% Border Collie
Rest is listed as 'Supermutt'.

Pretty decent mix, all told. Hopefully the lab and hound mellow her out a bit. One thing we noted though is she's most likely going to be bigger/taller than we originally thought, which is absolutely fine. We both thought it was cool of them to reach out to us.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

So out of the blue the foster we got our pup from texted my wife. The couple that took Lucy's sister just got results from a DNA test they submitted, and said it was okay to share with us!

34% Blue Heeler (which we knew)
30% Shetland Sheepdog (had no idea)
10% Lab
9% Treeing Walker Coonhound This definitely explains her long legs, long skinny tail, and her roomba like snarfing of our floor and yard.
3% Border Collie
Rest is listed as 'Supermutt'.

Pretty decent mix, all told. Hopefully the lab and hound mellow her out a bit. One thing we noted though is she's most likely going to be bigger/taller than we originally thought, which is absolutely fine. We both thought it was cool of them to reach out to us.

Does your dog's coat have any blue in it? And from my experience previously owning a lab and currently owning a hound mix, having hound and lab in your dog probably won't mellow her out.

[genoscoif]

Not a ton, but a couple blue spots in her white sections. And her head has the blue brindled line between her eyes and close to her nose. Overall, her markings look like border collie. mostly white/black with some bluish 'freckles' here and there.

Our newest issue is ticks. Vet pulled 2 off her last Thursday. We found 3 more last night. And I just found one crawling in her fur. She just had her monthly treatment today (nexguard chewable), but the one last month was the Frontline plus topical. We constantly have deer in our yard, so knew this would be potential problem.

Are the collars better?

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

Any recommendations on NutriSource food? It's what the breeder fed our puppy and seems to be working just fine but damn it's not cheap

My dog eats nutriaource chicken and rice and doesn’t have problems with it. It’s not cheap but not a kick in the balls either