papsrus

Well, believe me, if this stuff was happening to me and I was convinced it was paranormal, I'm sure I'd be exploring all options. And if I believed something was pissed off to the point of screaming into my wife's head, I'd be calling in the big guns (whoever they are). One question: Can you think of anything that happened or anything you, your wife or your dogs did just prior to this stuff starting? Weird that it seems to have just started out of the blue.

I'm thinking of making the following my signature thingy. That's all fine and well, but the crux of the matter is that one man's wife is another man's horse. I enjoy the way JSngry writes. Wouldn't change a thing. Couldn't. But I'm with both you guys. .... on the horse thing .... and least ...

Have a happy birthday.

Wait a second ... Timbuktu? I thought it was Katmandu! I'm going to have to rethink this whole thing again ... .

Looking forward to each of those. Some late-night bargain basement shopping.

Woody Herman -- Blues on Parade Woody Herman -- The Thundering Herds (1945-1947) Red Nichols and His Five Pennies, 1926-1930

... and apparently they are. Talked to my ex tonight about this and it turns out low protein isn't good for cats. Also, should probably stay away from the calcium supplement. Too much can lead to crystals forming in the kidneys. So basically, ignore everything I said. I guess the takeaway is that treatments for dogs don't always translate to cats, and different cases can require different approaches.

I'm reminded for some reason of this thread, which posed an intriguing if somewhat slippery question.

I can't afford to save anymore money.

Yes, Epakitin. Sounds like you're on the right track. Most of my experience is with small dogs, but some of the same kinds of approaches likely apply to cats, too. Check with a vet, of course. I recall that in addition to Epakitin, we also used to sprinkle powdered calcium over the food for one dog with very poor kidney function. But I'm just reading now where that may not always be appropriate, so definitely confirm that before doing anything. We also were advised to feed animals with kidney failure a very low-protein diet. Basically rice with a small amount of ground beef and some veggies mixed in. Mostly rice though. The idea seems to be that you want to reduce the workload on the kidneys as much as possible. Reducing protein will help. Again, cats may be different. We had one animal that also needed one unit of subcutaneous fluids every few days for rehydration and to try to flush out some of the toxins or impurities that build up in the body without properly functioning kidneys. Nothing close to dialysis, of course, but it worked well for more than a year. The fluids are not that difficult to give (a vet can show you how) and they did help the animal, usually quickly and very noticeably. Course, they start peeing a lot more, too, but that's intended. Flush, flush. You eventually reach a tipping point where no reasonable treatment is going to work -- something like below 30 percent function. Time to do the right thing at that point. Apologies for spinning off away from the skin problem. Good luck and keep us posted!

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I might want to get a second opinion from a different vet. They should be able to diagnose what it is and properly treat it. Steroids always seem like a fallback treatment to me, kind of like "we don't really know what's causing it but this will stop the itch." btw, I've had some limited experience dealing with animals with deteriorating kidney function. Not sure how steroids play into all that, but are you doing anything to support the kidney function -- diet, monitoring BUN levels, etc.?

Congratulations.

great news Allen. Looking forward to it!

It plowed into a figure skater and that was that. Anyway, the event's a shell of what it once was. So NBC buried their skeleton coverage. That's the skinny on that one.

I miss curling.

With all due respect to the Canadian men's hockey team, I don't think you can discuss what happened tonight in the context of the history that exists between these two teams. The Russian club used to be made up the very best players from all over the Soviet Union whereas now, it's divided into four different teams; one from Belarus, Slovakia, Latvia and what's known as the Russian Federation, the Alexander Ovechkin led team that Canada beat tonight. This would be like Canada having one team from Quebec, one from Ottawa, one from Manitoba etc. etc. Now if you could wave a magic wand and create an all-star team from the remnants of the old Soviet Union and Canada beat them like they did tonight, then it might rise to the level of some of the near mythical confrontations involving these two hockey teams. True, the Russian teams since the breakup of the Soviet Union have not been anywhere near as good as the old Red Machine. I think that has as much to do with changes in the way they assemble and prepare the team as it does with their talent pool. They've got talented players. But no longer do they stay together as a team, practicing and playing together for years on end. Now they're put together as an all-star team just as North American teams have been for decades. But that Russian team, on paper, looked like a damn good squad. Some figured them to be the favorites in this tournament. And Canada was a little bit shaky up until last night. ... Complete butt whipping. You could see Canada just break the will of the Russians, who had no answer. The defending gold-medalist Swedes were also eliminated last night. Maybe not as much of a surprise as Russia getting bounced the way they were, but now it's really looking like it could be a U.S.-Canada rematch for the gold.

Canada absolutely destroyed Russia in hockey tonight. Knowing the history of that rivalry -- not just in Olympic Games, but going all the way back to the Summit Series and subsequent Canada Cup series -- and the fact that this was an elimination game, you can take the pressure that was on the Canadians when they played the USA and multiply it by about 10 for that Russia game. ... They rose to the occasion and look like they are gelling as a team.

I guess one thing I might consider, if it were me, is seeing a doctor to just get checked out. I'd tell him/her that you've been having some unexplained things happening around you and that you just want to make sure that there is nothing physical going on that could affect your perception of things. Just as a precaution, however unlikely that might seem. My first reaction to your description of the dogs' behaviors was to consider that Coltrane may have been sensing Gracie's looming seizure. Some animal experts say that animals can sense when there's something wrong with another animal -- something we might not pick up on. It's possible Coltrane freaked out because he sensed Gracia was soon going to be in a seizure. As for all of these events you've described taken together, you may be at the point where you are predisposed to attribute certain otherwise inexplicable events to these kinds of paranormal sources. And so, I would look for details in these events that contradict a paranormal explanation. Sometimes you may overemphasize or elevate details that seem to confirm one thing, while overlooking details that would contradict it. Noises in houses might be explained away as ... noises in houses. Furnaces or air conditioning units belching. Pipes creaking. The sound of an ice maker shooting through a vent. Items disappearing and reappearing in places you've just looked are harder to explain, but it's certainly not unheard of for people to say they couldn't find something that was right under their nose. The tugging of the pants -- you could have snagged your belt loop or gotten something in your pocket caught on the back of the chair. You could have had an involuntary muscle contraction. Not impossible, right? I'm sure you've considered these kinds of explanations. I'd be skeptical of turning to so-called experts on the paranormal. As someone mentioned above, they're likely to only see things that confirm their already held beliefs about these sorts of things. Beyond that, I'd be thankful the mischievous fairies have taken up residence. Sounds like they are a lot less of a pain in the ass than some deceased relative who has waaaaay overstayed their welcome and is freaking out your dogs to the point where they'd run through a door. Keep us posted Dan.

Yeah, NBC kind of turned into the Al Michaels channel there for a while. And watch out if it's Russia vs. the U.S. for the gold medal in hockey. We'll have 1980 jammed down our throats all over again. The guy is overrated, in my book. He had one memorable line in his entire career and that's it. He was terrible on MNF, I thought. I know others disagree, but I don't get him at all.

Another tragic story at these Olympics: Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette's mother dies of massive heart attack hours after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter perform. The skater decides to continue with the competition, but what a heavy heart she must be carrying. On a lighter note, I'm one of those geeks watching (and learning about) curling. Mostly the women. -- I think they should incorporate the traditional beer-drinking component of the event into the Olympic competitions though. And some spectacular scenery in some of these outdoor events, like cross country skiing. Gorgeous mountains.

Not a big surprise to me. Every one of these guys on both teams play against one another in the NHL. Plus, Canada has/had a huge amount of pressure on it to win (now, no doubt, replaced by end-of-days gloom). And these all-star teams that are thrown together with virtually no practice beforehand for single tournaments are notoriously unpredictable. Sometimes good. Sometimes they spend the entire time trying to figure one another out. That said, Brodeur did not have a good game, and the U.S. goaltender, Miller, is one of the top goaltenders in the NHL. That Rafalski guy who had two goals against his old teammate Brodeur looked like he knew exactly where Brodeur was vulnerable (low, glove side). (I only saw highlights of the game because we don't have msnbc at work -- available on digital package only, apparently. Weak.) Nice win. Now the pressure shifts a bit.

Seems to show clearly that water was present at one time in the distant past.

I give the guy credit for at least standing up, admitting he screwed up, and is trying to do the right thing. Yeah, he brought on the whole mess himself, but anyone who thinks he's the only pro golfer (pro athlete, period ... heck, highly successful person, period) who believes that the normal rules don't apply to them is kidding themselves. The NBA is notorious for this kind of behavior, and folks still revere Jordan -- who chose to get a divorce. There isn't a name in professional sports that I'd be surprised if it was revealed they were doing the exact same thing as Woods. Difference is, most people don't choose to try to atone for their mistakes, particularly in such a public way. Woods at least seems to be. That said, this wall-to-wall coverage on espn, with body-language experts and apology experts and polls and on and on, is just ridiculous.