u/Poppeigh

I just let my dog out to the yard to go to the bathroom and he ran over to what turned out to be an opposum laying down. I do think he sniffed it, maybe startled it, but as it wasn’t running or moving he lost interest immediately. He didn’t pick it up or anything.

I went over to check with a flashlight and I don’t see injuries and I can visibly see the opossum is breathing (chest moving up and down). I assumed playing dead, but Google is telling me they slow their breathing way down when they do that and it wouldn’t be as visible as it is. Is that true? I just want to make sure both dog and opossum are okay.

Left the little guy (not the dog) in the yard so hopefully he’ll wake up and move on by daylight.

Basically, I'm building a 6' x 5' "wall" (panel) that I am going to put behind a cabinet in my basement. I have a weird built in shelf behind it that I use for storage, so the idea is to have it look like more of a finished wall and hide all of my boxes, while not being permanent.

I'm using 6' boards that are 1x12" and I'm connecting them together with just a couple of scrap 2x4s on the back. I was hoping that I'd be able to attach the 2x4s to the boards by screwing them down with 2 1/2" screws from behind, so that I wouldn't see screw heads from the front. Will that be secure enough or should I just do it the traditional way from the front and live with it?

Per the sub rules, I did search this beforehand but everything that has come up is about getting stripped screws out from behind and that's not what I'm needing to do.

Hopefully this isn't asked too frequently; I did do a search in the sub but didn't see what I was looking for.

I have a senior cocker spaniel who I adore and would like an English cocker for my next dog. I know many English cocker breeders have pretty lengthy waitlists. I am not interested in a puppy until after my current dog passes, which hopefully won't be for at least a couple of years, but unfortunately he does have cancer so it's up in the air.

I follow some breeders on socials and have thought about reaching out to them, but is it weird to reach out before my dog passes and tell them that I'm not interested in a puppy until after that time? It feels sacrilegious to me as his "mom" so I'm not sure if it would come across as heartless, or too fussy/high maintenance as far as timing requirements. I don't mind waiting for a puppy, but I'm also not sure how I'd feel about waiting 2-3 years for another dog after he passes.

Any thoughts? If this is an icky or taboo question to ask, please let me know. I've never had a dog from a breeder before, so while I'm aware of the process a bit, I'm very new to it.

I'm in NE Kansas, though location probably doesn't matter. I have an area by my house, between the foundation and the fence, where several redbud and white mulberry saplings have popped up. Unfortunately, we've gotten a ton of rain and they've grown to the point that I can't easily pull them. I'd be happy to keep them there, but my research has shown that both will likely get too large for the space, and I don't want to risk my foundation.

I'm trying to clean up that area, is there an easy way to either remove or kill the stump if I cut them down?

I have a 15/16 year old cat (not sure on exact birth year) who has been very healthy up to this point. He's been fine this week, though has chosen to be more isolated than normal, like sleeping in the guest room instead of with me as I watch tv.

Thursday night we went to the ER as he was going into the litter box and looking confused, digging a hole and just sitting there, and then once he tried to go but nothing happened. I was afraid he was blocked, despite no history of that, so we went to the ER. They did an ultrasound and an abdominal X-ray and everything looked fine. So they sent me home with prescription GI food as he had some gas.

The next day I came home for lunch; he had spent all morning sleeping under the bed. He came out and was struggling. He has been doing this thing where he leans over the water dish, drinks a little, but just hovers over it for a long time. I gave him some wet food and he wasn't interested, and when I put him on the counter to eat he cried and kind of fell over. So I took him to his regular vet.

They confirmed he wasn't blocked. They tested his urine and he has a UTI. They did a chest X-ray and found a little fluid around his lungs. The specialist said it looked like asthma.

His bloodwork was mostly fine. Raised neutrophils which they said indicated infection. His glucose was slightly raised, they think due to stress. His kidney values were also slightly raised, but apparently really good for a cat of his age. He also had a very tiny fever, but that could have also been stress. They did a snap test on his heart as well, all good.

I have antibiotics for the UTI and a steroid for the asthma, which I'm hoping will convince him to eat. But he still isn't feeling well. He just seems out of it; he doesn't orient to me when I say his name. He can walk fine but acts like it's uncomfortable.

I have racked my brain trying to think of anything else that could be wrong. My houseplants are all well out of reach, he doesn't eat plants anyway, and they're all either not toxic to pets or mildly so. I also think if he'd eaten something toxic some internal value would be way off in his bloodwork. I don't think he was bitten by a spider as he has no wound. He is on tick preventative as I have a dog, and he goes outside sometimes into my fenced backyard (always supervised, never alone).

I just don't know what to do. I'm hoping the meds will kick in soon. I want him to get better but I also don't want him to be suffering at all. Any ideas? I am trying to encourage him to drink and eat a little bit. I just checked on him and he had eaten a little bit of the wet food I put out, which is good, but I'm not sure if he's used the litter box yet today.

Just want to share a brief success story, because I'm proud of my little guy and how well he did.

I left for almost a week to attend a wedding of my friend out of state. I have boarded my pup before, but it's stressful for him, so I had my brother watch him, and my niece and nephew helped. It's the first time I've left him with someone other than my mom (besides being boarded), so I was really nervous.

The first night they were alone he didn't want to come up to bed and did a little growl at my brother (the lights were off and my brother said he was fine when he turned the lights on). They left him down and went up to bed and five minutes later he came up on his own. After that, no issues. He got along great with the kids, took his meds, ate his food, and was a happy guy. It even stormed a few of the nights and he only did a couple of little barks and then snuggled in. He's absolutely exhausted now (as am I) but I'm so proud of how well he did overall.

* Species: Dog
* Age: 12 years
* Sex/Neuter status: Neutered
* Breed: Cocker spaniel mix
* Body weight: 30 lbs (not overweight)
* History: arthritis, anxiety, AGASACA, apocrine sweat gland adenocarcinoma, splenectomy due to hematoma
* Clinical signs: Limping, licking paw
* Duration: On and off for years

My senior cocker has had his challenges with health issues, especially in the last few years, but the most consistent have been anxiety and arthritis. He's been on an anti-anxiety med (currently paroxetine) for probably about 10 years now; he's been on arthritis meds (currently galliprant) for probably about 4 years. He's struggling more with arthritis, and as he does have cancer, I'm trying to balance being more aggressive in managing his pain while also not causing an immediate crash. Vet wants to add Amantadine to the mix and thinks it will be fine with his paroxetine. I trust her, I'm just always paranoid so am wondering if anyone has experience with those two meds (plus galliprant).

I have a 20 gallon tank which has several plants in it but I'm waiting for them to truly grow (some have, others are slower). I did a water test this weekend and parameters were all where they should be; my nitrates are a bit high but I did a water change, added more plants, and have also added a pathos so I think that will come down.

The current occupants of the tank are:

• 1 mystery snail (Cheddar, he is glorious)
• 1 hitchhiking bladder snail (who oddly hasn't yet reproduced)
• 2 dwarf honey gouramis
• 6 pepper cory catfish
• About 5-10 neo shrimp
• 4 female platys (and their babies...)

The above, minus the baby platys, was my ideal tank - are those numbers good?

Now I obviously have a bunch of baby platys. My LFS owner said he would take them if the platys reproduced, and I think I'll have to take him up on that offer. Can I keep any of the female babies or am I overstocked as is? And how big do they need to be for me to remove from the tank and take to the LFS?

I originally wanted a peaceful tank where everyone got along and apparently I got just that as I'm not sure anyone actually ate the platy babies. :/ But as long as I can find them a better place to be that's fine.

I'm pretty new to the hobby, I previously had a 5 gallon with a betta but it's been awhile and I never was able to get plants to survive in that tank. Any advice you can give would be wonderful.