Comments on: Ironical twist of the week

By: pheeno

pheeno — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 01:34:01 +0000

It’s the same with pups. Getting my male dogs fixed as soon as possible cut down his chances of prostate cancer considerably.

Alas, my stinky old weinie dog has prostate *issues*, but at least cancer ain’t one of em.

His stinky issue would clear up if he’d stop eating cat poop.

By: Gertrude Strine

Gertrude Strine — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:24:58 +0000

Oh the irony indeed:
Pup gets fairly common poor hygiene/developmental infection that will very likely improve and resolve with time and diligent hygiene.
Blogger exploits fatty skinfolds for good self-referential ironic copy.
Ensuing set of home-baked recipes (dog “breeding” appears to be an especially fecund source of internet regurgitated tripe)throws up a single undisputed (in this blog, that’s the irony) assumption; that oestrus is an essential part of a bitch’s development and with the whiff in that assumption that it cures a lot of things.
Fact: A bitch spayed (this is complete removal of ovaries and uterus, same as Twisty/Jill experienced) before her first oestrus has her risk of developing breast cancer in later life reduced almost to nothing.
Fact: Breast cancer is the most common malignant cancer in bitches (around half of them – the cancers that is, not dog deaths in total) It is also as nasty to treat as it is in humans.
Fact: A bitch spayed after her first oestrus has her risk of developing breast cancer later in life increased 7-fold from that of the bitch who is spayed before first oestrus.
Fact: A bitch spayed after her second oestrus joins all those who are never spayed in her lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. Their risk is not small, increases between ages 2 and 5-ish and isn’t the point of these figures. It is around 25 percent of all unspayed bitches after 6 years of life who will develop mammary neoplasms and around half of those cancers will be vicious and malignant.

Take home point: Spaying before oestrus reduces the finite risk of developing breast cancer (whatever the cause and whatever the environment) by more than 24 percent; it almost reduces the risk to negligible. It’s the best thing you can do for your bitch.
Waiting for even a single oestrus changes that risk to only a roughly 16 percent better one. You feeling lucky, dog owner?

Anecdotal evidence is that pups with conscientious mothers (clean their pups a lot and supervise pup’s own cleaning habits as they develop), and those whose early days are spent in well-cleaned kennels with good contact with their mothers, aren’t prone to juvenile genital and urinary infections.
Jill appears to be that ideal conscientious mother to make up for a poor start.
The rough road of cleaning up after widdling female pups? Better to be a little slack about bitches widdling inside until they are ready to train themselves. They come to it quite a bit later, infections or not, than little dog pups. Old newspaper makes an excellent carpet ;-)

Disclaimer: I have a veterinary nursing qualification and have worked as one in a teaching clinic and in small animal practices. Dogs, cats and assorted uncaged birds live with us.

By: Ugly In Pink

Ugly In Pink — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:35:26 +0000

I had a cat once that would lick off her hair in patches. She looked piebald. Vet said it was anxiety and we gave her mild tranqs for two weeks. She never did it again.

By: pyramus

pyramus — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:17:23 +0000

Not having any pets (and I am not a dog person really but if I could have a dog as spectacularly adorable as Fran I would probably do it, UTIs and all), I’m not in a position to comment on those, but I would like to note that not only is “ironical” not some sort of coinage designed to make “ironic” sound more important, it is actually OLDER than “ironic” by some fifty years. Most words in English that end in “-ic” also have a form that ends in “-ical” and vice versa, such as “magic/magical” and “politic/political”, one notable exception, ironically, being “surgical”.

By: preying mantis

preying mantis — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:20:42 +0000

“I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that he’s not the only cat in the world that does this.”

A friend of mine’s got a cat who’s been sporting the shorn-alpaca look for over a year on account of overzealous self-grooming. She’s had some success in lessening the behavior–poor kitty use to have a full-body mohawk–by giving the cat occasional hormone injections.

By: Jezebella

Jezebella — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:49:32 +0000

Gayle! I have a male cat who does the same thing! He looks like he has a monkey butt. I can’t get him to stop. He looks all scrawny and weird and people think he’s got mange or something, but, he just wants to lick the damn fur off. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to hear that he’s not the only cat in the world that does this.

By: Gayle

Gayle — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:16:15 +0000

HA!

All you need is twenty four hours a day, seven days a week to pluck yourself clean with your teeth! ‘Tis easy!

By: Frumious B.

Frumious B. — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:09:42 +0000

Gayle:
Dang, if I could give myself a Brazilian with your cat’s technique, I might sport one myself.

By: Gayle

Gayle — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:51:05 +0000

Frumious B.,

I’ll raise you one. I have a cat who gives herself brazilians. Oh, yes, she does. She plucks her own fur clean up to her chest area. I’ve taken her to the vet. The vet shrugs and says she probably did it for “whatever” reason long ago and keeps up with it as it’s a behavioral pattern now.

Anyway, she’s got a cleanly “shaved” tummy and “down there” area now. One which she seems determined to keep that way.

I try not to judge.

By: Uppity

Uppity — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:50:57 +0000

Poor Franny’s fanny! Better you than me, I won’t be wiping any canine behinds, no thank you.

As much as I’m a fan of the labia, I’ll make a quick mention that foreskins are hunted down with much more gusto. I see it as a feminist issue myself, as mothers are most often their child’s genital protectors, while proud fathers are quick to hack off the neonate’s delicates and bully women into silence over the issue. Makes me sick.

For the record, a mild solution of chlorine bleach is a-ok on living skin. Makes a good cheap anti-bacterial/microbial cleanser for all sorts of things.