Lspacehopper

Before I worked for the company I had hamsters from there that lived a healthy long life and I've had all 4 of my rats from there. 2 of my ratties are now old girls and have tumours, but I'm sure you're aware that all rodents are prone to tumours.

Sooz, when was this?

What do you think happens? I'm not sure whether you're hinting at 'bad things' happening to animals that have been there a long time, but you are wrong. In my store we had 4 degus who had been there for a few months. Many people ask but aren't aware that they need to be in at least a pair and that they need a decent sized cage or tank set up. They also aren't aware of the health implications surrounding diet etc One of our guys managed to strip the end of his tail off and was promptly taken to the vets and kept in to have a half of his tail amputated The vet bill was over £100 and it was happily paid to have him back to full speed. He was bonded back in with his 'chums' and then eventually sold as a pair to some lovely clued up people.

Congratulations!!!!

I'm a manager for PAH and we seem to be seeing this a lot just recently. We had a guy come in the other day and although I shouldn't judge there was something not quite right about him. He seemed very jumpy and edgy, and I was wondering whether it was drug related. Anyway, he's got an American Bulldog who has just had puppies (3 weeks old). He was wanting to buy them the frozen chicken meat we sell (Natures menu). He said he was trying them on JWB puppy food and they weren't interested. I was with a young lady who works for me and she has also done rescue work with dogs. We tried to advise him and said we wouldn't reccommend that he starts to feed them just the frozen chicken meat. he got a bit stroppy and said his mate had advised that and he also breeds the American Bulldog. We tried to advise him a bit more and he was having none of it. I asked him if he'd had the bitch on a quality puppy food leading up to the birth and he said no. I told him that he should have done and he got on his high horse again. At that point I had to just let him get on with it. American Bulldogs have become 'popular' in the arera where I work and I just believe that this man had bred his bitch purely for the money and not read up about anything relating to health, bloodlines or anything. It makes me so mad.

Hi, Yep, the quality of the JWB cat is as good as the dog complete. As you already know because of the dog, it's good, hypo allergenic, and very nutritional.

Get a big low sided box and fill it full of hay so the rabbit can have something to dig into. Hopefully it may save your carpet

Have you considered going to a rescue centre for a staffy as there are lots looking for homes? If the owners are allowing you to take the dog at 7 weeks then that is not right. The dog should be at least 8 weeks old before it leaves its mum.

The rat nuggets come in under £2 for a 1kg bag. They are good and do contain a good balance of nutrients for rats. You can subsidise their diet with chicken, beef, eggs scrambled or hard boiled. It's good fun to hard boil an egg, allow to cool, prick it with a needle a few times and then give it to them to play with before they break in and eat it Fruit and veggies are also good for rats.

Mine have never needed clicker training. The tap, tap, tap of the biscuit barrel lid on the side of the barrel works for mine (treats). Greedy little devils that they are With regards to the size, just bear in mind that I wouldn't allow 2 to go into anything less than a Freddie cage. They do need a lot of room. Some people think a large hamster cage is adequate and it isn't, so something like a budgie cage wouldn't be suitable.

Or......you could look on ebay as they seem to have a lot of rat cages at really good prices.

http://www.ideas-4-pets.com/pages-productinfo/category-159_259_354/product-722/products-for-small-animals-cages-for-chinchillasferrets-rats-squirrels-etc-rodent-cages-doghealth-3-tier-indoor-ferret-chinchilla-rat-cage-dh.html

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330200647708&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=014 For the money, this cage is fantastic. Wish I'd thought to get something like this rather than the Jenny I have.

Is there a limit that you want to pay?

Lotti, I'll get you some links off the rat forum that I am a member of. They have posted some fab cages and not at too expensive a price at all.

You can get ledges that bolt in at the side of the cage to give them platforms. Wooden parrot toys are always a good thing as you can get ladders that will hang from the ceiling of the cage. You can also buy rat tunnels from pet stores that can afix together should you want them to. There's all manner of things if you look

Some dogs (labradors) especially are known for getting obsessive about licking and chewing the same spot over and over again. What food are you feeding her? Could she have an allergy of sorts? Have you tried a chew deterrent spray? They can be used on wounds etc to stop a dog licking/chewing.

I live in Nottingham and had cause to take a poorly rat to the out of hours service that many of the vet practises subscribe to. It's held at the PDSA premises. I got to see a vet who didn't have a great grasp of the english language. She tried to tell me that the problem was caused by not keeping the rats home clean and she was looking at the beddding as she said this. The rat was in a small nursing cage with carefresh bedding. I had to explain that this was suitable for rats as it's dust free. She then tried to talk about nutrition. My rats have a good nugget with additional fruit and veg and chicken and egg and other things good for rats. She gave him an injection of baytril (which I since learned is not great as painful blistering can occur at the site of injection) and a very small amout of baytril to take away with me and all this cost me just short of £100 I knew I needed baytril (the small animal cure all), and I didn't mind paying for it, but what I do object to is the fact that I knew more than then damned vet did. They hold people over a barrel when it comes to the out of hours service and it is nice to find a vets who don't operate under this scheme, but provide their own out of hours service and don't screw you for wanting to do the right thing by your pet.

Someone told me that tear stains are worsened when the dog is fed mainly a chicken diet, be it in wet or dry form. Is there any truth in this?

It's PAH wood based cat litter. For a 30l sack it costs £8.99

Bless her, she's lovely I know what you mean about how tiny they are yet hold so many babies. We had one accidentally get pregnant and she gave birth to 11 as well. She and one of her babies now reside with me and my other 2 girls

Awww... they're gorgeous. I'm waiting for when they get their first bit of fur Can I see a pic of mum please x

Oooh.... be glad your vets never put a collar on him! After one of my girls had a tumour removed the vets put a collar on her. I ended up taking it off after a day. Her face was all swollen and the porpherin was coming from everywhere. Broke my heart seeing her so stressed out. Glad your boy came through everything alright

I love that saying....made me smile so much when I first heard it. Another one is....... Many years ago, cats were worshipped as Gods. Cats have never forgotten this!

Well done to you for doing what you did One thing that really hacks me off is when someone hits an animal, say a cat, fox, rabbit, badger etc and then drives off and leaves it. Especially in the case of a cat, the likelihood is that it is someones pet. Even if the poor thing is dead, please at least pick it up off the road and put it on the side. If I see an animal that isn't totally mutilated, I stop to check if it is dead. I can't bear to think that something may be lying dying. I remember coming home late one night and a woman had stopped in the middle of the road and was just getting back into her car to drive off. She had hit a young vixen which was sitting in the middle of the road in severe shock. She was just going to leave the poor thing. I told her to get lost, pulled a blanket from the back of the car and assessed the fox and scooped it up into the blanket, took it home and called the vets and took it straight in. She had a broken tail which they had to amputate, but when I went along to see her, she was as wild as you like and wasn't letting me near her (more like it lol). I released her back into the churchyard of the village where I found her (naughty I know, as you aren't supposed to release them I've been told). The vets were fantastic and I couldn't have asked for more. Even though when I called them it was 2am, they didn't hesitate to help.