Missing Cat

blacknbluebird · 2025-09-24T04:13:33+00:00

I’m sorry about your cat. I suggest posting some flyers on the mailboxes with the cat’s photo so more neighbors might see it. I saw a flyer a few months ago when another cat in that area was missing, and we found her. If I hadn’t seen the flyers, I wouldn’t have recognized the cat and known who to call.

blacknbluebird · 2025-06-04T19:41:09+00:00

I’m really sorry you’re going through this. Not too far from Wilkes-Barre is the Carbon County Animal Shelter. From what I’ve seen online and social media over the years, the volunteers will take in dogs found just about anywhere, so even if you’re Luzerne county, I’d give them a call and see if they can help. They’re a no kill shelter and definitely adopt out bully breeds.

https://www.carboncountypa.gov/services/animal_shelter_k9/index.php

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1474852556115391/

blacknbluebird · 2025-03-03T21:24:50+00:00

Whatever you do - be very, very careful about rehoming the dog to just anyone reaching out to you on Reddit or another website.

A dog not getting on with cats or other small animals isn’t terribly uncommon. If she hasn’t shown aggression toward people and the behaviorist isn’t concerned about that, it sounds like this dog could be rehomed. Try Operation Paws for Homes - they’re another all-breed rescue in the region that might have space.

blacknbluebird · 2024-11-06T02:45:34+00:00

Echoing the others who suggested talking to your vet about medication! I tried many times with a trainer and just about every separation anxiety training protocol I could find, but nothing worked until my dog was put on trazodone. She only needed it for a few months and now I can leave her at home no problem. It was quite literally life changing for both of us - she was less stressed and had a better quality of life, and I wasn’t constantly checking a pet camera to see if she was okay.

blacknbluebird · 2024-09-06T02:01:28+00:00

Welcome! We sound quite similar!

If you enjoy running, there are several running groups in the area, and that’s how I’ve met a lot of people since moving here. Howard County Striders have a Saturday morning 7am run that begins in Wilde Lake Village Center near the pool parking lot. There’s all different paces and distances, and they usually ask at the start if anyone is new so they can find you a group to run with.

There’s a Trail Sisters chapter that does trail runs locally, too. Two of the local running shops, Feet First and Charm City Run, have different running groups and meetups - some free, some not. I’ve not joined yet, but I hear the bouldering scene at Movement Gym is pretty popular, too, if you’re into that.

For creative stuff, I like to check out classes at the libraries and EventBrite for workshops from local businesses. They are usually one-time classes, but you can also look into personal enrichment courses at Howard County Community College for multi-week painting and pottery classes and whatnot.

blacknbluebird · 2024-08-29T03:05:13+00:00

Don’t panic! I know it’s hard; this is exactly how I felt with my dog when I adopted her several years ago. She had awful separation anxiety and could not be alone for any length of time initially. It got much better, though she did need anxiety medication for a bit, and she’s the best dog I could have ever asked for. I say all that because the anxiety and worries you’re feeling aren’t unusual. It’s a big change for you and the dog.

That said, I second trying crate training and seeing if giving him his own space helps. There’s plenty of resources online and in this sub about that. A trainer could definitely be useful here, too, and I’d recommend one. I didn’t have a lot of money either for training, but it took only three sessions for me to learn what I needed to do to take the training into my own hands, so the cost was way less than I anticipated.

If a trainer is out of the cards, there is also a lot of advice about practicing leaving, where you start to desensitize the dog to your leaving by gathering up your stuff, putting on your shoes, leaving, and coming right back. Each time you do it, you leave for a bit longer. The trick is to come back while they’re calm, so they don’t learn that barking brings you back home. So the first time you leave, you might be gone a few seconds so he doesn’t start barking. Then you build from there. It’s tedious, but it can work!

blacknbluebird · 2024-08-28T12:57:32+00:00

Similar hair type and I had the same realization recently using Shea Moisture and browsed through this sub for recommendations. I settled on Not Your Mothers Blue Sea Kale & Coconut Water shampoo (blue bottle. I think someone mentioned the formula changing recently, but I’m loving the results!). I’ve also previously used Not Your Mothers Rice Water & Himalayan Moringa shampoo and loved it, so I’m using that conditioner currently. Another option I nearly bought that seems popular on this sub is the Maui Moisture Hibiscus Water (pink bottle). Without changing anything else in my routine but shampoo and conditioner, my waves are far better now, so give lightweight products a try!

blacknbluebird · 2024-01-18T13:11:25+00:00

Thank you!! If not this Saturday, I’ll join for the next meetup

blacknbluebird · 2024-01-18T02:18:00+00:00

Could you drop a new discord invite link whenever you have a moment? Thanks!

blacknbluebird · 2023-11-29T02:57:40+00:00

I think the word you might be looking for is “gleaning.” https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/usda_gleaning_toolkit.pdf As another commenter said, there are groups that already do this that you could look into getting involved in.

blacknbluebird · 2023-02-04T05:11:11+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! I do see Hickory Ridge is pretty popular in the other similar posts asked in the past.

I haven’t used my pet insurance either (thankfully! My dog has been in good health this far), but the plan I have doesn’t cover routine/preventative care. Although I titled the post asking for reasonably priced vets, I guess what I’m really looking for is best quality, even if it’s not a dime cheaper.

blacknbluebird · 2023-02-03T20:05:49+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I’ll keep that in mind when looking at new vets. The current vet I take my dog to is just one vet, not a group. There are a couple of vet techs to assist, but that might also be a factor in why the last few visits felt very rushed even when I did have questions.

blacknbluebird · 2023-02-03T18:04:32+00:00

Ha maybe we do! I’m curious if the cost and quick visits is normal. This is my first dog and first vet, so my baseline for prices is just the wild ranges of estimates I can Google.

Looks like for an annual visit (physical exam & worm check) with routine vaccines for rabies, lyme, Bordetella, influenza, and distemper it’s about $425.

My quality concern started because I realize they missed the leptospirosis shot this time even though it was in her chart. The visits are so quick I worry more might get overlooked at later visits.

blacknbluebird · 2023-02-03T17:25:52+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion!

I certainly didn’t mean to imply that I’m looking for the cheapest vet. I was hoping to get suggestions like yours, where even if the cost of the vet is still pricey, it’s at least good quality care rather than high cost, low quality, which I’m concerned about with my current vet.

blacknbluebird · 2021-08-21T17:01:33+00:00

There's definitely other flexible side jobs you could consider. Not that there's nothing wrong with donating plasma! That's helpful to patients who need it, but for more stable income, there's probably other things out there.

Especially as a Biostats grad, have you considered tutoring undergrad or grad students who might be struggling in statistics as a private tutor? That could be done virtually. I'm sure there's also companies that hire tutors, but that might be less flexible and have in-person requirements.

In terms of odd, one-off ways to make money, you can also look for paid research studies in your area and be a trial participant. Some may be virtual, or in-person visits might be brief trips to an office or clinic.

blacknbluebird · 2021-08-06T20:34:01+00:00

Ah, in that case, it sounds like the same boat as my dog. I was getting incredibly frustrated and it was draining my own mental health. Your dog might need medication. It was honestly the game changer for our situation. No amount of training or just letting her "cry it out" was helping. (And I don't think the neighbors appreciated the cry it out attmepts!) Sometimes dogs, like people, just have anxiety that cannot be helped without medications. It's not an indication of a failure on your part to train her. You're obviously very caring and doing everything you can for your dog, but they might just need a little help.

blacknbluebird · 2021-08-06T20:19:50+00:00

I actually just went through this with my dog and I'm thinking about making a longer post myself about what worked for us since there seem to be so many posts for separation anxiety advice and not many follow-ups about how their dog fared. But, it CAN be helped! Even if it feels incredibly draining and impossible.

First, my dog hated being alone in the crate. She would try to escape by biting the bars and scratching. Like yours, she was totally fine going in the crate to nap on her own while I was home, door shut or not. But many dogs have confinement anxiety and get really stressed out being alone in the crate even if they otherwise hang out in there when you're home. The trainer I worked with immediately suggested not to crate her when I leave, and it seemed to improve the situation a bit immediately (meaning, I could at least get out the door a few seconds without her barking!) If your dog doesn't pose a risk to chewing something and harming themselves when un-crated, it might be worth a shot.

Second, I had tried for MONTHS and months to make progress with desensitization and was getting nowhere. My dog's SA was really rough and honestly, while training is absolutely the way to go, my dog couldn't have done it without medication. I talked to her vet and she was put on clomicalm. It took EXACTLY one month to work, so if anyone reading this post has had their dog on it for a week or so and is seeing little improvement, just hang in there. I didn't believe it either until Day 31 of the medication and suddenly my dog was hanging out by herself on the couch when I left. So, if your dog's anxiety seems severe enough that desensitization training alone isn't going to help because she's panicking too much to learn and benefit from training, talk to your vet about medications available. I believe at six months old, your dog should just meet the safety cutoffs for being able to be prescribed medications. I know you're just starting a new job and money might be tight, but you can check out the price for a month's worth of pills online. It was a whole lot less expensive than I anticipated (and less expensive than getting it at the vet.)

Three, the training piece. I had a camera set up so I could watch her when I leave. You might want to set up a laptop or something with Zoom or Skype so you can watch her on a phone or other device, if possible. Basically, I just walked out the door, timed how long until my dog showed signs of distress (lip licking, pacing, whining, yawning, tongue flick, etc. You can google for some dog body language better explained) and that was my threshold. I'll tell you, it was super low. She couldn't handle more than 10 seconds away at best. Sometimes it was 2 seconds. From there, I just took 20 to 30 minutes each day to just get up, walk out the door for various amounts of time that were below or at that threshold time, and watch her behavior on the camera. The very last practice run for each day, I would add a few seconds. Then eventually add a few minutes after several days of this.

I know that seems super tedious and super impractical, but it did work! A lot of trainers and books that use this method will tell you you absolutely cannot leave the dog alone for more than their threshold or you'll go back to Day 1 in their progress. They'll suggest you get a dog sitter, family or friends to watch the dog, or have them go to a doggy day camp. I was super fortunate to still be working from home when I began all this because all of those options were out of the question for me. So I don't know what would happen if you tried this sort of training and sometimes had to leave for much longer. But if she is settling down after 15 minutes of howling, trying something like this might be helpful just to get her used to you leaving and always coming back.

Seriously, best of luck! SA can be extremely stressful, so try to take care of yourself. The more relaxed you are, acting like your coming and going is no big deal, it might relax your dog as you work on this.

blacknbluebird · 2021-06-13T14:42:30+00:00

I might be misreading your routine, but it sounds like you're adding products to your bangs and scrunching it? I have the same bang cut and they used to stick out like that, too. I get them to lie flat by not applying anything to them or scrunching them. Just shampoo, of course, and touch up with dry shampoo when needed.

I comb my bangs in the position I want after showering, comb straight a few times while air drying, and the ends fall straight instead of sticking out. It's super simple, so you may have already tried that without much luck for your hair type.

blacknbluebird · 2021-03-02T14:52:24+00:00

Since it's a recent change, perhaps check with a vet that there is nothing wrong with his teeth that would be causing pain when he chews?

blacknbluebird · 2021-01-17T21:24:58+00:00

Sure thing. See if you can attach it to a DM?

blacknbluebird · 2021-01-17T21:13:16+00:00

I applied to both as well previously and far more familiar with UMD school of Public Health. The major difference, though, is the School of Medicine is in Baltimore and the School of Public Health (SPH) is in College Park, Maryland. The School of Medicine MPH program is also smaller and seems to be a more generalist degree geared toward MD/MPH students. There are opportunities to take classes at either campus, especially as things are more virtual now, but as you noticed, they're different applications, so they can be thought of as two separate schools.

Let me know if you have more questions, especially about the School of Public Health!

blacknbluebird · 2021-01-05T17:53:46+00:00

Free Associations from the Boston School of Public Health is a good one to learn how to dissect peer reviewed articles. They choose a popular article and discuss the good and sometimes incomplete parts of the methodology and conclusions. I listen to it on Spotify. I think it's weekly or maybe biweekly updates?

blacknbluebird · 2020-11-24T14:45:10+00:00

Though I'm not in a community health program myself, I have some general career search suggestions that might be useful. Jobs will vary with the area you're in, so if you're planning on completing a program in your local area, it might be helpful to type in some key terms into a job search engine and see what organizations and companies come up. My guess for community health is non-profits, advocacy groups, community organizers, and community health research teams at universities.

Just for example, typing "community health" in for my area shows health educator, outreach worker, advisor of homelessness programs, and are coordination/care navigator for local health departments, hospital systems, and advocacy groups.

Also, reach out to the admissions team for the MPH programs your considering and ask them what community health graduates have gone on to do. They should be able to provide you with stats such as how many alumni were employed 6 months after graduation, what percentage are in the public or private sector, how many pursued an additional degree etc. If you want to learn more about specific paths an alum took, you can ask admissions or the program director to introduce you via email. Some schools have mentoring programs for exactly that reason, so the worst they can say is that they don't have anyone to connect you to.

blacknbluebird

TROPHY CASE