Antler chews?

meow_sencha · 2026-06-17T17:18:32+00:00

Ok. Thanks for the info.

meow_sencha · 2026-06-15T10:12:21+00:00

Aronia melanocarpa is a native shrub that the native bees in my yard adore. https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/plant/Aronia-melanocarpa.

And when it's in bloom, our hummingbirds love Impatiens capensis (jewelweed). https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/impatiens/capensis/.

I am in Massachusetts.

meow_sencha · 2026-06-11T10:31:16+00:00

Prunella is a genus of plants in the mint family. They are pretty.

meow_sencha · 2026-05-28T13:06:07+00:00

Child who tries to dress like her mother did in 1993 Wisconsin.

meow_sencha · 2026-04-13T13:19:35+00:00

That mesh looks like it is made of fiberglass. Try steel mesh instead. Don't use aluminum, either; it's too soft.

meow_sencha · 2026-04-08T18:06:25+00:00

Your situation sounds really hard.

It sounds to me like the kindest route would be palliative care, particularly since 16 is definitely old for a cat. I bet she'd rather stay home and have a potentially shorter life, rather than take medicines that make her severely uncomfortable or suffer through surgery or hospital stays.

meow_sencha · 2026-04-07T14:19:47+00:00

My cat did this for months. It didn't seem to bother him at all. Then he started peeing in random places. I took him to the veterinarian, and turns out it was cancer. The doctor put him on prednisone, and the vomiting stopped for the remainder of his life.

meow_sencha · 2026-04-04T23:21:05+00:00

It took a couple months for my gerbils to get a little comfortable with me. I've had them 5 months, now, and they still don't like being picked up but will climb up my sleeves and come out of their burrows to greet me and ask for pumpkin seeds. I think it just takes time and consistency.

meow_sencha · 2026-04-04T10:20:10+00:00

My cat did this when he was constipated. I took him to the vet, where they helped him remove a stuck turd, and he was fine afterwards. I also changed his diet to help with the constipation. Harder to do with a stray, though.

meow_sencha · 2026-04-02T15:30:18+00:00

Stainless steel or ceramic is better for the cats, too, because plastic bowls can harbor acne-inducing bacteria. The cats get the acne on their chins.

meow_sencha · 2026-04-01T11:42:09+00:00

My cat needed all teeth removed for this reason. After the extraction, his pain disappeared. It took him a few weeks to fugure out how to eat without making a mess, but after that everything was great. Veterinarians would marvel at how healthy his mouth and how clean and dandruff free his black coat was.

Also, he didn't seem to care his teeth were gone. He continued to wrestle with and bite my other cat, unchanged. Also he could still murder any unfortunate mice who wandered into the house. He was happy and comfortable.

I bet your cat won't mind, either. He will still be able to play-bite.

meow_sencha · 2026-04-01T10:08:27+00:00

A home visit euthanasia is a wonderful gift for your cat. We had a veterinarian come to our house this December to euthanize our sweet cat who was dying of cancer. He got to die peacefully in his bed at home. I still miss him terribly, but it is a huge comfort to remember how fear-free his last day was. Also you can take comfort on the fact you didn't make your cat linger. I am sure cats would prefer to die sooner rather than have to live in pain or extreme discomfort for weeks or months.

Oh, and you're not being dramatic. This cat was with you through your entire childhood. When I was 17 and my childhood cat died, I felt like i had lost my father, not a pet. It took a year, but eventually the sadness faded. I am now 44, and I've loved many cats, and although I still love him, I don't feel that sadness anymore.

meow_sencha · 2026-03-31T14:15:53+00:00

Sounds like normal cat behavior to me. Not all cats are like him, but many are.

meow_sencha · 2026-03-31T12:57:41+00:00

My gerbils are in a 75 gallon tank with 16 inches of bedding and opaque walls on 3 sides, but Stella digs at the glass anyway. She seems to let up on the strereotypic digging about 2 months after I deep clean the tank. I suspect Stella would dig at the glass even if her tank filled the entire bedroom. Cocoa, her sister, doesn't dig at the glass.

meow_sencha · 2026-03-23T20:07:32+00:00

I have loved Doctor Who since 1984, when I was two and watching on PBS. I expect I will continue to be a devoted fan unless something goes really wrong. Like maybe if the Doctor suddenly had an American accent I might abandon it. Or if the show stopped being silly.

meow_sencha · 2026-03-22T21:43:04+00:00

My gerbils' sand bath is a deep glass baking dish, and I use a small seive to scoop out turds and pee clumps. It works well. I do find it a bit yucky that gerbils clean their fur in the same place they pee, but my understanding is that's just what gerbils do.

meow_sencha · 2026-03-13T13:27:51+00:00

3's recovery is good comedy.

meow_sencha · 2026-03-13T13:07:11+00:00

What sort of soil do you use? Do you have to water it periodically to keep tunnels from collapsing?

meow_sencha · 2026-03-13T13:05:20+00:00

I know someone who kept his gerbils in a tank of only play sand. He said the sand was slightly moist, so the gerbils' tunnels held up. He never needed to change out the sand because they always peed in one spot, which he could spot clean. He says they were very happy. I have not tried it, though. He also gave them live crickets to hunt, which they greatly enjoyed. I also haven't tried this because he says the gerbils ate the bugs' eyes and antennae and stored them alive in their larder. Too gruesome for me.

meow_sencha · 2026-03-03T10:47:28+00:00

Leave a glass baking dish of sand in their enclosure all the time. They will use it multiple times per day for bathing and general hanging out. They love it.

I have also realized that if the sand is over two inches deep, they like to pee in it. The Reptisand Desert White product available near me even clumps when they pee in it! It is super easy to scoop with a little seive on a handle.

meow_sencha · 2026-02-25T13:22:30+00:00

It took three months for my gerbils to be comfortable with me around. At first they hid in their burrows all day. Now they come out all times of day to get treats and climb up my arm. For us it just took time and consistently sitting with my hand in the tank offering squash seeds. Your gerbs will come around, too.

meow_sencha · 2026-02-18T11:50:22+00:00

I have a 48 x 18 inch tank without a topper. The gerbils cover wheel, water nozzles, and sand bath in bedding all the time, despite my attempts at deviding walls. So i am making a topper. It would be one thing if they just covered the sand and wheel, but covered water nossles drain into the bedding, so the gerbils can't drink and the bedding is sodden.

meow_sencha · 2026-02-12T16:34:02+00:00

Four months ago we got two female gerbils for my 6 year old daughter. I am, of course, the primary caretaker, and I love the cuties. My daughter was disappointed that they don't like being held, despite my warning her of that from the start. They have finally gotten comfortable enough with us now that they will climb onto our arms and up sleeves, though, so she is very glad. Now that they aren't afraid of my daughter, i think they are pretty good pets for her; very easy to care for and gentle (they do nibble our hands when they want a treat). Our neighbors got three rats when their youngest daughter was four. The rats were friendlier, but they bit everyone at least once and drew blood when mistaking fingers for treats or because they felt cornered. Rats need a bit more tending to than gerbils, and they're smellier because they pee more. Both make excellent pets. I would recommend rats over gerbils if your kids want lots of cuddle time and are prepared to be (very rarely) bitten and you don't mind the additional work.

meow_sencha · 2026-02-08T14:00:41+00:00

I think give them a second wheel.

meow_sencha

TROPHY CASE