Of the foods available just about anywhere, my vote would go to Purina One or Purina One Beyond, and I'd supplement with some high quality inexpensive protein like boiled eggs, plain yogurt or any bits of leftover meat you have (but then I firmly believe in adding some healthy "human" food to a dog's diet regardless of how "good" the kibble being fed supposedly is). And I know a lot of people who say the Kirkland brand of food sold by Costco is a good food for the money. We're not members, so I've never taken a close look at it myself.

I believe anyone who says they're Christian. First because the Bible clearly says it's not my place to judge. And secondly because I like to keep my faith simple. The thief on the cross professed Jesus as the messiah. As far as we know he wasn't baptized and had certainly never uttered an as-yet-to-be-composed-by-men creed. And Jesus said to him "Today you will be with me in paradise."

I have taken high doses of Prilosec for an extended period of time, as well as the prescription generic version of Protonix for several years. I never had any unwanted side-effects. I know several people who've taken Prilosec and similar prescription medicines with only good results.

As a puppy, it will likely adjust very quickly. As humans we tend to rely by far on our sense of sight the most. But dogs rely most heavily on their sense of smell. A dog who lost that sense would be in trouble. But sight? Not so much.

Both of my sons, now 13 and 16, developed transitory tics between 9 and 12 (that's a rough age estimate). Youngest DS will be 14 in November and he was doing a tic-like movement a couple of weeks ago, but he's already stopped.

I can barely tolerate having my teeth polished. I have to do a lot of talking to myself to get through it.

I wouldn't allow her to have any physical contact with your cat until she's been checked thoroughly by a vet (including testing for feline leukemia) and wormed. If you put the newcomer in the dog crate, put the crate in a room away from your cat. In general whenever you bring in a new cat, even one from a shelter/rescue, it's best to quarantine the newcomer for at least a few days (a couple of weeks is optimal) to make sure they aren't carrying anything that could be transmitted to cats already in the home. If you decide to keep her, then after at least a few days when you decide she's healthy, give her access to a room but keep the door closed. The two cats will smell each other under the door, and that will start the introduction. You can also rub each of them down with an old towel so that you get each cat's scent on the other. No matter what you do there still may be some hissing, growling and posturing. But chances are they'll work it out on their own in time. When putting her in the carrier, try wrapping her up in an old towel first.

Moderate mostly, with a tendency toward liberal at times. But that includes all groceries, toiletries, cleaning/laundry supplies and food/supplies for four pets.

It's a rare event for us to stay home all day.

DH does all the yard work (our yard is small), pays the bills and vacuums the house once a week. He also takes youngest DS to all his baseball practices. I do everything else. All the cooking and grocery shopping, all cleaning besides vacuuming, laundry, errands, trash, car maintenance, all the homeschooling. FWIW, DH doing the vacuuming only happened when we moved six years ago. He wanted a larger house and a smaller yard. I said that means more work for me and less for you. He said tell me how I can help. And so I asked him to do the vacuuming. Works for us.

:iagree:

:iagree: IMO body language is a much better indication of what a dog is "saying" than vocalizations.

Me, too. But . . . I have a great hair person in a rural salon. Although salon sounds much too uppity for it. It's a nice, clean, comfy place. Just not fancy. She does a great job and only charges $57 for color and a haircut. And I get to catch up on all the local gossip. She mixes a couple of different colors to get mine right.

:iagree: It sounds to me as if your kids are well-adjusted and happy.

The first step is to take her, or at least a sample of her urine, to the vet for testing. You always, always want to rule out medical issues like UTIs first. Just because it's been going on for awhile doesn't mean that it couldn't be medical. Assuming there isn't an underlying medical issue, you can try retraining with or w/o medication to help. The retraining is relatively simple -- you confine the cat to a small space so that it has little choice but to use the litter box. You can use a large dog crate or a small bathroom or laundry room. But you have to make absolutely sure there's nothing appealing for a potty spot other than the litter box. That means no bedding in a crate and if you put her in a bathroom or laundry room you make sure there's nothing laying around she would be tempted to go on. Most everything I've read recommends at least two weeks of confinement for litter box re-training. There are some medicines that supposedly help with inappropriate elimination. I'm not really familiar with them, but I know they exist and have heard of people who used them successfully with their cats. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will post, and you can definitely ask your vet about it.

I'm an INTJ. A fragile self-esteem and feelings of insecurity are most definitely NOT problems for me. :D I think mental disorders are just like physical ailments -- Any of us could look at a list of symptoms for a particular physical ailment and think "Goodness, I have almost all of those, so I must have that problem." But it's the degree to which one has a symptom or symptoms that matters.

Both of my kids were reading fluently before kindergarten. They're now 13 and 16 and their eyesight is fine. I don't remember when I started reading, but I'm sure it was well before 7. My eyesight was fine until I hit the early/mid-40's and started having the usual age-related difficulties.

I'm not a hot dog eater, but DH and DS2 say Nathan's.

Termites aren't something you'd typically see in the cabinets or walking around on the counters like ants or roaches. They like to stay hidden inside the walls and under flooring, feasting away on wood. Usually by the time you know termites are present, you've got a significant amount of damage. About all you can do as a homeowner other than having an annual inspection done (or some type of termite prevention system installed) is to make sure there is no old wood stacked around the foundation of the house or in the basement or crawl space. Termites aren't something renters would typically worry about, because the owner will have to pay for any repairs.

Just from the two pictures you posted, I agree with your vet. I definitely see some kind of shepherd. Her ears and snout totally look like a German Shepherd. The lab/border collie I don't see at all.

Usually around 5:30, but varies widely depending on what practices, games, meets and/or meetings anyone has on a particular day. If we don't have anything going on, then I like getting it over with and getting the kitchen cleaned up. After dinner on nights when we're not running hither and yonder is my "me" time.

:iagree: Although we usually have more traditional, easy-to-grab breakfast fare -- cereal or oatmeal, toaster waffles, PB toast, yogurt or a granola bar, sometimes one of the boys will grab some leftover pizza or something similar. And I'm fine with that.

Four or more.

Weight fluctuations of a few pounds from one day to the next are normal, especially in pre-menopausal women. It's almost always due to how much fluid (or not) the body is retaining. To gain two pounds one would have to eat about 7,000 extra calories. I really, really doubt that pumpkin bar had anywhere near that.

That's what the boys' pediatrician said.