What did you do with your flock today?

[TropicalBabies]

Unfortunately, The kitty was put down yesterday. Turns out that when a 13 year old cat has fluid around his lungs, it's fun stuff like cancer or heart failure. ... Like 80% of the time. 15% of the time it's kitty Corona (FIP), which is basically always fatal when they're that old. I figured I was probably in trouble when the Vet started telling me about experimental treatments....

Unfortunately, his problems had progressed enough that he has some serious problems being able to breathe.... so he couldn't eat much, sleep well, or even purr with comfort.

Thank you! I'm NGL, I'm a little surprised to have made it this far!

Thank you! As previously mentioned, my kitty didn't have something treatable.

I also never thought grass could be dangerous.

Now, I know this is a chicken forum, but let me hijack it for a minute to tell you about His Imperial Fatness, Ruler of the food bowl, The Fat One (AKA Fatty)

Fatty came to my house as a last chance at getting my other cat a friend. I had tried to find my other cat (Stupid) a friend a few times and had failed. Either The new cat and Stupid didn't have the ability to be friends, or the new cat and my husband didn't have the ability to co-exist. I found Fatty at the ASPCA. He was not the cat I had gone looking for, but He reached out his little paw at me, and tried to play through the bars on his cage... and my heart melted... His little face had most of his whiskers broken due to wanting to play through the cage and I decided that anything that was that committed to being adorable would probably do ok in my house.

That was about 12 years ago now. Fatty was dubbed Jack to begin with, he earned the name Fatty because when the kitten-ness wore off, his personality was mainly about food. (Word of advice-
Don't leave your cats at home with your cat-hating Hubs. They might start answering to names you have to explain to the vet.)

The Fat One was not a social cat, if you didn't live with him. He disappeared when the front door opened (regardless of why it was opening). He mostly hid in a cabinet when people came over. He did put up with me dragging him out to met my friends when they started wondering if I really had 2 cats. He weighed about 20 lbs for most of his life, and when I carried him, you couldn't see my torso. (He had a lot of fur. I'm pretty sure he was part Mainecoon).

If you lived with him, he loved you... almost as much as he loved food. He would happily sit and be pet for hours. He occasionally wrapped his paws around my arm so I would keep petting his belly... turns out 20lbs cats are kind of strong. He was a brother to Stupid, and did make sure I no longer got woken up at 4am to the call of my first cat being lonely. He also purred basically all the time, and was great at putting me to sleep when I did not plan on taking a nap.
View attachment 3658785

He was a very good friend, and I am lucky to have had him.

Ok, back to your regularly scheduled Chickens now...

So sorry for your loss. Glad you two (4) got to have each other as family. Nice post.

 

[ChicksnMore]

I learned a new word recently. And experienced it today. Parasthesia. Tingling or pin prick or bug bite feeling on skin for no outward reason.
Today as I was on poo patrol, I opened the coop door to clean and saw a strange bunch of red specks. I dragged my metal tongs over them and they popped red. Oh, no! Mites! I had found their sleeping/hiding area between the door and the frame it closed against, and it seemed like they were all congregated there. After spraying the heck out of the door, cracks, etc. with Dawn soap water, I inspected one of the girls, and no evidence on her of any bugs. My scalp and neck had parasthesia after that. Does this happen to anyone else if you hear the word lice or mites?
I am hating the possibility of having to wash down their coop, as it may not dry very quickly with our cooler, wetter weather. Any suggestions?

There's a powder called Eight that contains permethrin that I use for cracks and crevices if I see mites or lice. If I don't see any then I just use diatomaceous earth in the crevices and it seems to me like an excellent preventative. Any permethrin containing powder or spray would do the trick though. Just be very cautious if you have cats because it can kill kitties. Safe and approved for chickens though!

Hope the tingling gone and the mites soon too!

Editing to add a link: https://www.amazon.com/Bonide-BND78...rol&qid=1697225887&sprefix=eig,aps,169&sr=8-8

 

[ChicksnMore]

Unfortunately, The kitty was put down yesterday. Turns out that when a 13 year old cat has fluid around his lungs, it's fun stuff like cancer or heart failure. ... Like 80% of the time. 15% of the time it's kitty Corona (FIP), which is basically always fatal when they're that old. I figured I was probably in trouble when the Vet started telling me about experimental treatments....

Unfortunately, his problems had progressed enough that he has some serious problems being able to breathe.... so he couldn't eat much, sleep well, or even purr with comfort.

Thank you! I'm NGL, I'm a little surprised to have made it this far!

Thank you! As previously mentioned, my kitty didn't have something treatable.

I also never thought grass could be dangerous.

Now, I know this is a chicken forum, but let me hijack it for a minute to tell you about His Imperial Fatness, Ruler of the food bowl, The Fat One (AKA Fatty)

Fatty came to my house as a last chance at getting my other cat a friend. I had tried to find my other cat (Stupid) a friend a few times and had failed. Either The new cat and Stupid didn't have the ability to be friends, or the new cat and my husband didn't have the ability to co-exist. I found Fatty at the ASPCA. He was not the cat I had gone looking for, but He reached out his little paw at me, and tried to play through the bars on his cage... and my heart melted... His little face had most of his whiskers broken due to wanting to play through the cage and I decided that anything that was that committed to being adorable would probably do ok in my house.

That was about 12 years ago now. Fatty was dubbed Jack to begin with, he earned the name Fatty because when the kitten-ness wore off, his personality was mainly about food. (Word of advice-
Don't leave your cats at home with your cat-hating Hubs. They might start answering to names you have to explain to the vet.)

The Fat One was not a social cat, if you didn't live with him. He disappeared when the front door opened (regardless of why it was opening). He mostly hid in a cabinet when people came over. He did put up with me dragging him out to met my friends when they started wondering if I really had 2 cats. He weighed about 20 lbs for most of his life, and when I carried him, you couldn't see my torso. (He had a lot of fur. I'm pretty sure he was part Mainecoon).

If you lived with him, he loved you... almost as much as he loved food. He would happily sit and be pet for hours. He occasionally wrapped his paws around my arm so I would keep petting his belly... turns out 20lbs cats are kind of strong. He was a brother to Stupid, and did make sure I no longer got woken up at 4am to the call of my first cat being lonely. He also purred basically all the time, and was great at putting me to sleep when I did not plan on taking a nap.
View attachment 3658785

He was a very good friend, and I am lucky to have had him.

Ok, back to your regularly scheduled Chickens now...

Awww....he sounds like a doll baby that had a wonderful wonderful life with you! I'm sorry you lost him but glad his passing was kind to him.

My hubby also likes to nickname the pets obnoxiously

 

[kurby22]

Unfortunately, The kitty was put down yesterday. Turns out that when a 13 year old cat has fluid around his lungs, it's fun stuff like cancer or heart failure. ... Like 80% of the time. 15% of the time it's kitty Corona (FIP), which is basically always fatal when they're that old. I figured I was probably in trouble when the Vet started telling me about experimental treatments....

Unfortunately, his problems had progressed enough that he has some serious problems being able to breathe.... so he couldn't eat much, sleep well, or even purr with comfort.

Thank you! I'm NGL, I'm a little surprised to have made it this far!

Thank you! As previously mentioned, my kitty didn't have something treatable.

I also never thought grass could be dangerous.

Now, I know this is a chicken forum, but let me hijack it for a minute to tell you about His Imperial Fatness, Ruler of the food bowl, The Fat One (AKA Fatty)

Fatty came to my house as a last chance at getting my other cat a friend. I had tried to find my other cat (Stupid) a friend a few times and had failed. Either The new cat and Stupid didn't have the ability to be friends, or the new cat and my husband didn't have the ability to co-exist. I found Fatty at the ASPCA. He was not the cat I had gone looking for, but He reached out his little paw at me, and tried to play through the bars on his cage... and my heart melted... His little face had most of his whiskers broken due to wanting to play through the cage and I decided that anything that was that committed to being adorable would probably do ok in my house.

That was about 12 years ago now. Fatty was dubbed Jack to begin with, he earned the name Fatty because when the kitten-ness wore off, his personality was mainly about food. (Word of advice-
Don't leave your cats at home with your cat-hating Hubs. They might start answering to names you have to explain to the vet.)

The Fat One was not a social cat, if you didn't live with him. He disappeared when the front door opened (regardless of why it was opening). He mostly hid in a cabinet when people came over. He did put up with me dragging him out to met my friends when they started wondering if I really had 2 cats. He weighed about 20 lbs for most of his life, and when I carried him, you couldn't see my torso. (He had a lot of fur. I'm pretty sure he was part Mainecoon).

If you lived with him, he loved you... almost as much as he loved food. He would happily sit and be pet for hours. He occasionally wrapped his paws around my arm so I would keep petting his belly... turns out 20lbs cats are kind of strong. He was a brother to Stupid, and did make sure I no longer got woken up at 4am to the call of my first cat being lonely. He also purred basically all the time, and was great at putting me to sleep when I did not plan on taking a nap.
View attachment 3658785

He was a very good friend, and I am lucky to have had him.

Ok, back to your regularly scheduled Chickens now...

That was a wonderful tribute to Fatty and he will clearly be missed, but was so very loved! This made me tear up...

 

[ChicksnMore]

Animals can be so dangerous! They love you so much they accidentally try to injure you in the process! My best friend has a forever damaged pinky finger (always looks like she's drinking high tea like a fancy pants) thanks to her dog chasing after a squirrel...she yanked hard on the leash and her pinky was caught in the leash and went sideways and she's had two different surgeries, but they can't fix it...her fingers are too thin and fragile. The things we do sometimes haha.

I'm so bummed about Opal and now Oliver keeps escaping somehow! I closed off the hole in the bird netting and he was still getting out. It does seem to have created a budding friendship though…
View attachment 3658641
Koda really wants a friend now that his dog sisters have passed on. I got some super cute video of them too, but this picture is just so cute. Koda would sit like this tail wagging, then dance around as Oliver danced around and then Koda would tear off in a zoomie circle around the whole yard and then come back and they’d do it again Eventually Oliver tired of the game and went back to foraging so Koda laid down and watched him. It was super cute . I may have figured out how he’s been escaping too, so fingers crossed I don’t see Oliver in the yard unsupervised today! I heard a big Great Horned Owl a couple nights ago and saw him in a redwood tree last night—sooo I now have two sneaky dawn/dusk predators to worry about! It was tough to get a good picture of him but he looked big even at this distance! Crazy thing is I heard him a bunch Tuesday night but learned my husband may be deaf to sounds in that register cuz he couldn’t hear it at all! Kids and I were incredulous that he couldn’t hear him

View attachment 3658642

I've never seen a dog try to play with a chicken before! Well, not in a chicken healthy kind of way! Here it's always a chicken that's interested in the dog...usually because the chickens want to steal their food . Our poor puppies put up with so much from our pushy chickens!

 

[ValerieJ]

Unfortunately, The kitty was put down yesterday. Turns out that when a 13 year old cat has fluid around his lungs, it's fun stuff like cancer or heart failure. ... Like 80% of the time. 15% of the time it's kitty Corona (FIP), which is basically always fatal when they're that old. I figured I was probably in trouble when the Vet started telling me about experimental treatments....

Unfortunately, his problems had progressed enough that he has some serious problems being able to breathe.... so he couldn't eat much, sleep well, or even purr with comfort.

Thank you! I'm NGL, I'm a little surprised to have made it this far!

Thank you! As previously mentioned, my kitty didn't have something treatable.

I also never thought grass could be dangerous.

Now, I know this is a chicken forum, but let me hijack it for a minute to tell you about His Imperial Fatness, Ruler of the food bowl, The Fat One (AKA Fatty)

Fatty came to my house as a last chance at getting my other cat a friend. I had tried to find my other cat (Stupid) a friend a few times and had failed. Either The new cat and Stupid didn't have the ability to be friends, or the new cat and my husband didn't have the ability to co-exist. I found Fatty at the ASPCA. He was not the cat I had gone looking for, but He reached out his little paw at me, and tried to play through the bars on his cage... and my heart melted... His little face had most of his whiskers broken due to wanting to play through the cage and I decided that anything that was that committed to being adorable would probably do ok in my house.

That was about 12 years ago now. Fatty was dubbed Jack to begin with, he earned the name Fatty because when the kitten-ness wore off, his personality was mainly about food. (Word of advice-
Don't leave your cats at home with your cat-hating Hubs. They might start answering to names you have to explain to the vet.)

The Fat One was not a social cat, if you didn't live with him. He disappeared when the front door opened (regardless of why it was opening). He mostly hid in a cabinet when people came over. He did put up with me dragging him out to met my friends when they started wondering if I really had 2 cats. He weighed about 20 lbs for most of his life, and when I carried him, you couldn't see my torso. (He had a lot of fur. I'm pretty sure he was part Mainecoon).

If you lived with him, he loved you... almost as much as he loved food. He would happily sit and be pet for hours. He occasionally wrapped his paws around my arm so I would keep petting his belly... turns out 20lbs cats are kind of strong. He was a brother to Stupid, and did make sure I no longer got woken up at 4am to the call of my first cat being lonely. He also purred basically all the time, and was great at putting me to sleep when I did not plan on taking a nap.
View attachment 3658785

He was a very good friend, and I am lucky to have had him.

Ok, back to your regularly scheduled Chickens now...

I’m so sorry for your loss! I loved your tribute to him. You were both lucky to have spent so much time together.

 

[kurby22]

I've never seen a dog try to play with a chicken before! Well, not in a chicken healthy kind of way! Here it's always a chicken that's interested in the dog...usually because the chickens want to steal their food . Our poor puppies put up with so much from our pushy chickens!

I know! I was very much hovering over their time in the yard together but when he started his zoomies and the play pose I was a bit less nervous! I'm not sure Oliver was reading it quite as playfully as Koda, but his reaction to Koda was not one of fear so much as annoyance haha. Most of the time Koda is the one tolerating the chickens haha, the other day Shadow was batting at the fluffy butt of one of the cochins and she flipped out and flew off my lap and landed on Koda's back and he was like....ummmm, what are you doing while turning in circles trying to see her on his back Was super funny!

Speaking of annoyance...I have learned NOT to wear red around my roosters after today hahaha. My extremely chill Modern Game rooster Compy actually attacked me today when I tried to pet him! He's NEVER shown any aggression at all...but seemed totally fine with me after I took off the red sweater. So funny! Aria's softball team wears red and Leaky has come after her a couple times when she goes to do chores while still wearing her red socks...but is completely fine with her if she's sockless in Crocs! So interesting to me!

 

[ChicksnMore]

I know! I was very much hovering over their time in the yard together but when he started his zoomies and the play pose I was a bit less nervous! I'm not sure Oliver was reading it quite as playfully as Koda, but his reaction to Koda was not one of fear so much as annoyance haha. Most of the time Koda is the one tolerating the chickens haha, the other day Shadow was batting at the fluffy butt of one of the cochins and she flipped out and flew off my lap and landed on Koda's back and he was like....ummmm, what are you doing while turning in circles trying to see her on his back Was super funny!

Speaking of annoyance...I have learned NOT to wear red around my roosters after today hahaha. My extremely chill Modern Game rooster Compy actually attacked me today when I tried to pet him! He's NEVER shown any aggression at all...but seemed totally fine with me after I took off the red sweater. So funny! Aria's softball team wears red and Leaky has come after her a couple times when she goes to do chores while still wearing her red socks...but is completely fine with her if she's sockless in Crocs! So interesting to me!

Koda sounds adorable! The whole red thing sounds fascinating! I'm going to have to try it here and see what reactions I get! If I have anything red....
Our tortoise Spud likes to chase hubby around when he's his wearing his tennis shoes with red laces...but for him I think his red obsessions because I feed him hibiscus flowers as treats and he loves them. We have a red jolly ball for horses that we toss in with him occasionally too. He ends up chasing it around because he tries to take a bite and it rolls away. I'd hoped chasing it would get him so he quits trying to eat hubby's shoelaces but nope...no such luck.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Pulled some swiss chard today for critters and then just hung out with the hamburgs for bit. Such curious birds!

 

[ChicksnMore]

Enjoying the hamburgs soo much!