Cats, Dogs, & Other Pets

[mntbikr15]

http://psu.facebook.com/album.php?ai...amp;id=9309386

Link has pics of my Siberian Husky Denali(they are a few months old)

Edit- Cant host them atm for some reason

[davelin]

Old picture of my english bulldog Oscar

[Philuva]

Here are my dogs. Maija is 6.5 years old. We got here from the pound in NYC when she was about 1 year old, she was found in a pack by Coney Island. She is a lab, chow, sheppard, pit mix with a really chill personality.



This is Lucy. She is 3.5 years old. We also got her when she was about 1 year old from the pound in Charlottesville. She is some type of hound dog. She is crazy, but in a good way. It took a little while, but Maija and Lucy love playing with each other now and I think it is really great for Maija's health.

[NJchick]

I've posted pics of my 2 Oriental Shorthairs before on 2+2. These guys are the absoulte love of my life. I recently rescued a stray cat from my condo complex and she is now living the lap of luxury with my parents.

Being a pet owner is so rewarding.

My boy Caesar





My Boy Romeo






Posing together



And watching TV with me on my lap

[tuq]

mtnbikr,

You should find a way to rehost some of those pics...many people aren't gonna do the extra click and that's an awesome looking dog. Same with all of them in this thread, really.

I realized a big reason I prefer cats is that having dogs is like having kids; not so much with cats. Way more supervision and nurture is required with dogs, and while they give more love in return they are also more prone to destruction of property, whereas with cats they are incredibly self-sufficient, self-cleaning animals who you can trust to leave alone for long stretches and they seem to largely be indifferent to that.

Another thing that bugs me about dogs is their loyalty can be so easily swayed by people food. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[adios]

I've owned cats in the past. They make great pets and the best thing about them is that they are so highly independent. I own three dogs. I like dogs better as I like the increased amount of interaction although bloodhounds are an independent sort. I've post pictures of my dogs before so just skip the rest if you've seen them.



Boss at about 13 weeks.



Boss chilling. All that black hair on his top has turned to tan.



Boss on the grooming table getting ready to show. The thing around his ears is a snood that is used to keep dirt and slime off of his hears before he shows.




Boss winning his first title in the show ring on his second weekend out at 11 months. It was a major and he won another major the next day. I wrote about his first show weekend, he's been winning every weekend he's showed since. He's close to finishing and we're holding him back from some shows because we want him to compete in a big show in California in April as a class dog. Problems you like to have [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].




Evy chilling.



Evy posing for a home shot those are some long ears no doubt.



Evy winning her AKC conformation championship.




the tan and white dog is my all american, name Ruckus. He's a great dog and great pet.

Don't have any pics with my bloodhounds on the trail doing SAR training. They love trailing but that's to be expected.

[colgin]

[ QUOTE ]
Wet food is a waste. Cats can be perfectly happy with dry Science Diet-style food. I give my cat a treat once a month or so -- a can of tuna fish.


[/ QUOTE ]

Debating wet versus dry foods for cats is a good way to start a fight between cat lovers who would otherwise get along. I have argued in favor of wet food on 2+2 and dont care to reiterate my points although (based on a lot of experience niot all good) I firmly believe that wet food is better.

For those who are interested I link the following articles as at least food for thought:

Why Cats Need Canned Food

and

Does Dry Food Clean Your Cat's Teeth

One anecdotal story. My younger cat who is now around 7 started showing signs of decreased kidney functions almost 2 years ago now. This is common in older cats but not younger ones. The vets told me that he was not in the early stages of Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) which is terminal and irreversible (and the undoing of many older cats), but that we needed to watch hi closely and hope he does not go there. Dry food is believed to be a contribtuing factor in CRF. Which is not to say that dry food diet cats will invariably get CRF becaus ethat is not the case. Most likely, my cat, an Abyssinain, is genetically predisposed to kidney problems. But also likely is that his dry food diet contributed. Anyway, we made a number of changes to his diet including a switch to exclusively wet food (we had previously done a combination of wet and dry). Our hope was that we would not see any further deterioration of his kidney functions as shown in blood and urine tests. There was no reason to think that anything we could do would cause his kidney functions to improve.

After switching Freedy to an all wet diet his kidney function levels actually did improve the next few times we have tested him, which we are ecstatic about. Now, had he been in CRF this would have been impossible. But since he was not at an irreversible point it seemed that the diet change has had a profound impact and we keep our fingers crossed for the best.

Here is a picture of my two Abys (Freedy, the boy, is the ruddy cat on the right).



Finally, while I strongly recommend gettign two cats, you have to be prepared for the possibility that they will not get along. The primary reason I got a second cat was to keep my first one company back when I worked ridicuous hours and was single. However, they never got along. The girl is very sweet but the boy who is also otherwise sweet bullies her and she has no patience. While the boy does not seem to hate the girl (butmerely seems to enjoy pushing her around), it is clear that the girl really dislikes him and would have preferred to have been alone. Notwithstanding that I love them both and am glad I have two.

[KingMedicine]

adios, LOVE yr bloodhound! Tho, Pynch (see my basset above) can crush yr bloodhound in the long-ear dept.

Pynchon's parents and his brother are big time show dogs, but Pynch has a little knot on the end of his tail that apparently made it where he couldnt compete in shows - which is fine with me since they wouldnt have sold him to me for only 1k if he was showable.

im 95% sure within a year i will be buying a bloodhound puppy - any advice and/or do you know any great west coast (im in california) breeders of quality bloodhounds? i dont necessarily want a show dog, but i want a high quality one for a pet and to be pynch's little brother or sister. what might i be expecting to spend on a nice bloodhound as a pet?

[Wondercall]

Ive posted these before in OOT. This is Bailey from a couple months ago.

[Wires]

Which one did you get first, how old are they, and did you anticipate any friction? I see dog/cat pics from time to time but I thought those were the exception. Also, what genders are they?

We had the dog first. When she turned one year old we had friends who needed to find a new home for their cat. I wasn't big on cats but my wife had been asking for one for a while. This cat was the same age as my dog, well cared for and super friendly so we agreed to take him in (dog is female, cat male).

We weren't sure how they would interact. My dog is a big playful dope so we knew she would love the cat - we just weren't sure how the cat would react. He took a couple weeks to get used to the dog but after that they were all good.