The Chillout Zone (Off-Topic Thread)

Tranceypoo · 08-10-2014 4:04pm

angeldaisy wrote: »

Well, we changed food here about 3 weeks ago, from skinners to markus muhle. Oh sweet heavens, they are being changed back asap!
The amount of foul swelling wind being passed is eye watering!

Course they decide to both come sit on me whilst passing said foul wind!

My two are on MM and are in great nick on it and no trumps at all, yet on Barking Heads the younger dog was pooping and trumping like billyo, isn't it funny such different reactions, like humans I suppose, some foods might make one slightly 'gassy'...ahem, not me of course, I'm a laydee.....

muddypaws · 08-10-2014 4:24pm

I'm in serious trouble, am fostering 5 dogs at the moment, including 3 pointer cross pups. One of them is worming his way into my heart big time.

Pumpkinseeds · 08-10-2014 4:45pm

I got stupid opening a can of tuna for my 4 and instead of going over the lid again with the opener when it got stuck I decided to pull the sharp lid. I won't go into the graphics, but it was messy, very messy and took longer in the end to feed them as I had to wash and bandage my thumb. On the plus side while chilling out I found loads of videos for cats on You tube, the favourites seem to be the aquarium ones. My 4 were glued to it with heads twisting and turning furiously to follow the fish.:D

Layinghen · 08-10-2014 6:43pm

Hope you heal up soon Pumpkinseeds.

SingItOut · 08-10-2014 10:33pm

Bought the girls new dog jackets, both reduced to €10 from €40 and €50 :eek: the sizes are a little off though. Alli loves hers, moone couldnt be more disgusted with hers!

angeldaisy · 09-10-2014 4:09am

Wide awake thanks to Elly deciding to bark her little sqeaky head off, god knows what she was dreaming about!
Be glad when her 'voice' breaks!!!!

Pumpkinseeds · 09-10-2014 1:15pm

I need to buy another pet bed today. The moggies are squabbling over the best sleeping places for Winter. Now you'd think that with 2 sofas, a comfy piece of vet bed and a nice new scratcher/lounger, that there'd be plenty of places in the living room for them all, but no, there are still skirmishes. I thought Felix was trying to drive Toby out again after finding him howling at Toby on the armchair 3 times this week, turns out that he just wanted the chair, as we found Felix sound asleep on that chair last night, I think it's because the chair is near the radiator in the kitchen.:rolleyes:

muddypaws · 09-10-2014 1:31pm

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I need to buy another pet bed today. The moggies are squabbling over the best sleeping places for Winter. Now you'd think that with 2 sofas, a comfy piece of vet bed and a nice new scratcher/lounger, that there'd be plenty of places in the living room for them all, but no, there are still skirmishes. I thought Felix was trying to drive Toby out again after finding him howling at Toby on the armchair 3 times this week, turns out that he just wanted the chair, as we found Felix sound asleep on that chair last night, I think it's because the chair is near the radiator in the kitchen.:rolleyes:

In the dog end of the house, in the lounge there is a sofa and an armchair, there are usually 2 dogs squashed on the armchair, no idea how it can be comfortable. I also have various bits of vet bedding on the floor, and two crates. I had to put beds on top of the crates as well as in them, because the floor appears to be unacceptable :eek: Now my bedroom is next to the lounge, with a nice, big double bed, but hardly any dog ever lies on that except at night, when I'm in it, then they all want to sleep there.

mymo · 10-10-2014 5:06pm

I woke one morning to find my daughter had come into my bed due the spider assassins trying to kill her in the night, my bed also contained 2 dogs and 4 cats, one of whom was sleeping on my head!
It was nice and toasty, if a bit cramped, and I have a king sized bed!

tk123 · 10-10-2014 8:43pm

Bailey got a fright this morning from kids letting off fireworks in the park...and decided he was going home(!) Every time he was just within my reach he got a bit faster. He stopped the second time I shouted at him to stay thank god but very scary. Lucy couldn't have cared less and didn't even acknowledge they were going off so at least she's ok with them! He was fine with them up until last year and seemed to be getting more comfortable with them - I never thought he'd run like that though!! So much for deaffening myself with that bloody sounds cd! :rolleyes:

Pumpkinseeds · 10-10-2014 9:37pm

Well, I think I've run out of options for a supplement for Felix and Poppys fur. I've tried coconut oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, salmon oil, some oil from Zooplus that I can't remember, seaweed stuff for pets and the latest failure was hemp seed oil. I give up at this point.

honerbright · 10-10-2014 11:59pm

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Well, I think I've run out of options for a supplement for Felix and Poppys fur. I've tried coconut oil, sunflower oil, olive oil, salmon oil, some oil from Zooplus that I can't remember, seaweed stuff for pets and the latest failure was hemp seed oil. I give up at this point.

We changed all the guys here (cats and dogs) onto select gold dry food and the difference in all their coats is unreal: soft, shiny and smooth. Even Poppy, who had a fairly rough feeling short haired JRT coat feels like silk after a few weeks on the food.

Winter has definitely come in our house, I slept last night with a hand under the pillow under my head with my arm sticking out and woke up in the middle of the night to Cinnamon curled up on the bit of my arm sticking out right by my face. She only comes to bed when it's really, really cold.

SingItOut · 12-10-2014 12:08pm

Gonzo has started sleeping on his side more in his igloo the last few weeks, turns out this is normal chinchilla behaviour. He did give me a heart attack a few times especially since he was so ill earlier in the year. if I call him to see if he's ok he jumps up and growls and gives me the evil eye

I had to take out one of the shelves in his cage and haven't gotten a new one yet, he is less than Impressed

nala2012 · 12-10-2014 9:54pm

It's 3 weeks since meg died and everyone is still very upset by it. My mom started crying that it would be too soon to have another dog in the home when i asked would she be interested in fostering for local rescue. We've always had dogs and been upswt when they passed but she was just so special. Anyway my nieces and nephew planted some flowers on her grave yesterday and when they came home my youngest niece(4) drew this picture of me walking meg. It's the first time anyone she's known has died and she doesn't really understand that megs not coming back and why everyone is so upset. It's raining because everyone was crying and the flower is the one they planted on her grave..., apparently when she comes back it will be attached to her back!

Pumpkinseeds · 13-10-2014 5:16pm

Poppy was sitting on my knee earlier while I watched the last episode of the BBC cat programme, she was fascinated and watched it the whole way through.:D

Pumpkinseeds · 13-10-2014 10:14pm

My walk had a sad end tonight. I came across a group of people who'd stopped to help a cat that had been hit on the road. The lad who hit him/her stopped to see if he could do anything but the cat had been killed outright by the sound of it. There were 1 or 2 people from the area and the rest of us were from other parts of the town. None of the people from that area were willing to put the cat in a shed overnight until the owner could be found, but thankfully a kind man took the cat away to bury as we didn't just want to leave the cat.

It sounded like it had been chased by another cat and a kitten with very simillar markings was found in the same area yesterday, so it may be territorial fighting or cats on heat. The guy who hit the cat said it had been chased into the road by another cat.:(

mymo · 13-10-2014 10:50pm

I ordered the dogs collars and leads from Leading the pack following a recommendation on here, and they arrived today.
They are gorgeous!
Lovely quality and so cute, Tiffi was walking around with her new collar in her mouth, wagging her tail, while I put Oliver's on him.
Highly recommend them.
Thanks to whoever suggested them in a thread ages ago, sorry I can't remember who, maybe Muddypaws?

muddypaws · 13-10-2014 11:04pm

mymo wrote: »

I ordered the dogs collars and leads from Leading the pack following a recommendation on here, and they arrived today.
They are gorgeous!
Lovely quality and so cute, Tiffi was walking around with her new collar in her mouth, wagging her tail, while I put Oliver's on him.
Highly recommend them.
Thanks to whoever suggested them in a thread ages ago, sorry I can't remember who, maybe Muddypaws?

Where are the photos?

ferretone · 14-10-2014 3:19am

nala2012 wrote: »

It's 3 weeks since meg died and everyone is still very upset by it. My mom started crying that it would be too soon to have another dog in the home when i asked would she be interested in fostering for local rescue. We've always had dogs and been upswt when they passed but she was just so special. Anyway my nieces and nephew planted some flowers on her grave yesterday and when they came home my youngest niece(4) drew this picture of me walking meg. It's the first time anyone she's known has died and she doesn't really understand that megs not coming back and why everyone is so upset. It's raining because everyone was crying and the flower is the one they planted on her grave..., apparently when she comes back it will be attached to her back!

Aw, that drawing is just adorable! I posted a few weeks ago about losing our Lola. I was totally devastated, but at the same time was not wanting to hang about and wait dogless for long. I couldn't have a dog for years when we lived abroad, and really hate living in a home with no dog. It just doesn't feel right to me! Also, our cats were used to having one around, and I didn't want that to change.

So just over a week after we said goodbye to our darling Lola, we went to Dogs Trust to meet their inmates. I was prepared to take an older one, but it turned out none of those they had in would have suited our situation. Those of you that read Lola's eulogy will have seen that she was a thoroughly adaptable dog, who could travel with us regularly visiting friends and relatives, and it just happens that we need our canine pal to be like that, cos that's our life.

So we were directed to the puppy wing, where we met our Nyssa. Her mother was a GSD, who came into the centre in pup, and they didn't know what the father was. We were homechecked during the week, and collected her from Dogs Trust the following Sunday.

So far she has been such a joy to own. We've been going to an Obedience class, and our trainer, who has been working with those breeds for 20 years, informs us her father was most certainly a Border Collie.

Here is a pic of her, a couple days after we had her

10632731_10201330773029738_4340655180911883928_n.jpg?oh=dc6e4d8c4e45341139ef3faf5a456660&oe=54F7E16A

10632731_10201330773029738_4340655180911883928_n.jpg?oh=dc6e4d8c4e45341139ef3faf5a456660&oe=54F7E16A

She has grown loads since then, and also looks way better. I really have to get the finger out and get some more recent shots. I don't have a smartphone tho, and things have been utterly complicated around here in other ways, but I promise I will get around to it very soon.

She does need slow, patient work on her concentration, and lots of fun interludes during training, as she is too easily bored otherwise, but she has bonded really quickly and well with us, especially considering the other difficult things that have cropped up in our lives since we got her.

And she is already adjusting extremely well to travelling around with us to visit friends and family. What has impressed me most of all about her, however, is how easily she settles, especially for such a young girl. She will play about like the wee nutter you'd expect, and then just chill out on the floor. Especially if you give her a toy and a piece of pizzle or something, it's like that's the signal to her to start winding down, and pretty quickly she's just in settle mode.

That was something we struggled with for almost a year with Lola! I think it was partly that we got her a couple months older than we have Nyssa: some of the patterns were already too set for us to get an easy or quick fix. She never did get as easy with new dogs as Nyssa is either.

I was so glad we got Lola to help through life, small issues especially, as I'd hate to think of her having to live with somebody who didn't understand or care. But if we can't be with her anymore, it is such a treat to get to work with a treasure like Nyssa now.

I think she has an awful lot of potential, going on how she looks, moves and thinks. I just hope I can help her live up to it! Welcome to our lives, Nyssa!

SillyMangoX · 14-10-2014 9:17pm

I'm excited, I ordered cat specific nappies for Dude last night so they should arrive in the next day or two. It'll be great to be able to stop confining him to one room, or covering every soft furnishing in the house with incontinence sheets when he's free around the house

mymo · 14-10-2014 10:59pm

muddypaws wrote: »

Where are the photos?

I have a very funny one of Oliver raising his head to show off his collar, will try and get them up tomorrow evening.

Pumpkinseeds · 15-10-2014 7:04am

I was reading a post on the local facebook page and it's quite a typical cat issue. People get kitten, leave it out at 5 months old:eek: then the neighbours start letting the kitten in, feeding it and allowing the kitten to stay in at night, owners then get irate as kitten wants to live with neighbours. That then leads to essentially a war over the kitten and accusations that the neighbours are trying to steal the kitten.:rolleyes: It's not me, honestly.:D

I will never understand the mentality of getting a cat, especially a very young kitten who isn't able to defend itself against dogs and other threats, in an area with a very busy main road beside it and putting it out to take it's chances. This logic that the cat needs to be outside most of the time and especially at night. The neighbours are rightly concerned and of course it won't end well. A cat chooses where it lives.

tk123 · 15-10-2014 4:14pm

I'm so disappointed - my friend was in Paris last week and saw a cat cafe.... and didn't go in lol!!! They were at another cafe down the street and had already ordered!

Pumpkinseeds · 15-10-2014 9:19pm

I've been trying to explain to the person with the roaming 6 month old kitten, who has been roaming since he was at most 5 months old, why it's not safe for him to be outdoors. It's like banging my head off a brick wall. Apparently not leaving him out is 'cruel':rolleyes: I came across a cat in that area on monday night that had been chased out in front of a car by another cat and killed outright. I'd hate to see the kitten suffer a similar end.

tk123 · 15-10-2014 9:40pm

I've just seen a "timber wolf" on FB... it looks oddly like the retriever x white gsd in our park!

rannerap · 15-10-2014 9:40pm

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

I've been trying to explain to the person with the roaming 6 month old kitten, who has been roaming since he was at most 5 months old, why it's not safe for him to be outdoors. It's like banging my head off a brick wall. Apparently not leaving him out is 'cruel':rolleyes: I came across a cat in that area on monday night that had been chased out in front of a car by another cat and killed outright. I'd hate to see the kitten suffer a similar end.

There's no talking to some people. I get told it's Cruel for having my cats mostly indoors. They get let out for a bit in the evenings but they mostly just Potter about the garden before wanting to come back in. I think it would be more cruel to have them roaming the streets in the cold or out on the road where they could be knocked down or attacked by the large dog population in the area.

Pumpkinseeds · 15-10-2014 10:55pm

Sarannewrap wrote: »

There's no talking to some people. I get told it's Cruel for having my cats mostly indoors. They get let out for a bit in the evenings but they mostly just Potter about the garden before wanting to come back in. I think it would be more cruel to have them roaming the streets in the cold or out on the road where they could be knocked down or attacked by the large dog population in the area.

I'm no saint, our cats have a cat flap and they come and go as they like. I'd have preferred indoor only cats but since Jazzy was a feral kitten he panics if we even close the door of the room he's in and that's actually gotten worse over the years. The last time he was anaesthetised at the vets he tore holes in the carpet inside the bedroom door trying to get out, we had him in there to rest. He just gets freaked out if he's confined, so with that situation it just isn't possible to have them indoor only. I just hate to think of a little kitten being on the street.

Pumpkinseeds · 15-10-2014 10:57pm

On a seperate note, Jazzy brought home a rodent earlier on, I think it was dead, fricking huge thing. Thankfully he ran off with it when I saw him. I knew once I heard the weird meow from the kitchen that he had something. There's a specific meow that he only does when he's caught something. I'm terrified of rodents.

tk123 · 15-10-2014 11:39pm

Cats killing each other outside!! Lucy lifted her head up and went back asleep and Bailey is looking at me all worried! The noise of them!! :eek: must be the new kitten that's been hanging around some of the gardens. Drives me mad because Bailey will bark and growl at it - not good when we're leaving for our walk at 6:40am

angeldaisy · 16-10-2014 8:50pm

Just had to physically restrain my two. God knows what set it off but they were having a right go at each other.
Thank heavens for crates, both are now separated!

mymo · 17-10-2014 12:19am

Someone rear ended me today, drove the car forward about 3ft (I had brakes on too), I was stopped, by give way sign, car coming the other way (narrow bit of road) and he couldn't stop in time.
Big Passat or similar vw less than 5 years old, and he smashed the front grill, broke front number plate and busted the front bumper on his car, mine has a small scuff on the plastic piece in the rear bumper. I'm fine, just got a fright, but I drive a fiesta, so glad the safety spiel they give about rear impact protection seems to be true.
He was very apologetic, and admitted it was entirely his fault, I took his number and reg as he offered, but he said he'd sort his car himself.
Nice start to my day, but think I've homes for 3 stray kittens my friend has been trying to catch, and they have the mother tame enough to catch and neuter too. So ended on a better note.

Oh and I got cake, the chocolate kind, thanks to my daughter, but she started baking a bit late so has to stay up late to taste it!

DBB · 17-10-2014 12:39am

mymo wrote: »

but he said he'd sort his car himself.

Jeez Mymo, that was an awful thing to happen, hope you're okay

What about your car? Is he going to compensate you for the damage? There could be a fair amount of damage under your bumper, if there is your car isn't as safe as it used to be

mymo · 17-10-2014 7:19am

There doesn't seem to be any damage, but getting it checked out at weekend, And have his details just in case.
I'm fine, just got a fright.

tk123 · 17-10-2014 9:37am

God mymo that's terrible. I almost drove into a taxi in the carpark in work yesterday who decided drive the wrong way..!! :mad:

Toulouse · 17-10-2014 11:31am

mymo wrote: »

There doesn't seem to be any damage, but getting it checked out at weekend, And have his details just in case.
I'm fine, just got a fright.

Make sure you let your insurance know. Nothing needs to happen there but in my experience it's better to have reported it than not just in case you need their help after the weekend.

tk123 · 17-10-2014 7:13pm

Bit of a scary experience in the park there. Brought the dogs over for a quick run around... I let them off and they ran to the middle of the field as usual then Lucy froze and lay down..when I saw the dog that was coming down the hill my heart sank. I think it's maybe an akita/gsd or even northern breed cross? It used to be friends with Lucy playing with her although I had heard stories of her attacking other dogs they were always fine together. She no longer want's to play with Lucy which I'm delighted Lucy has figured out after last time she ran past the dog to my friend and it had her by the throat in seconds on the ground.. :mad:
Anyways the guy was walking around with somebody else on the path taking when the dog approached Lucy with a low growl. I had a stick so distracted Lucy away from her but she was hanging around us growling and showing her teeth to Lucy.. Next Bailey passes by and she snaps at him for no reason but not loud enough for the guy to notice. Just as I was about to ask the guy to call her away she got distracted by another dog yelping and ran down (the person he was walking with has 2 snappy dogs) For a few seconds I was worried that something was going to happen. My concern is that if she does go for Lucy Bailey will try to step in and I'll be left with 2 injured dogs.

I don't think I've ever been afraid/unsure of a dog in that park up until now - I've never encountered one in there that's so unpredictable?

SingItOut · 17-10-2014 9:56pm

I was in dublin today and found a frankenstein dog jumper I wanted to get for moone but they only had large sizes left and too large for Alli aswell. I ended up getting moone a pumpkin costume in penneys, she is too cute in it

sucks for her being the smallest she always has to wear the costumes

tk123 · 17-10-2014 11:18pm

Bloody hell..up reading in bed and I thought there must be ghosts/banshees/zombies outside - nope just the cats killing each other again!!!!! :eek:

Pumpkinseeds · 18-10-2014 2:59pm

tk123 wrote: »

Bloody hell..up reading in bed and I thought there must be ghosts/banshees/zombies outside - nope just the cats killing each other again!!!!! :eek:

If only people would spay/neuter.

SingItOut · 19-10-2014 7:18pm

My mam bought a pumpkin for halloween but hasnt carved it yet, it's on the floor of the sitting room. Alli has decided Shes terrified of it, strange dog.

ferretone · 19-10-2014 7:21pm

SingItOut wrote: »

My mam bought a pumpkin for halloween but hasnt carved it yet, it's on the floor of the sitting room. Alli has decided Shes terrified of it, strange dog.

Aw, poor pet

I can only imagine if we tried that with young Nyssa - pumpkin chunks and pulp flying all over the house

SingItOut · 19-10-2014 7:32pm

She came in all excited because I bought her and moone a new dog bed then she spotted the pumpkin. She's running over then jumping away hiding behind the sofa and giving it the evil eye

ferretone · 19-10-2014 7:38pm

SingItOut wrote: »

She came in all excited because I bought her and moone a new dog bed then she spotted the pumpkin. She's running over then jumping away hiding behind the sofa and giving it the evil eye

Aw, funny, but I'd kinda feel sorry for her

How old is she, by the way? Does she think some evil monster is gonna hatch out of it on halloween night?

SingItOut · 19-10-2014 11:05pm

She's getting braver and barking at it now, she was only 1 in August so it's her first Halloween really. She was in a rescue this time last year. She's afraid of the cats too, she's just a wuss

ferretone · 19-10-2014 11:50pm

Ah, wee baby still

What breed/mix is she?

I only just saw who Nyssa's mum was, as the dogs trust people told me: she hadn't been available yet when we adopted. She is more mixed than we thought, as her mum wasn't a pure shepherd either!

This was her mum:

7124286_MARIA_20140917042544_Maria%20_w800.JPG

7124286_MARIA_20140917042544_Maria%20_w800.JPG

Perfectly happy with that, tbh, we didn't have any preconceptions about her anyway. And isn't mum just the cutest thing anyway?

SingItOut · 19-10-2014 11:54pm

She's a collie cross springer. A few springers I've met have been quite nervy so maybe that's where it stems from.

Aw she is beautiful! She has such a smily face, hope she gets adopted soon

ferretone · 20-10-2014 12:01am

SingItOut wrote: »

She's a collie cross springer. A few springers I've met have been quite nervy so maybe that's where it stems from.

Aw she is beautiful! She has such a smily face, hope she gets adopted soon

She is down as reserved on their site now, so looks like it didn't take her long to charm somebody

Obviously she was still recovering from her spay when we adopted her last daughter (last son was still in there then too, but gone the next week.)

The staff member who checks up on the adoptees told me all her pups are turning into brilliant dogs, and they think it was because Maria was such an awesome mum

maggiepip · 20-10-2014 10:52am

SingItOut wrote: »

She's a collie cross springer. A few springers I've met have been quite nervy so maybe that's where it stems from.

Aw she is beautiful! She has such a smily face, hope she gets adopted soon

Collies can be nervy too! Amazing dogs so clever, sensitive and comical.

SingItOut · 20-10-2014 11:44am

Definitely! I don't know about the clever thing yet, she's had a lot of ditzy moments

But she definitely has a strong personality

rannerap · 20-10-2014 10:35pm

No one has claimed the lost kitten still so she is off to live with my mam on Monday. I would love to keep her but she seems to be bullying Luna a bit as she is a bit bigger than her, and I cant really afford a 4th cat. My mam only lives 10 minutes away and I will be on babysitting duty for her so Its not so bad. I know she is going to be spoilt rotten

The Chillout Zone (Off-Topic Thread)

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