The Chillout Zone (Off-Topic Thread)

Lady Haywire

Kovu has discovered sheets. He's currently dragging a topsheet off my bed around the place and diving under it ever so often. There's a sheet on the couch as well here to keep the majority of hairs off it and he's going up under it to hide and pounce on ppl. Just a big quivering lump that you could mistake as a cushion!

aonb

So brought my cat to the Vet yesterday for vaccinations/boosters - flu, Fiv etc. Asked the vet to check her ear as well, since seems to be twitching it a lot. Swab showed bacterial gunk, so got drops for that. So that was yesterday afternoon, since then she has been really edgy, cant settle, in/out/in/out/in/out, usually goes out for the evening, but not last or this evening :cool: snoring at the stove, in the dogs bed now, and not off her food, but wondering if this could be just a coincidence or do cats often have a 'reaction' to vaccines (Had to have her done for cattery)

Brought the dog to the vet at the same time (what was I thinking?!?!) hes been lame off/on for a while. Hes got to go for xrays of hip and knee on Monday for clarification - I could cry; apart from this drama queen with seperation anxiety having to go to the vet for a day and general anaesthetic, I dont think I can stand the thoughts of surgery on his knee after last years cruciate replacement. I nearly disowned the little *&^%^$£$£

tk123

I was like that leaving Bailey for the jaw operation! I was well prepared for drama when I left him which I did with no fuss - turning away as he was trying to jump towards me crying and barking but it still made me a bit teary as I walked down the corridor and left him and hearing him upset...a few hours later I'm in work with a tension headache and still teary eyes and there he is on Facebook 'Happy Bailey' - with his tail a blur!! I was suspicious because he dragged me into the place then cried the whole time we were in the waiting room!

tk123

:(:( Just heard that our vet is leaving! What am I going to do with Bailey!? Nobody knows him like her :(:(

aonb

tk123 wrote: »

:(:( Just heard that our vet is leaving! What am I going to do with Bailey!? Nobody knows him like her :(:(

moving to someplace close by? Worse than loosing a GP!!!!!!! on the positive side, maybe you'll find someone even better or that Bailey likes better! I did!

tk123

aonb wrote: »

Bailey likes better! I did!

He only likes them until he realises they're a vet too lol :pac::pac::pac:

muddypaws

We're at the 'is it time' stage now with Indy. it is so hard to know, she had an awful night last night, her breathing was very laboured and at one point, she was standing up but seemed unable to move forward, her back end was swaying from side to side. A couple of minutes later, she jumped up on my bed and went to sleep though, and this morning she has eaten her breakfast with relish, been outside, and seems OK in herself - as OK as she can be with her illness. I don't want her to go too early, but I really don't want her to suffer either. I think last night was made worse as my van was in the garage, so I had no way of getting her to the vet if I needed to, that problem at least has gone as I picked the van up this morning.

She is such a sweet girl, it is breaking my heart to see her like this, and to think of having her pts. There have been a few occasions over the last 6 months or so that I thought it might be time, but shes rallied and been happy, so I'm not sure if she will improve again or not this time.

VonVix

Ever since one of my dog's had to go to the vet 2 weeks ago (he had HGE) he hasn't been the same, really worrying me. He runs away in fear if you touch anywhere around his hips/lower stomach.

tk123

VonVix wrote: »

Ever since one of my dog's had to go to the vet 2 weeks ago (he had HGE) he hasn't been the same, really worrying me. He runs away in fear if you touch anywhere around his hips/lower stomach.

I'd call them/go back for peace of mind if nothing else!

VonVix

tk123 wrote: »

I'd call them/go back for peace of mind if nothing else!

Dread the idea of going back in all honesty, poor boy seemed traumatized (as did I), him being in pain didn't help but what really didn't help was the quite rude/rough handling vet. He was trying to sit down/tuck his tail when the vet tried to pull him up by the inside of his hips to stand him up so he could feel his stomach. Don't think I'll ever forget the panic in my dogs voice.

tk123

VonVix wrote: »

Dread the idea of going back in all honesty, poor boy seemed traumatized (as did I), him being in pain didn't help but what really didn't help was the quite rude/rough handling vet. He was trying to sit down/tuck his tail when the vet tried to pull him up by the inside of his hips to stand him up so he could feel his stomach. Don't think I'll ever forget the panic in my dogs voice.

yep been there with Bailey and a d1ckhead of a vet (not at our current practice). Can you ask to see somebody else? Bailey is much happier with the girls looking after him and hates all the boys lol!

VonVix

tk123 wrote: »

yep been there with Bailey and a d1ckhead of a vet (not at our current practice). Can you ask to see somebody else? Bailey is much happier with the girls looking after him and hates all the boys lol!

I feel like it has flipped a switch in his head and he'll be especially distrusting of older men (or men in general, haven't really tested it and I'm honestly reluctant to). It was the owner of the practice I had seen, my previous experiences with him were brilliant with my other little dogs and he is really thorough/educated, but I never had to bring my big boy down to him. So disappointed.

The other person I have seen before isn't my favourite, he just doesn't seem as knowledgeable. That said, he may be better for all I know. Ah, I don't know, just really upset with how this seems to have effected my pooch. I mean, if he's scared when *I* am touching him, how the hell would he react to an unfamiliar person going near him? And all that's IF there isn't something else going on with him, but I'm chalking it up to the experience he had as he didn't do this before he went to the vet.

SillyMangoX

tk123 wrote: »

:(:( Just heard that our vet is leaving! What am I going to do with Bailey!? Nobody knows him like her :(:(

I felt like that when my favourite vet left our practice, didn't feel the other vet in there was good with cats at all. But then struck gold with the new vet who joined, she's so nice and lives just up the road from me. When we called about Dude having to be pts she even offered to drop by on the way home from work that evening to do it, which was so kind. Another vet in there has come back from maternity leave too, so I'm back being happy with them. You never know, you might strike gold with a new vet again!

tk123

SillyMangoX wrote: »

I felt like that when my favourite vet left our practice, didn't feel the other vet in there was good with cats at all. But then struck gold with the new vet who joined, she's so nice and lives just up the road from me. When we called about Dude having to be pts she even offered to drop by on the way home from work that evening to do it, which was so kind. Another vet in there has come back from maternity leave too, so I'm back being happy with them. You never know, you might strike gold with a new vet again!

Honestly for the sake of a 30-40 min drive I'd rather stick with her for anything that's not routine! City dweller problems lol - I know some people travel a lot further than that anyways! :pac:

I was going to add this to an existing thread on the topic but it's old and I didn't want to reopen a can of worms. I really just need to vent so I hope its ok to put this here.

One of my dog's is terrified of other dogs. So if we're out walking and other dogs approach he loses the plot. To put it mildly. Barking and lunging and generally freaking out.

I used to walk my other dog in several different spots where pretty much every dog is off lead. Since we got this little guy though we have stopped going to any of those places and only go to spots where dogs are to be kept on leads. Lately we've been working hard to desensitize him and it's been going fairly well. Actually I've been pretty pleased with him.

Today we went to one of these walks where there are signs every few feet reminding people to keep dogs on leads. Lovely.
It had just lashed rain and there was mud everywhere. The dogs were covered in it of course. And we met so many people with their dogs off lead who immediately ran over and into my guys personal space. Bang. We"re back at square one!

It's so bloody upsetting. I'm really really annoyed. Not one of these people even cared. Not when he was freaking out. Not when I had to pick him up. Not when I was head to toe in mud holding a dog clearly terrified. Not one apology. Not one scramble to get a lead on theirs. A couple of dirty looks like it was all my fault.
In one case a little kid of no more than six attempted to hold her dog back by the collar while her parents behind marched on oblivious. How a little kid could have more cop on is beyond me?!

How can people be so clueless? It's just rude. I eventually lost the plot and shouted at one guy and he wouldn't even respond just gave me the evils and then smirked at his friend like I was some kind of crazy person. Im actually really nice and totally non confrontational and I felt really bad about getting so annoyed.

Had a cry in the car afterwards. Worst walk ever.

Bells21

Ah BuileBeag, I feel your frustration have a similar situation myself. Even if I see a dog off lead I always call to the owner can you leash your dog mine is very nervous and the usual response I get 'oh our dog is very friendly'. No actually your dog is an absolute a**ehole who is taking no heed of any of the signals my dog is giving to show his discomfort with the situation, which generally leads to my dog barking/giving a snarl and then I'm told 'muzzle your vicious dog!'
I hope your hard work at desensitizing your dog isn't back at square one now thanks to those selfish and clueless owners. It's incredibly frustrating and totally understand your tears.

ShaShaBear

Oh, I feel you - Shadow was just like that! I made such good progress with him when I lived in Dundalk. Got him to the point where he would just stiffen and growl a bit but keep walking on. Until some absolute ... let her two JRTs off the lead one day and they attacked him. No warnings, just came straight at him teeth-first. I threw as many kicks as I could because there was no hope of lifting a collie crossed with a bernese and if I let him go, it was about 10 foot of a dash onto a busy main road with a junction. When the woman finally caught up, I screamed all sorts at her and she laughed in my face. Back to square one

jellybear

Awh guys I thought I was the only one experiencing this! Have had similar responses "oh don't worry my dogs very friendly" but what they don't understand is their dog is the one not under control and their dog will be the one to "set mine off". I have control of my dog and still they think they do because "he's friendly". If it says dogs must be on a leash then they must be on a leash. Plain and simple.

Hope you're okay after such a horrible experience

Fakediamond

Also had a situation with my terrier, walking in a forestry area, with few people or dogs. Most people let their dogs off leash, but call them if another dog appears in the distance. Three dogs came tearing over a bank at us, two large breed, one medium sized, and ran at us, crowding me and my dog. Now, he doesn't like big dogs at the best of times, and certainly not all at once! A man then appeared and I asked him to call his dogs, he responded with "they're grand, they won't hurt him". It all happened so fast, my dog was overwhelmed and took off, with the three in hot pursuit. He finally called them and they came back. Problem was, there's loads of different paths and I had no idea which one my dog took.

I found him, after a very stressful few minutes, with my imagination running riot as to various horrible scenarios.

I now have to try and time my walks to avoid him, as he continues to let them run loose, without bothering to recall them. Obnoxious individual.

Thanks everyone. I've calmed down now.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one. (Although a bit worrying).

Like bells said.. it's frustration! I was crying out of sheer frustration. I know people let their dogs off lead in certain places, like the beach and I'm more than ok with that. I wish I could too.
It's just that I carefully pick places where that's no supposed to happen. If even one person had apologised or looked embarrassed it wouldn't have been as bad but clearly everyone thought I was the one with the problem.

I don't want people to think he's not nice or I'm a bad owner. He's really lovely (the rest of the time) and I'm doing my very best.

We'll take a couple steps back and go again.

The dogs are totally over it anyways. They've had baths and are drying at the fire.

Thanks for the support. I was having a dark moment and the replies really helped.

tk123

Bailey woke us up barking last night. Not one of his usual barks - he was freaked out!! He wagged his tail when I came down and then wanted to go out the back.. Well i was a bit spooked turning the lights on and peaking out before I opened the door! He just lay down on the ground so I bribed him back in with a treat and sent him back to bed!

ShaShaBear

Don't suppose anyone has any experience with Burgess dog food? I just won a bag and was wondering if it's in any way decent?

VonVix

I have felt like death all day. Had a headache for the last 12 hours.

Knine

Gave my 14 year old (daughter) a dried Chicken leg & said here is a choclate chicken leg for you! She said "Really" & was about to chow down on it.

I'm still laughing....

tk123

Ooops we annoyed somebody in the park this morning - we saw a lurcher prancing around and thought it was Lucy's friend 'Prince' so let her go up to him - ..turns out it wasn't him(!) To be fair she lay down on the ground and gave the other dog space but the owner was annoyed with us(!) She was right inside the gate though (two are left open 24x7)- not a place I'd have a dog on or off lead for too long who didn't like other dogs as it's a main thoroughfare?

I have a question about a rescue in the West of Ireland. If anyone here has any ties with any and is willing to answer a question could you PM me please.

tk123

Deleted User wrote: »

I have a question about a rescue in the West of Ireland. If anyone here has any ties with any and is willing to answer a question could you PM me please.

The one on rte last night lol?! (i don't have a connection btw)

tk123

tk123 wrote: »

The one on rte last night lol?! (i don't have a connection btw)

No. Or I don't think so. I didn't know there was one on rte last night. Must check now.

Ah I see now. No not that one.
Im pretty certain it's a good one I wanna ask about.

Got my question answered!