Chat for Pets Regulars

[Shark Bacon]

Q2k

owners of dogs with double coats who think shaving their dog down will stop shedding make me internally scream.

most are so adamant about it, too. they definitely 100% want you to shave their dog down so there's less hair shedding.

Dude it's the same amount of hair, it's just in smaller, prickly pieces now and you're damaging its coat and not letting it do its job. gonk

Just let me give your dog a good brushout instead! I can make your dog stop shedding so heavily without chopping its fur off!

Hi, I've been creeping in this thread and saw your posts xd are you a dog groomer?

My boyfriend's mother has a Great Pyrenees that she had completely shaved this summer, and I thought that was absurd. She said she did it because he had "hot spots." I think she's a crazy person, though. But maybe there's some science there.

What happens when you shave a dog like that? (I assume a Great Pyrenees is a double coated dog. It's pretty fluffy.)

[q2k]

Shark Bacon

Q2k

owners of dogs with double coats who think shaving their dog down will stop shedding make me internally scream.

most are so adamant about it, too. they definitely 100% want you to shave their dog down so there's less hair shedding.

Dude it's the same amount of hair, it's just in smaller, prickly pieces now and you're damaging its coat and not letting it do its job. gonk

Just let me give your dog a good brushout instead! I can make your dog stop shedding so heavily without chopping its fur off!

Hi, I've been creeping in this thread and saw your posts xd are you a dog groomer?

My boyfriend's mother has a Great Pyrenees that she had completely shaved this summer, and I thought that was absurd. She said she did it because he had "hot spots." I think she's a crazy person, though. But maybe there's some science there.

What happens when you shave a dog like that? (I assume a Great Pyrenees is a double coated dog. It's pretty fluffy.)

I am!

Shaving a dog like that for hot spots is pretty common. Hot spots are basically open sores/wounds, shaving the hair away so it's not further irritating the spots (and so the skin's drying faster after getting wet) can help it heal more easily. Dogs that get hot spots a lot usually have a vet recommend a shave down.

The coat can grow back kind of weird, though. Sometimes double-coated dogs wind up with a different texture to their hair after it's been clipped in the past.

[Shark Bacon]

Q2k

I am!

Shaving a dog like that for hot spots is pretty common. Hot spots are basically open sores/wounds, shaving the hair away so it's not further irritating the spots (and so the skin's drying faster after getting wet) can help it heal more easily. Dogs that get hot spots a lot usually have a vet recommend a shave down.

The coat can grow back kind of weird, though. Sometimes double-coated dogs wind up with a different texture to their hair after it's been clipped in the past.

Oh how cool! So she's not a crazy person! xd

I didn't know that dog coats could be damaged. Neat to know.

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

Can't wait: Acana Treats - launching Spring 2016 (though the rep's guessing it'll be closer to autumn before they're out, at least in our area)

And if the Mackerel food does well in the states it may come to Canada as well.

I don't personally feed Acana anymore, haven't for a few years now, because I found my pair did better on Go, and mum's finally on board with switching Zoe to something else* next year when she finishes up what she has (because I believe she'd do better on something else as well - she's gotten pudgy and her coat's not as shiny and nice as it could be), but the girls do quite love the Orijen treats so it'll be nice to have more options.


*I'm thinking FirstMate; Bella and Saphi reacted well to it and I'm thinking Zoe would do well on it as well (and, though it took a little bit, she seems to like the cat Chicken & Blueberry, we'll see if she'll eat the dog one as well this weekend).
Regarding trying new foods: I brought home a sample of Valens Fisher last weekend to see how they'd react - Zoe wouldn't touch it, not even the chunks of (freeze-dried) fish; and I don't mean she'd take it and spit it out (as she'd do with the Pasture), I mean she absolutely would not even taste it; I eventually got her to eat a couple pieces of the Pasture but she wasn't that into it

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

Boredom and random thoughts lead to looking at the shelter pages..

I had to look twice:

She's a bit older and pudgier, missing the white spot on the chest, and obviously not on as good a food, but seeing her made me half-tempted to summon Saphi-cat to my side just to solidify that it's not her..

[faolan]

~ Aki - Fairy ~

Boredom and random thoughts lead to looking at the shelter pages..

I had to look twice:

She's a bit older and pudgier, missing the white spot on the chest, and obviously not on as good a food, but seeing her made me half-tempted to summon Saphi-cat to my side just to solidify that it's not her..

*looks at photo*
*looks at your sig*
*looks at photo*
*back at your sig*

Duuuude... I mean, I think I see my cat's long-lost twins in photos all the time, but seriously, he's a tuxedo. He's probably not related at all to any of our original cats, and yet mom still has a hard time telling him and Bitty apart -- and two of the others are black cats, I don't even need to say anything more. They have "doubles" all over Facebook, Reddit, and Cheezburger.

But yours... sure, there are lots of calicos out there, but to find two such similar-looking calicos... I mean, what're the odds?

Time to cue the eerie music. xD

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

faolan

*looks at photo*
*looks at your sig*
*looks at photo*
*back at your sig*

Duuuude... I mean, I think I see my cat's long-lost twins in photos all the time, but seriously, he's a tuxedo. He's probably not related at all to any of our original cats, and yet mom still has a hard time telling him and Bitty apart -- and two of the others are black cats, I don't even need to say anything more. They have "doubles" all over Facebook, Reddit, and Cheezburger.

But yours... sure, there are lots of calicos out there, but to find two such similar-looking calicos... I mean, what're the odds?

Time to cue the eerie music. xD

I know. I mean, I've seen similar, but never this close. You know what's even more odd about it? She's from the same rescue I got mine at. Granted Saphi was more of a medium-short-haired when she was there, but still..
If she were up for adoption and I actually wanted a second cat, I'd be hard-pressed to not want to bring her home so I could have a matching pair..

[faolan]

~ Aki - Fairy ~

faolan

*looks at photo*
*looks at your sig*
*looks at photo*
*back at your sig*

Duuuude... I mean, I think I see my cat's long-lost twins in photos all the time, but seriously, he's a tuxedo. He's probably not related at all to any of our original cats, and yet mom still has a hard time telling him and Bitty apart -- and two of the others are black cats, I don't even need to say anything more. They have "doubles" all over Facebook, Reddit, and Cheezburger.

But yours... sure, there are lots of calicos out there, but to find two such similar-looking calicos... I mean, what're the odds?

Time to cue the eerie music. xD

I know. I mean, I've seen similar, but never this close. You know what's even more odd about it? She's from the same rescue I got mine at. Granted Saphi was more of a medium-short-haired when she was there, but still..
If she were up for adoption and I actually wanted a second cat, I'd be hard-pressed to not want to bring her home so I could have a matching pair..

Hm... it's a long shot, but with that in mind, I'm guessing there's a chance, however distant, that the answer's genetic, then. One of my cats looks just like their father -- in fact, when I saw the brown tabby with the rough coat lurking under a bush, I knew right away who he was (and promptly named him Potato -- he looked like one, and it played on papas, potato in Spanish), even though I'd never seen him before, because his coat was the exact same pattern as Lewis'. Just... shabbier. cat_xd

... You're sure yours isn't doing experiments in the attic or something? Maybe cloning herself? We as humans hesitate to do things like that, but I really doubt cats would have any such reservations, after all. whee

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

faolan

~ Aki - Fairy ~

faolan

*looks at photo*
*looks at your sig*
*looks at photo*
*back at your sig*

Duuuude... I mean, I think I see my cat's long-lost twins in photos all the time, but seriously, he's a tuxedo. He's probably not related at all to any of our original cats, and yet mom still has a hard time telling him and Bitty apart -- and two of the others are black cats, I don't even need to say anything more. They have "doubles" all over Facebook, Reddit, and Cheezburger.

But yours... sure, there are lots of calicos out there, but to find two such similar-looking calicos... I mean, what're the odds?

Time to cue the eerie music. xD

I know. I mean, I've seen similar, but never this close. You know what's even more odd about it? She's from the same rescue I got mine at. Granted Saphi was more of a medium-short-haired when she was there, but still..
If she were up for adoption and I actually wanted a second cat, I'd be hard-pressed to not want to bring her home so I could have a matching pair..

Hm... it's a long shot, but with that in mind, I'm guessing there's a chance, however distant, that the answer's genetic, then. One of my cats looks just like their father -- in fact, when I saw the brown tabby with the rough coat lurking under a bush, I knew right away who he was (and promptly named him Potato -- he looked like one, and it played on papas, potato in Spanish), even though I'd never seen him before, because his coat was the exact same pattern as Lewis'. Just... shabbier. cat_xd

... You're sure yours isn't doing experiments in the attic or something? Maybe cloning herself? We as humans hesitate to do things like that, but I really doubt cats would have any such reservations, after all. whee

Rescue-cat (Casey) is older (around ten), a returnee to the rescue (was adopted over seven years ago, dumped at the SPCA some time within the past couple years, tattoo traced her back to the rescue).
They guesstimated Saphi to be about a year old when they got her four years ago..

Casey could be Saphi's mum, but that would mean Saphi's at least two years older than they guessed..

[faolan]

~ Aki - Fairy ~

Rescue-cat (Casey) is older (around ten), a returnee to the rescue (was adopted over seven years ago, dumped at the SPCA some time within the past couple years, tattoo traced her back to the rescue).
They guesstimated Saphi to be about a year old when they got her four years ago..

Casey could be Saphi's mum, but that would mean Saphi's at least two years older than they guessed..

Hm. Would depend on whether Casey's original owners got her spayed in time and, if not, what became of her litter. But they could be aunt and neice, cousins, or even siblings or half-siblings...

And just to note, a b***h slap is owed to whoever dumped Casey at the shelter. b***h slap with claws extended.

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

faolan

~ Aki - Fairy ~

Rescue-cat (Casey) is older (around ten), a returnee to the rescue (was adopted over seven years ago, dumped at the SPCA some time within the past couple years, tattoo traced her back to the rescue).
They guesstimated Saphi to be about a year old when they got her four years ago..

Casey could be Saphi's mum, but that would mean Saphi's at least two years older than they guessed..

Hm. Would depend on whether Casey's original owners got her spayed in time and, if not, what became of her litter. But they could be aunt and neice, cousins, or even siblings or half-siblings...

And just to note, a b***h slap is owed to whoever dumped Casey at the shelter. b***h slap with claws extended.

Rescue fixes and tattoos cats before putting them up for adoption (she would have been a few years old when they first got her), so.. Extended family could be a possibility

With claws extended definitely - the bastards declawed the poor girl.

[faolan]

~ Aki - Fairy ~

Rescue fixes and tattoos cats before putting them up for adoption (she would have been a few years old when they first got her), so.. Extended family could be a possibility

I wonder... it might be funny for them to meet -- I mean, would they be like, "wait, who're you, and what're you doing with my coat??"

Because I'm sure that Bitty despises Eddie partly because he does look similar to her. In fact, I've even seen him following her around the yard, imitating her (I call it playing copycat, for obvious reasons) -- tail and head held the way she does, same pace, even the same look on his face (and their faces do actually look pretty different). And if she catches sight of him doing that, she immediately turns and hisses. I can just see it subtitled with "Cut it OUT! Stop following me!"

I can just see the two of them, looking at each other, then looking at you -- with identical expressions -- like, "okay, mom, explain?" XD

~ Aki - Fairy ~

With claws extended definitely - the bastards declawed the poor girl.

In that case, clawed b***h slap, followed by fingernail removal and a salt shaker. When my grandmother passed away a few years ago, mom brought her cat home, and she'd been declawed. The way she walked, with hesitant, mincing steps, she clearly was constantly hurting. It was particularly bad during cold weather, as if she had arthritis -- but she was only, like, seven. And sometimes she'd sort of paw at the tree trunks in the backyard for a second, then sit back down. It was as if she'd forgotten for a moment, and tried to sharpen her claws only to remember they were gone. I'd never declaw a cat in the first place, but after seeing what Tude went through, it just sickens me that anyone would consider doing that.

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

faolan

A meeting between them would definitely have to be recorded, were it ever to happen. I'm actually not sure how Saphi would react to another cat period..
Even if Bitty and Eddie aren't blood siblings it sounds like he's a typical little brother.

And I'm so glad more people are becoming aware of just what declawing entails..

[~ Aki - Fairy ~]

Planning to get an Undercoat Rake for Zoe, because a regular comb just doesn't cut it but not sure whether to go for the single row (medium undercoat) or double row (dense undercoat).. Leaning towards the single row
She's a collie-border collie




ETA: Also planning to get one of these for Saphi