I converted a regular bed to a platform bed/stray animal discussion.

[Indigo Blue]

I was conflicted on whether to buy a new iron platform bed frame (love those) vs keeping the adorable wooden (but very old) frame for our spare bedroom. It had a box spring and a thick mattress with a 3 inch latex topper on it. It was very tall, and the box spring/mattress combo didn’t look as nice as the platform bed in our main bedroom. So, I looked online because, honestly, I’ve never understood exactly what it was that was keeping you from ditching a box spring and using just a mattress in the first place, when there are supportive slats there. 

The answer to that is…..you either have to replace the slats with a solid piece of wood, or add lots and lots more slats. So we did. 

Platform beds are taller, but since our mattress is so thick with the topper, the height is perfect. I’m so glad we kept the same frame and did this simple mod. It looks so much better. It’s a twin bed, so this should be fine. 

I’ll never buy a box spring again. 

I love the look of just having a fitted sheet under a comforter folded across the foot, draping down the sides. I can do this now since the box spring is gone. 

But the biggest reason we did this was because our sons didn’t like the way the mattress was so high, leaving no headboard to keep their pillows from slipping around and sinking into the crack. (When they visit). 
 

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[Janeway]

This sounds awesome!!!

[Carol in Cal.]

Instead of a box spring in an old bed frame that I wanted to keep (it was gorgeous heavy Vermont rock maple), I used a Bucky board, which is much more rigid.  It supports the mattress well but is only a few inches thick, so the taller mattress is still at a good level.  The new mattress and box spring heights are such that if I got a new combo I would just put it right on the floor.  I hate that but I hate having to hop up to get onto the mattress even more.

[fairfarmhand]

Photos?

[Indigo Blue]

23 hours ago, fairfarmhand said:

Photos?

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[Indigo Blue]

Please don’t quote photo!

[fairfarmhand]

1 hour ago, Indigo Blue said:

Please don’t quote photo!

It looks great!

[Scarlett]

That looks amazing! Great job.  

[heartlikealion]

wait, which thing did you do? Add more slats or add one solid piece of wood? Looks great! 

That's a real cat, right? I have never seen a tail like that. 

[KungFuPanda]

11 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

Instead of a box spring in an old bed frame that I wanted to keep (it was gorgeous heavy Vermont rock maple), I used a Bucky board, which is much more rigid.  It supports the mattress well but is only a few inches thick, so the taller mattress is still at a good level.  The new mattress and box spring heights are such that if I got a new combo I would just put it right on the floor.  I hate that but I hate having to hop up to get onto the mattress even more.

I had to get a low profile box spring when I got a new mattress. I have a sleigh bed and a regular box spring would have the mattress as tall as the footboard. Maybe I should see if a Bucky board is thinner? It could be a few inches lower and still be a good height. 

[Carol in Cal.]

1 hour ago, KungFuPanda said:

I had to get a low profile box spring when I got a new mattress. I have a sleigh bed and a regular box spring would have the mattress as tall as the footboard. Maybe I should see if a Bucky board is thinner? It could be a few inches lower and still be a good height. 

I don’t recall the exact dimensions but the Bucky board was much thinner than the thinnest of the box springs.

[Indigo Blue]

14 hours ago, heartlikealion said:

wait, which thing did you do? Add more slats or add one solid piece of wood? Looks great! 

That's a real cat, right? I have never seen a tail like that. 

We added lots of slats so that there is only about two inches between them. 
 

My cat followed me in there and jumped up onto the bed as I took the picture. She gets a lion cut every six months because she gets very matted. She’s very sweet but doesn’t tolerate brushing or grooming. This time, they had to give her a little lion tail (they usually leave it) because she had matting in her tail. 
 

Here is a better photo of her cut and one before she was cut. I’ll delete these later, so please don’t quote!

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[East Coast Sue]

Love the bed, but WOW- your cat is gorgeous!

[Indigo Blue]

11 minutes ago, East Coast Sue said:

Love the bed, but WOW- your cat is gorgeous!

Thanks. She was a lost, stray kitty that I brought home one day. Another stray that Dh, once again, had to be convinced that we needed to keep. 😁
 

Yes, someone lost an expensive cat, but she was VERY emaciated and needed immediate medical attention. We did put up signs….no one called. 

Edited September 24, 2022 by Indigo Blue

[Scarlett]

2 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

Thanks. She was a lost, stray kitty that I brought home one day. Another stray that Dh, once again, had to be convinced that we needed to keep. 😁
 

Yes, someone lost an expensive cat, but she was VERY emaciated and needed immediate medical attention. We did put up signs….no one called. 

My friend found a little orange Persian in a parking lot nearly  starved to death.  She gave her to me. This was back before social media so trying to find the owners was next to impossible. We named her Peaches.  She was super tiny and sweet. I got her a lion cut every so often too. 

[pinball]

Are they Bucky boards? Or bunkie boards?

i though they were called bunkie boards bc you use them with bunk beds.

???

🤔

[Indigo Blue]

44 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

My friend found a little orange Persian in a parking lot nearly  starved to death.  She gave her to me. This was back before social media so trying to find the owners was next to impossible. We named her Peaches.  She was super tiny and sweet. I got her a lion cut every so often too. 

Oh, Scarlett, I bet she was super adorable. What a cute name.🥰

[pinball]

How can an animal not like to be brushed but liked to be shaved? 
 

Shaving seems so much worse, especially with mats. I’ve seen vet shows where they’ve had to sedate animals to shave them bc the matting is so bad the vets say it is painful

[Scarlett]

14 minutes ago, pinball said:

How can an animal not like to be brushed but liked to be shaved? 
 

Shaving seems so much worse, especially with mats. I’ve seen vet shows where they’ve had to sedate animals to shave them bc the matting is so bad the vets say it is painful

I wouldn’t say they liked to be shaved. But a groomer has the set up to do it.  And if done often enough it isn’t painful. 

[Indigo Blue]

3 hours ago, pinball said:

How can an animal not like to be brushed but liked to be shaved? 
 

Shaving seems so much worse, especially with mats. I’ve seen vet shows where they’ve had to sedate animals to shave them bc the matting is so bad the vets say it is painful

She has to be sedated. Her vet does this for her. While she is sedated, they do anything else she needs to have done as well. Her matting gets bad but not to the point of being painful or causing infections since we do it regularly. They do have an in-house groomer that comes over to touch her up a bit when the vet is done. I can love her with my hands, but she will not let anyone comb or brush her. It would have to be done daily to prevent matting, so this battle is not worth fighting since she is so adamant that she will not be brushed. She would never let anyone shave her unsedated without her putting up a huge fight. 

[Indigo Blue]

I was thinking more on the topic of stray animals. 

How much of an effort is reasonable to find the owner?

With my chihuahua, I made no effort. He jumped into my car. He was acting like he was lost. When I got him home, I discovered bits of his tongue were missing, and the tip of his tail had been bent where it had been broken. Maybe slammed in a door or something. He was covered in fleas and was emaciated. He had no microchip, no collar. He was standing in the middle of a busy street. We checked for a microchip. That was as far as I went. I felt he rescued himself, and also that he had been poorly cared for. That was enough. Right? Wrong? I don’t know. I just made that judgment call. 
 

When I brought the cat home, she was very hand shy, and it was obvious someone had done something to her physically that traumatized her. She hid for weeks. She had no identification and no microchip. She was emaciated as well. I made a reasonable attempt to put up a few signs, but I really didn’t want to as I thought she hadn’t come from a good place. I know I could be wrong, though. 
 

We’ve had many strays run through here. They are always scruffy with no collar. I’ve never seen one, not once, that was healthy and had proper ID. I know responsible people can lose their pets, though. 
 

Anyway, I wasn’t looking for these strays. They just found me, and I have to admit that I put a lot of weight on what I think is best for the animal when deciding what to do.  These lost ones just seem to come from bad places. 

[Pawz4me]

15 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

 

How much of an effort is reasonable to find the owner?

 

I believe our state law requires filing a report with your city or county's animal control department. There's a 72 stray hold, so a finder reports the animal and then the owner has the legal right to reclaim them within 72 hours. If not claimed the animal is yours to keep if you want to, or rehome. 

So that's the bare minimum.

Many people here who find pets post on our community FB page and take the dog or cat to a vet, rescue group or the animal shelter to have it scanned for a microchip. I don't know of any vet who won't do that for free. I've also seen notices of found pets posted on the Ring app.

To me all of the above things are the minimum, but of course not everyone participates in some kind of social media community group. But definitely report to your local animal control and (if at all possible) have scanned for a chip. I know it's tempting not to for an animal who isn't in good shape (mentally or physically), but I also figure in those instances it's unlikely anyone will claim the pet, or that it will have a registered chip. So you do those things and can legit say "I tried."

[Indigo Blue]

20 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I believe our state law requires filing a report with your city or county's animal control department.

I honestly did not know that. 

[KSera]

51 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I know it's tempting not to for an animal who isn't in good shape (mentally or physically), but I also figure in those instances it's unlikely anyone will claim the pet, or that it will have a registered chip. So you do those things and can legit say "I tried."

I always try to keep in mind a pet could have escaped weeks or months ago and/or traveled a long distance, so they could have been a well loved and cared for pet who now looks terrible due to having been missing so long. 

[MercyA]

3 hours ago, Indigo Blue said:

I was thinking more on the topic of stray animals. 

How much of an effort is reasonable to find the owner?

Well, here's the thing. Lost animals can act very skittish, even feral, even if they were well loved and cared for.

An indoor cat who accidentally gets outside is often so panicked and fearful that he will hide from his own owner. Shy cats may stay hidden for weeks, preferring near starvation and dehydration to coming out. Indoor / outdoor cats or especially gregarious cats might not be as fearful, but can still get displaced by being chased by another animal or picked up by a well-meaning person. They may approach people or houses for food and shelter and people may assume they are strays rather than lost pets.

Dogs can be scared off by fireworks or other loud noises. They can run away from a new home or a foster home. In either case when they are done running they often don't know where they are or how to get home. Shy dogs can be extremely skittish and difficult to catch and can seem very fearful of people, even if they had a loving owner. 

I do not say this to make you feel badly, but because you asked for our views on it.

My cat went missing years ago and I still miss him. We have always assumed a coyote killed him, but he was so friendly and sweet that I do wonder if someone picked him up. 😞 He was microchipped, but not collared, as it's not safe for outdoor access cats to wear collars. 

That said, we had the cat in the first place because he showed up at our house and stayed. We had him checked for a microchip and I looked carefully for lost cat signs and ads for several weeks. I don't remember if I put up "found cat" signs. I think maybe not. I think now I would. 

I think the minimum for me, now, would be: 1. check for microchip, 2. report to local animal control / animal shelters, 3. check (and keep checking) social media sites for lost animals, 4. watch for lost pet signs, and 5. put up found pet signs / online posts, leaving out some crucial information (unusual markings, etc.) to make sure no one but the owner claims him or her.

I am sure your dog and cat have wonderful home with you, and there are A LOT of abandoned animals out there. Thank you for rescuing them. ❤️

Edited September 24, 2022 by MercyA

[Scarlett]

1 hour ago, Indigo Blue said:

I honestly did not know that. 

I did not know it either. I am going to check our state law.