FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION PREVENTION UTI

FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION PREVENTION UTI with a DRINKWELL PLATINUM PET FOUNTAIN

DRINKWELL PLATINUM PET FOUNTAIN

FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION PREVENTION – When I moved in to my apartment I brought three cats with me. Their names were Mauser, Yogi and Baily. Three very interesting characters. Mauser was a Tabby that could be as sweet as he was ferocious. Yogi was this big beautiful fluffy black and white cat that had double front paws, not extra toes, DOUBLE FRONT PAWS. Bailey was an Ocicat rescue. After a while of living in my apartment Mauser started to exhibit strange litter box behavior. He would urinate on hard surfaces, in the tub, in sinks etc. An expensive trip to the vet revealed Mauser had FELINE UTI or FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION. Basically his body created these sharp little crystals that would block his urinary tract making it difficult if not impossible to urinate. Untreated this condition leads to a slow painful death of the cat.  I learned this was pretty common in male cats. The vet went on to explain that there where some opinions as to cause such as food, obesity etc. There was in fact no definitive cause. Basically a lot of guessing from veterinarians. Mauser got treated with antibiotics and an IV to flush his system.

Mauser as a kitten

Mauser as a kitten

Unfortunately the FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION plagued Mauser and my checking account. We tried every special diet the vet recommended and followed internet advice. I went as far as subscribing to a veterinarian publication. Then the unexpected happened YOGI and BAILIEY also began to experience FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION. Now I was spending a fortune at the Vets. Fortunately though I learned to recognize the symptoms sooner which was somewhat of a relief for my cats and my wallet. During this time I gained three more cats. Baileys mother Kita another Ocicat, Oscar a male grey tiger cat and Pumpkin a brown female tiger (by the way all these cats are rescues).

The vet and I had lengthy discussion that are whats the odds of having so many cats with FELINE UTI. I could speculate about environmental and perhaps something in the water but we could never prove it.

Fast forward  a bit and my girl and I went away for a weekend. I could see upon our return that Mauser was off and he had FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION. Well by bed time he was trying to sleep in the folded towels over the toilet. The plan was to go to the vet at 8am. The following morning I grab mouser and put him in the carrier. I noticed however that at some point during the night he managed to pass a lot of urine. That was good. The towels were soaked, particularly the one on top, a red one. Mauser ended up spending the night at the vet for his antibiotics and IV. That night when I got home I went in to the bathroom to clean Mausers mess and was horrified at what I saw. The red towel was covered in what looked like the finest sand I had ever seen. This was the crystals that were blocking Mauser.

The next day when we went to pickup up Mauser at the vet I was surprised to find an old friend named Tim was filling in for our regular veterinarian. I went on to to tell Tim the history of my boys. His response was interesting and a god send. First he reiterated what I already knew about the condition but then Tim went on to tell a story of cat instincts. Tim explained that most cats have a tendency to not drink enough and part of the problem is that cat’s by instinct do not want to drink water that’s not flowing. Water that does not flow is not fresh, water that does not flow is stagnant. Tim suggested a water fountain. He went on and explained that the sound of running water encourages cats to drink and the fountains also contain disposable charcoal filters like fish tank filters and Britta water filters. The cats would be treated to healthy clean filtered running water.

I went to the pet store and bought a fountain and now FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION is a thing of the past for my cats. In fact I now give the fountains as gifts to friends whose male cats have had FELINE UTI,

So whats the BEST PET WATER FOUNTAIN to get?  These days I suggest and use the Drinkwell Platinum. The Drinkwell Platinum  brand is the most common and the Platinum model is the best. Now it’s important to note that you need to keep the PET WATER FOUNTAIN clean and filled and remember to change the filters regularly. It’s much cheaper than trips to the vet, or worse.

Once you begin using the PET WATER FOUNTAIN you will notice an increase in the amount of urine in the litter box. This is a good thing.

Also in case why your wondering why I have not mentioned female cats with UTI. It was explained to me from Tim that a female cats plumbing is much larger and tends to not block.

 

So there you have it my HOME REMEDY FOR FELINE URINARY TRACT INFECTION PREVENTION . Im no vet, and you should always consult a vet first so you understand exactly what’s wrong with your cat. Once you have a diagnosis buy this PET WATER FOUNTAIN and thank me later.

 

Lastly if you try the pet fountain and it works please leave a comment at the bottom of this page or send me a message with your story!

Clean Glass Top Stove

STOVE TOP CLEANING CREAM

STOVE TOP CLEANING CREAM

 

Clean Glass Top Stove – I spent most of my life cooking on a gas stove and when you have a gas stove you get used to precise temperature control and spilled food getting burned and stuck to the top of the stove. It’s a fact of life. Well as mentioned elsewhere we recently left my property manager life and apartment dwelling behind to live in a house in the suburbs. The house came furnished with all new appliances including a stove. That new convection oven an LG stainless steel electric with a black glass cook-top. I was kind of disappointed as I like cooking with natural gas but this new stove sure is pretty and that top must be so easy to clean with its smooth glass surface. Well that all went out the window when I made our first meal a stuffed chicken with gravy. Not used to the electric burners I boiled the gravy over and you guessed it, it stuck like cement to my nice new clean glass top stove. After the top cooled I figured no problem a wet sponge will make short work of this mess. I was wrong. My girl calls her mother for some advice. They both search the internet and social media. Their findings were all sorts of concoctions and chemicals from what we already had laying around. Some kind of worked but not easily. Then I got back involved and hit my favorite online retailer. Sure enough I found a bottle of magic called “STOVE TOP CLEANING CREAM“. It cost a little over $8 for a 20oz bottle, free shipping with Amazon prime. I promptly ordered a bottle and two days later it was in hand. My girl being a skeptic was off to the kitchen for a test. I think while she wanted it to work she didn’t want my solution to be the answer. You know because Im a guy and it could not be this easy. Well within seconds of application she was on the phone with her mother (go figure). It seems the “STOVE TOP CLEANING CREAM” was indeed magic in a bottle. I bought mine here. Thank me later.

Clean Glass Top Stove


BASEBOARD ALWAYS WARM | TACO FLOW CHECK

 

Baseboard Always Warm -Taco Universal Flow Check (FLOCHEK) Broken or Stuck Open

Taco Universal Flow Check (FLOCHEK)

BASEBOARD ALWAYS WARM

BASEBOARD ALWAYS WARM – It was an exceptionally warm day in November when we did a second walk through of our home with the home inspector. It was nearly 60 degrees which was a little unusual but not unheard of here in Connecticut. The house that was another story. It was quite warm inside, in fact bordering on hot. The current owner and I noticed that the hot water baseboard registers were warm despite the thermostat being set to 50. In his expert electrician opinion the thermostat was defective and said it would be replaced. I found his conclusion interesting but I was distracted and paid little attention to the insignificant thermostat.

Fast forward to the house closing and true to his word the homeowner replaced the thermostat. December 11, 2016 it was a balmy 70 degrees. The interior of the house was well over 80 degrees despite the brand new HONEYWELL THERMOSTAT being set to 50 degrees. I decided to check the baseboard and low and behold the baseboard was warm. Unfortunately now this became my problem.

While Im not plummer or heating professional I am in charge of maintenance for a manufacturing facility and that job requires I know a little about a lot. I headed down to the boiler for investigation. I immediately noticed every pipe leaving the boiler circulator pumps had a green valve. While not familiar with plumbing hardware brands and model numbers I was familiar with how these devices we being used. These devices are called “FLOW CHECKS” or “CHECK VALVES“.

What do “FLOW CHECKS” or “CHECK VALVES” do?

Their purpose is to allow water to flow through your heating system in one direction and only flow when the circulator pumps are running. Their secondary function is to prevent water from flowing when the circulator pumps are not running. Imagine a weighted flap inside. When the circulator pump turns on the water pressure pushes the flap open allowing the heated water to flow to your baseboards. When the circulator pump turns off the water stops flowing and the valve closes.

So this brings us to the topic of this post, “BASEBOARD ALWAYS WARM“. One of the ways “FLOW CHECKS” or “CHECK VALVES” fail is they don’t close or seal properly. Now think about what you know about hot and cold water. Hot water rises and cold water sinks. If the “FLOW CHECKS” or “CHECK VALVES” are not closed the water will continue to circulate slowly even when the circulator pump is off.

The easiest way to tell if the “FLOW CHECKS” or “CHECK VALVES” are functioning properly is to feel the pipe above and below the “FLOW CHECKS” or “CHECK VALVES“. The circulator pump side should remain the temperature of the boiler. The pipe above the “FLOW CHECKS” or “CHECK VALVES” should eventually feel cool.

Repairing

Some “FLOW CHECKS” or “CHECK VALVES” need to be completely removed and replaced. Some simply need the insides replaced. My check valves are the brand Taco. There is two size models in my system there is TACO 218 FLOCHEK and TACO 220 FLOCHEK. They can be easily repaired in place by replacing the cartridge (the insides). Fortunately too they are inexpensive and available online here Taco Universal FloCheck Check Valve

Preparing Your TV Samsung Problem

Preparing Your TV

Samsung Smart TV Menu - Preparing Your TV

Samsung Smart TV Menu

 

Preparing Your TV

Moving in to a new home that lacks cable tv RG6 in the walls means I have my work cut out for me running cable. Unfortunately though the little woman can’t wait. It would appear she can’t sleep without tv playing in the background. I decided a small Samsung smart TV was needed and the Samsung Smart TV model UN24H4500AFXZA with it’s built in WiFi seemed like an easy choice.

Preparing Your TV  Try Again Later

Upon powering up the TV I was greeted by a setup wizard and upon completion the tv notified me of a firmware update. I let the tv do its thing and reboot.first thing I did was head straight for the apps from Amazon and HBO Go. I was greeted with a message “Preparing your tv” and “try again later”. Immediately I had that feeling, you know the one “Here we go I’m about to lose hours of my life figuring this out”.

As is always the case I am not the first person to face this. I followed much of the online advice or turning the tv on and off and resetting it. Nothing worked. After a bit of time and reading “Preparing your tv” one too many times I decided to walk away for a minute. Upon my return I tried the Samsung Amazon app and the app worked. That got me thinking and what I determined is that there is nothing wrong with the tv it just takes a long time to acquire everything it needs from the internet before the apps are usable. Unfortunately this is not a good realization.

Knowing enough to be dangerous I decided to look at the internet settings. Immediately something stood out and that was the DNS Servers. I changed it from whatever the tv had acquired on its own to the google DNS server of 8.8.8.8. I rebooted the tv. The improvement was was remarkable. While the apps are not instantly available they are available in about 30 seconds (be patient as your location might take longer). See my screenshot below of the DNS setting, try it for yourself and say goodbye to the dreaded “Preparing your tv” message. You may also download the Samsung Smart TV Manual 2016 in it’s entirety.

Preparing Your TV - Samsung Smart TV Using Google DNS Servers

Samsung Smart TV Using Google DNS Servers

 

There you go we SOLVED THAT!

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Read the updated Preparing Your TV post

Preparing Your TV Samsung Problem