Going to the park!
Unrelated, am I wrong to use the phrase “raw dogging” to refer to the act of walking your dog without headphones?
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Wrong, not exactly. But if you were to say “Im going rawdogging with my dog” youre gonna end up with plenty of odd looks.
And maybe some unwanted advances at the dog park
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Meet Louis (pronounced Louie).
He won’t ever take the place of our little man, Oscar. But he is amazing so far and we already love him.
Edit: thats a terrible picture. Let me see if I can fix
Edit: goddman it
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You have a pet moose?
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For those who have introduced a kitten into a house with an older cat (somewhere between 13 and 15) any suggestions on integration? Our old lady isnt aggressive, and aside from some quick bats and hisses when the little guy comes flying at her at 1000 mph, shes pretty tolerant of him, but her demeanor, and most concerningly for me, her appetite have changed considerably. I just want my sweet old lady back, but she seems pretty constantly on alert (again, no real signs of aggression or panic, ears are forward and receptive, breathing is normal, she slow blinks still when looking at us) but any time she isnt engaged with us or asleep, she will post up near the door of her home base and look over at his home base (whether the door is open or closed) and just watch for hours. She wont do lap time, or lay next to us like normal, just on the floor sitting and staring in his general direction. She will play with her string toy, and loves getting brushed but the minute we stop its back to the staring spot.
We had a pretty regular food routine before he arrived, dry food available when needed, canned food when I woke up and around 4 Pm. She would meet me at the same spot at these times and lead me to her bowl and then eat her food, and its now been three days since ive seen her eat. Instead of leading me to her food and meowing while I prepare it, she will go to her staring spot. Ill take her down to her food dish and serve it up but she just sniffs it and walks away. She may still be eating her dry food but its hard to tell.
Many years ago I brought a kitten into the house to keep my older cat company. The older cat hated the younger one from the jump until the end, and I did everything you’re supposed to do introduction-wise.
How long has it been?
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“Hated” is a strong word, but had a bit of the same issue. We got a kitten under the assumption that our ~3-year old cat would have a friend to play with. Our older cat became less friendly almost instantly. 15 years later, the kitten moved on to the next phase of life and our older cat (once again the only cat in the house) is much more friendly now.
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We got the kitten on Saturday. He stayed in his home base sight unseen Saturday and Sunday. They met face to face Monday and we try to schedule his time outside his room to when she is sleeping so he can explore the house without disturbing her too much. Yesterday we did play sessions in eyesight of each other but on opposite sides of the hall. They both played with their toys pretty vigorously but when he ran over to interact she disengaged.
So, all told only 5 days. I would be a lot less concerned if she was eating like normal. The whole “give treats with succesfull interactions” would probably work great except she has no food drive. Not even for her favorite treats
This is the last thing I want. Dawkins is the sweetest cat I’ve ever had. Having her lose some of that disposition before she ultimately crosses the rainbow bridge would be devastating.
She was the younger of an introductory pair 10 years ago, I was hoping that experience would lead to her being the teaching motherly type to the little one. I know im likely just rushing it, and eventually her survival instinct of “I have to eat or I will die” will kick in, but a few days with no food drive is kinda scary for a pretty highly food motivated cat.
It reads worse than it actually was. It’s not like there was constant fights and hissing. Our older cat was always a little ornery, and the two cats eventually tolerated each other well enough.
We’d like to get another cat, but we’re not going to take that chance with our ~20 year old kitty.
Yeah, that’s worrying.
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My wife’s cat was like this, she got her old cat a young cat and the old cat tried to murder it.
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After a while my older cat would ignore the younger one and only try to murder her if she came close.
In retrospect, at some point we should have considered the experiment a failure and re-homed the younger one.
Update: I made a vet appointment for Dawkins tomorrow because she still wasnt eating. But inspiration struck tonight.
Same day we brought the cat home, my wife was saying she was cold, so she changed the thermostat from 70 (I know, im a fat guy, alright, I need it pretty cold) to 73. Tonight I changed the thermostat back to 70, and the change was almost immediate, she started sniffing the air in the direction of the AC unit, her eyes lit up, and about 15 minutes later she let out her “Im hungry!” Meow and led me to her food spot. I scooped her some food and she started eating.
She was hot, and didnt know how to tell us. Im so fucking relieved. The kitten just ran up to her and she didnt hiss or swat or anything. Shes been living in 70 for like 14 years, of course a 3 degree change is going to affect her. It didnt even cross my mind.
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Man sacrifices climate change progress for love of a cat.
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Id throw each and every one of you into a volcano for my cat
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Wiping out people does address climate change.
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If you have a large- or giant-breed dog you may be familiar with the sad reality that these large dogs tend to live shorter lives than smaller dogs — often by half.
Giant breeds like Great Danes have an average lifespan of 7-10 years, while tiny breeds like the Chihuahua live 14-16 years. (source: AKC, O’Neill et al 2013). Not only do they have varying lifespans, but it’s possible that aging and age-associated disease progresses differently among different breeds.
This is unusual — very few if any other animals have such an extreme lifespan variation within the same species. Generally, the larger a mammal is, the longer its expected lifespan — a mouse may live two to three years, while elephants can live over 60 years.
Part of this lifespan disparity comes from the process of selective breeding that “created” these dog breeds. Historical selective breeding is understood to have created genetic issues like hip dysplasia in German Shepherds and breathing issues in brachycephalic dogs. In large- and giant-breed dogs, breeding for size caused these dogs to have highly elevated levels of IGF-1, a hormone that drives cell growth. High IGF-1 effectively drives these dogs to grow large when they’re young, but high IGF-1 levels in adult dogs are believed to accelerate their aging and reduce their healthy lifespan.
LOY-001 extends lifespan in part by reducing IGF-1 to levels seen in smaller-breed dogs. The IGF-1 axis is one of the most well-studied longevity pathways. In model organisms from c.elegans to mice, reducing IGF-1 extends healthy lifespan, and increasing IGF-1 shortens healthy lifespan. In humans, certain centenarians have been shown to have genetically lower levels of IGF-1.
The breakthrough moment for Loyal was connecting the biological mechanism of big dogs’ size to their short lifespan, and recognizing the big-dog-short-lifespan phenotype may not be inherent, but instead a type of “accelerated aging disorder”.
We designed LOY–01 as a long-acting injectable administered by your veterinarian every three to six months. In parallel, through our recently-announced partnership with Crinetics, we’re also developing LOY-003, a daily pill to address this same IGF-1 over-expression.
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I hope it works. We have a golden that’s only 7/8 and has started getting stiffness in the joints. Not in pain according to the vet, just trouble warming up.