I think probably everybody (general everybody, not just this board) should take a deep breath and chill. That article is almost four months old. So not exactly breaking news. I personally don't think the DCM thing is a huge honking deal. There seem to be a relatively small number of dogs affected, and the odds of any one dog being affected are tiny. The vet nutritionists will eventually figure it out and the pet food companies will adjust. There's a LOT we don't know about human nutrition, let alone about nutrition for our pets. I think the big pet food companies have been unfairly (and sometimes ignorantly) criticized. They do get a lot of things right. A lot of what we do know about canine and feline nutrition -- we know because of those companies. I think there are some small, boutique companies out there trying to make good food. But their lack of veterinary nutritionists on staff is a very valid concern IMO. I've long believed that just like for humans, a diet as varied as possible is the healthiest for most pets.

I have nothing constructive to contribute, but -- this thread title would make a good HGTV show.

This is what DS23 does when he travels. In the past couple of years he's been to Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Latvia, England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Mexico and his phone has worked in all those locations just as well as it does here in the U.S. The convenience and reliability are very well worth the cost.

In recent years I've naturally gravitated to a 14/10 eating pattern. I had no idea I was trendy until recently. No advice, though. For me it's easy and natural. FWIW, I eat a high carb, mostly vegetarian diet. Again that's a natural thing--what my body thrives on. I'm at a healthy weight, and fasting for 14 hours hasn't made any difference at all in that (counting calories is the only thing that has ever worked for me for weight loss--cutting carbs is disastrous and makes me feel very unwell). In my advancing years I simply noticed that eating after about 6:00 made me feel awful the next morning--like I had binged on junk food, even though I hadn't--so I stopped. For me it's hard socially sometimes, but not physically or mentally.

I'm almost always a wait-and-give-your-body-time-to-do-its-thing-with-basic-illnesses kind of person, but -- I'd take your DD in for a check. I wouldn't want to take chances with asthma. If you absolutely, positively feel the need to show up for student teaching then I'd get a flu test. Achy joints sounds much more like flu than cold to me. It's not nice to expose others to a nasty cold, but it's a whole 'nother level of not nice to expose people to the flu. I hate jobs that don't allow for sick time! I hope you all feel better quickly.

I hope the medication helps!

Yes, we expected our boys to follow all laws when they started driving.

I'd try a stuffed, frozen Kong. They can be stuffed with all sorts of things, from moistened kibble to canned dog food to a mixture of PB and yogurt, PB and mashed banana, chicken/turkey baby food (w/o onions), etc. Freezing them makes them last longer. There are also various types of food dispensing toys, and it usually takes some experimenting (which can be costly) to find one that is challenging but not too challenging for the dog.

We shut the door with him on the other side. Then the smarty pants started banging on it. And he was a big, strong boy. Bang Bang Bang. Hours and hours. He never got tired or gave up. After a couple of nights of that I made loops of packing tape and put them on the lower half of the door. Which wasn't exactly aesthetically pleasing, but I only had to leave the tape there for a few weeks until he acclimated to sleeping somewhere else. And I did make sure he had plenty of beds, a comfy throw on the couch, etc.

She's a cat. I wouldn't count on her outgrowing it soon. She might, but one of our cats would have done it well into his double digit years had we not banned him from the bedroom. And yes, he had a younger companion kitty. It didn't make any difference, he was a people cat.

We must have vastly different definitions of "rare."

I don't know if I'd feel outright afraid, but I feel fairly certain that I wouldn't ever feel very peaceful/relaxed in that situation. I think I'd always be at least a bit on guard, feel the need to be vigilant all the time. And I wouldn't want to live like that if I had a choice.

I would go to a PCP or an optometrist if it's still bothering you today. I had some weird thing going on with one of my eyes following a virus a couple of years ago. It wasn't pink eye, but something similar. My PA prescribed some drops that took care of it. Most optometrists are pretty darn good at what they do. DH is on a cancer medication that can cause serious eye complications. His oncologist recommends that he see his optometrist regularly. He says there's no need for an ophthalmologtist. In fact, around here I highly doubt you'd get an appointment with an ophthalmologist unless you had (1) a referral from an optometrist or a PCP and (2) were willing/able to wait weeks or months to get in. The only way you'd likely see one quickly would be for a detached retina or something similarly serious that was time critical to fix.

So many things can cause seizures. Unfortunately, in middle aged/older dogs it's usually not idiopathic epilepsy (although sometimes it is, just not usually). As already mentioned, I'd want kidneys and liver checked--I assume any vet would want to do a CBC and chem panel as a basic first step. Also maybe check for diabetes, although I'd think other symptoms of that would have been noticed. It's not impossible that the trigger is something in the dog's environment (like mouse bait or something used on the lawn), but probably not likely since the frequency is increasing. In the last dog I had who developed seizures in middle age, they were caused by a rare disease called granulomatous meningoencephalitis (GME). It's a horrible, heart breaking diagnosis. I'm not posting that to scare you--it's extremely unlikely that it's your sister's dog's problem--but just to point out that there are causes of seizures that most of us have never heard of.

Many businesses subscribe to services that help update addresses. Don't ask me how they work. I only know because DH's employer (an internet retailer) used such a service.

I'm not a fan of open concept houses, but what bothers me more than the openness is the super high ceiling in the main living area that often come with them. Those high ceilings are terrible for acoustics, heating/cooling, cleaning and painting. Sure they give a nice roomy feel and can look dramatic (until you get used to them, and then they're just as ho hum as anything else), but they also lack a cozy feeling. IMO the cons vastly outweigh the pros. But to be fair--I'm much shorter than average, I might think at least a bit differently if I were taller than average.

It's Carrie's dog who is being neutered. A very tiny dog. And yes, I would worry about the size presenting extra complications (although in general the smaller the dog the less a s/n costs). Vet prices can vary HUGELY depending on geographic area/cost of living. That's one reason I rarely chime in on costs. What I pay for a certain service or procedure would only be relevant to people in my general area. No doubt those in HCOL areas would think I'm getting an absolute steal, and those in LCOL areas would think what I pay is outrageous. To compare low cost s/n clinics to what a private vet costs is really kind of irrelevant, since the clinics depend on vets donating their time and on lots and lots of fundraising. Plus those clinics are generally not doing blood work, nothing for pain management, etc. It's a very apples-to-oranges comparison.

My brother and SIL have four cats and that's pretty much how they live--they can stay inside as long as they like but they go outside to potty. It's like the cats are house trained. It seems to work for them. They do make sure the cats are in at night--at least on their screened porch--to keep them safe from coyotes and other predators.

A lot has changed in a dozen years! Inflation is a thing in vet expenses, just like everything else. Newer anesthesia drugs are more expensive, but also much safer. In recent years vet medicine has incorporated many things that were once reserved for human medicine, like mechanisms to help a pet maintain his body temperature during surgery. That can be a huge safety thing, but it's not w/o cost. Ditto better equipment for monitoring BP, heart rate, etc., during surgery. Many vets' thinking on pain relief for pets undergoing surgeries has changed in the last decade. IMO that's all for the good, but again -- more cost. Is this vet doing pre-anesthesia blood work? Many places consider that optional, but I always, always, always have it done. I wouldn't have surgery requiring general anesthesia w/o making sure everything was okay, so why would I risk it with my pets? See if that's included in the price quoted. There are probably other things I'm not thinking about, but personally I wouldn't shop around for the cheapest spay/neuter vet unless I absolutely couldn't afford to do it any other way. Especially with such a tiny dog. Or I'd at least want to make sure I was comparing apples to apples -- i.e., is the same anesthesia being used, is pain medicine being administered by each vet, does the price quoted included pre-anesthesia blood work or not, etc.

The older I get the more I embrace the weirdness that is my brain. (And the more I hope nobody ever, ever looks at my Google search history. )

Tube hangers w/o notches. The ones with notches are evil.

I was up at 6:30, which is really 5:30, which means I overslept just a bit and explains why I feel groggy. I really hate this time change.

DS20 has spondylolisthesis and scoliosis. His PT always focused on strengthening his core--planks, bird dog, superman. My SIL has dealt with disc issues, sciatica, etc. for years. She finally gave in and had laser spinal surgery at the end of January. Now she's totally kicking herself for not having it done years ago. She didn't realize what a toll the pain was taking on her until it was gone.

FWIW--My little guy has had multiple issues with chemicals. He reacted horribly to Advantix (neurological reaction). Two vet visits, steroids, Benadryl, a full two weeks before he was back to normal. He has reacted to two vaccines, one not unusual (leptospirosis) and another one for which vaccine reactions aren't so common (rabies). We now titer for everything other than rabies, and avoid any vaccinations possible. All that to say--he's a bit sensitive to "stuff." But he does fine on Nexgard. He's been on it for (I think) going on three years. I've discussed this with two trusted vets in the group I use , both of whom advised "if it's working fine for him then don't rock the boat." And I'm good with that advice. Because after the Advantix reaction I didn't have him on anything for awhile, and despite my diligent daily checking he managed to get a tick borne disease. And that was no picnic. This was also discussed (last fall, when it first came out) on another board I'm on. There is a vet moderator whose opinion I hold in high regard. The alert wasn't anything that raised any alarm bells for him, and he said these alerts are much more common than most people realize. His advice was also "if your dog is on it and doing fine then don't worry about it." ETA: I don't think there's anything wrong with Advantix. It just wasn't right for my dog. I know other dogs who do fine with it, and have for years.

Ditto looking at the CR-V. My SIL had a Lexus SUV. They bought a CR-V and she liked it so much better she let her DD drive the Lexus and she's driving the CR-V. She didn't dislike the Lexus, but she does like the CR-V more. We have two and have been very happy with them. Honda also has a newer small SUV/crossover called the HR-V. I don't know anything about it, though. In addition to the others already listed she might want to check out the Ford Escape and GMC Acadia. I hear good things about both of those, although the Acadia may be bigger than what she wants.