Fun cats are fun. Most cats aren't fun. I'd fight my allergies if I could find a cat this fun to have.

Stupid allergies... aghh..

>> ^ReverendTed:

>> ^shuac:
I implore all sifters who are even remotely curious about smoking herbal incense, to NOT do it. Sure, it provides an authentic feel but after a few sessions, the inside of your mouth will feel as though it's bleeding and you'll be able to extract giant patches of dead flesh from your mouth. I'm not kidding. I'm all for bucking the system in favor of personal liberties but this is one of those times where the warning label should be heeded.
Thanks for the personal insight! From your description, that sounds like an allergic reaction. Would you happen to know if this is a common response?


No allergies on my end and I don't know how common such a reaction is.

Most recent dog that had to be put down was my parent's rescued German Shepard. He was losing his hair to something, having more trouble walking. His rear claws, a couple of them fell out. He could barely step up into the house on his own, a few inches off the ground.

This went on for a month with no improvement, but no noticeable deterioration...he kept losing hair. Vets wanted close to a grand to run tests on him to try to figure out what was happening to his skin after the first round of tests came up with nothing.

We thought it was a severe flea allergy at first, but it just kept spreading despite medications.

Got to where he couldn't get up on his own anymore, and this was a 100-120 pound dog with bad joints so you had to be really careful how you helped him. Eventually he started not going to the bathroom outside when they got him out, but he'd lay back down and pee all over himself.

He ate throughout this, he ate as much as he ever had when he was well. He responded well, acted like he wanted to do things but he just couldn't get up on his own.

Then he got to where he could barely walk once he got up, and he was put down after that started. Didn't sleep deeply or much throughout most of this. Vet was out of ideas, and this was almost two months of giving him a chance to recover if it was possible.

I felt that last week was irresponsible of my parents, my mother in particular, to continue on. Because despite him eating, he was noticeably worse and while he wasn't whining in pain he was panting all the time. The lengths they had to go to just to get him outside to use the bathroom was crazy, getting him back in was worse. And they had to try to plan it because it took both of them to do it.

I suspect he had some kind of cancer that was on his skin and internal, but the vets had no guesses as to what it was. But they advised that everything he came in contact with should be thrown out just in case it was infectious to other dogs or animals. I mean technically he could have recovered, but you're talking a thousand dollars in tests just to find out where to go next on a dog that was getting worse in a few months time. And was already near the typical lifespan of a well taken care of German Shepard, and he had heart worms due to previous owners and a bad diet for his first year of life...he was healthy enough but it plagued him through the years. Plus arthritic joints that had been getting steadily worse for him.

He was.......10 or 11, hard to be exact since he was a rescue. That was in Dec of 2011 a few days before christmas. It was either do it then or risk him getting even worse and having to go through the holidays with no places open.

Before that was a 18-19 year old cat. Whose kidneys were failing, some shots made it looked like she was recovering. But she got bad fast when she started getting bad again.

Both of those cases made the few extra days we got with them seem rather selfish after it was done, because both of them could barely sleep. Go to the bathroom under their own power, etc. And hindsight being 20/20 goes to that, but it was clear to me in both cases that at least a week ahead both of them were not going to make it. And plans should have been made so it wasn't a wake up in the morning, see the cat/dog is way worse than the day before and have to find an emergency vet or something because you waited until the weekend or it was too early in the morning to take them to the regular vet and they had to lay there for hours like that.

I miss them both, but.......that was selfishness to go to those extremes and kid ourselves that they weren't old for their breeds.


I mean maybe this guy's dog sleeps like a baby at night and it's a totally different case, but a 19 year old dog is a very old dog anyway you cut it. If it needs the water every day to function......when it gets cold out I hope that guy is prepared to do what's right for that dog.

I look at it as being no different than having an elderly parent who expressed their wishes to have no extreme measures taken to keep them alive after X many days 15 years ago. You will always have that doubt that they changed their mind in 15 years or that something could be done, but you also know what you agreed to do when they told you this. Once the reasonable options are exhausted, not doing what's best for them and/or within their wishes to prolong it "because maybe....." is selfish. Owning an animal is kind of like agreeing to do something like that, do your best and when it's time do what you agreed to. If vets are giving you multiple thousand dollar treatment options with low chances on an old animal, you're probably being a little hysterical and they don't want to kill that hope or are taking advantage of you.

And I say this as someone who despises people who mistreat animals, and let them breed uncontrollably and let them run stray around the neighborhoods getting hit by cars and such. They invoke suffering on animals by negligence and ignorance. You are as bad as them if you drag it out on your own pets after they've had a long long life compared to others of their breed. Try your best, and when the time comes...do what's right by them...not for you.

There are probably quite a number of people out there who wish they could be euthanized due a terminal illness or some kind of degenerative disease......it's not as heartless as it sounds but it hurts to think about.

>> ^visionep:

Is chocolate bad for foxes like it is bad for dogs?

Hmm.. let me look that up and answer my own question.

http://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/questions_answers_foxes.html#chocolate

I guess it is.

I had the same thought. To be fair, Snickers don't have that much chocolate in them. Then again, how did he know the Fox didn't have a peanut allergy.

I find this random act of kindness very irresponsible.

When people borrow something, like your car, and feel the need to adjust every single fucking thing in it. You really don't need to mess with the sunroof, the radio presets (volume and on/off, stop there). And the side mirrors....those things once set cover a large portion of visibility how in the hell do you manage to make it so you can't see a single thing in it and manage to safely drive down the road?


People who bark/yell/scream at other people's dogs trying to get them to be quiet and just making it worse. Who also don't seem to understand that the dog is barking at their dumb ass because they are acting weird and it would STFU if they would ignore it and move on.

People who insist on getting into an already crowded elevator, despite every single person needing to get into uncomfortable proximity to each other to accomplish this. Wait for the next elevator prick.

People who walk onto elevators before actually looking if there is someone trying to get out. This goes in with the above one, they just make shit more difficult. You want on the elevator, great I understand. Wait for people to get the fuck out of it instead of making me feel like you're trying to pickpocket me with the all the bumping and shoving. This one is a real big peeve of mine. Along with people who don't seem to understand how doorways work and that you should move out of the way so other people can go in and out without risk of bashing you or your kid in the head with the door handle.

People who walk on the wrong side of the aisle for the direction they are going. This goes for anything...buffet bars, roads, sidewalks.....etc. There's a traffic flow, get into it...fighting it just makes everything take longer.

Grocery stores, when two people stop with their carts right next to each other and block everyone else. Especially when they don't seem to notice they are doing it, even though people say excuse me......and they just step to the side half a step like that's going to fix it. Add on to this, what is the deal with people not understanding that walking right next to the aisle entrance and exits makes it really f-in hard to see you? If you're going to do this you need to watch for people trying to get out of the aisles if you don't want to get bashed with a cart because they think it's clear since you're hiding behind the 6 foot stack of dog food.

People who wait for parking spots that are about 10 seconds walk closer than the next available spot. Instead of just parking and getting on with their day. Full parking lot? Sure, wait for a spot. Can SEE a empty spot 2 car lengths down? Park there asshole instead of snarling up traffic because you just have to have the 15 foot closer to the door spot.

Old people driving who are clearly not safe to be driving. You'll see this during working hours at doctors offices and hospitals. I understand the need for them to be able to get to the doc, but I'd rather not get ran over because someone won't take grandma or grandpa's license away because it would inconvenience them. Used to get allergy shots, I about got ran over twice on foot, backed over countless times (because they can't turn their heads to look and just back out blind...and fast), and hit trying to exit the place in my vehicle (short turns because they just don't have time to stop and make a proper turn). And I only had to walk a couple hundred feet to my vehicle and the door each way. Was dangerous just getting near the doors due to all the people dropping off or picking up. One guy even yelled at me because him doing 30-40 miles an hour in a small half filled parking lot seemed perfectly acceptable to him and walking to my car along the edge of the parking row was highly inappropriate to him since he needed it all to turn his car at those speeds.

Could go on and on. But clearly people who ignore social niceties or make nuisances of themselves really bug me. Little dumb things like that can just set the mood for a lot of your day, being a prick in a lot of these cases is not actually making things go faster...more often they slow it down and just piss everyone off. No benefit at all to anyone and yet it happens all the time.

My gluten-allergy kid would have to agree. He's addicted to Rice Chex.

Never drank, never smoked, never did illegal substances....and I don't feel superior to people who drink and some illegal substances. I actually admire them if they can balance it into their life and it brings them some happiness.

I can't stand smoking, I grew up around it, had all but one grandparent die because of smoking giving them lung issues that either ultimately killed them or prevented them from getting procedures done to stop heart problems. Weak lungs would have guaranteed their death during surgery and no one would operate. So, I don't feel superior to them, but I'm an asthmatic it smells horrible, so I just can't be around them. Hell as I got older I had to quit hanging around with a friend of mine until he quit smoking because he just smoked more and more and I couldn't take being around him. Allergies, etc. Plus anytime he smoked I had to be away from him, so the more he smoked the less point there was to trying to hang out.

Illegal substances, mixed bag. Marijuana, not really a huge deal to me...I know too many functional people who use it. However I have a brother who is absolutely obsessed with marijuana, and it's obviously not beneficial to him due to that control it has over him. Cocaine, meth, heroin, etc....just seems like pissing money away for health issues you'll have to deal with later...plus a lot of substances age you prematurely or make your teeth fall out, etc. And teeth falling is something I've had nightmares about, so why the hell would I want to do that.

And I *KNOW* I have an addictive personality, this is why I don't try these things. Not because I feel superior, in fact I don't like not being able to try alcohol in particularly. I just know I would slowly slide into over-use on it. Plus most of it smells horrible, so as long as it smells horrible to me and I don't develop a taste for it...Im set.


I don't like Penn yelling/ranting like that to make his point, but I do think that they need to re-examine their drug policies. Because they seem less about drug control and more about people control, especially non-influential and poor people control. If it were about drug control, I think they'd be telling you that if they catch you on substances while driving you are out of a license immediately. Or if you commit a crime while on them, it's worse punishment. While if you're just on them and not doing anything of note.......then that's what you choose to do. I do get the argument on having to treat people who use substances.....but it's similar to people who overdose on scripts or over the counter stuff.

Rehabilitation does not happen anymore AFAIK, not like it used to. Now they work them for pennies on the dollar instead of paying minimum wage to regular workers. It's more for profit now than anything else, which I think is the real issue...they will find any law to enforce to get their populations and numbers up for profits.

Must be the dust in the air...or allergies...yeah, thats it. Cause I got it too. Thats a good story. An animal they wanted to rescue from its misery, found rescue in another dog. And no more seizures. That says a lot for compassion and caring. Even in dogs.

As someone with an allergy to kittens but does like them, this sounds like a great success. I wonder how i can get hold of a squitten.

>> ^dannym3141:

I would like to confess that i am the sole person who put hate. I understand that this opens me to various forms of cat related attack in the future, however i must explain myself.
I am violently allergic to cats. I don't want them to die, but i have been almost killed by a bunch of kittens that i couldn't resist playing with. I have a theory that they are silently conniving creatures that can sense cat allergies. It's a bit like "I am number four"; they're put here to kill those who display allergies, and you cat owners are oblivious to it. They draw us weaklings in by being adorable and then release all their catness at once to cause an allergy spike, killing the victim. Kittens can do it in packs, there is a pheremone signal of some kind and they all kitten it up at once. I got lucky and survived.
For the record, a dog is the ideal human companion. They deserve to live longer to reflect this partnership, but as the kid says.. they don't need as long as us to learn how to be good.


No? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sii9T9bzaVA&feature=plcp&context=C4339ad0VDvjVQa1PpcFNdk0FZdwhMue5gNaP3D6QpM6qTKfPYSd4%3D

@dannym3141 Nothing wrong with hating cats. I didn't create this poll to judge. I have a mild allergy to cats, dogs and furry things and even that mild allergy can make me quite miserable at times, so I get it.

I would like to confess that i am the sole person who put hate. I understand that this opens me to various forms of cat related attack in the future, however i must explain myself.

I am violently allergic to cats. I don't want them to die, but i have been almost killed by a bunch of kittens that i couldn't resist playing with. I have a theory that they are silently conniving creatures that can sense cat allergies. It's a bit like "I am number four"; they're put here to kill those who display allergies, and you cat owners are oblivious to it. They draw us weaklings in by being adorable and then release all their catness at once to cause an allergy spike, killing the victim. Kittens can do it in packs, there is a pheremone signal of some kind and they all kitten it up at once. I got lucky and survived.

For the record, a dog is the ideal human companion. They deserve to live longer to reflect this partnership, but as the kid says.. they don't need as long as us to learn how to be good.

In the interest of keeping the discussion going, I've compiled

A List of Popular Myths:

Anthropogenic Global Warming
Sober Welfare Recipients
Gluten Allergies
Spirituality Without Religion
Hard-Working Single Fathers
The Female Orgasm
Autism
Inherent Gayness
Trickle-Down Economics
Holland
Republicans Who Are Not Racist

I'll be happy to add anything I missed.