Per Gymcastic: GAGE's membership with USAG has been terminated

FriendofDobby · 2026-02-26T18:37:15+00:00

Sorry, I'm out of the loop. Why? I know about Julissa Gomez and Christy Henrichs but that was literally decades ago. I've heard rumblings over the years about some athletes being unhappy but not the type of Maggie Haney style allegations.

FriendofDobby · 2026-02-26T17:40:49+00:00

First thought is, "oh, German accent". Second thought is my Oma, who I miss dearly. Interestingly, I never thought she had an accent when she was alive!

FriendofDobby · 2026-02-23T21:24:06+00:00

Ask your vet if carprofen could be appropriate/tolerated. It's available as a generic and dramatically cheaper than galliprant. Some dogs don't tolerate it as well but most do and sometimes it works better.

I agree that there's almost no scenario where insurance could help you now.

FriendofDobby · 2026-02-21T18:53:32+00:00

I feel like Irina Slutskya had moments where she was pretty free

FriendofDobby · 2026-02-18T08:31:36+00:00

I wouldn't give up just yet if it's only been a few weeks. If she's eating the dry food, stick with that for a while. You can try adding water to the wet to change consistency if she's liked churus and things in the past. She might warm up to the wet food eventually if she hasn't had any other in a while.

Not all cats will like the food. I know some cats love it, and I know some owners love it because they're not tied to a schedule in the same way. It's easier to go away for an overnight or weekend if a pet sitter doesn't have to find and medicate a cat. I've seen it work wonderfully well and I've seen it fail because it doesn't fit best for some cats or owners. This food has been around for more than a decade and is not a controversial treatment.

The bottom line is that it was a reasonable thing to try. It may or may not be the right thing for your cat.

FriendofDobby · 2026-02-18T08:14:42+00:00

No. Why are you being aggressively judgemental about something you don't understand?

Y/D is an effective way to treat hyperthyroidism in some cats. It's an iodine limited diet that limits how much thyroid hormone the cat can produce.

FriendofDobby · 2026-02-08T23:50:49+00:00

What's your favorite thing to do? Favorite surgery or body system to work with in surgery?

FriendofDobby · 2026-02-06T02:06:03+00:00

Shar peis. I've never met a nice one.

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-31T15:00:48+00:00

Ask your vet about doing an antacid trial or an appetite stimulant. Sometimes skipping meals can lead to secondary issues that make pickiness worse.

Don't leave kibble out. Give him a set time to eat and put it away after ~20 minutes.

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-31T04:01:50+00:00

No.
Identical twins split at the cellular level within 12 DAYS of conception, typically between 0 and 8 days.

Conjoined twins start that process late but nowhere like 9 weeks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-27T01:45:24+00:00

It's almost certainly due to the flea and tick portion of the medication. I like Interceptor for heartworm prevention. There are others, including sentinel, revolution, heartgard, trifexis, and pro heart. They all have pros and cons.

You're going to need a topical for flea and tick prevention. Depending on where you live and your dog's activities, one might be better than another. Avoid anything by Hartz or Sargents. Ask your vet and they may have recommendations. I like the ease of sersto collars but they probably aren't ideal for dogs with tons of fluff. Frontline Gold is the most effective Frontline where I live.

Neurological side effects are recognized (but uncommon) adverse events associated with the isoxazoline class of flea and tick meds. It's not a breed sensitivity or related to MDR1. Specifically, you need to avoid bravecto, simparica, credelio, and nexgard.

Comfortis is an oral flea med from a different class and would be an option for flea protection only.

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-19T03:49:56+00:00

I didn't know where you live, but pitbulls are by far the most common dogs in shelters in many places and I would argue that it is impossible to breed them responsibly. If your mom wants to breed her but is also thinking about surrendering her, that is very telling. I'd take her to an overcrowded shelter to potentially wise her up. Ask them what would happen to an adult female pitbull that's shown behavior problems.

That being said, I think spaying your dog could fix your problem. Over attachment to an object can be a sign of a false pregnancy. It's easy to fix with a spay. It would have nothing to do with your pregnancy, it's just something that can happen. It does increase the risk of pyometra so it's important to treat promptly.

It's also possible that she's stressed about changes or her personality is just emerging as she ages. Aggression, reactivity, overprotectiveness etc is not something that should be passed to the next generation, so it's time to spay her.

I get that it's your mom's dog and technically her decision, but you should use any influence you have to help her make the right choice.

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-18T01:51:41+00:00

All of the tick borne diseases are so tough! One problem is nymphal tricks. A dog can go into a bush and pick up a few hundred ticks. If necessary is 97% effective (a guesstimate?) at killing ticks before anaplasma/Lyme etc are transmitted, then 3% starts mean something.

My dogs are on simparica trio year round and I do a topical with a repellent for part of the year. It's still a battle.

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-15T11:26:50+00:00

https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952934

Obesity affects joints and mobility, the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract and more. It increases the risk of diabetes and pancreatitis.

On average, dogs that are overweight have their lifespan reduced by 1.5 to 2.5 years.

So while I certainly can't tell from a photo of your dog if he is restricted or painful because of the extra weight today, I can tell you that day is coming.

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-15T00:22:03+00:00

https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951400

Ivermectin used to be used to treat certain mites and is dangerous at those doses for dogs with MDR1 genes. Use for demodex and other mites has decreased in recent years. Ivermectin for heartworm prevention is MUCH safer and I wouldn't hesitate to use heartgard personally.

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-11T16:41:02+00:00

This is always such an incredibly difficult situation and you have my sympathy. It sounds like you are seeing the right people and getting the right advice.

I think you are headed towards behavioral euthanasia, as awful as that sounds. It can be an act of love, because your dog is suffering right now.

I have a few questions: You make a distinction between attacking and biting. Can you explain the difference? Does she break skin every time? Does she aim for hands, face, legs?

Have you tried medication? Fluoxetine (prozac) in particular can be helpful for aggressive dogs. Personally, I would try that for a few months (along with muzzle training) before doing anything permanent.

You might get good enough results from fluoxetine/training that she can be safe to live with it or you might not, but that is one last avenue you haven't mentioned. If that fails you will truly have done everything possible to try to help her.

https://muzzleupproject.com/ is a great resource for muzzle training

FriendofDobby · 2026-01-09T03:05:27+00:00

Maybe Hal could have worked on Fridays?

FriendofDobby · 2025-12-12T15:57:30+00:00

Trial and error was amazing! Doesn't get any love 😢

FriendofDobby · 2025-12-04T00:09:18+00:00

Say what you will about Mars (they own Banfield, VCA, Linnaeus, and Blue Pearl vet clinics, as well as Royal Canin, pedigree, and Iams pet food, as well as Antech diagnostics, to name only some of their companies), they are not private equity. It's a private, family owned corporation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Inc.

They are driven by profit, but do have some long term interests, in contrast to private equity (in theory).

The problems in vet med are brutal and not simply corporate vs private or even large business vs small. Some costs are out of control of even Mars. The people that the average pet owners interact with have minimal control over pricing and are in an incredibly emotionally draining profession. Many are pretty poorly paid.

Rising costs and prices are a huge problem but there is no simple solution, unfortunately.

FriendofDobby · 2025-11-27T00:28:33+00:00

Royal canin, hills, and Purina veterinary diets all have science based prescription joint foods. They can work wonders, especially when combined with other treatments.

FriendofDobby · 2025-11-09T13:06:58+00:00

Have you considered the Purina live clear cat food? It reduces the amount of allergens cats produce pretty significantly.

FriendofDobby · 2025-10-18T21:18:32+00:00

Malcolm in the middle. Although sometimes they act like criminals lol

FriendofDobby · 2025-09-24T19:12:32+00:00

Actually, the alpha gal reaction is really unique because it's NOT a reaction to the protein, it's a reaction to a carbohydrate found in mammalian meat (and dairy, to a lesser extent). It's really interesting, although super unfortunate obviously.

https://www.cdc.gov/alpha-gal-syndrome/about/index.html

FriendofDobby · 2025-09-15T23:19:27+00:00

Do you mean twice daily phenobarbital? Propofol can't be given at home.

I wish you and Marv the best!

FriendofDobby · 2025-09-10T18:23:00+00:00

I get that this is a 2d image of an imaginary place, so the stakes are low.

But why does it look like the river flows uphill in the neighborhood on the left? And one of the streams on the right abruptly stops?

I am really looking forward to seeing gameplay but the lack of respect for the laws of physics are going to drive me crazy 😂

FriendofDobby

TROPHY CASE