Just curious who else is living super frugal

[Arielle]

I have a couple vets I go to and one of the offices never shuts up about spaying or neutering and they charge an ungodly amount, I know they are just trying to make some money I tell them every time I bring a dog in I am a good owner, I watch my dogs, and I dont have accidental litters, they say well it decreases the chances of cancer if your dog is spayed , I just laugh and hold my wallet closer. If I really wanted to spay they have pitbull specials all the time through different rescues that offer low cost spay and neuter for bully type dogs. last year they had 50$ spays locally, not bad, included a rabies booster.

Holy cow 50$ spay??? Hear adoptions start at $300-350 and UP!!

I USED to go to a vets office that ran informational tapes in the waiting room. PUsh push push. To get dogs examined TWICE a year. TWICE. OMG. THat alone made me nuts. BUt to get all the vaccinations, and the teeth cleanings, OMG. Push push push.

I finally parted ways when my old 9 year old girl had developed a softball size tumor on her belly. I knew it was the coming of the end, and wanted every last day with her. It didnt bother her but when it opened I knew our time together was up. I made the apptment, and the vet was adament that her lab work was not good enough for surgery and I would be cruel to let her live. In tears, I said I needed one more day with her. Went home, called a friend still in tears. SHe wisely advocated that I get a second opinion. As I muttled over this I called a quasi-friend that worked at TUfts at the clinic, and read her the profile. As a tech (I didnt see anything glaring, and really thought I was just too stupid , afterall the vet looks at hundreds of these profiles. )My friend at TUfts was very reassuring and said this profile was rather normal, and I should see the profiles that go to surgery at TUfts. lol Ok. I called another vet for second opinion. He said this would be an easy surgery as my dog was in good health and the blood work was good. I am very grateful for the two extra years I got with that girl. She was the best. BEST!

I never went back to that other vet office--

 

[Arielle]

right I have 4 girls, when they go in heat they get a nice pen to get pampered in, I dont think it makes them any easier to train if fixed either, all 4 of mine know sign language and don't wonder at all.

When I traveled to a lab breeder in PA, she had a wonderful set up, all based on the needs of the dogs. SHe had, by our count, 50+ dogs on site. A whelping room with one girl and her 11 chocolate pups. THe coffee tables were replaced by open crates, each holding a girl either waiting to be bred, or kept close at hand to watch as she was near to whelping. THe floor was bare, and easy to clean. THe big yard had the adult dogs where they could run and play all day with a porch to get out of the rain. In another section was a long shed with chain link as you would find at a typical kennel with puppies sorted by age. Everyone looked happy and welcomed us.

Ya my girl knew about 25 commands. The trainers said to teach hand signals as old dogs often lost their hearing. FUn to teach smart dogs.

 

[Beekissed]

That's a great idea! And Labs are very smart dogs.... I believe my current one could almost do my taxes if he was taught the proper forms. I use basic hand signals for sit, stay, lie down or come but not much else. I think it's a good idea to use them so one doesn't get a pup zoning out with too much sound and he has to not only listen to you but also look at you during training....it's important later on.

 

[alldembirds]

if you have a pitbull you can often times find free spay or neuter http://www.pbrc.net/speuter.html

 

[Outpost JWB]

Our TSC has an overall good supply. But you really do need to have an inkling because the corid, etc, is all in the cattle section, etc. Doseage is important.. I am also glad to see a more natural approach to animal keeping in general.

I was only going to get corid to have on hand if needed. I have never used it, and also never given my chickens any meds other than wormers. Our dog tested positive for hook worm last summer and the chickens also got it. It was very visible in their poo. Other than that I do believe that if you chose to medicate, you are weakening your flock. Therefore I don't generally medicate them. It was just as a precautionary measure in case my rooster did show further signs of coccidiosis. I would rather be proactive than reactive and lose my whole flock

.

 

[Beekissed]

But then, one has to ask themselves, "What am I losing?"....a flock so weak that something as common as coccidiosis can take it down. It all depends on how often one wants to bolster weak flocks and flock members.... or if they want to weed out the weakness, build on the strong. Of course, that's all tied up in flock goals....most folks on here just want eggs and they don't want their chickens to die before they can get the eggs from them. That's okay and it's been the flock goal of many folks because they want a pay back on their investment and that's understandable.

But, if one wants a sustainable poultry experience and isn't in it for the here and a now and give me my eggs, please, then the death of a rooster is a small price to pay for the end goal of building a flock that is resistant to disease and parasites and can reproduce more of the same, until the issue of "can we get meds when we want them?" is just a moot point all the way around.

If they crack down on the meds badly enough, many people are going to want to learn how to have that second type of flock if they want any eggs or meat at all.

 

[erinszoo]

This is what I have been doing: I started using powdered sulfur for the fleas on the cats. Cats think I am just giving them some good rubs while administering a pinch of powder here and there. It worked for a while then the flea population increased so I changed to buying, gulp, the expensive stuff Advantage II. Buying the over 9# doses and splitting one application between 2 cats. THat knocked down the fleas again. I"m thinking the sulfur might be best for living areas-- where the cats like to curl up. ANd for many of those spaces I place a towel and change out every couple weeks and wash it to get rid of any flea material.

As for heart worm, I remember a dog breeder using a bottle of injectable ivermectin. THe cattle stuff. THat is what I will do next time with a puppy. THe once a month tablets are rediculously expensive. Of course the new recommend is treating cats for monthly heart worm too--- just not sure the injectable is safe for cats as I have not investigated that-- so no recommends for cats at this time.

Our vet had us buy the Advantage for the largest breed dog ... over 65 lbs, I think ... and then split it between all of our cats. It's the same thing, you just have to divided the weight proportions correctly. It's worked very well and costs substantially less than buying a dose for each cat. I've never heard of using sulfur for fleas but I have use diatomacious earth with success.

 

[lazy gardener]

Our vet had us buy the Advantage for the largest breed dog ... over 65 lbs, I think ... and then split it between all of our cats. It's the same thing, you just have to divided the weight proportions correctly. It's worked very well and costs substantially less than buying a dose for each cat. I've never heard of using sulfur for fleas but I have use diatomacious earth with success.

Thanks Erin. I did not know that the dog and cat Advantage were the same product.

 

[boxofpens]

I had a dalmation get poisoned & die from a flea topical several years ago. I believe it was Promaris. Never had any issues with topicals before that. Since then I'm super leery about what I use. Our vet (a lovely country vet), suggested a Sebesto collar. She shows Akitas and uses it on her dogs. She said they're a little pricey, but for an inside dog, they usually last over a year. We took the plunge and got one for each dog last spring (I believe), and haven't had a flea or tick yet. We're in central TX, and one of mine is a Pyr with LOTS of fur.

 

[Tikkijane]

This is what I have been doing:  I started using powdered sulfur for the fleas on the cats. Cats think I am just giving them some good rubs while  administering a pinch of  powder here and there. It worked for a while then the flea population increased so I changed to buying, gulp, the expensive stuff Advantage II. Buying the over 9# doses and splitting one application  between 2 cats. THat knocked down the fleas again. I"m thinking the sulfur might be best for living areas-- where the cats like to curl up.  ANd for many of those  spaces I place a towel and change out every couple weeks and wash  it to get rid of any flea material.

As for heart worm, I remember a dog breeder using a bottle of injectable ivermectin. THe cattle stuff. THat is what I will do next time with a puppy. THe once a month tablets are rediculously expensive. Of course the new recommend is treating cats for monthly heart worm too--- just not sure the injectable is safe for cats as I have not investigated that-- so no recommends for cats at this time.

How does the powdered sulfur compare to DE? And is it yellow? Will it treat fleas or just prevent?