The General Chat Thread (2024)?

Lullabelle said:
That looks lovely.

I like reading trip advisor reviews because some are funny, some silly and some downright petty so don't always pay much attention to be fair. As long as you like it and are happy that is all that matters.
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You do have to pick your way through the petty and ridiculous stuff don't you.
I enjoy the establishments response most.
Especially the ones when they've done backflips to accommodate difficult customers and they've still left them a bad review because the breakfast bacon was back bacon and they prefer streaky 🤣

So the management who don't normally engage layout precisely what they did to accommodate and how difficult the reviewer was. Those make me smile, they didn't take it lying down!
 
Tomorrow morning (8am ish maybe) will be 8 years to the day since we landed in a cold but very sunny Canberra.

This was the first photo I took in Canberra, or even in Australia. Nothing desperately exciting!

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So I am a little irritated with my neighbors across the street. They seem to be lovely people overall. They are friendly and seem very nice, but also they are very irresponsible pet owners.

A little bit ago I heard a squealing yelping sound of a dog in pain. My husband came inside visibly agitated. I asked him if someone was beating their dog (I couldn't tell where the yelping was coming from), and he told me the little dog across the street had been hit by a car. He was taking the trash cans out to road for tomorrow morning's pickup and apparently the dog was out front alone with all of the family inside of the house. They do not have a fenced in yard or a dog run, electric fence, nothing like that. We live on a somewhat busy road. DH thinks that perhaps the dog saw him and tried to cross the road to come say hi, he isn't sure. He had turned to come back to the house and heard a thunk and when he turned around, the car was dragging the little dog and it was howling. They stopped, backed up, went around the dog and left it in the street and took off. The owners of the animal came out and the dad went out and picked up the dog. No idea what happened but DH said that he was sure that dog was on the verge of death, it was broken and crumpled in the street.

On a regular basis I have seen that little dog outside with the kids in the front yard playing. The kids range from 2-12 years old, 2 boys and 2 girls, and the oldest (girl) is the one who the dog belonged to mostly. So why am I irritated? This is the 3rd time in 5 or 6 years they have had a dog and each one of the dogs has gotten hit by a car and killed, yet they turn around and get the oldest girl a new puppy a few months after the previous one has died. I also don't like that I sometimes see them throwing a ball and the little 2 year old girl is outside with the older kids supposedly watching her. What if the ball rolls into the street? Kids that age have no impulse control, and the oldest child in charge is only 12? And the bigger kids are playing, are they supposed to keep their eyes on this little toddler the whole time?

The first time it happened I baked the girl (she was heartbroken at about 6-7 years old) a cake with pink frosting and told her how sorry I was about her little dog. The last time I did not, and I am certainly not going to even bring it up the next time I talk to the family (not like we are friendly to the point where I have been in their home or they in ours) and that could be several months before we have any contact other than the occasional wave in passing as we are collecting mail or pulling in/out of the driveway.

I sure hope they don't get another puppy.
 
JAS_OH1 - there are few things that get my back up faster than shit pet owners. I’ve bumped heads a few times with my otherwise dandy neighbors next to me.

The neighbors we used to have across the road sound a lot like yours - their dogs were never more than another accessory - we even paid for vet care for one of their dogs once, because they weren’t going to.

That’s a prevalent attitude around here - pets are expendable and replaceable, so why would anyone pay a penny extra for any kind of health care? If it dies, just get another one - that was our old neighbor’s feeling about it.
 
TastyReuben said:
JAS_OH1 - there are few things that get my back up faster than shit pet owners. I’ve bumped heads a few times with my otherwise dandy neighbors next to me.

The neighbors we used to have across the road sound a lot like yours - their dogs were never more than another accessory - we even paid for vet care for one of their dogs once, because they weren’t going to.

That’s a prevalent attitude around here - pets are expendable and replaceable, so why would anyone pay a penny extra for any kind of health care? If it dies, just get another one - that was our old neighbor’s feeling about it.
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I hate to see suffering of any kind and it's the animals who are the ones who pay for the negligence. I felt horrible for the little girl the first time and still a little sad for her the second time, but not this time--just the dog. She is growing up with the same mindset of her parents and it's like the people you mentioned in your post above.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I felt horrible for the little girl the first time
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When we lived in the UK, the neighbor girl, probably about nine or 10yo, used to stop by the house every so often, I suspect because she liked the American treats we stocked.

Anyway, one day, she ran over to the house holding a little mouse that she’d caught and was playing with, and in its attempt to escape, most likely, if fell off a table had gotten quite hurt.

Sh was beside herself with grief, bawling and screaming for me to do something, and there there was a vet at the top of the road, so I popped it into a box and took it there.

The vet disposed of it as soon as he saw it, and I went back thinking, “Crap, I’ve got to tell this little girl the damn thing died.”

I came back, and she was out in the street, and I said, “Yeah, um…about your mouse, uh…I’m afraid there, um…wasn’t anything the vet could do. He died. I’m sorry.”

“Huh? What? Oh. Ok, thank you.” and right back to playing she went.

I hated that kid after that! :laugh:
 
Just back from the vets. One of my chooks is poorly and now in a 10 day course of antibiotics.

And whilst we have no idea what is wrong with Buffy, we do know what it isn't.... an ultrasound has ruled out ovarian cancer (my chook is 5½ yrs old). It's also not organ failure, her abdomen isn't filling with fluid. It's not peritonitis, it's not a respiratory problem (upper or lower)... so the most likely is a digestive issue.

She's lost 1½kg in weight since she was last weighed in February. She was 4-4¼kg. She's now 2.75kg and struggling with balance and walking. Ironically, there's nothing wrong with her appetite! It's just a shame that the other end isn't so good.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Just back from the vets. One of my chooks is poorly and now in a 10 day course of antibiotics.

And whilst we have no idea what is wrong with Buffy, we do know what it isn't.... an ultrasound has ruled out ovarian cancer (my chook is 5½ yrs old). It's also not organ failure, her abdomen isn't filling with fluid. It's not peritonitis, it's not a respiratory problem (upper or lower)... so the most likely is a digestive issue.

She's lost 1½kg in weight since she was last weighed in February. She was 4-4¼kg. She's now 2.75kg and struggling with balance and walking. Ironically, there's nothing wrong with her appetite! It's just a shame that the other end isn't so good.
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Grasping at straws but if you suspect there's a motility issue have you tried soluble fibre?
I know that's a bit tricky with a chicken but you seem to have the necessary nerve for it.

As we all know oldies get bunged up easily and a little extra fluid in the gut can work wonders on motility.

My vet was very surprised poking around in my 12 year old dogs guts at the last check up that "her stools are are really good?!!"

I didn't tell her she has a sprinkling of soluble fibre on her food because they get snooty and want to sell you lactulose or some other stomach ache inducing laxative.

But it's worked a treat.
No more is she out there forever trying to walking around in circles trying to go.
She's much brighter and happier as a result.

Something like 'optifibre' or 'benefibre' are the kindest. Flavour free, doesn't effect the taste of the food it on.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Grasping at straws but if you suspect there's a motility issue have you tried soluble fibre?
I know that's a bit tricky with a chicken but you seem to have the necessary nerve for it.

As we all know oldies get bunged up easily and a little extra fluid in the gut can work wonders on motility.

My vet was very surprised poking around in my 12 year old dogs guts at the last check up that "her stools are are really good?!!"

I didn't tell her she has a sprinkling of soluble fibre on her food because they get snooty and want to sell you lactulose or some other stomach ache inducing laxative.

But it's worked a treat.
No more is she out there forever trying to walking around in circles trying to go.
She's much brighter and happier as a result.

Something like 'optifibre' or 'benefibre' are the kindest. Flavour free, doesn't effect the taste of the food it on.
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Fibre isn't the issue. She'll happily consume more porridge oats every morning that my husband and I put together (they are always soaked in oatmilk or water, never dry because that's not good for her given her eating habits which is to consume everything in sight. She's always the last chook pecking at food and this is likely as a result of something she's eaten. )

The problem is liquid shoots... chooks can't urinate, so liquid stools aren't always an issue, but right now it is an issue because it's constant and going through her too quickly. She needs imodium not movicol! Lol. The vet is assuming that she's got a rather badly balanced gut biome/tummy bug... so she's now getting oats soaked in live soy yoghurt with prebiotics added plus the antibiotics... I'll track down some chook probiotics for her as well. I think the pet store in the town I'm going to on Thursday has some. Not cheap, but then she's a showbird quality chook (as in $400), not a backyard $5 job. Not that I actually show her, but if I did... and I get them for any of my chooks irrespective of what they are worth. A life is a life in my book.

That said, my chooks are older than the vet's chooks. I've only just lost by oldest chook who came to me as retired from breeding 8 years ago, so was likely 10-11 yrs old. My next oldest, came to me 6 years ago, again aged 2½ yrs at the time and is still laying eggs.

This chook is 5½ yrs old, so plenty of life in her yet, if we can get her over this illness.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Fibre isn't the issue. She'll happily consume more porridge oats every morning that my husband and I put together (they are always soaked in oatmilk or water, never dry because that's not good for her given her eating habits which is to consume everything in sight. She's always the last chook pecking at food and this is likely as a result of something she's eaten. )

The problem is liquid shoots... chooks can't urinate, so liquid stools aren't always an issue, but right now it is an issue because it's constant and going through her too quickly. She needs imodium not movicol! Lol. The vet is assuming that she's got a rather badly balanced gut biome/tummy bug... so she's now getting oats soaked in live soy yoghurt with prebiotics added plus the antibiotics... I'll track down some chook probiotics for her as well. I think the pet store in the town I'm going to on Thursday has some. Not cheap, but then she's a showbird quality chook (as in $400), not a backyard $5 job. Not that I actually show her, but if I did... and I get them for any of my chooks irrespective of what they are worth. A life is a life in my book.

That said, my chooks are older than the vet's chooks. I've only just lost by oldest chook who came to me as retired from breeding 8 years ago, so was likely 10-11 yrs old. My next oldest, came to me 6 years ago, again aged 2½ yrs at the time and is still laying eggs.

This chook is 5½ yrs old, so plenty of life in her yet, if we can get her over this illness.
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Pre and pro biotics sound well worth a go 👍
Those are some lucky chooks.
 
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Arrived in Salobreña and am very happy to finally be here!
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Wow! That was some ride, way down the coast in Granada.
My curiosity got the better of me and I checked out the restaurants, Tapas bars, tascas, etc.
You're going to enjoy some seriously tasty food there - unless you eat pizza :hyper: :laugh: :laugh:
 
karadekoolaid said:
Wow! That was some ride, way down the coast in Granada.
My curiosity got the better of me and I checked out the restaurants, Tapas bars, tascas, etc.
You're going to enjoy some seriously tasty food there - unless you eat pizza :hyper: :laugh: :laugh:
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She's got celiac (US spelling)...probably no gluten free pizza around even if she wanted it!
 
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