The Chillout Zone (Off-Topic Thread)

SillyMangoX · 25-04-2015 6:35pm

toadfly wrote: »

Are yours pet related SMX? I've been thinking of getting a small one, maybe a pawprint but unsure what to get. Also afraid of pain which doesn't help!

2 of the 6 I have are related to my pets, one is of a cat sitting on the moon which was for an old cat I had, and I have 6 paw prints going down my spine, 2 for each of my current kitties! The rest were ones I just liked and the most recent is a tribute to a relative who passed away.
Honestly the pain isn't that bad depending on the area, generally the more flesh in an area, the lesser the pain so the one on my foot was quite painful yet the one on my thigh which was a lot bigger and took a lot longer I hardly felt a thing!

SillyMangoX · 25-04-2015 6:42pm

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

I've been thinking about getting a tiny pawprint behind my ear for a long time. The only thing putting me off is in case I ever have to tie my hair up for work and they would think it inappropriate.

Might be no harm in asking in work if they'd mind it, some places wouldn't! Or you could always get it someplace easier to hide. No one knows I've tattoos unless I show them and some of mine are quite big!

Zapperzy · 25-04-2015 6:45pm

Iv one on the back of my shoulder, I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt but it was a sort of sharp vibration, I'm quite a wuss but found it very bearable. I'd love another but I can't settle on what to get, I'd love a tribute to bunty in some way.

toadfly · 25-04-2015 7:00pm

I would love one of the dogs actual pawprints, must get one of Ozzies mucky print and see how big it would be.

Pumpkinseeds · 25-04-2015 7:47pm

I was going to have a very big Cheshire Cat tattooed under my armpit to cover massive surgical scar tissue but then another area flared up so no tattoo for me.:( On the plus side, it was going to cost around 300 quid and take up to 4 hours, so I don't think Mr Pumpkinseeds is too disappointed.

mymo · 26-04-2015 8:51am

We had light rain pretty much all day yesterday and cats were all in energy saving mode around the house, except Ruby, who wailed at me for 5 or 10 minutes at a time about every hour.

No amount of hugs and cuddles would stop it, she continued grumbling even while purring in our arms.

Didn't help that I ran out of dry food, so of course they all wanted it, ignoring the extra helpings of the wet food they normally love.
I got a small box of go cat to tide them over until I can get to a place that sells good quality food, and today is sunny again so I have peace this morning!

Mech1 · 26-04-2015 11:26am

Bluetits are moving into my nestbox!

Live camera / sound here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mech11

Pumpkinseeds · 26-04-2015 2:45pm

I hate that all the best photo ops happen when I don't have a camera with me. Poppy was under the duvet cover peeking out at me when I was changing the bedlinen last night. It looked like she was wearing a cloak, but of course I'd left my phone downstairs.

mymo · 26-04-2015 10:26pm

Anyone any advice for getting tablets into a very strong, large and REALLY angry cat?

Toby had a fight about 6 weeks ago, bite marks in his neck, which turned to an abscess, cleaned it up daily with salt water (as much as I could, he wasn't happy) but after a week it was back so had to go to vet and get antibiotics. Only got half the tablets into him, was nearly disembowelled, both arms were shredded and he tried to bite my face, still growls if I look at him 2 weeks later, and I think it's filling with pus again

Just tried to look at it while giving him a worm tablet, thought I felt a pocket again.

Kovu · 27-04-2015 10:05am

Wrap him in a towel and shove the tablet into this gob in a lump of butter?

Pumpkinseeds · 27-04-2015 11:42am

Could the vet not give him an antibiotic injection? We do that with our Toby as he's impossible to get tablets into. Maybe get some Parazole worming liquid to add to his food instead of the worm tablet. We were using Broadline flea/wormer but my cats had worrying responses to it at the weekend and we won't be buying it again.

mymo · 27-04-2015 1:06pm

I was using a towel and two people, one holding him one dosing, never under estimate how strong and viscious an angry and stressed cat can be!

He got anti biotic injection and 5 days tablets to follow up, only got 3 into him, and my wounds are just healing.
Hes actually a nice friendly cat most of the time, but was clearly treated badly before we got him and hates being held on too.

Pumpkinseeds · 27-04-2015 7:25pm

I was playing with Felix in the hall and he was doing the bum wiggling to make me throw something for him to maul, so I threw his catnip banana to him and accidentally hit him on the head with it. He didn't seem bothered though.

Mech1 · 27-04-2015 11:31pm

Mech1 wrote: »

Bluetits are moving into my nestbox!

Live camera / sound here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mech11

Camera upgrade tonight should be much better view now,

aonb · 29-04-2015 4:18pm

Ive turned in to a CAT slave :eek: came home after being out for a few hours, and decided that Tux needed some tinned Tuna!! Ignored the poor dog sitting looking up in my face with his "wheres mine" pitiful stare... Tux has me hypnotized!! Ive never opened a tin of "human" food for any of the dogs - ever! (Gave the dog a boring old doggie biscuit by the way)

Pumpkinseeds · 29-04-2015 5:32pm

aonb wrote: »

Ive turned in to a CAT slave :eek: came home after being out for a few hours, and decided that Tux needed some tinned Tuna!! Ignored the poor dog sitting looking up in my face with his "wheres mine" pitiful stare... Tux has me hypnotized!! Ive never opened a tin of "human" food for any of the dogs - ever! (Gave the dog a boring old doggie biscuit by the way)

That'll be Tux's mind control skills kicking in then. It's a slippery slope from here on in. Soon it'll be buying throws based on whether or not he'll like the texture, the list is endless, don't fight it, it's easier not to fight it.:D

Cherry Blossom · 29-04-2015 6:35pm

I just went to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich and when I came back I found my brother's dog had made a huge puddle on the new carpet in the sitting room. My mum is fuming at me for letting him in, better get scrubbing!

tk123 · 29-04-2015 7:40pm

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

I just went to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich and when I came back I found my brother's dog had made a huge puddle on the new carpet in the sitting room. My mum is fuming at me for letting him in, better get scrubbing!

Lucy wee'd on the new carpet a couple of days after we got it...THEN a few weeks later Bailey had a "blow out" on it :eek::eek:

Zapperzy · 29-04-2015 8:41pm

Driving home from work this evening and seen a couple walking a husky and a rottie. What caught my eye was the big happy head on the rottie carrying a blue teddy in his mouth :-)

Mech1 · 29-04-2015 9:17pm

WooHoo! Female finished building nest, and tonight is her first night staying over:D

Live camera feed here : http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mech11

tk123 · 30-04-2015 10:25am

I've had my eye on a ball that was stuck up on a weir miles up the river. Sure enough the rain brought it down our end, went into the bushes to get it and my legs (i had cropped combats on) are stung to bits from nettles! I don't remember them being so sore as a kid lol!! ....Although my granddad had some magic spray he used to put on us when we were little and got stung!

angeldaisy · 30-04-2015 11:06am

I'm going to stop buying Elly any more wonderful dog toys and just buy her a pack of biros - what is the attraction

tk123 · 30-04-2015 11:16am

angeldaisy wrote: »

I'm going to stop buying Elly any more wonderful dog toys and just buy her a pack of biros - what is the attraction

Like Lucy and my mums socks!! :pac:

reallyrose · 30-04-2015 2:24pm

I'm taking my poor cat to the vet on Saturday and I'm worried the vet will think I'm a terrible owner.

He's been stressed about something and is licking his fur out and looks like a mangey toilet brush.

I just want to make sure he's all fine and that it is all in his head but I have visions of large people in uniforms taking him away and clamping me in irons.

</whinge>

Pumpkinseeds · 30-04-2015 2:43pm

reallyrose wrote: »

I'm taking my poor cat to the vet on Saturday and I'm worried the vet will think I'm a terrible owner.

He's been stressed about something and is licking his fur out and looks like a mangey toilet brush.

I just want to make sure he's all fine and that it is all in his head but I have visions of large people in uniforms taking him away and clamping me in irons.

</whinge>

Poor puss cat. One of ours does the same thing, not to the same extent but enough to have the odd little bald spot. It's scary at times finding lots of tufts of fur around the house that she's pulled out of herself and frustrating not to be able to stop her.

jokettle · 30-04-2015 3:01pm

reallyrose wrote: »

I'm taking my poor cat to the vet on Saturday and I'm worried the vet will think I'm a terrible owner.

I had to drop my dog at the vet's at 8:30am because he went into the kitchen (where we've trained him not to go), jumped up to the counter, pulled down a chocolate cake wrapped in tinfoil and ate the entire thing. I was fully expecting them to berate me for even *thinking* about having chocolate anywhere near a dog. They've been lovely though. I get to take him home in a few hours

SillyMangoX · 30-04-2015 3:36pm

I was carrying Dude earlier on to bring him out to the utility to eat, and while doing so I banged my elbow off the door handle. The noise obviously disturbed him too much because he absolutely mauled my other arm, I was pumping bleeding from him and all the little scratches are bruised

I feel so stupid, it wasn't his fault at all as he was frightened but I started bawling crying from the shock of it! He used to be such a bomb proof cat, you could drop a saucepan beside him and he wouldn't flinch, but since his accident he skits at every little noise, it's not the first time he's done it to me

SingItOut · 30-04-2015 11:35pm

Vogue is always the one to catch mice, rats, birds etc so this evening when I went out she was standing over a brown bundle which I thought was a rat so I went over to take it away and it turned out to be a baby wild rabbit! I went back in and brought vogue with me, grabbed a tea towel and went back out and picked him up with the towel, I checked him all over and he didn't seem to be bleeding anywhere. He was almost the entire size of my hand so I thought he would have a better chance surviving being re-realised back into the field, as soon as I hid him in the long grass he took off running so fingers crossed the little guy will be ok. Definitely the cutest little thing I've ever seen

mymo · 01-05-2015 8:00am

Jake is running around like a kitten the last few days! (Well a very sleepy, slightly arthritic kitten)
He plays with Arabella, jumped on Tiffi to play this morning, poor dog was a little shocked at first, has been bossing Toby around (slapping the head off him if he dares sit in jakes spots, where he usually just goes off sadly to another spot) and generally running around much more.

Must be spring air getting to him!

Only a month ago he was on his third dose of antibiotics to try and shift a respiratory infection, we were worried he wouldn't last much longer.

reallyrose · 01-05-2015 9:06am

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

Poor puss cat. One of ours does the same thing, not to the same extent but enough to have the odd little bald spot. It's scary at times finding lots of tufts of fur around the house that she's pulled out of herself and frustrating not to be able to stop her.

Can you do anything to discourage them from doing it? I'm loathe to make the "stop doing that/jumping on the counter/eating what you found under the couch" hissy noise - I don't want him to think cleaning himself is Naughty.

Pumpkinseeds · 01-05-2015 12:55pm

reallyrose wrote: »

Can you do anything to discourage them from doing it? I'm loathe to make the "stop doing that/jumping on the counter/eating what you found under the couch" hissy noise - I don't want him to think cleaning himself is Naughty.

I've found that making extra time to play with her and give her lots of fuss helps calm things down a bit. With Poppy it's down to anxiety, she was abandoned in an apartment complex and came running up to me one day when I took a shortcut through there. She wouldn't move past a certain building so we knew that was where she'd been living and was waiting for them to come back for her, which they never did.:( It took us weeks to nab her from the woods there and get her in a carrier, we were going down to feed her twice a day. Shouting wouldn't help, it would just make it worse I think.

Pumpkinseeds · 01-05-2015 12:57pm

mymo wrote: »

Jake is running around like a kitten the last few days! (Well a very sleepy, slightly arthritic kitten)
He plays with Arabella, jumped on Tiffi to play this morning, poor dog was a little shocked at first, has been bossing Toby around (slapping the head off him if he dares sit in jakes spots, where he usually just goes off sadly to another spot) and generally running around much more.

Must be spring air getting to him!

Only a month ago he was on his third dose of antibiotics to try and shift a respiratory infection, we were worried he wouldn't last much longer.

It's almost full moon, ours always get a bit crazier and more excitable around full moon.

on_my_oe · 01-05-2015 4:18pm

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

With Poppy it's down to anxiety, she was abandoned in an apartment complex and came running up to me one day when I took a shortcut through there. She wouldn't move past a certain building so we knew that was where she'd been living and was waiting for them to come back for her, which they never did.:( It took us weeks to nab her from the woods there and get her in a carrier, we were going down to feed her twice a day.

Thats an awful story, I really can't understand how people can abandon their furry family members, I really can't

Mech1 · 01-05-2015 10:14pm

My little bird is home and asleep here tonight, I am hoping for first egg tomorrow!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mech11

ncur · 01-05-2015 10:27pm

Mech1 wrote: »

My little bird is home and asleep here tonight, I am hoping for first egg tomorrow!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mech11

Saw her last night too, have been checking in periodically over the last few days. Will have to get one for myself at some point!

mymo · 03-05-2015 9:33am

Arabella has been catching flies for my daughter for a couple of weeks, there's been the odd moth too since we started lettting her out, but this morning she moved onto bigger prey...

I caught her attempting to get into daughters room with a mouse!

She wasn't sure what to do with it, but wasn't letting anyone near her, last seen hiding under a shrub in the garden.

angeldaisy · 03-05-2015 10:15am

Rotten nights sleep again, the dogs are being a pain during the last few nights.
Last night Elly wouldn't settle in her crate - where she has slept since we got her. So I let her out and she got into bed with me, the OH was in the spare room - he's on early shifts this week and we need our sleep:D

Elly literally slept glued to my side and at one point I woke having almost been pushed out of the bed by her. It's typical- big king sized bed and the dogs have to sleep practically on top of me!!

On a separate note, we think we are going to take her in for her first dog show today - should be interesting! Just a local animal welfare show, but she's been practising her trick - she plays dead when I hold her in my arms! Guaranteed she won't do it under pressure though!!

angeldaisy · 03-05-2015 7:18pm

Well, we got absolutely soaked, Elly really doesn't like the rain and spent most of the time in my arms like a baby!!

Most of the dog show was called off, but they brought all the dogs who stayed into the ring. Elly got into the 1st round and won 2nd prize and Tara got into the second round and came 4th!

They weren't crazy about the dogs running loose, there's always one who doesn't believe their dog should be on a lead. But they were relatively well behaved for their first adventure!!

Dord · 03-05-2015 9:28pm

Our cat is coming up to 1 year old now so trying to get him onto adult food from the kitten food. I thought I was being clever by mixing the remaining kitten food with adult food (50/50)... but... he's more clever apparently. He ate all the adult food and left the kitten food. Picky git! :eek::o

mymo · 03-05-2015 10:31pm

I've mixed cheap food with the good stuff when running low waiting for a delivery, and mine do the same!
Three of the four pick out the good stuff, the other fella would eat anything so cleans up the rest.

borderlinemeath · 03-05-2015 10:44pm

Took Cocos final big dressing off today. The nail casing is growing back but it's still red and tender so it's socks and booties for the next few weeks until it hardens further. She's been brilliant, she wouldn't even look at the bandage or attempt to take it off and she's the same with her socks and booties. I have to tape them on to make sure they stay on though! It's hard to judge what size baby socks to buy for your dog!

on_my_oe · 04-05-2015 7:10am

awake since 6.15am

Heard Princess Foxy batting the Roman blinds so I brought them up 50cm so she could look out. No, she was still attacking them, took them up half way. Closed eyes... Opened eyes - she is now hanging off them. Rolled them up fully, sunshine streaming through windows. Princess Foxy decides ahh they're not interesting now - much better being on mammys bed demanding a pat and now she's asleep and I'm wide awake.

Mech1 · 04-05-2015 8:23am

My Bluetit nestbox continued.....

Well still no sign of any eggs, but I got the second camera sorted and the sound fixed.

Check it out live here http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mech11

Pumpkinseeds · 04-05-2015 12:27pm

Both Toby and Poppy decided to join me in the bathroom this morning. She was trying to use his tail as a toy, didn't go down well and is a good thing he's a patient cat.:) I wonder if Poppy remembers having a tail, all she has is a constantly twitching little stumpy one.

ShaShaBear · 04-05-2015 12:58pm

FINALLY getting our stinky old carpet ripped up and some laminate put down. Fingers crossed it withstands the dog test, at least for a while!

OH's dad is down staying for the week to help us put the floor down, dog went decidedly less mental than usual for about 2 minutes, and is treating him exactly the same as myself and OH after just a day of him being in the house. Had my mum up yesterday morning for tea, and as soon as she squeaked his toy a few times, his mind totally refocused on play and he forgot she was someone to greet. He was very good, returning the "ball" for fetch games, and there was only one or two times in the space of a few hours where he forgot his manners, but my mum was very strict and issued a stern "no".
As such, we're hoping to pick up a heavy duty squeaking toy for when visitors come, as the more noise they make the easier he is distracted by them. We did the same with Shadow, and eventually when people came to visit he would either lie down for a belly rub or go straight for a toy. Hopefully because the training instilled the behaviour and not just because he was a nutjob

Pretzill · 04-05-2015 8:55pm

ShaShaBear wrote: »

FINALLY getting our stinky old carpet ripped up and some laminate put down. Fingers crossed it withstands the dog test, at least for a while!

Took out the carpets a few years ago best decision ever! Dyson couldn't invent a hoover capable of removing the hair and I used to have to get down with a scrubbing brush first to remove the hairs - I put tiles in the rooms except for the bedroom where we fitted laminate but my girl dog at the time did not like walking on the laminate one bit - she would skirt gingerly around the edges like she was on skates!! The dogs I have now don't mind it at all and it's down eight years without any problems!

mymo · 04-05-2015 9:45pm

The only place we have carpet is on the stairs, they'd be too slippy without it (for dogs and teenager who falls down the stairs as it is, almost weekly)

When we moved here first Tiffi didn't bat an eye, Oliver spent most of the first few days on the stairs!
I had to buy loads of cheap mats and make a path to the kitchen and backdoor, he was fine after a week, just have to keep his nails trimmed and both their hairy paws.

tk123 · 04-05-2015 11:04pm

Yeah we're the same now - only have carpet on the stairs and landing which we got the same time as Lucy because we thought the stairs were too slippy for dogs and for carrying a pup up and down for toilet training! Bailey moved up to my room at night when we got the carpet

The last room that had carpet is having a laminate flooring put down by my dad while the rest of us are on our hols. That one was pulled up a couple of weeks ago because it was infested with moth worms!!! >_< puke puke puke

on_my_oe · 05-05-2015 7:09am

Princess Foxy attacked the curtains again this morning. OH quickly pulled them up, so her next tactic was to climb on top of the bedside lockers so she had a higher launching position. Now she's prowling around with a 'what trouble can I get into?' attitude on her

Pumpkinseeds · 05-05-2015 3:02pm

The neighbourhood crows are creeping me out a bit today. I feed the birds every day, there's a large green area out the front of the house and we get a lot of different types of birds. Usually the crows will sweep down for the food first but today they're too busy shrieking at each other in the trees for some reason and ignoring the food. The noise is creepy, even our cats are on edge.:eek:

The Chillout Zone (Off-Topic Thread)

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