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about
I've been away for a while due to a serious illness and subsequent health issues. Favourite quotes of the moment:
The children of Israel wandered the desert for 40 years - Even in biblical times men wouldn't ask for directions!
Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. whatever we do to the thread, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect. - Chief Seattle.
We spend the first 12 months of a child's life teaching them to walk and talk. We spend the next 12 years telling them to sit down and shut up!
As you slide down the bannisters of life, may the splinters never be pointing the wrong way.
May you be in Heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.
I've been very happily married since August 1980 to a wonderful man and have beautiful twin girls, now aged 31. Both are married to wonderful young men and one of our girls has recently made us grandparents to a beautiful, smart and feisty granddaughter. I studied geology with the Open University. I am retired from being a manager in a large UK based insurance company which I actually quite enjoyed. (How sad is that?). I love anything to do with the environment and wildlife and try to do my bit for preservation and conservation. I would like there to be a decent world for our grandchildren to inherit. I also have CFS so find life a bit of a challenge at times but always hope for better health in the future.
I have a deep interest in the spiritual and the paranormal worlds, having experienced several incidents myself, and have been involved in meditation groups and groups that (safely) explore the paranormal. There is more to this life than we would normally credit, so an open mind is always the best option. You're not so likely to get caught by surprise!
I have a deep fascination for anything to do with Ancient Egypt, as you can probably tell by my name. I have statues and paintings all around the house. As my hubby has a similar interest in Native Americans, we tend to have a lot of unusual wall decorations, like a tomahawk.
I love cars, especially vintage ones, but my all time favourite has to be the Bugatti Chiron, what a car!
I have had a lot to do with animals over the years. I have fostered many, helped to set up a wildlife charitable hospital and raised a diverse range of young animals from bats to fox cubs and different species of birds, even a baby deer! I have had great pleasure in sharing my life and home with a number of animals over the years, most of them rescues. I am currently sponsoring an Amur Tiger, they are such beautiful cats and desperately need help, there are so few of them left. I was lucky enough a couple of years ago to meet some Aye-Aye's and Livingstone's Bats, a truly wonderful experience. We now have three cats, Oliver and Mollie, a brother and sister, he's a ginger and she's a tortoiseshell and a black and white called Daisy. She arrived in a taxi and was left on our doorstep in a cat carrier with the message that 'they knew we loved cats and would be good to her'. She has settled down well and gets on wonderfully with the other two.
If you have a pet that is showing ANY signs of illness or distress, please, please, please take it to a vet! Even if finance is an issue, work that out later. It is cruel to leave an animal suffering for any reason. Most animals do not show signs of illness until they have been ill for some time, basic instinct tells them it is a display of vulnerability, and certain death in the wild. Their instincts have not caught up with domesticity.
I do feel that we should all treat others as we would wish to be treated. Bad karma comes back to haunt us.
advice
hi, i have a Syrian hamster about 2 months old, and she has no eyes. She isn't blind, but was just born with no eyes. The vet says she's fine in all other ways. if she gets pregnant by a normal hamster, what are the chances that her babies will have defects? Also, what do you think she sees? Blackness, or nothing or what?
Thanks!!!
If the vet is happy that her quality of life is fine, there is no reason why she should not lead a relatively normal life. As she knows no different, not being able to see should not cause her distress.
As there are no eyes there, so no receptors etc, it is unlikely she would even see blackness, as to do this, there needs to be some trace of vision or ability to function at this level.
I think it would be unwise to allow her to breed, as if it is a genetic 'blip', it is something any offspring she may produce would have a 50/50 chance of inheriting. As hard as this may sound, if she were in the wild, nature would eliminate an animal with a defect of this type as they would be unable to protect themselves and would therefore not have the chance to reproduce. The genetic fault would then not be passed on.
Hamsters are by nature solitary animals from the age of 6-8 weeks, so to keep her away from any potential mate should not be a problem.
As she is unable to see your hand approaching her, I would suggest that, as hamsters do need to be handled regularly, you do so by moving your hand slowly towards her so that she has the opportunity to smell you and not react with surprise and a possible bite. Other than that, don't let her run free as she could get into trouble, let her run around in a hamster ball, and just ensure that, due to her problem, there are no hazards that a seeing hamster would be able to cope with.
You are in the lucky position to give a handicapped animal a chance of a good and happy life, I hope this information helps and I wish you the best of luck.
my budgie has its neck side ways all the time and lookin at the ceilin can youe help me plz dunno what to do
It needs to see a vet as soon as possible.
Has it been doing this for long? Are there any other symptoms?
It could be anything from a stroke, stargazing, (most often found in finches but has been known to occur in other species), malformation, injury or a dietary deficiency to a viral or bacterial infection.
There is no way of knowing for sure without a thorough medical examination.
I'm sorry I cannot be of more help, but your budgie does need to be seen by a bird vet to have this problem correctly diagnosed. Good luck.
I was in my room and I heard a weird noise coming from my cat. He was in the litter box, puking and then he took a really hard shit. I opened the door and saw him like falling over. Is something wrong with him? He's kinda really old. I want my kitten to stay away from him but he always attacks him. Is there something wrong with my kitteh?
It does sound as though he needs to see a vet as soon as possible. Is he looking thin around the waist area? Is he drinking more than normal? If the answer is yes, and he is falling over, it could be that his kidneys have started to fail. If this is the case, he could still go on for a while longer, cats can manage with quite a large loss of kidney function. There is also a possibility that it is his thyroid playing up.
I don't know if you mean the kitten is doing the attacking or if it is the older cat. If it is the kitten, it could be that the kitten is noticing the older cat is no longer able to be 'top cat' and is looking to assert itself in that position. If it is the older cat that is doing the attacking, this could be due to its failing health and wanting to keep the kitten at a distance, as it would have too much energy for him to cope with.
However, whatever the reason for this, it is important that he does see a vet as only they will be able to carry out the appropriate tests to find out what the problem is.
I wish you the best of luck.
my cat is spaid-but he's still peeing on things-why is this? please help :(
thank you
There could be a number of reasons for this.
Something could have made him feel unsettled at home, from new furniture, other animals upsetting the balance of power, strangers leaving their scent in the home to health issues. If you can eliminate any of these it makes the diagnosis easier.
To get rid of the scenting you need a special cleaner, this should not have any bleach in it as this scent will encourage him more. Once it is clear of his scent, if you have a litter tray, put that in the area, leave it there for a couple of weeks, then very slowly move it back to where it was. this process should take several weeks. Also always make sure the litter tray is kept clean.
If you do not have a litter tray or if the spraying is in more than one area, put small plates of dry cat food in the affected places, as cats do not like to eat where they toilet.
If all this fails, and there are no health problems causing it, there are products you can buy from a pet shop or vets that can discourage spraying.
Hope that helps, good luck.
My dog has been acting strange. She digs her nose in between her blanket inside of her cage, and has started licking herself 'down there' a lot. This behavior is the same as when she was pregnant when she was 8 months old. She is currently 3 years old. What's going on?
If there is no chance she could be pregnant but is exhibiting all the signs, it could be a phantom pregnancy. Try giving her a stuffed toy to look over and she may come out of it. Other than that, given time she will go back to normal.
You should also get her spayed as this should stop it happening again, get rid of the risk of a real pregnancy and also avoid any health risks associated with dogs that have not been spayed.
Good luck.
hi, i was just wandering if the vet charges you for a prescription , or telling you how to do something, eg. budgie wing clipping, etc...? thanks :)
Vet's will charge for a consultation, they will also charge for a prescription. It depends on the vet whether they charge for advice only. You will need to ask your vet and if you do not have one, try to go to one that has been highly recommended by someone you know. They should be able to give you a break down of costs so that you can budget. There are also some vets that will allow you to pay over time if the costs are too high to pay all at once.
If in doubt, or if an animals health is in question, always take it to a vet. They are the ones who are qualified to make a diagnosis and to prescribe the correct medication.
What is a budgie? I`ve seen like 5 questions on here asking about them!
A budgie or budgerigar is a small Australian member of the parrot family. In the wild they are all green and smaller than the domestic birds. They live on vast plains and feed on seeding grasses. As they are so numerous they are not endangered and have taken well to domesticity in the 200 hundred years or so since they were first bred into captivity. They were 'discovered' by Captain Cook and their name comes from a rough translation of the Aboriginal for 'tasty snack', as they would throw a boomerang into the massive flocks to hunt them for food.
In captivity there are now over 100 different colour combinations and they are most popular in the UK, Germany and the US, where they are kept as pets or show birds. In the US the pets are often known as 'keets', and the show birds are known as 'English Budgerigars'.
They are good pets for older children and adults as they do not like to be handled regularly but they do like company, so usually it is best to have two. They are not so good for younger children due to the above and that they can peck if they are distressed.
Hope that gives you enough information to be going on with.
Can somebody please list any way you can think of to prevent throwing up and stomach aches?
It sounds as though you have a phobia. If this is the case, as well as trying to prevent yourself from being ill, talk to your doctor and ask for a referral to a therapist. There are various methods used in dealing with phobias and different ones work for different people. You may need to try them all before you find what works best for you. There is confrontational therapy, hypnosis, nueral linguistic programming (NLP), regression to name just a few.
As for the stomach aches, it depends on the cause. If it is stress, try to find ways to relax. Different things work for different people. If it is dietry related, try to narrow down what is causing it, then cut it out of your diet. If you're not sure of the cause, again, you need to see your doctor.
The doctor may also be able to give you some medication to try to prevent you throwing up, you will need to explain the situation in detail though.
It is truly horrible thing to have to go through and I do sympathise. Hope that helps and the best of luck to you.
hi, a few weeks ago i realised that the cere of my budgie was crusting on the edge, and a couple days ago i ordered some scaley face medicine. will that make it ok? also, when i bought it, the person at the petshop said it was a boy, but where it has crusted it is blue, and in the middle where it hasnt crusted MUCH, it is brown. so is it male or female? thanks in advance
Scaly face is normally grey or white coloured lesions and caused by mites. So if it is brown in colour it may not be scaly face.
It does sound as though it is a boy but in view of the problems you are having, I really would suggest taking it to a vet. If it is mites but not scaly beak, you will need to have them identified and treated correctly, as left untreated, the bird will get worse and it will be much more difficult, and expensive, to treat.
Best of luck.
I have a 2 year old guinea pig who is white and SO cute. He stinks up my whole bedroom and my mom wants to get rid of him. I love him and I just wanted to know if there was any special cages that they have or odor sprays. Also how much they cost. Thanks a bunch!
You need to change his bedding 2-3 times a week, make sure he hasn't got any dirt clinging to him, and wash his toys and bowls etc thoroughly every time you clean the cage, just make sure that you rinse it all well. You can buy pet specific cleaning sprays and deodorisers that should help and also giving him sweet smelling bedding. As to cost, all these will depend on where you get them. If you are in US I have no idea about prices, sorry.
If you give him fresh fruit or veg, take out any he has not eaten after 2-4 hours.
If he doesn't mind, and he has personal hygiene issues, you could bath him, but if you have never done this before, he is likely to strongly object.
If your mum knows you are trying to do something to resolve this situation she may be more lenient about it.
I hope this helps and you are able to keep him, they are great pets.
my hamster jimmy just died on father day and today i got a new teddy bear hamster and iv never had one befor and i wanna know how to take care of it i also wanna know how old it is and if it help i have a pic of it on my myspace and myspace.com/alleyx69xlol and no im not trying to show off my myspace i just thought it would help if u no what it looked like i would alot like some websites on teddy bear hamster it would also be nice if you could tell me how to groom them and some websites with lists of foods they can and cant eat
I have had three of these adorable hamsters, but they do need a lot of attention.
The store you got the hamster from should be able to tell you how old it is.
If you don't know what sex it is, look under it's tail, if it looks like : it's a boy, if it looks ; it's a girl, also with the female the vents are closer together, sometimes appearing as just the one opening.
It needs to be handled every day to stop it from becoming aggressive, but the best time is in the evenings as they are nocturnal and better tempered at this time.
Hamsters usually do not need to be groomed as they will do this themselves, however the teddy bear will need help. You should be able to buy a special hamster grooming comb, or you could use a toothbrush to remove any dirt, wood shavings or food etc. If you ever need to cut anything out of the fur, it would be best if you got one your parents to help, as holding a wriggling hamster and trying to use a pair of scissors could be a problem.
I've listed some web sites that should help with diet etc.
http://www.petco.com/caresheets/small%20animals/HamsterTeddyBear.pdf.
This is the Acrobat version of some excellent advice, if you do not have access to Acrobat the next one is for HTML users on the same info.
http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:pvImMJJDmmUJ:www.petco.com/caresheets/small%2520animals/HamsterTeddyBear.pdf+teddy+bear+hamsters&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=2
http://www.ahc.umn.edu/rar/MNAALAS/Hamsters.html
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/critters/hamsters/hamsters.php
http://www.hilltopanimalhospital.com/hamsters.htm
http://www.petco.com/Content/Article.aspx?PC=article&Nav=153&PetTypeID=20&TopicID=19&id=820
All of these give excellent advice on the care and management of teddy bear hamsters, including diet, exercise, grooming and health care.
If you need anymore info and can't find it, or any concerns about your new pet, let me know and I'll see if I can help.
Best of luck.
My Mom and my Dad havent been on talking terms since i was 5, and my mom somehow blames it on me. She acts like i have owe my entire life to her, where as she doesnt even treat me right, being only 19 now, i really dont know how to deal with her. She is unhappy because of my Father who doesnt care about her, cos she hasnt been the best wife to him, since she keeps bitching about my father to every second person she meets, she says shes unhappy cos of him and blames everyone else for all her mistakes and refuses to accept the truth. She makes the silliest things into the biggest issues ever and makes my life living hell. She blames her missery on everyone around her, and she doesnt realise that shes making herself miserable. She needs help and refuses to go see a shrink. I really dont know what to do.. It's driving me insane. I've tried talking to her and telling her how i feel but she doesnt seem to be botherd.
According to her she never does anything wrong, and the way i feel means nothing to her. I cant think of anything else. Sometimes i wish i could just die..
You cannot take responsibility for other peoples mistakes. Your mother is projecting her hurt, anger, frustration, insecurity and unhappiness on to you.
There are obviously issues between your parents, but that is for them to work out, or not. You cannot get involved. I have a couple of questions, what are her parents like? Do/did they get on with each other and her?
If there were problems there, your mother is carrying a lot baggage and it seems to be getting too much for her to manage. She also seems to be in denial as she is refusing to accept the situation. I have a feeling that if she does, she will feel that everything will start to fall apart and she feels she cannot cope with that.
If she doesn't want to or can't see a therapist about all this, you do need to look after yourself and your own well being. You cannot afford to carry her problems into your future. See a therapist yourself, get things sorted in your own mind that you do not have to 'own' this situation and move out if necessary. If you keep banging your head against a brick wall, all you'll get out of it is a sore head. Your mother is that brick wall.
You may need to move away, but please don't think about ending your life, it is just beginning, there is a whole world out there, waiting for you to explore. Go and make the most of your life. Be sad for a while for your mother if you like, just don't let it taint your life.
Hope that helps and I wish you the best of luck.
I haven't had my period for at least 4 months. I'm a virgin. Does anyone know why this is? Should I see a doctor. 15/f Will rate high.
If your periods were regular before this you should see a doctor as soon as you can, there could be a few reasons for this, but only a doctor will be able to confirm this. If they were erratic, it could be that they have not settled to a pattern yet. If this is the case, go to your doctor if you have not had your period within the next month as there may be problem.
In response to other advice you have had, you cannot become pregnant from oral sex, the areas are totally separate and do not connect at any point.
Hope that helps and good luck.
have a friend a best friend named sean and i liked him then i thought i didnt but deep down i new i still did today i told him that i used to like him on and off for years including this year and he was like i would have gone out with you why are you tellin me now and do u still like me and i said it dont madder because you goout with jude and shes also one of my best friends and i dont know what to do pls help ps im more friends with sean than jude
You can't really do anything whilst he is still going out with someone else. Firstly because if you were to reverse the position and put yourself in Jude's place, you would be very upset at being betrayed, and rightly so. Secondly, if he should want to date you behind Jude's back, that doesn't say much about his character does it?
At your age, relationships don't usually last for long, as you are still finding out what you like in a partner and what you do not like. If, in time, Sean and Jude do split up, both of you will be in a position to decide what to do next.
Regardless of who you are more friends with, the best thing you can do at the moment is bide your time. If you are meant to be together, you will be, but building a relationship on the back of a
friend is no way to start, and it could taint your feelings for each other in the long run. For the time being, just be friends with the pair of them. He now knows how you feel and you know that he does like you, that will have to be enough for now.
Hope that helps and the best of luck.
Please, help me. I don't have a lot of room in my kitchen, so, I keep all of my pans & things in my oven, including a plastic, flexable cutting board I had. My daughter went to make something & preheated the oven & it melted! The racks aren't too bad. Most of it went to the floor of the oven. I scraped most of it off, but, there is a thin layer that just won't come off. Any ideas?
You could try contacting the manufacturer of the oven and see if they have any advice. You need to be careful of heating plastics as some can emit dangerous fumes.
Maybe in the future if you have to keep plastic in the oven whilst you're not using it, you could have some sort of signalling, like a towel over the handle to say that the oven needs to be checked before it is switched on?
Sorry can't think of anything else to suggest, but I do hope you are able to remove it successfully.
I'm wondering what a movie is called. It has a robot that looks like this. http://myweb.cableone.net/mobilesuitpilotx/botsecks.JPG
I think his name was Jonny Number Five. I've looked it up on google and cannot find it.
There's two films, one is called Short Circuit, the other is Short Circuit 2.
Hope that helps.
this is very embarasing. but sometimes if i laugh a lot and very hard for a long time i pee my pants. its happened many times. is there anything i can do to stop this?
You could try something called pelvic floor exercises.
When you have to pee normally, try to stop half way, the muscles you use to do this are the ones you need to exercise. You can do this anywhere as no one will see what you are doing. Try to do this several times a day for the rest of your life and you should be able to build them up so that this does not happen again. Also if they are strong and at some point in the future you want children, it will make it easier to recover strength in that area, as it is usually affected by pregnancy and labour.
It is hard to do this and to have the discipline to continue but it is worth it and you should see the results of it in a month or two.
Hope that helps and good luck.
Ok. My horse Sullivan might be lame and I was just wondering if anyone knows a way to help heal lamnitis faster and how I can help pass time faster while I cant ride him.
Thanks!
♥♥♥♥Meggy and Sully♥♥♥♥
From what I know about Laminitis, the horse has to be confined on clean soft bedding like shavings so that it can't use the affected hoof much, it must not under any circumstances eat fresh grass, you need to bring in hay or a mix of alfalfa and straw in bundles, and it needs to see a horse vet asap, as the longer it goes untreated, the worse it gets and could affect it's chances of recovery.
The pain appears to be something like if we shut our fingers in a car door, not pleasant.
If you want to pass the time whilst you can't ride him, and he is confined, he will need a lot of company, so spend time with him. If there are any other horses in the same place, maybe you could help out there. If this is not an option, between caring for your horse, it will you the opportunity to try something you've perhaps been interested in but not had the time before. Only you would have the answer to this. But maybe meeting with friends, trying one of their hobbies, spending with your family, going on trips etc.
Hope that helps and your horse gets better really quickly.
hi, well my budgie has very small black spikey feathers, above the cere. is this normal? and also, recently my other two budgies died, so its on its own, and its not chirping much or flying around, just sitting there. is this because the budgies died, even thought it never particularly got on with them two? or is it because i havnt been giving it atention? because ive been caught up with school work, and even though its not hand trained, or doesnt reely lyk me much, could that be the reason. please answer back.
It sounds as though your budgie needs to see the vet.
What did the others die of? Did they see a vet? Was it something contagious?
Budgies prefer to be with other birds, so even if it did not get on particularly well with the other two, it may still miss them. They also do not like being handled too much, but a couple of times a day is fine.
The cage should be kept clean with fresh water and it's food changed every day, (sometimes it can look as if they have a lot of food left but when they eat seeds, they can shuck them and leave the husks), it also needs to kept at a temperature of 30-35C.
If you are having concerns over the care and wellbeing of your bird, perhaps the vet could suggest a book for you to read? This will give you the do's and don'ts and lots of useful tips, such as what to look out for in cases of illness.
It does sound as though you care about your pet and want to do the right thing for it so try the vet and take it from there. You could also try google, there are lots of web sites with information on budgies.
Hope that helps and good luck.
Sorry if this is in the wrong category... it seemed to be the best fit.
Anyway, for the past few days my left eye has been really itchy. I don't wear contacts or anything like that. It feels like there is an eye lash that fell into my eye... it's that exact same feeling, but there is nothing in it. The feeling is not there 24/7 either... it probably feels that way every 4 hours or so, and I can't stop rubbing it when it happens which makes it itch and bother me even more!
What's wrong, and how can I fix it? Any ideas? Thanks so much in advance! :)
It could be allergies, infection or an ingrowing eyelash etc.
You should definitely not rub it, whatever the cause, as you will only aggravate it more, and it won't make it feel better. If it's gone on for a few days, you should see a doctor about it as soon as you can. You can't take any chances with eyes, if you can't get into see a doctor quickly, go to an eye hospital. I wouldn't recommend putting anything in it until you have seen someone about it, in case it's the wrong thing and makes it worse.
Hope that helps, and good luck.