Pets

[HecticArt]

The Mrs had 2 cats when we got together, but I’m allergic to cats. The deal was that when they were gone, we wouldn’t get any more. Been cat-free for 15 years or so.

We had a couple of cats and a dog when I was a kid.

 

[scotchandcigar]

After the evening walk I add a service of "Caesars"

That's the pate' we give them in the morning. We score it into 8 triangles, and give each dog one. Penny (the 13 yr old) gets her joint pill in there, but she'll eat anything that's in a bowl of food.

When we started training Talia (the 4 yr old), we would give her one of those tiny milk-bone cookies after, including when she came back to the house. Ever since then, both dogs get a cookie when they come in. When we go out and leave them home, they get a dental chew. So they know all the routines.

Unless your pet is obviously in pain due to its teeth, nobody in the world should be able to afford dental cleaning bills because they shouldn't be a thing that exists. I mean it's ridiculous to take your dog to the fucking vet and then he pretends to be a dentist for a little while.

Maybe leave the dog care decisions to us dog owners. When a dog eventually dies, odds are that gum disease is involved. It causes blood infections and such. While it sucks to pay for it, we have to get Penny's teeth cleaned every few years. We should really be brushing her teeth weekly or monthly, but that's really difficult. When Penny turned 12, she needed some cysts removed, and also needed a few teeth removed. While she was out for that, they cleaned her teeth. The whole thing was over a grand, but we've been spending that every year for minor procedures anyway. It's fucking expensive to keep an aging dog.

Tali loves bones and chew toys. They came out with these Benebones, which is one of the best things ever invented.



They last for 6 months at a time, and Tali spends hours each day scraping her teeth on it. So I don't think she's going to have dental issues. But Penny has no interest in chew toys or bones. She only likes things she can eat. That's why we have to have her teeth cleaned every few years.

 

[sadchild]

Am I the only one here without cat or dog?

*raises hand*

 

[Channel98]

Here is a sad story. When I was eight years old, I wanted a dog. My dad and I went to a local animal shelter. I liked a short-haired brown dog. I don't know what breed it was. When we brought the dog home, he ran down the driveway and halfway down the block and stopped to pee on a sycamore tree. Naturally I decided to name him Sycamore. After a week of the dog howling at night and all the neighbors complaining, my dad – against my protestations – took Sycamore back to the animal shelter. He told me to pick out a cat. I guess the cat was my "consolation prize."

I had many cats over the years and didn't have a dog again until after I got married and my wife wanted a dog for protection while I was at a work. She chose a shih-tzu. I asked, "How is a little shih-tzu going to protect you?" "He'll bark if anyone comes near the house," she said. "That's all I need." He lived to almost 16.

 

[scotchandcigar]

Shih-tzus are feisty little dogs, and they have quite a yappy, loud bark. I'm sure he barked at anything going on outside the house.

 

[scotchandcigar]

We give the dogs dry kibble twice a day. In the morning we add a little cube of moist pate, and at dinner we add a few spoons of pumpkin. They love it. Our older dog jumps up and down on her hind legs when we're feeding her.

Some of the dog clients give their dogs a raw diet, or similar crazy shit. Those commercials for Fresh Pet and The Farmer's Dog looks like big packages of moist food. And it looks like way too much.

I think kibble is good for their teeth and digestion, and they get a scoop and that's it. Our older dog is 13, and our last dog we got as a pup lived to 16.

I should mention that we've only had small to medium sized dogs. I think that larger dogs require much more food, and perhaps a can of that meaty slop is good for them.

This looks like the right amount of food for a larger dog

 

[Jon]

You don't get the dog back?

I was just getting ready to ask.

 

[JHDK]

I should mention that we've only had small to medium sized dogs.

Me too! The biggest I ever had was a black lab that three-legged one I've talked about here multiple times and I only had that for like a week. Besides that, it was all terriers.

I think it would be so freaking cool to have a Great Dane! But then I also think about what the fuck do you do with that thing when it just winds up being dead in your house one day after like 12 years? Those things weigh about the same as an average size human woman, so dealing with a corpse that big seems really freaking weird. It's almost like you need to call an undertaker to come and get it. Do they even have dog undertakers?

 

[Channel98]

Yes, there are "dog undertakers." One is PawCremations, which serves Los Angeles County, Orange County and Ventura County 24 hours a day. They will pick up the deceased animal from a home, veterinarian or animal hospital and arrange for the cremation.

The Great Dane is the largest dog breed by height. (The English mastiff is the largest by weight.) The American Kennel Club says a fully-grown male Great Dane weighs 140 to 175 pounds. A female weighs 100 to 130 pounds. Life expectancy of a Great Dane is eight to ten years.

PawCremations

We are here when you need us.

pawcremations.com

 

[HecticArt]

I knew a guy that owned a pet cremation place back in the 1980's.
There was an empty lot across the street that sat empty for many years. Turns out it was owned by Burger King.
They didn't want people sitting in the dining room eating a burger and fries and looking out the window to see the smoke from Daisy the Golden Retriever billowing out of the chimney.

They ended up building the BK about 6 blocks away after 7 or 8 years of waiting.
The guy closed the crematorium a year or 2 later. It had nothing to do with BK.

 

[Aaron]

If I ever did get a dog, I’d only consider one that was as close as possible to silent or mute. Barking would just annoy me way too much.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

If I ever did get a dog, I’d only consider one that was as close as possible to silent or mute. Barking would just annoy me way too much.

Avoid schnauzers then. They are smart and loving dogs but they will bark when they get excited.

 

[JHDK]

I knew a guy that owned a pew cremation place back in the 1980's.
There was an empty lot across the street that sat empty for many years

So you grew up as a child in the '80s around a pet cemetery?

Was there this really mangy looking cat that like totally fucked with you and your whole family?

 

[JHDK]

If I ever did get a dog, I’d only consider one that was as close as possible to silent or mute. Barking would just annoy me way too much.

Yeah man I'm seeing why it's a good thing you don't have a dog or a cat. Even the quietest versions are still going to be annoying sometimes with their barking or meowing.

Maybe get a fish? Those things are pretty silent. But that's not really a normal pet so I guess it's also kind of weird.

I know you can obviously afford it but if I zelle you the cash as a present will you promise me to use it for a car wash? It's hurting some weird depths of my OCD that you have never done that.

I really want you to get your first car wash.

 

[Aaron]

Aaron gets his first car wash at 49. I should make that happen.

 

[JHDK]

Aaron gets his first car wash at 49. I should make that happen.

I pay local a car wash service 40 bucks a month and I get like six washes out of it.

I assume one Louisiana car wash (which by the way, I think might be your name for hurricanes) would cost like 15 bucks?

Please let me send that to you. DM me bro, it would just make me happy. Honestly it would make me happy. I assume if I send it you would then feel compelled to actually go through with getting your first car wash. You can send it back to me after you do it if you want or you can keep it. I don't care. It would just make me happy.

 

[HecticArt]

you grew up as a child in the '80s around a pet cemetery?

No. I was in high school, and it was across town.
Just the crematorium, I don’t know what they did with the ashes people didn’t take with em.

 

[sadchild]

Here is a sad story.

Here's one of my sad stories. When I was real young (younger than 9) I got a feisty little white cat and named it Puff. The neighbor across the street had an enormous dog (great dane maybe?) Weeks later, I was told our cat picked a fight with the dog and lost, got its belly ripped open, and was taken to the vet.

My parents were divorced by then. My mother said my father was taking me for the day, then he and I were gonna go to the vet to pick up the cat and let it finish healing at home. When my dad and I got there, we said 'boy he still looks pretty bad, maybe he should stay here'.

The next day my mother said she had told my dad to bring the cat home to heal because we didn't have the money to pay the vet for another day, so she told them to put it to sleep. I bawled.

 

[JHDK]

fisher cats,

New photo · Sunday, Mar 2, 2025

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You just have these things walking around in the woods around your house? The way I used to have groundhogs in Pennsylvania and it was a normal occurrence to see them?

That's wild. I had no idea what that animal was. I had to look it up. It doesn't really look feline. It looks more like an otter.

 

[JHDK]

I read back a few pages and I don't think I've mentioned this yet and it's kind of a big deal....

Athena is probably 90% deaf. She can be wide awake and I can walk in behind her and like scream and she doesn't move a muscle. I can even say Athena you want a cat treat? Which is always guaranteed to get her attention and if she's not looking at me she doesn't move.

Also, she's become way more annoying. Every time she meows now it's this super loud annoying meow that she used to only do every now and then.

I'm guessing that's because she can't hear herself meow regularly so she has to meow as loud as possible to hear anything at all.

She's also become a little bit more sweet like she's constantly laying at my feet on the couch and getting full body cat rubs because that's fun to do. She doesn't even object to me petting her belly which she used to be opposed to, but I would do anyway because as everyone knows the belly is the best part of the cat. I've told her those exact words a million times and she's finally listening to me now that she's deaf and can't actually listen.

Anyway, she's 15 so this isn't really a shock. But it still sucks.

Other than being deaf she seems as physically capable as ever. Maybe slightly slower. I'm hoping to have another 5 years with my kitty.