The Official FC Pets & Animals thread
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grampa_herb
Epstein didn't kill himself
little maggie
Well-Known Member
This may be the wrong thread but: my vet prescribed gabapentin for my dogs anxiety. I'd rather give her cbd oil. Has anyone used it with your pet and if so what brand or kind?
lwien
Well-Known Member
Gabapentin is a drug that is primarily prescribed for nerve pain and seizures in humans. Some have used it off-label to treat anxiety but that's not its primary use.
Just found this for you though: https://www.petmd.com/dog/care/gabapentin-dogs-what-you-need-know
Just found this for you though: https://www.petmd.com/dog/care/gabapentin-dogs-what-you-need-know
Last edited:
Ramahs
Fucking Combustion (mostly) Since February 2017
Do You Run in Your Dreams?
Ha ha. Now this is a little bit more active sleeping.
Wait for it...
Squiby
Well-Known Member
There is a chipmunk that lives in a hole close to the house. He likes to hang out on the porch.
I've been worried about him, thinking Pickles will catch him one day and that will be the end. Pickles is a stray car that came to live with me a few years ago. He's an excellent mouser. He spends his days outside and come into the house to sleep at night.
So I've noticed Pickles with a chippy several times now. I realised it's the same chipmunk that lives by the house. Pickles will catch him and carry him around in his mouth, then let him go. The chippy doesn't play dead or run off. They both just sit there, lounging about together and then the two of them will romp off again after the break.
Today I watched them for quite awhile. Pickles walking along with the chippy in his mouth. He stops and puts him down. They both sit there for a moment. Then the chippy starts running in circles followed by a somersault. He does this a few times back and forth in front of Pickles and I wonder if he's having a stroke or is fatally injured. Nope. He repeats this act with Pickles sitting there ignoring him. Chippy is trying to get his attention. Finally chippy runs over to Pickles and under his tummy, jumps up and swats him before running off for a distance then turns around, waiting for Pickles to follow. Chippy does this again and finally Pickles takes chase and off they go.
Pickles is a very good cat!!
A few weeks ago, before I realized that they were friends, I scolded Pickles when he caught the chipmunk and made him drop him. Then I tried to shoo the chippy away, to give him cover to run to safety. He just stood there and stared at me. I thought it was so odd. I was trying to rescue him but I was just interrupting their game.
Have you ever heard of such a thing???
I've been worried about him, thinking Pickles will catch him one day and that will be the end. Pickles is a stray car that came to live with me a few years ago. He's an excellent mouser. He spends his days outside and come into the house to sleep at night.
So I've noticed Pickles with a chippy several times now. I realised it's the same chipmunk that lives by the house. Pickles will catch him and carry him around in his mouth, then let him go. The chippy doesn't play dead or run off. They both just sit there, lounging about together and then the two of them will romp off again after the break.
Today I watched them for quite awhile. Pickles walking along with the chippy in his mouth. He stops and puts him down. They both sit there for a moment. Then the chippy starts running in circles followed by a somersault. He does this a few times back and forth in front of Pickles and I wonder if he's having a stroke or is fatally injured. Nope. He repeats this act with Pickles sitting there ignoring him. Chippy is trying to get his attention. Finally chippy runs over to Pickles and under his tummy, jumps up and swats him before running off for a distance then turns around, waiting for Pickles to follow. Chippy does this again and finally Pickles takes chase and off they go.
Pickles is a very good cat!!
A few weeks ago, before I realized that they were friends, I scolded Pickles when he caught the chipmunk and made him drop him. Then I tried to shoo the chippy away, to give him cover to run to safety. He just stood there and stared at me. I thought it was so odd. I was trying to rescue him but I was just interrupting their game.
Have you ever heard of such a thing???
Roth
Pining for the Mountains
That's amazing, grab some video next time!
Copacetic
Somewhere North of The Wall
That's astonishing!
I've heard that even brief infections of the toxoplasma gondii protozoa can cause rodents to completely lose their instinctive fear of cats.
Toxoplasmosis can affect a very wide range of warm blooded mammals (I believe around 10% of adult American humans have it, but suffer no symptoms, up to 60% infection rate in other parts of the world) so I'd be amazed if chipmunks were immune.
Toxoplasmosa gondii has a life cycle that involves cat (and other predator) faeces, and rodents, and has some amazing properties including the epigenetic remodelling (!) of neural pathways to cause various behavioural changes, chiefly the aforementioned reduction in predator aversion (rodents may also appear more playful) which increases the probability of the infected animal being eaten, therebye continuing the protozoan lifecycle in a predators intestines.
Perhaps (and this is pure speculation on my part!) your cat instinctively recognises the unusual rodent behaviour, and avoids killing the chipmunk due to the infection, but the chipmunk is encouraged to engage in 'play' behaviour with your cat by the T-G infection.
Maybe your cat is conflicted between the instincts to hunt and kill prey, and the instinct to avoid infection by the protozoa?
As far as I know toxoplasmosis is only really much of a concern to humans who have compromised immune systems or are pregnant (can cause foetal infection, pregnant women are advised to avoid cleaning cat litter trays, as that's where the T-G oocytes are found).
Acute human T-G infection can cause flu like symptons and become chronic, but my (very limited) knowledge of T-G infections in humans is that it is rare for any treatment (antibiotics, maybe specialized ones
) to be prescribed.Livestock, and almost all warm blooded mammals are subject to possible T-G infection (I've read that infection in farmed pigs can be between 0 to 90%!) and it's fairly common to find evidence of it in other farmed meats such as goat (~50% IIRC) sheep etc.
Don't be alarmed by any of the above, as my knowledge of T-G is VERY limited and I must admit that by brief interest in it was only inspired by the death of a character in Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting novel, and Internet videos of mice with cat/rat 'best buddies'!
Do some googling if you're interested, as there's every chance I'm VERY wrong about any, or all of the above
His_Highness
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
@Squiby - Love that!
I've seen this behavior with a squirrel. We had a party in the backyard and I noticed something jumping around the dog (Pekingese and poodle mix). At first I thought the dog and a rat were circling each other but after watching for a second it was obvious they were playing. There were just too many opportunities for both to have bitten the other and what I thought was a rat had plenty of opportunity to get away. The dog wasn't growling and the two were jumping all over each other. We figured out that it wasn't a rat and that it was a juvenile squirrel.
My Dad suggested we capture the squirrel because it was young and wouldn't survive since it didn't fear humans and dogs. I had no problem picking him up and he seemed perfectly happy to he held AND fed.
We had the squirrel for several months. Kept it in a cage in my room for a short period of time but when I was home we let it have the run of the house and eventually the cage was left open. The cage is where we put his food so he always went back to it to sleep and to our surprise used it as a bathroom. I could take it outside and it would sit on my shoulder and run away a few yards and then run back, climbing up my leg and shirt and back to my shoulder.
The older it got the more I'd find him (Also named Chippy) hanging on to the backdoor screen looking outside. Our trips outside changed. He would run further away and would take longer to come back. Eventually he took off for a day or more and we'd find him hanging on the backdoor screen. We'd let him in and he'd hang around for awhile, sometimes days, and then back to the screen to let us know he had to leave.
Early on we tried to get him "his shots" and thought about keeping him but the veterinarian we talked to refused. If I remember correctly it was because it was illegal to keep one and the vet thought it would eventually mature and seek a mate and that it would become aggressive.
Eventually he stopped coming around but we heard stories of a overly friendly squirrel terrorizing folks by trying to climb up their cloths.
I've seen this behavior with a squirrel. We had a party in the backyard and I noticed something jumping around the dog (Pekingese and poodle mix). At first I thought the dog and a rat were circling each other but after watching for a second it was obvious they were playing. There were just too many opportunities for both to have bitten the other and what I thought was a rat had plenty of opportunity to get away. The dog wasn't growling and the two were jumping all over each other. We figured out that it wasn't a rat and that it was a juvenile squirrel.
My Dad suggested we capture the squirrel because it was young and wouldn't survive since it didn't fear humans and dogs. I had no problem picking him up and he seemed perfectly happy to he held AND fed.
We had the squirrel for several months. Kept it in a cage in my room for a short period of time but when I was home we let it have the run of the house and eventually the cage was left open. The cage is where we put his food so he always went back to it to sleep and to our surprise used it as a bathroom. I could take it outside and it would sit on my shoulder and run away a few yards and then run back, climbing up my leg and shirt and back to my shoulder.
The older it got the more I'd find him (Also named Chippy) hanging on to the backdoor screen looking outside. Our trips outside changed. He would run further away and would take longer to come back. Eventually he took off for a day or more and we'd find him hanging on the backdoor screen. We'd let him in and he'd hang around for awhile, sometimes days, and then back to the screen to let us know he had to leave.
Early on we tried to get him "his shots" and thought about keeping him but the veterinarian we talked to refused. If I remember correctly it was because it was illegal to keep one and the vet thought it would eventually mature and seek a mate and that it would become aggressive.
Eventually he stopped coming around but we heard stories of a overly friendly squirrel terrorizing folks by trying to climb up their cloths.
Tranquility
Well-Known Member
DirtyD
Well-Known Member
We had a baby squirrel when I was a kid, he didn't live with us inside but he would come scratch at the sliding glass door of my house every morning at 630 am. I'd let him in and he would sit on the couch with me and eat pecans. His name was Beau. He'd hang out for 20 mins or so, fill up on pecans and play with me and my little brother. Then he would leave and return and repeat the next morning. One day he never came back and my dad explained to us that he was growing up and probably had a girlfriend now and was too busy.
Like puff the magic dragon in reverse? Happy Friday fc!! Cheers, D.
Like puff the magic dragon in reverse? Happy Friday fc!! Cheers, D.
grampa_herb
Epstein didn't kill himself
Wonderful heart-warming stories here lately. 
I once bought a baby green iguana with my paper-route savings. The thing died within a week. My mom said I should bury it right away, but I didn't wanna listen to her. A day later the eyes were sunk in and my room stuck, so I took it out by the side of the house all pissed off and chopped its head off with the shovel before burying it. Guess I showed that fucking dead lizard!
I once bought a baby green iguana with my paper-route savings. The thing died within a week. My mom said I should bury it right away, but I didn't wanna listen to her. A day later the eyes were sunk in and my room stuck, so I took it out by the side of the house all pissed off and chopped its head off with the shovel before burying it. Guess I showed that fucking dead lizard!
His_Highness
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
We had a black cat that we got when he was around 3 months from a family who had rescued it. It had not been fixed and had a really bad case of worms.
One day there was this smell on the couch that we had never smelled before. Turned out to be the cat marking his territory. I didn't know what to to do so I rubbed his face in it and scolded him like a puppy. Called the vet and was told he needed to be fixed ASAP before marking becomes habitual. When I asked the vet if there was a chance we could let him keep his "junk" and teach him to stop marking we were told "only if you're going to turn him into an outside and inside cat but even then it might not work since he has already started in the house".
Wife hated the cat and was looking forward to his junk-ectomy but I refused to get him fixed until he marked the house one more time. My wife asked me why I was being so stubborn.....I told her "If I were the cat I'd want the benefit of the doubt too!".
He marked the recliner chair after a few days and I got him fixed....his name was Lucky.
One day there was this smell on the couch that we had never smelled before. Turned out to be the cat marking his territory. I didn't know what to to do so I rubbed his face in it and scolded him like a puppy. Called the vet and was told he needed to be fixed ASAP before marking becomes habitual. When I asked the vet if there was a chance we could let him keep his "junk" and teach him to stop marking we were told "only if you're going to turn him into an outside and inside cat but even then it might not work since he has already started in the house".
Wife hated the cat and was looking forward to his junk-ectomy but I refused to get him fixed until he marked the house one more time. My wife asked me why I was being so stubborn.....I told her "If I were the cat I'd want the benefit of the doubt too!".
He marked the recliner chair after a few days and I got him fixed....his name was Lucky.
