Me too with the food choices!!! I was chastised by my health-conscious sister for eating Taco Bell after I was diagnosed with GERD and IBS but when I eat plain chicken breast, rice and veggies I get all bloated and painful. Gas-X has been a HUGE help, along with Costco's Kirkland brand of Acid Reducer and Acid Controller (cheaper than from the drugstore). I did also have my gallbladder out as well, but that didn't stop the pain. Go for the KFC and the Gas-X!!! ;-)

Your major problem is to find out just why the peeling is happening, and correct that first. Flippers have no concerns for doing a job right--just fast and cheap--so I'd say they used the wrong primers and paint combinations--and I'd bet with almost no prep. Most people recommend an oil-based primer over old wood, then you can top it with either latex or oil paint, latex being the common choice--but you HAVE to prep properly first. And as for lead paint--I believe it only needs to be removed entirely where a child can reach it--say within four feet of sills and wall height. A lot of people are praising steam removal of it as it causes no dust. Residing is the last thing I'd do--you will never match the quality of the old siding with newer. Only replace it where it is too rotted to save.

That's something only you and your vet would know is best for your kitty. If her values are ~kinda~ elevated (BUN /CREAT) and she has no heart issues she'd probably be OK with anesthesia and some 0.9% NaCl IV during her dental. She probably would benefit from antibiotics for a week PRIOR TO having the procedure as well as having the antibiotics for a week or so afterwards. If her values are very high or you don't want to risk the anesthesia, perhaps ~pulse dosing~ with an antibiotic for one week each month will help your kitty. This is often used in human and veterinary medicine. The theory is to bombard the system with a broad spectrum antibiotic once a month and decrease the systemic bacterial load that results from the bacterial shower. A bacterial shower is the chronic result of severe gingivitis. The bacteria normally in the mouth find their way into the general circulation thereby causing a low grade infection of the kidneys, liver ... ___________(insert body part of your choice). These bacteria get into the system and continuously infect the body. Just as in people, chronic dental disease can result in something called bacterial endocarditis where bacteria set up housekeeping on the heart valves and the result is an ever changing heart murmur. The pulse dosing will decrease the chances or severity of this condition as well. If you have any reservations about the safety of your kitty going under anesthesia which your vet cannot alleviate ... do what YOU think is right! Only you can decide what is best for your kitty.

Absolutely, you must rinse. People who have had failures of TSP failed to rinse. I rinse with bleach water - I find it cuts through any residue better and more easily than trying to use plain water. Sometimes I forget people don't generally know these things anymore. Yesterday I bought a gallon of turpentine at Home Despot. It only comes in quarts any more, it seems, or at least that's all that Home Despot and Lows carry. It was on the top shelf and after I grabbed the foremost can, I had to ask the young man in the paint department to get the rest for me. He opined that he'd never actually seen anybody buy it before. All I can say is that every other paint thinner/brush cleaner (for oil based paints) that I've tried does not work nearly as well as plain old turpentine. Plus some of them are so extremely toxic I don't see how they're sold to people who don't own hazmat suits. Xylene springs to mind. According to the CDC: "Extra personal protection: filter respirator for organic gases and vapours." Turpentine's not great either, but xylene is worse. I don't know how toxic mineral spirits are, but they sure don't clean up after oil paint nearly as well as the turpentine. I've tried both the smelly and so-called "odorless" versions and I swear the "odorless" was just as smelly as the regular mineral spirits. So amazed whippersnappers in the paint department aside, I'll just stick with the turpentine. Hopefully this will be my last time painting with oil-based paint. I'd forgotten how annoying clean-up is. I did tell the young man that one excellent use for turpentine is to mix it 50/50 with boiled linseed oil to use as a wood restorative treatment for badly weathered/damaged exterior wood. He looked like I was speaking Greek. Oh well.