The Chillout Zone (Off-Topic Thread)

Pumpkinseeds

I was wondering if Tobys 'other family' had gone on holiday since he's been coming back to bed with us at night this week instead of vanishing from about 10pm until lunch time, then he strolled in 20 minutes ago, having been gone since the early hours and walked past his food. So clearly he's eaten at their house/houses.:rolleyes:

on_my_oe

They do say you don't own a cat, you merely serve it. Toby hasn't heard of austerity and wants as many servants as he can possibly recruit.

Meanwhile Princess Foxys diet remains A list - she'll eat roasted chicken, tuna chunks (but not flakes), and steak. Salmon no, mince no, pork if she's in the mood, wet cat food - ha you're having a laugh! The neighbours kids have been calling her cat tree 'Princess Foxys castle' and yesterday arrived with a toy crown for her. She looked perplexed then delighted as she batted it with her paws.

tk123

we've to get a third antibiotic now(!) Labs results are back in and the pathogen that it was/is is resistant to the ones he's on now.. I wonder if he picked something up in the dunes the other weekend - we haven't been for months and months because Lucy always rolls but went since she was injured and couldn't come with us!

Cherry Blossom

I started feeding a tin of sardines on a Friday 3 weeks ago. The difference in Teddy's coat is unbelievable already. He was just a giant frizeball before and is much sleeker now, so much easier to get a comb through too. The only down side is that he gets covered in tomato sauce all down his front.

Dubl07

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

I started feeding a tin of sardines on a Friday 3 weeks ago. The difference in Teddy's coat is unbelievable already. He was just a giant frizeball before and is much sleeker now, so much easier to get a comb through too. The only down side is that he gets covered in tomato sauce all down his front.

Teddy needs to follow Bailey's example and wear a bib!

Zapperzy

tk123 wrote: »

we've to get a third antibiotic now(!) Labs results are back in and the pathogen that it was/is is resistant to the ones he's on now.. I wonder if he picked something up in the dunes the other weekend - we haven't been for months and months because Lucy always rolls but went since she was injured and couldn't come with us!

I got to the second sentence and pictured a labrador retriever wearing a lab coat examining Bailey

tk123

Zapperzy wrote: »

I got to the second sentence and pictured a labrador retriever wearing a lab coat examining Bailey

:pac:
Well all good with the new new tablets - they're palatable this time so no hassle trying to conceal them and then listening for the little 'clink!' noise as he eats the ham and spits the pill out on the floor lol! I was having to give Lucy a little roll of ham too each time so she wouldn't feel left out!

mymo

Tiffi is on antibiotics too for the last 2weeks, 6 days left and she's a pain in the arse to get them into.
If I hide them in something, I have to give Oliver the same or she won't eat it, she chews so carefully and spits out tablet, even in small pieces. I'm currently crushing them into sardines in tomato sauce and still not getting the whole tablet into her.
For a small dog she has jaws of steal, even the vet couldn't get one down her throat.
Any tips for getting a fussy little bitch to take her tablets?
Peanut butter wrapped in chorizo was a hit for a while but she got wise

tk123

I hide Bailey's thyroid medicine in a piece of the sausage treats (brown bag) from lidl so might be worth a try? You can mould it around the pill

Pumpkinseeds

mymo wrote: »

Tiffi is on antibiotics too for the last 2weeks, 6 days left and she's a pain in the arse to get them into.
If I hide them in something, I have to give Oliver the same or she won't eat it, she chews so carefully and spits out tablet, even in small pieces. I'm currently crushing them into sardines in tomato sauce and still not getting the whole tablet into her.
For a small dog she has jaws of steal, even the vet couldn't get one down her throat.
Any tips for getting a fussy little bitch to take her tablets?
Peanut butter wrapped in chorizo was a hit for a while but she got wise

My parents used to hide them under the jam in Mikado biscuits.

Pumpkinseeds

It's Felix gotcha day. He's 8 today and he's ruled the roost here since he showed up in the garden 7 years ago, with a polyp in his ear that you could smell from a distance. Wouldn't be without him, and he'll be enjoying his favourite treat of tinned tuna for dinner.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

mymo wrote: »

Tiffi is on antibiotics too for the last 2weeks, 6 days left and she's a pain in the arse to get them into.
If I hide them in something, I have to give Oliver the same or she won't eat it, she chews so carefully and spits out tablet, even in small pieces. I'm currently crushing them into sardines in tomato sauce and still not getting the whole tablet into her.
For a small dog she has jaws of steal, even the vet couldn't get one down her throat.
Any tips for getting a fussy little bitch to take her tablets?
Peanut butter wrapped in chorizo was a hit for a while but she got wise

I was going to suggest peanut butter or butter! My little man just came off anti biotics and anti inflammatory tablets recently and when I would say "sweet!!" He would come and gobble it up. Poor little innocent dog!!

I have working dog mammy guilt. I work a lot, and they miss me all day. They aren't by themselves all day, but they're very attached to me and I feel bad. The youngest one has started stealing my shoes and taking them to bed with him. He doesn't chew them up, oddly, just sleeps with them. Little weirdo

bluecherry74

Peanut butter is brilliant for hiding tablets in because the tablets stick to it really well. Jessie gets tablets morning and evening and of course Henry has to get his "tablets" as well, i.e. an empty smidge of peanut butter. I'm currently weaning Jess off one of her tablets so she's only getting that one once a day, but they're so used to getting two doses of peanut butter each that they sit and wait expectantly for their second dose. There was I thinking I'd be able to halve my peanut butter expenditure! :P

There's a bird shrieking somewhere in the tree beside my house. When I first heard it yesterday evening it sounded so close and so loud that I though one of the chickens was in trouble. When I went out to check, they had all stopped what they were doing and were standing around with their necks stretched up looking worried!

Pumpkinseeds

I really don't get why people think it's ok to let dogs off leash in neighbourhoods. I was visiting my parents today and one of their cats was sunbathing in the drive. Anyways, I heard lots of barking so out I went to see what was happening, and there's a massive dog chasing him. I recognised the owners in the distance, they pass my house every day with the dog. No effort at all was made to control or even call the dog. When they did arrive I told them to put the dog on a lead.

'Oh, he just smells the cat' is what yer woman says to me. As if it's perfectly fine for the dog to be on private property harassing a cat. So I told her that I knew he was after the cat and that if he ever gets the cat it'll be a big effing vet bill for her. Some people are just begging for a boot up the arse, and they'd be in their mid 60's, so are old enough to know better.:mad: According to my dad they pass by the house twice a day and they don't live locally.

Zapperzy

Raw sausage cut into 3 parts, hide tablet in the middle of one piece. Feed non tablet sausage piece, let him chew and enjoy it. Offer second piece with tablet in it and no sooner than its in his mouth show him the third piece. Swallows it whole 9 times out of ten in anticipation of another piece :-) iv yet to crack the cat's weakness

Kovu

Was being dragged around the garden centre earlier by my mum and just on the off-chance they had catnip plants, I asked the nice lady behind the counter. She ran off to check and practically begged me to take the last two as all the cats she has (22:eek:) destroy them every time they arrive in to the centre.
Soooo I acquired two plants for free! Now, will the cats destroy them as soon as they're planted? :pac:

Alun

Kovu wrote: »

Was being dragged around the garden centre earlier by my mum and just on the off-chance they had catnip plants, I asked the nice lady behind the counter. She ran off to check and practically begged me to take the last two as all the cats she has (22:eek:) destroy them every time they arrive in to the centre.
Soooo I acquired two plants for free! Now, will the cats destroy them as soon as they're planted? :pac:

That happens every time I try to plant any, they just get flattened, and never make it past a few days.

Luckily my opposite neighbour has a large part of his front garden planted with the things, so our cats, and most of the neighbourhood cats use it as a kind of feline 'drug den'. He doesn't mind as he has a cat himself. It's strange to see all the cats in there amongst the plants writhing around on their backs high on catnip!

mymo

Thanks for suggestions, but I've tried all those, today is the third day without food for Tiffi as she refuses to eat anything with tablets in, even crushed into sardines in spicy tomato sauce. She's a Lhasa Apso, so small mouth, and I think there must be some blood hound in the lineage, I just touched a tablet and Adam tart and she refused to eat it. I tried polish sausage left on a plate on the sofa but she sniffed the plate and walked away. She loves to steal tasty food.

Pumpkinseeds

Kovu wrote: »

Was being dragged around the garden centre earlier by my mum and just on the off-chance they had catnip plants, I asked the nice lady behind the counter. She ran off to check and practically begged me to take the last two as all the cats she has (22:eek:) destroy them every time they arrive in to the centre.
Soooo I acquired two plants for free! Now, will the cats destroy them as soon as they're planted? :pac:

I saw a photo once where someone had a metal basket, like you'd get in the supermarket, over their catnip plants and it was growing up through it so the cats could get at it but not destroy it. You could probably rig something up with some reinforced plastic mesh from a hardware shop.

Kovu

Interesting!

Can't wait to see how they react when I plant them, I have covers from planting veg here so may cover them for a while until they're stronger. The cats at the centre must have been chewing at them as they're a bit tatty

NamelessPhil

Chicken wire or a fine meshed hanging basket upended over the catnip plants saved mine. Otherwise they get eaten down to the ground.

ShaShaBear

Opie finally grasped the concept of "go around". It was one of Shadow's last tricks learned (at a ripe old age of 9) and I've been really struggling with Opie since he's so food-driven, he just tries to take the food :pac: Well he figured it out and has it mastered in a matter of minutes once he realised what I wanted! Now I have to think of a new one to keep him occupied! He has all the basic ones, and he does know how to open and close doors without me having taught him

tk123

Bow and roll over are good crowd pleasers!

ShaShaBear

tk123 wrote: »

Bow and roll over are good crowd pleasers!

He has roll over already. Promptly continues with a roll over when you tell him to lie down
I did teach Shadow bow, think we called it "play" though. Must try that one next, you used to be able to get Shadow into the play bow by stomping your foot (which led to a chase) and it was really easy to treat. Opie, not so much. He will do it playing alone with his toys - suppose that's where the clicker comes in :pac:

tk123

I tried teaching it to Lucy last year for a trick title we were going for and gave up then a few months ago we were doing a class and we had to teach them a new trick - we already knew what everyone else was doing so tried the bow again and we got it eventually! What got it this time around was rewarding her with a toy instead of treats - she's not always into food rewards. I lured her with the toy then threw it for it/played with her - so two for the price of one because we practised her 'give' command at the same time The other week when Lucy was in getting her stitches out and Bailey was with us they were both doing tricks in the waiting room after lol!

.... i should get my act together and go for the next title

Cows Go µ

ShaShaBear wrote: »

He has roll over already. Promptly continues with a roll over when you tell him to lie down
I did teach Shadow bow, think we called it "play" though. Must try that one next, you used to be able to get Shadow into the play bow by stomping your foot (which led to a chase) and it was really easy to treat. Opie, not so much. He will do it playing alone with his toys - suppose that's where the clicker comes in :pac:

I love anti and clock, which is going around a poll or any vertical object either anti clockwise or clockwise. It's fun because you can practice it on walks on any trees or signs you walk past then she has to run to catch up and she loves chasing me so she thinks it's hilarious. I taught it for agility but it's a nice trick anyway

Pepper's current favourites are left and right which is doing spins without the poll and walking backwards. When I'm trying to get her excited I just ask her "What?" (as in what are you going to do?) and she starts spinning around in different directions then going backwards as fast as she can. And if that doesn't work she barks at me

tk123

Bailey LOVES to spin/twist around too lol!? They were both doing it in the vets the other week which probably wasn't a good idea on her bandaged paw(!) I must record them doing it at the same time. I thought my friend's dog to do it too - he's so big and lanky it just looks funny lol!

Cows Go µ

tk123 wrote: »

Bailey LOVES to spin/twist around too lol!? They were both doing it in the vets the other week which probably wasn't a good idea on her bandaged paw(!) I must record them doing it at the same time. I thought my friend's dog to do it too - he's so big and lanky it just looks funny lol!

I don't know why but they seem to love it. When Pepper is in a super excited mood (or when I'm getting her to do tricks for dinner and she is really hungry) she spins so quick she is actually jumping, spinning then landing in her original position.

I find it really handy for agility because I can do it on the start line so she is in a really excited but focused and wanting to please mood before we start the course.

ShaShaBear

When Opie's excited he stomps. It's so odd. He just jumps onto his hind legs and sort of throws his front paws to the ground over and over. Sorta like a wild fox trying to flush out a mouse or something

tk123

My poor cat is gone 6 years today!