The "What's on your mind?" Thread -2017

[Willowy]

The "No kill" cat shelter near us is not run by any national organization that I know of,

Very few shelters are run by national organizations. HSUS does not run ANY shelters; local Humane Societies are not affiliated with them at all. Same with the ASPCA---local SPCAs are not affiliated with them either (though I think the ASPCA does run a few of their own shelters, unlike HSUS). It's a shame they use similar names, because those 2 organizations take in enough money to save every homeless pet in the country, and probably most people who donate to them think they are supporting their local shelter. But nope.

 

[arouetta]

My husband got a UTI after getting bitten by Darwin (he didn't mean to bite. He was just focused on a strange cat and Robert picked him up). He was in the hospital for three days from the bite infection. About two weeks later he got the UTI and like you, didn't want to eat. Like you said, things just didn't taste good and it was too much of an effort to eat. He lost nearly 40 pounds as he developed severe depression and anxiety attacks. It's been a really tough row to hoe, but the doctor put him on Paxil, which stimulated his appetite. Now he's eating pretty normally. The meds are helping a lot with the depression and anxiety. We still have a long way to go, but he's stopped losing weight.

UTIs are nasty things. He had hot-flash quality sweats and chills. He was extremely lethargic, too. He had a reaction to the Cipro used to treat the infection and we think that may have triggered the depression and anxiety. Because he had to stop the Cipro early, (it seems the UTI was gone) he developed another one a week or so later, but it was caught early. The meds he got for it seem to be doing OK.

Perhaps the Paxil would help you. You might check with your doctor.

I'll keep you in my thoughts.

Paxil is really, really hard to come off of, and I would waaaaaay not recommend it for appetite. I have heard from many, many people that the discontinuation syndrome is so bad and lingers so long that many people have to stay on it for years even when they no longer need it because they can't come off of it. (Effexor is nearly as bad, and I stupidly went on that, and that was horrible to come off of. I nearly didn't.)

Short term appetite, I would recommend prednisone. It did nothing for my pain but I was eating non-stop during every 2 week course of treatment during the 3 months I needed pain relief. I did crave carbs though, I guess my body was instinctively screaming for the best energy boost food since prednisone puts the metabolism in overdrive.

 

[arouetta]

Very few shelters are run by national organizations. HSUS does not run ANY shelters; local Humane Societies are not affiliated with them at all. Same with the ASPCA---local SPCAs are not affiliated with them either (though I think the ASPCA does run a few of their own shelters, unlike HSUS). It's a shame they use similar names, because those 2 organizations take in enough money to save every homeless pet in the country, and probably most people who donate to them think they are supporting their local shelter. But nope.

You are right that people probably don't understand that it's more of a franchise thing, that to help locally you have to donate locally. But the national organizations have been successful in strengthening animal cruelty laws. Yeah we have a really far way to go, but we've also come a long way from the days where there were no real laws and no real enforcement, and a lot of that is the lobbyists that the national organizations pay for.

Full disclosure though, I've never donated anything to the national level, and I donate goods not money at the local level.

 

[Willowy]

the national organizations have been successful in strengthening animal cruelty laws.

Yes, that's what they do, and it is important too. But I still think that most people who donate think their local shelter is benefitting from that donation in a concrete way. I was at the local Humane Society once and an old lady came in and yelled at the desk worker for sending her so many donation requests, even though she already donated! The desk lady said "we only send one out per year, around Christmas", so obviously the old lady was thinking of all the HSUS mailers she gets :/.

 

[dahli6]

Kitten season has been bizarre and oddly timed this year. Right now our shelter is bursting with kittens and we have multiple mother cats still nursing. It's like everyone decided to squeeze in one last litter before the cold weather. They get adopted fast, but there are definitely still baby kittens around this year, at least in my area!

I thought cats went into heat all year round. They are calmer in the coldest and hottest parts of the year but I had a feral give birth in February and I have had a house cat give birth in late November.

 

[maggiedemi]

When Maggie first came here she was in heat and it was in December.

 

[tallyollyopia]

Got pictures of Honeybee in the bookcase.

Here she is

View attachment 197423

Here i was trying to keep her in the bookcase which she said H no!!

View attachment 197424
Coming out:
View attachment 197425

Aw! She's adorable!

thank you. Not feeling the greatest yet, still quite weak but I did manage to wash my bedding (pillows and 2 skinny down comforters) as I found that I apparently had wet them during the two days and nights that I slept through and then kicked them off the bed. When I picked them up today (nothing got picked up while I was so sick) I saw these stains, smelled them and oh phew, I knew they had to get washed asap. I've washed them before and knew that as long as they were thoroughly dry they would be ok.
I've had several people come over, cleaned my home including litter boxes and messes left on the tiles when the cats found the boxes to be too gross to use, brought me prepared food and just came to keep me company for a while. This when you find out who your true friends are when you don't have family living close enough to visit.
Have been reading all these pages from 150 on.

Thank you to everybody who sent me good wishes.

I'm glad you're feeling better.

They don't say I need to gain weight, just that I need to eat. During the worst part of the illness and up to last week I kept loosing too much weight too fast I had just beaten the 200 lb before I got sick, now I weigh 187, having lost 3 lbs in the last week. So they want me not to loose any until I am well and that is only going to happen if I eat. The problem is that I get tired just chewing and then I feel full and don't want to eat any more. A lot of things I used to love I don't want anymore, at least not now. I'm on the scale every morning hoping I am still the same as the day before, it does not happen every day but mostly. Once I am well all the way I can go back to what I was doing before I got sick.

When I'm sick like that I find that broth soups, like consume, help a lot. Another thing to consider is pre-made meals. (I know you don't like them, but it's easier to force yourself to eat if it's already made, or only needs reheated, and it's only temporary.)

Kitten season has been bizarre and oddly timed this year. Right now our shelter is bursting with kittens and we have multiple mother cats still nursing. It's like everyone decided to squeeze in one last litter before the cold weather. They get adopted fast, but there are definitely still baby kittens around this year, at least in my area!

Oh man, I know. This time last year there weren't any young kittens hanging around the store--this year there are two litters (and they seem to interchange their mothers).

 

[tallyollyopia]

In San Diego there is the most marvelous shelter run by the Humane Society. Every animal has not a cage but a real room according to its size with real furniture (chair, pet bed, small table). I saw a huge dog in a room with glass all around on 2 sides which must have measured 8 by 10 ft, the dog could look down two different corridors. Some cat rooms had several cats and kittens in it, again with glass from floor to ceiling. New cats had their own quarters. The shelter was built specifically to the Humane Society's specifications and it is huge. There are meeting rooms, educational displays, a gift shop with things for animal and human uses etc and plenty of room outside where dogs can run or be walked and socialize with other dogs. They are strictly "no kill" and no animal will be put to sleep unless there is no hope for it and the animal is in pain and has no quality of life. A volunteer or other animal-loving person will be there holding it. This is the way that shelters should be set up but I realize that few places have the money to do so.
In Irvine, CA there is also one much smaller. There cats are mostly housed in 2-room "condos" with one side open to the public behind glass which faces a big space with grass where dogs are walked. There is also a community room for the cats so they can be socialized and played with. Visitors are always welcome. I have not been to the part where dogs are kept but I do know that the cats cannot hear the dogs barking. If a feral is brought in it is TNRed to the closest place from where it is known to be from. Feral kittens are socialized and put up for adoption.They also have ducks, bunnies, goats, pigeons or doves, chickens and some little pigs that people keep as pets. New cats are kept in large cages away from the outside where they will be kept until either someone claims them (10 days) or that they are prepared for adoption and put in a "condo". If a "found" cat strikes your fancy you can put your name on the waiting list for it in case it is not claimed. When there a few empty spots (not often) the spot will be filled with a "third chance" cat from another shelter, usually one that is scheduled for euthanasia because the cat has not found a forever parent but is otherwise quite adoptable. "Senior" cats (any over 8), have their adoption fee reduced, and if a senior person adopts a senior cat then the adoption fee is waived. I got a "third chance" cat from there once who looked like a Russian Blue (Sascha Blue, MServant has declared he had a better profile than his Mouse who is purebred), and he lived a long happy life with me. Panthera looks like Sascha Blue in a black coat.
I find both of these shelters to be prime examples of a really good shelter.

That sounds wonderful. I wonder how they pay for it. I wonder if we can get something similar for our local SPCA

 

[segelkatt]

That sounds wonderful. I wonder how they pay for it. I wonder if we can get something similar for our local SPCA

You can Google "San Diego Humane Society & SPCA-198 Photos" which has lots of pics of the shelter, "Irvine Animal Care Center" under "Upcoming Events" shows a picture of the outside grounds with the building in the background at an adoption event. Too bad they don't have more pics.
The San Diego Shelter is quire new, look at their history on their website, and they rent out part of their facility for fundraising events and other venues which brings them lots of money. Remember that it takes money to make money and this shelter does just that.

 

[kashmir64]

I'm beginning to think common sense is dead in this world.

Been waiting since Friday for the guy to call and come pick up my old car. Will give him another call soon.
I wish he'd hurry. I want my new phone. I need to quit making ringtones. I will never use half of them. lol

Before I settled on the local scrap yard, I called one of these cash for junk cars places. They offered me $5 for my car. Then asked me "is this acceptable to you"? Really? This isn't the great depression (yet). At least the local scrap yard is offering me scrap prices. Most of the engine and the transmission are still good. They can sell that easily.

 

[foxxycat]

Around here junk yards give $300 for a car...

 

[kashmir64]

Around here junk yards give $300 for a car...

It's half that here. But it beats $5

 

[foxxycat]

Honeybee glaring at me-this is her usual look at me...because well I keep bugging her.


Last Spring/summer- was trying to get the light to show her eyes..



This is one of my favorites of Honeybee-the glare...she was sleeping and I was trying to get her blankets to be comfy for her plus the chair was moved a bit to get the light to hit her eyes...She has the most expressive face I have seen in a cat.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

So Sirius and Remus had their first vet visit (since we adopted them) yesterday. Poor Sirius had Conjunctivitis and his little eyes looked horrible I felt so bad for him. Remus was a little sneezy so he went too. They both got examinations as well as FIV tests (because the shelter they came from doesnt do that anymore apparently ) . Both were negative though, thankfully.

Sirius had to have antibiotic eye drops and Remus has to take Clavamox. And they both have to take this medicine that comes in a pump (lysine I think?) Remus is really easy to medicate, Sirius is not that open to the whole process though haha.

This was them (and my Fiancé) at the vet yesterday:
View attachment 197445

What an adorable trios of tomcats !

Very few shelters are run by national organizations. HSUS does not run ANY shelters; local Humane Societies are not affiliated with them at all. Same with the ASPCA---local SPCAs are not affiliated with them either (though I think the ASPCA does run a few of their own shelters, unlike HSUS). It's a shame they use similar names, because those 2 organizations take in enough money to save every homeless pet in the country, and probably most people who donate to them think they are supporting their local shelter. But nope.

Good to know. I'll be exploring a couple of local shelters so I know where any stray dollars will go. NOT to national, now.

foxxycat , Honeybee does a prime stink-eye, doesn't she?

Well, spit, spit, spitSPITspit! I was outside last night, enjoying a tiny bit of cooler air, and heard the wailing of a cat in heat. This means a winter litter of ferals. It just breaks my heart. On the one hand, I'm praying that it wasn't Little Bit, because her two are not ready to be own their own yet, and to have ANOTHER litter on the way would be such a strain on her, and on the other hand, I'm praying that it is Little Bit, because she does use the Secret Feral Shelter, and those kittens would have a warm(ish) den with their mama. SIGH...

 

[mazie]

foxxycat, I have always thought Honeybee is a beautiful cat! And I love her name!!

 

[Margret]

Oh man, I know. This time last year there weren't any young kittens hanging around the store--this year there are two litters (and they seem to interchange their mothers).

I heard that in feral colonies all of the queens take turns babysitting.

What an adorable trios of tomcats !

I had been thinking of saying something along the lines of "Gorgeous! And the cats are pretty good looking, too."

Margret

 

[dahli6]

Margret
I have even seen cats with no litter start lactating and adopt an orphaned litter. It is really amazing.
An old black tom started hanging around last winter, when one of the moms nested far from the others he hunted and helped her care for the litter.

 

[Blakeney Green]

I thought cats went into heat all year round. They are calmer in the coldest and hottest parts of the year but I had a feral give birth in February and I have had a house cat give birth in late November.

It is true that kittens can be born year-round. What we call "kitten season" runs from spring through (usually) end of summer-ish, though. That's when kittens come along in greater numbers.

I think there are a couple of factors in that, including more cats roaming around when it's warm, and the fact that kittens born outside are unlikely to live long enough to make it to the shelter in the colder months.

 

[arouetta]

I was really scared riding my bike home this evening.

Now take my impressions and thoughts with a grain of salt, there is some indications that I've gotten used to the Seroquel just enough that delusions may be creeping in. But what I saw is 100% real, I do not have hallucinations.

Legally bicycles are considered vehicles and therefore are supposed to be on the road with the cars. The exceptions to that law are when there's a designated bike path or a designated bike lane. These same basic laws are true all over the US though every state has some variation. In most places, it is illegal to ride your bike on a sidewalk; you are to get off and push it. Even when legal, it's a really bad idea when you look at typical sidewalk width, speed of bike vs speed of pedestrians and how much damage can be done to said pedestrian if hit by a bike, and visibility of cyclist by motor vehicles when a bicycle going full speed enters a crosswalk.

Going home, there's a bike lane paralleling the road for a little over a mile. However to get back off of it when I'm going to work would involve crossing the entire highway in an area with no crosswalk and no light. In other words, stupid dangerous for me and all four lanes of cars, and that makes it not a safe and practical option, and that means legally speaking I must be on the path going home but I am not required to be on it going to work. The sidewalks going to work have a bad habit of stopping suddenly and not at a road, literally you are walking along and then dirt. And there is another major road that I must cross that doesn't have any pedestrian crosswalks for at least a mile in either direction, so I must be a part of vehicle traffic crossing that road even if I did feel inclined to ride on sidewalks. Bottom line, legally and situationally, I'm part of vehicle traffic for all of my work commute and 2/3 of my home commute.

Well, it is clear that me riding my bike in a legal manner has really upset some people. Note, I'm riding on a 4 lane divided highway, so I'm very easy to pass by the cars simply moving into the left lane. Plus all right turns have a dedicated turn lane so I'm not blocking right turns either as I'm in the right thru lane, not the turn lane. I've been screamed at, I've had people lay on the horn the whole time they are passing me, I've had people pass with their tires on my side of the white line dividing lanes with maybe a foot to spare (most states require 3 feet), pull in front of me and then pull right back into the left lane and continue on.

Tonight I went to PT right after work, and part of the reason I chose the center is because I can get to it cutting through an old parking lot for half a mile literally right where I normally get on the bike path. (They ripped out all the buildings plus foundations, all the parking places, half the roads, and there's only 3 businesses and a lot of grass for nearly half a mile, so everyone cuts through it to get to the commercial area where my PT is.) Going home I got on the bike path. The bike lane parallels the road, with about a foot of grass between them, and has a crosswalk across all side roads. An old black sedan passed me and then immediately slowed down a lot. It stopped just short of where I had to cross a "road entrance". The road was never built and the only people who pull into that tiny area are cops setting up a speed trap, and this old black car was not a cop. The passenger window was rolled down and the passenger looked right at me as I approached and then passed.

After I passed, they started crawling forward, the passenger still looking at me. The speed limit is 40 mph and average speed is 50-55. They couldn't have even been doing 20, though they were just fast enough to pass me and my average speed is 12 mph. A police car drove by in the opposite direction and right then they picked up speed a bit. There's a turn at the base of a hill, so the road goes up and curves to the right, and I lost sight of them. I was unnerved by the stare, but told myself that maybe they were having car trouble. When I got partway up the hill, they were sitting in the right turn lane, just before the side road turned off. I got maybe halfway up and they got back into the right straight lane, going about the same below 20 speed as before.

At that point I was scared. I was seriously thinking about calling 911. Before that point, starting at the abandoned parking lot, all there is are woods, but that turn at the top of the hill is right where civilization starts again. I stayed right there for a bit and then crossed over pedaling very, very slowly. They stopped again in the right turn lane at the light about 1000 feet ahead and I just crawled along. Finally after two cars were behind them waiting to turn, they turned and drove off pretty fast.

Problem is that right after that light you go about 500 feet farther and the road closes. There's only one turnoff before the road closure (right and left), and the turnoff right at the road closure (right and left), so even with them turning off me not turning after them does narrow down where I live. My only saving grace is there's also a left turn at the light with lots of civilization, and I did not see that car while I was crossing the intersection.
Edit: The bike path ends at that light, and for safety I merge in where there's a side road a couple hundred feet before the light.

Because of the road closure, I have to travel through some of the interconnected parking lots of my apartment complex. Two don't quite hook together, you would have to go down a hill to the main road and then right back up a hill on the main road, and I'd rather push my bike along the short section of sidewalk connecting that parking lot to the parking lot next to mine. Normally I get back on and ride to the main road at the entrance to what looks like a cul-de-sac since my parking lot is also off that cul-de-sac, but I saw an old black car passing by the entrance towards my parking lot while I was still on the sidewalk. I don't know it was the same one, but I don't know that it wasn't. I opted to cross over the grassy commons in the back yards, and I parked my bike, helmet and backpack right outside my back door, walked around (even though my cycling clothes are unique), looked for an old black car and didn't see one, and walked in the front. Why didn't I just go in through the back? I didn't have my key and my daughter had locked the back door, since normally I come in through the front.

The fact that it stopped, I was stared at, it drove slow until the cop passed by, stopped again and started when I was close enough to be recognizable, drove slow until traffic built up.....I really feel like it was definitely an intimidation for me being on the road nearly every day, and maybe except for that cop car there could have been a confrontation where there was nothing but cars and trees, and maybe even an attempt to see where I live.

 

[kashmir64]

Did you get the plate number. I would've reported this.
I am glad you made it home safely. But I would be so unnerved I would lock all my doors.