cassforcanines

We're visiting my aunt and paternal grandma today. My aunt has three dogs: Nissa (a mutt who looks like an ewok), Rosie (tiny tiny EVIL chihuahua) and Blacky (vicious mutt). Nissa and Rosie are females and Blacky is male. Blacky is always kept in away from visitors because he's so unfriendly. Nissa is very sweet but a bit snippy if you touch her arthritic rear end and is the alpha dog of the back. Rosie is a tiny, tiny chihuahua who growls at everyone but mostly because she's terrified.

Because Jingles is in heat would Nissa and Rosie be on the offensive since she's a new dog to "their" home and she's in heat? All of my aunt's dog's are fixed so Blacky couldn't even get her pregnant if he tried but would he really?

I hope someone has some experience with this because I'd like to prevent an all out pack attack on my dog.

1.I am getting a Ferret Nation!!
After christmas! I found it on craigslist! I AM SO EXCITED EVERYTHING GETS EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!

I am so excited, I am making hammock/cube/pyramid/liner (measurements anyone??) sets RIGHT NOW!

2.No really, does anyone have the measurements off the top of their heads? :)

3.I am looking to switch Avery and Olivia to Suebee's supplemented with Regal Rat, did anyone have any problem with their ratties not wanting to eat the RR?

4. I have on baby girl(Olivia) and a pair of baby boys left of the foster kids! The last pair of boys will be going to my friend who lives in this town with me, who has had rats before!

5.Olivia is pregnant. The other girls didn't seem to be pregnant, but we are pretty much 100% that she is, so I put her in a tank with fresh fleece, cloth nesting material, a hideout, lots of fresh water, and I just gave her a bit of scrambled egg. Anything else I should be doing?

I'm a new rattie owner! I work at petsmart, and I fell in love with rats through my work. My coworker had babies (rats) and I couldn't resist...

Their names are Fettucina and Alfreda, they're seeeesters (lame, but i came up with the name from my boyfriend's favorite food.)Fettucina is a normal hooded, and Alfreda is a hooded dumbo. They're around 2 months old, and they have a huge converted bird cage with the works. They're crazy hyper, and we absolutely love it. Fettucina does something similar to a butt-tuck (the thing that excited dogs do) and runs in a circle, when we tickle her and go "tss tss tsss". They jump on us when we open the cage, it's pretty cute. Alfreda is the only one that will sit still for pictures.

Aside from all the excitement, what do you guys feed your rats? Mine are on a diet of reduced calorie formula Chicken Natural Balance dog food, Mazuri blocks, and Nutriphase mix.. Along with various fruits and veggies daily.

I have some cruddy cellphone pictures of alfreda, since I don't have a working digital camera.. 

( Alfreda )

Okay so I thought I'd ask here first...

My rat, Haro, who is a black eyed white with 'husky markings' had always had a red spot in his eye. I rescued him from college, where I believe he originally came from a lab or a similar environment, but I'm not certain. Also, compared to my other rats of a similar age, his muscle and body structure is very... well, the others are huge.

Recently the red spot turned white, and then became more like a hole, where I can see into it. It doesn't appear to be causing him any pain or discomfort, or affect his orientation in any way, but I have not ever seen anything like it. Note that the cornea is over the hole, i.e. his eye is not punctured in any way.

Help?

So excited! Just got my package, thank you to Meredith and Izzie's mom! I took a couple pictures!

( penny was so excited... )
and new rattie update: the litter i'm waiting on from my breeder is on the way! cross your fingers for a female russian blue ^.^

 I decided to do something new fngor christmas and make my own gift tags, thought you all might enjoy seeing them too!

  

Any ideas about what breed mix my dog Honey is? She is about eight months old and weighs about 28 lbs. She stopped growing when she was about five months old. The shelter we got her from told us she was a boxer/lab mix (she had floppy ears when we got her at about 12 weeks old), but I'm pretty sure they guessed wrong. She looks a little like a basenji and other people have told me so too, but she definitely barks. Maybe she's mixed with lab too? Who knows!



( More photos here )

Did anyone see this. A mutt rescued in South Africa who's owners took him on a round the world trip to raise awareness for rescue dogs. I would love to do something like this with my dog but I can't even imagine the amount of paperwork required for it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237315/A-hound-world-80-days-Meet-Oscar-canine-globe-trotting-sensation.html

Jingles is not happy.

Do dogs get "emotional" in heat? She just wants to sleep by the fire place or be held.
I've never had a dog in heat before so what should I expect for the next 2 - 3 weeks?

So, we're looking to get a couple little boys in the next month or two, and are wondering if anyone can recommend a reputable breeder in the Portland, Oregon area.  We've gone the PetCo route - once - and would never subject ourselves to that again (or our other rats). 

Thanks for your help!

I've taken a bunch of pictures of my boys these past 6 months.

( lots & lots & lots of pictures )

I don't think I've ever posted pics but I rescued a sweet little boy today so I figured it's time for a picspam :D

( Peektures! )
ETA: Frankie is fixed, Vasquez's former owner told me she's fixed and Hicks is getting his appointment.

I've just finished making dog cake and dog biscuits for my pack's christmas presents. However I'm a bit lost on what to do about icing etc? I figured I would use yoghurt somehow but don't really know how. All the recipes I'm finding online include icing sugar which I would prefer to stay away from/think I should stay away from. Does anyone know anyway I could decorate/frost the cake with yoghurt, or know any good dog frosting recipes?
Thanks!

My rat flicks his tail, like a cat does, when he's agitated.
Do any of your rats do this also?

My sister's roommate said that our dog was in heat because she was swollen.
Today, we picked her up from her grooming appointment at Petsmart and the groomer told us that she was definitely in heat because she was bleeding while she was at the store. I wanted to spay her before her first heat cycle but now I'll have to wait until January. My previous dog, Osita was spayed at 9 months and we're pretty sure she never went into heat because we would take her to the dog park frequently and no male dogs ever gave her special attention.

So, I bought the dog diapers from Petsmart which cost $12.53 for only 12. I find that too expensive. Does anyone know where I can find them for less?

I really do NOT want her to get pregnant. I love puppies and they're great but I can't justify letting her have puppies when I see so many stray dogs and dogs that have to be put down because no one will adopt them. My older sister wants her to have puppies but I said NO WAY. She works, goes to school full-time, and doesn't live at home. I go to school full-time and live an hour away during the semester. My mom goes to college, has to take care of the house, my little sister and all her other responsibilities. I got Osita (previous dog) fixed at the Golden State Humane Society in Garden Grove for only $50 so I'll be calling them tomorrow to set up an appointment for mid-January. They are usually very busy so I need to make sure there is some availability.

I'll have to make sure I walk her in a remote area and not leave her in the yard unattended. Thankfully I don't have to go back to school until January 25th!

happy holidays from kimbo slice the elf dog!

( more elf puppy )

A vet visit and $45 later, Bryan is just... not hungry! The vet really checked him out thoroughly. He eats, he just doesn't eat as much because he's just not that hungry. He's also a bit overweight, nearing 27 lbs when he should be in the 21-22 range. No big deal, I'll just cut back on the amount of food I usually give him and try to exercise him more (hey Bryan, wanna run up and down the stairs buddy?!). At least it's not anything serious. :)

Since my last post about losing winnie I am now down to my last girl. After losing 5 of our 6 girls this year my husband and I have decided not to get any more rats for the time being. It has been an emotional rollercoaster and we are not ready to take on more ratties just yet.

Now with olivia being our only girl, and very outgoing, I want to know if there are any special things I can do for her. We were thinking about getting one of those "hampter balls" but her size so she can run around freely in the house. We have a cat and dog so I am afraid to let her run around on my bed.

I do take her out to watch tv and cuddle for an hour or so.

Now I have this big martins cage and it seems so lonely in there.

Thanks!

P.s. I want to say thank you again for all of the kind words you said for winnie.

So a i believe in the beginning of November i bought Angel Eyes for Panda. I never realized how stained his eyes were until i looked at the before and after photos. I would wipe pandas eyes with a warm washcloth frequently enough before using angel eyes. Even though its only been a little over a month i can see a huge improvement! I just wanted to share if anyone else was considering trying it.

Just so you know the first day i tried it out on his food he looked at me like "what is this? what did i do wrong?" i turned to my husband and said "oh no! he thinks i'm poisoning him!" haha. Now he LOVES it and prefers it on his food. I bought the beef flavor from Petsmart (because that's all they had)

before and after pictures are behind the cut since they are a little big. :)

( panda's eyes before/after )