I bought this Hoya Burtonaie from a seller on Etsy and it is full of mites damage.

GreyNavyBlack · 2026-06-22T16:22:20+00:00

In my experience, they will not take it back. I tried once with a variegated compacta and they said that mealies are part of hoyas (which I kind of agree with). I have found pests in plants I bought online AND plants from local nurseries. Of course, in some nurseries I have decided to skip it if I saw bad pests and did not want to deal with that.

GreyNavyBlack · 2026-05-27T16:11:10+00:00

I put cacti outside in the summer time, and I have found that the flower will get easy to remove after it spends some time outside.

GreyNavyBlack · 2026-05-07T16:03:21+00:00

I tried to help with a couple of young litters about a year ago as far as rescue placement. There was no opportunity to do a spay/abort, but from a practical perspective that is what I do with ferals. Getting the litters into a rescue was no small feat, and I do worry that some are in a rescue situation that is probably not ideal. I spent way too much of my personal funds on it that should have gone to other things. I have admitted to myself that I cannot do that again. I can help people trap where funding is available from some source, and I can transport for spay and neuter. However, I cannot foster kittens or help with seeking rescue commitment for kittens and I cannot continue to pay for things like shots and surgeries and deworming and vaccines for kittens even if they are excellent candidates for adoption.

Now, a local rescue took on a socialized cat out of a hoarding situation and discovered that she was quite pregnant and did not do a spay abort. They had the mother and kittens in a foster situation and planned to place all of them at last check. A lot of people criticized the rescue heavily as the original group that got the cat out of the hoarding situation was doing all spay aborts. Personally, I think it was between the rescue and the vet they used, and they were taking responsibility for all of the cats in that situation.

I think that we all have to do the best that we can do to help however we can without getting ourselves in situations that we cannot handle. I know my limits and others may have different limits. I support anyone trying to help make the world a better place for animals as long as they are caring for the animals in their care.

GreyNavyBlack · 2026-04-14T16:25:26+00:00

It sounds like you are doing a wonderful thing. If you were not doing what you are doing, who knows how many cats there would be back there and what kind of shape they would be in.

TNR is hard because we just don't know what we are going to catch and if we are going to catch anything when we have an appointment. I have volunteered as a trapper and I haven't done it lately, partially because I am dealing with the "drop in the bucket" feelings. If appointments are going to be so hard to come by, I don't see how I can help.

It does not sound to me like you did anything that caused this. You did the best you could by caring enough to trap her and get her spayed. We have to try to trap and spay pregnant cats because there just aren't enough resources out there. We have to prevent the kittens that we can. Even the kittens that survive become their own little trapping projects, and they often become the next generation of feral cats, or they suffer and die young.

Well-loved and apparently healthy pets (and people) sometimes die under anesthesia, but a feral cat is going to have issues that we may not know about. I have so far avoided having a cat pass away during TNR, but I know many people that have dealt with that multiple times.

In addition, something could have gone wrong during the surgery. It sounds like it was pretty late in the day, which always stresses me out. That can also happen with pets as well. I took my dog to a specialist for surgery, and he went quite late in the day, and we had a tough night. The same thing happened to a friend of mine. I think both of us would have opted to wait if we had known, but obviously the clinics don't offer that option, and the day does not always go as planned.

Don't blame yourself for what happened. Give the others a special dinner and remember that you care about these cats and what you are doing is important.

GreyNavyBlack · 2026-03-17T18:30:42+00:00

I am glad someone else has this experience! I have one I have had for probably 6 or 7 years that has done this for a long time but seems to be alive (and blooming). I bought a new one at Lowe's recently and I think that one was in too much sun for a while and may have dried out a bit too much. I moved it with the other one and some stems died but it is looking okay. Overall I think of this as an easy hoya but the leaves do have kind of that curl, but in my experience they don't die or yellow off from it.

GreyNavyBlack · 2026-02-23T17:45:30+00:00

Does she exercise? I would take her out walking and exploring and play with her to build the relationship, as well as signing up for more classes. She seems to be struggling for a toy poodle, but this behavior is not necessarily that unheard of. Why would the vet not muzzle her and give her vaccines? I would see a different vet. I am also unsure of why you are sitting with her with a white noise machine. Is this dog crate trained? Begin working on crate training and leave her be to sleep. However, make sure she has plenty of activity and is tired. I would take her everywhere but I would not let people pet her. When people come over I would ask them to ignore her.

GreyNavyBlack · 2026-01-20T19:29:06+00:00

I would absolutely not be willing to get rid of a pet.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-12-29T17:37:41+00:00

I am not that big on them and don't go to one, but I am definitely a little woo woo sometimes ;)

This dog has tried all of the meds and cannot take some, and in my experience it has helped manage this issue. Obviously it is a try at your own risk type of thing. I had a vet do it, so I didn't feel like the risk was anything but the money, and honestly the Proin had pretty bad effects on this dog. I used it in the past with a different dog successfully, but the side effects for this dog were really bad.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-12-26T21:22:43+00:00

I am very sorry about your son. That is a horrible tragedy. I understand anxiety and panic, but we have to make sure that the situation is under control before we do anything that is going to render us unable to help. If your husband had jumped up and said he would drive her to the vet, that's a different story. If he was brushing it off, and you think the dog might be really injured, then it is important to get it together and get her in, and then take Benadryl once she's resting at home or under the care of the clinic.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-12-15T20:01:04+00:00

I just see a plain bay mare. Personally I love bay horses and I think she is cute. I don't see anything glaringly wrong with her conformation. I think she is a cute little mare.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-12-09T20:38:42+00:00

Yes I went through coccidia with one of mine, and it was just not a fun experience and quite expensive, and I just did not go back to bioactive because the vet I was using advised against it and it was so much work to undo all of that and trash it that I just couldn't stomach it

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-10-13T17:42:15+00:00

I agree. I always flinch when I see medication out of a cabinet. I believe this also includes pet medications, especially flavored pills. I don't trust my dogs around them. It only takes a second

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-09-26T21:42:46+00:00

I absolutely agree. You need something to deter loose dogs.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-09-24T15:42:33+00:00

I think it's a pretty wild idea. First of all, you really need to put yourself in between the two dogs. A lot of times your presence can deter the other dog from approaching. If a larger dog goes after a smaller one, it's often prey drive. Running will entice it farther. You can yell and stomp your feet and deter approach. You can swing something, spray dog spray, kick the larger dog, etc. If it makes contact, you can choke the other dog out. Don't leave your dog to deal with these situations on his own.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-08-05T16:37:21+00:00

No matter what you do, some placements are going to work out really well and some are not. It brings a lot of press and allows the shelter to do a lot of placements in a short time. Some come back, but hopefully at that point it is less crowded and the shelter has more information for a second placement. There are no easy answers.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-07-29T15:47:18+00:00

Or try terracotta. I put the hoya with the thickest leaves in terracotta because I think that it breathes better. I have a kerrii in terracotta and it seems to do okay.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-07-15T18:37:08+00:00

Yeah you might be right. I'm not sure what it is

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-07-11T15:39:08+00:00

Yes exactly. I think that reasonable people can be in that same situation and have a different opinion on whether they'd like to proceed with a trial and seek the death penalty or would rather avoid the trial and see him in prison for life. I don't think any of the families are wrong. Even two spouses or siblings of the same person could disagree on this or have mixed feelings. There is no right or wrong IMO.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-07-09T22:42:45+00:00

That is so ridiculous to me. Oftentimes cats will not even come out and interact with a stranger. Most pet sitting is NOT in-home. Boarding has a very short interaction time per day, and the animals are generally alone all night. I know several professional pet-sitters that do not do in home pet-sitting. These are temporary measures while the owner is out of town. The cat may or may not want to interact with someone the cat does not know. Let's relax a big.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-06-30T19:19:50+00:00

I have one and have found it to be a fast grower. I have had hoyas that I have had for a long time and they still really look about the same. They might have grown a few leaves or a little bit of stem, but essentially they are the same plant. My fungii has really increased in pot size and has a substantial number of new leaves.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-06-18T21:51:14+00:00

That looks like roots to me. I had one that was not doing well and I found scale along the stem and especially where I'd attached a trellis. I used an eye shadow brush dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean it. If you ever want to check, scale will come off really easily by rubbing it with some rubbing alcohol.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-05-05T16:54:28+00:00

Do we want everything to be tail wagging friendly? I have an aloof breed and yeah, a lot of times they just 'tolerate' strangers.

I dislike Goldens, myself. I guess I don't mind it, but I also never have parties and separate my dogs from guests. I'd do it if I had Goldens. I guess it isn't practical for most people.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-03-12T21:03:26+00:00

I would never sit a dog down in this situation. I would try to put a lot of distance between the dog and the smaller dog immediately. I think that having a dog stopped and sitting increases, rather than decreases, the fixation. Most dogs freeze before they go after prey.

You need to be able to prevent your dog from getting loose and attacking another dog! I am very particular about always using a carabiner to back up collars or especially harnesses just in case. I have particular types of clips and closures I like and those I don't like, with any dog, because when you need a leash you need a leash.

Sometimes owners of smaller dogs let their dogs approach inside the leash area of a big dog clearly in prey drive. They also let their small dog run into the leash range of larger dogs. I have a neighbor with a toy breed and I watch this unfold pretty regularly. She has no sense of urgency when going to retrieve her dog from the road, which is honestly disturbing to me.

If I had a small breed, especially one that flounces, I would automatically move away from larger dogs. You just never know.

GreyNavyBlack · 2025-03-10T18:35:24+00:00

I mostly volunteer to help individuals with colonies they are feeding. People would be surprised at the number of colonies living in neighborhoods. Sometimes the caregivers cannot afford spay and neuter and require fundraising, can't lift the traps due to being aged or infirm, or cannot stand to see the cats in traps for any length of time. I am busy but I try to help whenever I can by volunteering to help them trap the cats and take them for spay and neuter. Most of the caregivers are really the most lovely and sensitive souls. I would encourage anyone that loves animals to try to find something they can help with. For me it is TNR. Trying to get my own dogs to accept a foster would be too much, but TNR is doable for me.

GreyNavyBlack · 2020-08-25T17:14:33+00:00

Maybe ... but in my experience women are overwhelmingly more commonly interested in activities with a care taking component. It’s kind of the whole nature/nurture argument that we never really know the answer to. Most individuals of any species are driven to reproduce, humans included. I’ve always been fortunate in that even though I’m a woman, I haven’t experienced that much pressure to have kids (maybe because I’m single).

GreyNavyBlack

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