r/Pets

Hey! I want to start this by saying this is not my dog. She is basically my god child, she’s to go to me if anything happens to her owner. Also I am a cat and aquatics owner and I’m known to dislike dogs. I like them, but from afar. They stress me out for a number of reasons. Chloe has been the single exception, there’s something about her that was love at first sight. Everything a normal dog does that stresses me out I couldn’t care less if Chloe did. So I while I know how dog behavior works and how to read them I’m not super knowledgeable on their care products.

The situation is a bit hard to describe but her owner is an elder man with health issues, he has ptsd and is a veteran as well as early (Alzheimer’s?).

Her owner lives in the family’s large outdoor shed right now, as he’s fixing his van. So Chloe is an outside dog. I’m not going to get deep into details but she is very well loved and he would rather feed her than himself. Not that the family allows it Ofcourse. So I know she’s well fed and a happy pup but he doesn’t really have money and no one in the family has renewed her flea collar.

Since she is always outside I don’t think traditional flea medicine would work very well, and would be really expensive to maintain.

I don’t have a great job as I’m still pretty fresh out of highschool and am finally getting into the works of a good carrier so I can eventually afford her.

I care about them both and want to make sure Chloe has everything she needs that he’s not able to cover.

I don’t like flea collars and wouldn’t use them in any other circumstance but they said the one the family got her last year worked really well.

Sorry for the long post, I get paid next Friday and planned to go get that, her favorite treats and some others I think she’d like.

Any healthy (quick to eat) recommendations for treats would also be loved 🫶 and just to add, her hair texture is very wiry and course because of the type of terrier in her.

The kitten is OBSESSED with opening my McDonald's app and batting the screen there. I came back from the bathroom after leaving my phone on the bed not knowing it scanned my face and boy had food in the cart 😭

My discount doesn't apply to kittens who drain the vet fund within one week.(love him to death but chicken nuggets are not anywhere in the near future with his body as weak as it is.) Especially ones who should be RESTING or eating he's expensive (totally not drugged with meds) wet food.

I'm already ordering a HUMIDIFIER for him to help clear up his nose because he's scared of the running shower so I can't use steam. 😭

I got him a fish app for him to play but he keeps opening the McDonald's app instead.

All in all he's either ordering McDonald's or trying to crawl in the red sock. He's a spoiled squirt. But he's a cute squirt

I came across an article claiming that pets can become genuine attachment figures, rather than our bond with them simply being a form of affection or “over-attachment.”

I was curious, so I went looking at the original research. The evidence is more interesting — and more complicated — than the headline.

In attachment theory, an attachment figure can serve several functions. Two important ones are a “safe haven” — someone we turn to when distressed — and a “secure base” that gives us enough security to explore, pursue goals, etc.

A 2008 study by psychologist Lawrence Kurdek looked at four samples totaling 923 college students. Dogs showed particularly strong “proximity maintenance” and “secure base” characteristics.

Kurdek followed that with 975 adult dog owners in 2009. When distressed, participants reported being more likely to turn to their dogs than to mothers, fathers, siblings, best friends or children — although romantic partners still ranked above dogs.

Then researchers experimentally tested the idea.

In a 2012 study, 165 pet owners were assigned to conditions involving their pet being physically present, mentally activated, or absent while completing a goal-exploration task. Physical or cognitive pet presence was associated with generating more goals and greater confidence in achieving them.

In a second experiment with 120 pet owners, physical or cognitive pet presence during a distress-inducing task was associated with lower blood pressure.

The researchers interpreted these results as evidence that pets can, at least under some circumstances, perform “secure base” and “safe haven” functions.

But here's where I think it gets especially interesting.

A 2024 Scientific Reports study examined pet co-sleeping in 1,591 U.S. adults. Among people who co-slept with pets, about 60% said their pets had a positive or very positive effect on their sleep.

Yet statistically, pet co-sleeping was associated with poorer perceived sleep quality and greater insomnia severity.

So our subjective experience of what our pets are doing for us may not always match measurable outcomes.

Important caveat: the sleep study was cross-sectional and relied on self-report, so it cannot establish that pets caused poorer sleep. It also defined “co-sleeping” as sleeping in the same room, not necessarily the same bed.

Still, I love the contradiction: an animal may occupy a psychologically meaningful attachment role while also moving around, making noise, stealing half the bed and potentially disturbing your sleep.

For people who sleep with their pets: do you genuinely think you sleep better with them there, or do you know perfectly well they're disturbing your sleep and still wouldn't kick them out? 😄

Sources:

Kurdek (2008), Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
DOI: 10.1177/0265407507087958

Kurdek (2009), Journal of Family Psychology
DOI: 10.1037/a0014979

Zilcha-Mano, Mikulincer & Shaver (2012), Journal of Research in Personality
DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2012.06.005

Chin, Singh & Carothers (2024), Scientific Reports
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56055-9

Context: a couple months ago I had a momma cat abandon her babies on the steps to my home and disappear. I called multiple animal shelters only to be told they are full. To be clear I never wanted these cats and only took them in because leaving them there would have been a crime...apparently? So I held on to them after being told that an opening should be available in a week, and weeks have gone by with no return calls. And these cats have torn up and shat on important documents (Even so far as to pull them out of binders after knocking them off shelves.) knocked over 90% of my plates causing them to break, constantly tear open my garbage bags....and so much more.

At this point I'm so freaking done with them. Yet everywhere I call is apparently full, and It's illegal for me to just boot them out. What am I supposed to do with these cats that aren't mine and that I never wanted.

I knew lilies were bad for cats in the vague way everyone sort of knows it. Then I actually read through what the FDA and Purdue's vet school say about it and realized I had about half of it wrong. Here's the rest.

It's not just chewing the flowers. The whole plant is toxic, stem, leaves, petals, pollen, and the water in the vase. Purdue's wording is that licking a few pollen grains off their fur while grooming, or drinking the vase water, can be enough to cause fatal kidney failure in under three days. Think about where a cat's face goes when there's a fresh bouquet on the counter. Yeah.

"Lily" also covers a bunch of plants that aren't the same problem at all. The kidney failure ones are true lilies and daylilies, so Easter, Stargazer, Tiger, Asiatic, Oriental, and the orange daylilies a lot of people have growing in the yard. Peace lilies and calla lilies aren't actually lilies. They irritate the mouth and cause drooling, which is unpleasant but a different thing. Lily of the valley isn't a true lily either, and that one's its own emergency because it affects the heart. So "is my lily safe" really depends on which one you've got.

This one surprised me. It's basically a cat-only problem. Dogs that eat lilies can get an upset stomach but they don't get the kidney failure, and per Purdue the actual toxin still hasn't been identified. So if you grew up with dogs and lilies in the house and nothing ever happened, that's why, and it doesn't carry over to a cat.

The timing is what I'd want everyone to remember. Early signs are vague. Quieter than usual, drooling, throwing up, not eating, anywhere from minutes to about 12 hours after. Around 12 to 24 hours in you can see more peeing and dehydration as the kidneys get hit. And the FDA says if treatment is delayed 18 hours or more, the cat will generally have irreversible kidney failure.

Which means the normal instinct, she threw up once, let's see how she is tomorrow, is exactly the wrong move here. With most things that's reasonable. With lilies the waiting is what does the damage.

If you even suspect it, call your vet or a pet poison line right away, and take the plant or a photo of it so they can tell which kind it is. Early treatment makes a huge difference.

Also, apparently cats that have never shown any interest in plants can just start one day, so "she ignores the flowers" isn't really protection. The vets' advice is pretty much if you have a cat, don't bring true lilies into the house at all.

A toy dropped at your feet is fairly clear. The quieter invitations seem easier to miss: waiting in one spot, looking between you and a toy, or starting a little game and pausing for you to join. Those are examples, not stories about my own pets.

What does your pet actually do when they want you to play? Was there a signal you misunderstood at first?

If you share a story, the useful detail is what happened next: what you tried, whether they joined in, and how you learned to tell a play invitation from a request for something else. Different pets may use the same gesture differently.

Disclosure: This discussion prompt was written with AI assistance.

Hello! This is my first time dealing with a flea infestation, and I'm not really sure of the timeline of how long the infestation should stay before it goes away with active treatment?

To give an idea: I noticed the fleas on Sept 24th. I have two dogs, and a cat. I already had a vet appointment for my one dog on the 24th, so I figured I'd get him treated for fleas there. He was able to get NexGard, and that's working well for him. They won't be able to get the other animals in until mid/late oct (2 weeks from now) but they suggested other products instead - Seresto Collars.

That same day, I got the Seresto Collars for my cat and other dog. The collar worked *really* well for Bigby (cat) - unfortunately it seems he was having a bad reaction to it as it burned his neck. For Fable however, it just wasn't working. Where I didn't find any fleas on Bigby while he did have the collar on, I was finding *loads* of fleas on Fable.

And that's... basically continued to this day.

The Seresto Collar didn't work for Fable.

I did the Frontline topical when the collar didn't work.

He gets flea baths once every three/four days.

Even with Frontline actively in his system, and flea baths, *and* vacuuming every day *and* cleaning my linens once every two days... I am still finding fleas all over him. I don't understand how, especially with how clean I'm keeping my house. Is this normal? :( I can't get anything vet-grade until I get them in, but this is so frustrating because I feel like what I'm doing should at least be making a dent in how many fleas Fable has? (I haven't found any on Bigby and Alphonse, my other dog, in days)

I would love any kind of tips or reassurance that maybe this is just the life cycle of fleas and it will eventually die down. And before anyone tells me to get advice from my vet - they said that they will be unable to give me any kind of advice on the fleas until they're able to come in.

And what EXACTLY are you buying. I'm trying to figure out the new budget and wanna see what others are spending. I'm thinking about snagging alot of store brand cans to bulk up the supply. I don't get to take advantage of many sales due to not living near any pet stores. I have to travel and don't get to go to those towns often. Once a month is all I can manage to go to the BIG petstores. Most of my stuff is online only.

hello all. me and Merlin are dealing with a flea infestation for the first time and I don’t know if anything is helping.

found them on him about two weeks ago. went to the vet, got selarid and a perimeter spray. treated my apartment and got a flea comb. I’ve been trying to vacuum every day.

i comb him once or twice a day, and usually find 5+ fleas on him every time. One day I found over ten and panicked a little. I did my second perimeter spray treatment this weekend. Spent two days tearing my apartment apart, vacuuming and steam cleaning every inch of the apartment. i was definitely not as thorough on my first clean. I gave Merlin a flea bath.

it seems to have made little difference in the amount of fleas I comb off of him. He does seem to itch less than before we started treatment, but whenever I comb him I seem to be finding live fleas. should I be concerned that the selarid isn’t working? am I just combing them off because the med has a chance to work? before he is bit?

I’ve used the vet Kem spray on my baseboards as directed by the vet. should I be spraying this directly onto the furniture? Like my couch and cat tree?

the weird thing is, I try the white sock thing and see nothing. I dont get bit, they’re not in my bed. I had one jump on me on the couch and I found one in the bathroom after I bathed him, but I really don’t see them around. I know they’re good at hiding, but I’m surprised to not see other signs of them.

i know it takes three months to fully eradicate them. Am I just being impatient? Should I expect to see a reduction in the fleas by now? I would love some reassurance.

calling an exterminator isn’t really any option for us, unfortunately.

I'm an artist with experience painting pet portraits traditionally with oil on canvas, but due to some recent life plans, I'm thinking of switching to digital paintings.

Is that something pet lovers and parents would be interested in? Deliverable would be the file and a png, but I have no idea what people would expect price wise.

Any advice on how to go about it? I'd love to hear your experiences and takes on pricing and the market. Thank you in advance to anyone who replies!

Hello! My husband and I just adopted a new baby boy Mochi yesterday, he’s a 4 year old cat and we currently have a 9 year old cat Melon and a 4 year old husky Cosmo.

Currently we got a gate to keep Mochi in our bedroom with his own litter, water/food and some toys, while Cosmo and Melon have their own space. Cosmo and his abandonment issues, likes to whine and cry when sitting in front of the gate. Mochi likes to make a ‘mooing’ sound towards Cosmo but doesn’t gaf about Melon, while Melon did hiss and is cautious around him. Any advice? Thanks in advance!

I enrolled both of my kittens under Trupanion pet insurance. When I first got one of the kittens, he was only 5 weeks old. That first night, he had loose stool, so I took him to the vet the following morning to make sure everything was fine—and he was! Most likely just due to a new environment and a change in diet.

Long story short, he is 6 months old now, soon to be 7 months. Trupanion just sent me his coverage summary, and it appears he might be denied coverage if I ever take him in for diarrhea in the future, which I think is crazy. Diarrhea a common reason why pets go to the vet. Reading that they may not cover such a common vet visit because it's considered pre-existing condition is disappointing. I heard good things about Trupanion which is the reason I chose them over Healthy Paws which is what my dog has. I don't consider diarrhea a condition, more like a symptom. Anyone else experienced similar situation?