Piffffllle on all of you. I have to wear reading glasses now if I really want to read the fine print any more. I can't do all the tilling, hauling, spreading mulch and digging holes in the garden any more and I really don't want to. I stopped cleaning gutters and blowing leaves off the roof before I moved but I was up the ladder in a New York minute the other day when My grandson confided in me that he was afraid of heights after I had him climb up there to remove a tree limb. He finally did get the limb off, I'm sure because he didn't want to be outdone by his grandmother. I'm checking with the hospital about mixng up babies because MY grandson surely wouldn't be afraid of heights.:0) I still cook all the time if that counts for anything, and I can still chase dust bunnies with the best of them. I never used to have backaches but just spent most of last week and this weekend taking muscle relaxers and lying on the heating pad. Lord luv a duck, I feel like such a wuss compared to the rest of you. I talk to myself a lot but haven't talked to any trees lately. I did bend my bumper on some bricks but if you had to try and manuever your car out of my backyard with all those trucks parked back there you would have dented your bumper to. I don't even think that counts because Neil still doesn't know I did it, sometimes it helps when ones spouse can't see anything. The more I think about it, I do pretty darn good chasing our 4 pound ball of fluff all over this house to retrieve all the things she tries to scarf down that she isn't supposed to have, like twist ties from the bread, a nickle, broomstraws, strings, her poop, well you get the idea. I must have crawled under the sofa, bed, chairs a million times today to get the little squirt's ball for her. Shoot! now that I think about it, I'm getting around like a spring chicken and maybe I have a few good years left in these old bones. Marda, I couldn't even stand up on a skateboard so my hat's off to you. Sheila, I have that book. Suzy, I've had thin fine hair all my life so I expect to go bald any day now. Do they still make wigs? I'm going to bed now, it'll take me all night to fall asleep and tomorrow I may just try out a new skate board. Yeah right!

Glad that he's not crying any more. Looks more and more like FLUTD, so being patient is a good plan. Like I mentioned before the flareups usually go away with or without treatment, so doing whatever it takes to make him comfortable is all you can do. The use of amitriptyline is a hot debate topic among vets- some swear by it, others think it's useless or even harmful (considering that it may cause faster relapse when used continuously). Decreasing stress in a cat's life is easier said than done in most cases. Unless there was an obvious life-altering change such as moving, new person or pet in house, absence of person or pet, etc. it is hard to control. Amitriptyline may help control stress (it is after all an antidepressant), so some vets use it long term for that. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that we don't know what causes FLUTD and we don't really know how to fix it. Any time a single disease has a ton of treatment options, you can guess that we are really just shooting in the dark. Amitriptyline is just a good an option as any as long as the cat is comfortable. A UTI would have been easier, but that looks less likely given the culture is still negative, and it's rare in otherwise healthy male cats anyway (certain diseases such as renal disease and diabetes make UTIs more likely). I hope he continues to improve.

Please do not leave the dogs alone together. It very likely will end very badly. tiffduke, training will help only to a certain extent. We have been through this. You never know when it will happen - and not just over food. vjtrees - I realize that your posting was from October 2017. I hope for your Dacshund's sake that the Mastiff is now back with your daughter. Please be aware that punctures on the back of the neck need to be checked out by a vet and perhaps meds prescribed to avoid blood poisoning. Dogs, whether they be big or small will go for the back of the neck to ensure that the dog being attacked is trapped. Two of our Dachshund's were attacked in this manner. My heart froze when I saw our big dog holding our Dachshund by the back of the neck and shaking him. There was no reason for it and I should already have left the house - fortunately I had not. The Dachshund was a major Alpha - much to the displeasure of our big dog, who was not alpha. I should point out that our Alpha Dachshund took care of all of his siblings and was not "bossy" with them. Jump forward a few years and we had the same situation - our then Alpha Dachshund was attacked by his Dachshund sibling - who wanted to be an Alpha. They finally seemed to work things out when the little troublemaker attacked our Alpha again. Yet our Alpha did not want to hurt the Alpha-want-to-be. And the attacker knew it. Also, never try to remove the innocent dog without him/her realizing it is you. My husband learned this the hard way - our innocent pup thought he was being attacked attacked on all sides. I hope all is well. We no longer have a Dachshund and I miss them every day.

I've done the version where you slice the hotdog partioally (second picture above) with my summer school kids. The tentacles curl up nicely when the hot dog is cooked in water. To complete the meal? Serve Mac and Cheese made with shell shaped pasta. And 'fish bowls' for dessert---blue Jello in clear cups, with grape halves pressed into the bottom for pebbles and a few gummy fish swimming around.