Dr. Felicia's Predator Paradise - Retired

[Felicia]

That desk was a real find - I love how it came to life with a walnut polish to it. Just beautiful.

 

I'm glad Lily just needs some laxative. Bogi throws up most days, he's an excessive groomer and being dehydrated with Kidney disease, he has a hard time coughing it up also. I try pureed pumpkin in his canned food, it is supposed to help move along the stuff inside, but I don't know if the little he eats makes a difference for him.

 

How old is Lily? I have a really good pet insurance plan, I can PM you the link if you like.

Thanks, Kat! It's making a very nice studying/work from home space for me now.

 

Well Lily doesn't need a laxative, she goes to the bathroom just fine. It's just that she's long haired and she coughs up hairballs a lot. Well I guess she has one now that doesn't want to come up and so she's just throwing up bile instead of the hairball. That's why they want her to eat this lubricant paste stuff that makes the hairballs break apart and come up easier. It also helps keep them from forming in the future.

 

The annoying thing though is that Lily absolutely doesn't want to eat the stuff they gave me. I'm supposed to squeeze it out onto her foot so she'll sit there and lick it off, which sounds great in principle. However this stuff is maple flavored (weird...not sure how cats feel about maple syrup as a food haha) and it looks and feels like maple syrup. It's the same consistency as syrup, so when I squeeze it onto her foot it runs everywhere. Also lily refuses to lick it off so she just goes nuts and runs around my house trailing sticking syrup. Today she was trying to flick it off of her paw and flung the stuff all over my wall. Ugh! I need to look into getting a different type because this is so not going to work.

 

Luckily lily is only 5, so she's young and very healthy. This was really our only big vet bill so far. Normally she just goes in for her yearly exam and shots, so she costs like $100 a year in vet bills. I've considered insurance before, but I don't think it's worth it right now since normally we don't have many vet bills. Thanks though!

[Felicia]

 

Yes, damn cats and their sticky platelets! At least you have the peace of mind that there is nothing seriously wrong with her. My very first patient after graduation was a cat with immune-mediated thrombocytopenia. As part of an apparent allergic reaction to cephalexin, the cat's immune system started destroying all his platelets. His owner brought him in because he had bruises spontaneously appearing all over his body. He ended up doing great with treatment. In 14 years of practice, I've never seen another case of that in a cat. (Now dogs, particularly cocker spaniels, are another story).

Yes! Well I know this now! The vet we've been seeing recently is really young. Like 2 years out of vet school and I really like her because she's super enthusiastic, very good with lily, and makes sure to give me all the details and explain the science (which I like since I'm a scientist in a biology field). I can't stand when vets don't want to answer the detailed questions or explain why. Anyways, I like this vet, but I think this time might have been a case of inexperience/being overzealous. She did mention that she didn't trust the blood count machine because cats have sticky platelets, but then she did a blood smear and didn't see any and thought that really meant lily was very sick. She was telling me she really thought it was the immune-mediated issue you mentioned and immediately wanted to get her on steroids. She also mentioned fiv, feline leukemia, a blood parasite, and cancer as causes. I was pretty upset and worried about lily! Then after leaving the vet office and still waiting to hear back on test results, I called my best friend who is a shelter vet in Florida. Her response was, "is lily acting sick? does she have any weird bleeding or bruising? No, well then it's an issue of missing the platelets because they're sticky. If it were me I would have told you to come back in 4-6 weeks to retest." I was all like oh! Yeah we went overboard over here! I was just so relieved not to think lily had a horrible disease or cancer. Oh well! She's had a crazy battery of tests now and I can have peace of mind that she's a super healthy cat with hairballs! Haha!

I'm glad you have beautiful lionfish that I can enjoy on here. And not have to stuff krill with pellets. I would undoubtedly find a way to cut a finger off doing that...

Haha! Glad you enjoy them. I was mostly just using my fingers to rip them open and stuff pellets inside, so no risk of cutting my finger off I do however use a knife to cut each silverside into 3-4 chunks.

How did I miss these pictures?!

No idea. Lily hasn't had enough presence on NR lately. She must keep her fans happy! Plus after the day she had yesterday at the vet she needs some attention

Glad to hear nothing was wrong w/ Lily. It just proves now you have to basically get another test done a couple wks later before dishing out anymore, just to make sure. It's hard though, none of us have money growing on trees.

Yeah it probably should have been a case of wait and test again in a few weeks, but that wasn't what the vet was recommending and I didn't know better at the time. I've got some savings for emergencies like this, so it's ok. Gotta expect it to happen every so often with pets. Just no more big aquarium purchases for me for a while.

[Felicia]

Hey guys! So I just want to check on interest in buying frags of my blue plating photosynthetic sponge (collospongia auris). I have 5+ frags right now in varying sizes and will probably have even more soon because my colony has really taken off. You can see my mother colony in this photo:

 

In terms of general information, its completely photosynthetic, so you just need good lighting. In higher lighting like my mother colony has now, it takes on an iridescent blue color. In lower lighting its a really pretty purple color. It grows relatively quickly, and from my experience will grow pretty fast if you put it in high lighting. It grows in this very cool plating form and looks a lot like a monti cap at first glance. Its very hardy and pretty much indestructible! Its just fine with being exposed to air (unlike many other sponges) and I've ripped my colony off of a rock before and had a new colony grow from the tiny bit of sponge left behind. It attaches to rock very quickly (within a couple days), but luckily its easy to rip off as one big piece, so no worries about it becoming a weed.

 

Anyways, this seems to be a relatively uncommon sponge that isn't sold too many places, so it tends to be a bit pricey. I haven't settled on price yet, but it will probably be $15 for small frags (around 1.5" x 0.5") and then the price will increase from there for bigger pieces. I have to figure out shipping prices, but its very hardy, so I think we can do USPS priority mail (2-day) in very small boxes with no issues and for relatively low cost.

 

Anyways, let me know if you're interested and I'll start looking into the details over the next few days. Also expect full pricing info and photos of the individual frags later this coming week.

[Felicia]

Here are some quick preview photos of my frag rack. The rubber bands are to hold the frags in place for a couple days until they attach to the plugs. They'll be rubber band free by the time I sell them! Also, when viewed from the side, they look more purple. The iridescent blue coloring really pops when viewed from above like in my photo of the mother colony.

 

[FlowerMama]

Yes, I'd be interested Felicia. Just let me know when.

[BRN]

i do, PM me when you're ready to sell.

[plainrt]

I have some of this stuff in my tank and love it. Started it at bottom of tank and watched it make way up top.

[FlowerMama]

I have some of this stuff in my tank and love it. Started it at bottom of tank and watched it make way up top.

 

Have a pic of of that?

[Felicia]

Yes, I'd be interested Felicia. Just let me know when.

i do, PM me when you're ready to sell.

Great! Will do! Glad to know there's interest. I never want to bother with shipping unless there are enough people interested. I wanted to give NR first dibs though Probably sometime middle of this coming week I'll figure it all out, so expect a pm around then.

 

I have some of this stuff in my tank and love it. Started it at bottom of tank and watched it make way up top.

Glad to hear you like it too! Its really a beautiful, easy, and unique piece!

[plainrt]

Have a pic of of that?

 

Lol my tank little photo shy atm. I'll see what can do it's in hard to capture spot

[Felicia]

Lol my tank little photo shy atm. I'll see what can do it's in hard to capture spot

I just looked back at your thread and I think I see it hidden down under some SPS. Definitely doesn't look like its in an easy to photograph place. Very cool that you have it too though! Mine is up on top by my SPS now and seems to really love it there. Its taken off recently!

[plainrt]

Yep under some some sps by the elegance coral. Started in shade in sand cause I didn't know liked much light till it started growing towards it lol. Every tank needs little of everything right

[Merthynia]

Thanks, Kat! It's making a very nice studying/work from home space for me now.

 

Well Lily doesn't need a laxative, she goes to the bathroom just fine. It's just that she's long haired and she coughs up hairballs a lot. Well I guess she has one now that doesn't want to come up and so she's just throwing up bile instead of the hairball. That's why they want her to eat this lubricant paste stuff that makes the hairballs break apart and come up easier. It also helps keep them from forming in the future.

 

The annoying thing though is that Lily absolutely doesn't want to eat the stuff they gave me. I'm supposed to squeeze it out onto her foot so she'll sit there and lick it off, which sounds great in principle. However this stuff is maple flavored (weird...not sure how cats feel about maple syrup as a food haha) and it looks and feels like maple syrup. It's the same consistency as syrup, so when I squeeze it onto her foot it runs everywhere. Also lily refuses to lick it off so she just goes nuts and runs around my house trailing sticking syrup. Today she was trying to flick it off of her paw and flung the stuff all over my wall. Ugh! I need to look into getting a different type because this is so not going to work.

 

Luckily lily is only 5, so she's young and very healthy. This was really our only big vet bill so far. Normally she just goes in for her yearly exam and shots, so she costs like $100 a year in vet bills. I've considered insurance before, but I don't think it's worth it right now since normally we don't have many vet bills. Thanks though!

I dunno how long you'll be giving Lily the paste, but with our cats, it works best to smear it right along their top lip right below the nose. They will actually lick it off there instead of walking around (or running in our cat's case) and getting that sticky stuff everywhere. If she can't get it off quickly, we would do half a dose, let him lick it off, then give the other half dose to our older cat with no problems.

 

I really like your sponge frags by the way. I'm just not sure if they would survive in my tank. I've never had a sponge.

[Felicia]

I dunno how long you'll be giving Lily the paste, but with our cats, it works best to smear it right along their top lip right below the nose. They will actually lick it off there instead of walking around (or running in our cat's case) and getting that sticky stuff everywhere. If she can't get it off quickly, we would do half a dose, let him lick it off, then give the other half dose to our older cat with no problems.

 

I really like your sponge frags by the way. I'm just not sure if they would survive in my tank. I've never had a sponge.

Thanks for that info! Very helpful! I pretty much will have to give lily the paste long term because it will help with her not getting hairballs in the future. With her being long haired, this is an ongoing issue. I'll have to try above her lip. The recommended amount would be a lot to put there without it dripping all over, so I'm hoping I can just decrease the amount a bit like you suggested.

 

I wouldn't really consider this sponge like pretty much any other sponge in terms of care. It's way easier than most sponges since it can be exposed to air and is photosynthetic. If you can keep softies alive, you can keep this sponge

[gena]

Geeze....sorry you went through such a scare with Lily!!!!! I would have been freaking out!!!!! Thank goodness it was normal....now I know something about sticky platelets and cats .

 

Looks like you'll have no trouble selling the sponge .

[Merthynia]

Thanks for that info! Very helpful! I pretty much will have to give lily the paste long term because it will help with her not getting hairballs in the future. With her being long haired, this is an ongoing issue. I'll have to try above her lip. The recommended amount would be a lot to put there without it dripping all over, so I'm hoping I can just decrease the amount a bit like you suggested.

 

I wouldn't really consider this sponge like pretty much any other sponge in terms of care. It's way easier than most sponges since it can be exposed to air and is photosynthetic. If you can keep softies alive, you can keep this sponge

Yeah, the kitty we had to give it to was also long haired. He would just get so many hairballs no matter how often we brushed or bathed him. I wish you luck with the sticky mess! You'll have to keep us posted if the treatment is working on her!

Hmm, I think I could probably give it a shot then! I have lots of softies in my tanks currently!

[Felicia]

Geeze....sorry you went through such a scare with Lily!!!!! I would have been freaking out!!!!! Thank goodness it was normal....now I know something about sticky platelets and cats .

 

Looks like you'll have no trouble selling the sponge .

Yeah, it was really not a good day Thursday! Just so glad lily is happy and healthy.

 

Yeah, I figured the sponge would go quick. I've gotten quite a bit of inquiries about whether I'd frag it in the past. The mother colony is now big enough to frag occasionally.

Yeah, the kitty we had to give it to was also long haired. He would just get so many hairballs no matter how often we brushed or bathed him. I wish you luck with the sticky mess! You'll have to keep us posted if the treatment is working on her!

Hmm, I think I could probably give it a shot then! I have lots of softies in my tanks currently!

So did the paste work for your long haired cat? I'm hoping this helps lily! I'll keep you posted. Wish it just didn't have to be so sticky!

 

I originally had it in my seahorse/softy tank which had much lower lighting and dirtier water. It did great, it was just more purple than blue in the lower lighting. It also didn't grow quite as fast as it does now. The colony I have now actually grew from a tiny piece left behind on one of the rocks in my seahorse tank. When I took that tank down, I sold the whole colony and peeled it off the rocks. I moved some things over into my new tank and it grew back from the little bit left behind. So pretty indestructible!

[Merthynia]

Yeah, it was really not a good day Thursday! Just so glad lily is happy and healthy.

 

Yeah, I figured the sponge would go quick. I've gotten quite a bit of inquiries about whether I'd frag it in the past. The mother colony is now big enough to frag occasionally.

So did the paste work for your long haired cat? I'm hoping this helps lily! I'll keep you posted. Wish it just didn't have to be so sticky!

 

I originally had it in my seahorse/softy tank which had much lower lighting and dirtier water. It did great, it was just more purple than blue in the lower lighting. It also didn't grow quite as fast as it does now. The colony I have now actually grew from a tiny piece left behind on one of the rocks in my seahorse tank. When I took that tank down, I sold the whole colony and peeled it off the rocks. I moved some things over into my new tank and it grew back from the little bit left behind. So pretty indestructible!

Yeah it worked really well for him. He passed away several years ago, but we gave it to him up until he turned 19. It wasn't always a clean event, but it sure cut down on the hairballs.

Awesome! It is really pretty and the growth pattern is quite different. I wouldn't mind a teeny tiny frag of it. I think it'd be cute in the back of my 3 gal picotope. What kind of flow does it like?

[Felicia]

Yeah it worked really well for him. He passed away several years ago, but we gave it to him up until he turned 19. It wasn't always a clean event, but it sure cut down on the hairballs.

Awesome! It is really pretty and the growth pattern is quite different. I wouldn't mind a teeny tiny frag of it. I think it'd be cute in the back of my 3 gal picotope. What kind of flow does it like?

Sorry to hear he passed away, but that is a good long life! Glad to hear it helped so the messiness is worth it.

 

I've got 2 pretty tiny frags right now I would say it prefers moderate to higher flow just so detritus can't settle on it and so algae can't grow on the surface. I had it in low flow back when I had it in my seahorse tank and it did fine though. Again, just didn't grow as fast as it does now.

[Merthynia]

Sorry to hear he passed away, but that is a good long life! Glad to hear it helped so the messiness is worth it.

 

I've got 2 pretty tiny frags right now I would say it prefers moderate to higher flow just so detritus can't settle on it and so algae can't grow on the surface. I had it in low flow back when I had it in my seahorse tank and it did fine though. Again, just didn't grow as fast as it does now.

Yeah, he was a wonderful lap cat right up until the end!

 

That is perfect! I have a great spot where it will fit right in!

[gena]

Yeah, he was a wonderful lap cat right up until the end!

 

That is perfect! I have a great spot where it will fit right in!

Did he die naturally? Or did you have to put him down? We have a 19 year old cat now and he's really slowing down. His kidneys are healthy and functioning normally so I think he'll end up just dying in his sleep. He's gotten pretty skinny the last month or two but he still has a hearty appetite. I'm hoping he just passes in his sleep one day. I think that would be so much easier on us. We had to put our other 19 year old down in February this year and that was so tough.

[vlangel]

I would love some of the blue sponge Felicia. Let me know when it's ready.

[Merthynia]

Did he die naturally? Or did you have to put him down? We have a 19 year old cat now and he's really slowing down. His kidneys are healthy and functioning normally so I think he'll end up just dying in his sleep. He's gotten pretty skinny the last month or two but he still has a hearty appetite. I'm hoping he just passes in his sleep one day. I think that would be so much easier on us. We had to put our other 19 year old down in February this year and that was so tough.

We had to put him down. He wasn't able to walk around very well and his arthritis was so bad that we couldn't do much. He would sit on my mom's lap and cuddle with her for hours enjoying the warmth. Sadly, we have another kitty, a girl that is now 21, she is able to get around alright, but her eyesight is going as well as her hearing. She also has arthritis but loves to sit and cuddle with my mom for hours also. I'm hoping she is able to pass peacefully in her sleep. It would be easier to handle. We have been supplementing her food with packets of soft food to encourage her to eat since she is getting really skinny.

[gena]

We had to put him down. He wasn't able to walk around very well and his arthritis was so bad that we couldn't do much. He would sit on my mom's lap and cuddle with her for hours enjoying the warmth. Sadly, we have another kitty, a girl that is now 21, she is able to get around alright, but her eyesight is going as well as her hearing. She also has arthritis but loves to sit and cuddle with my mom for hours also. I'm hoping she is able to pass peacefully in her sleep. It would be easier to handle.

WOW...21!!! I'm not sure how much longer ours has. It's so hard to tell. He walks funny from arthritis as well and I think if he doesn't pass in his sleep, we'll have to put him down because his legs just won't work anymore. So far so good but I worry about him. He is able to function normally for now. Has his eyesight but has lost his hearing. He does a lot of sleeping and really only spends time in my son's room. My son has really bonded with him and it's going to be so hard when the day comes.

[Merthynia]

WOW...21!!! I'm not sure how much longer ours has. It's so hard to tell. He walks funny from arthritis as well and I think if he doesn't pass in his sleep, we'll have to put him down because his legs just won't work anymore. So far so good but I worry about him. He is able to function normally for now. Has his eyesight but has lost his hearing. He does a lot of sleeping and really only spends time in my son's room. My son has really bonded with him and it's going to be so hard when the day comes.

I hear you. You get so attached to them over the years. Our cats are like family. She has stopped venturing upstairs over the past year and only comes to snuggle when people are downstairs. I don't blame her, we have a very long staircase to get upstairs. She also sleeps almost all day. I hope your kitty passes peacefully. It is hard regardless, but I would rather they not suffer.