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Male cats who have been spayed are at increased risk to develop urinary tract blockages. I've never heard that stress can cause it, but because they happen so often I'd imagine almost anything can happen right before a cat gets one.

As for recovering, one of my cats ate a rock, and had an intestinal obstruction. Her kidneys were in the process of shutting down at that point. She had surgery, and recovered quite well. So it's good that you caught it in time!

A vet recommended to me that a reasonable daily intake of water may possibly help avoid urinary blockages. Since you can lead a cat to water but you can't make him drink, one way to accomplish this is to feed canned food daily. Then you know he's getting at least some liquid every day. That's what I've done for my male cat, who is now 15 years old and going strong.

Good luck!

Let's see. Today, Star destroyed a pencil, a colored pencil that's part of a set, of course. Not just your ordinary run-of the mill pencil that could easily be replaced. She also snagged a chicken nugget off an unattended plate on her way out the door this afternoon.

Near misses today: a sock puppet my 6yo son left on the floor, and one of my stuffed Dane slippers (new pic below).

I think that's it. Tomorrow's a new day with new possibilities!

Star is about 90lbs, and about 28 inches tall. She's a tiny Dane, but she's got a big heart!

Forgot to add: She's five years old, so this is as big as she's gonna get!

We've had star for about a month. Our "old" dog, Max, has a bad habit of counter surfing when we're not home. Since we got Star, we've been closing the two dogs in the bedroom when we're not around, so there hasn't been any counter surfing! Star does sleep on the couch in the family room (which is against the rules) so she only does it at night when we've gone to bed and she has the run of the house.

A co-worker gave me a mini loaf of banana bread, and I put it on top of the microwave.  THe next morning, I'm in the bathroom, and hubby brings me the remains of something. A bit of aluminum foil, and a decorative piece of plastic wrap. Yep, during the night she got the bread off the microwave and ate the whole thing. Apparently it was pretty good, because the majority of the aluminum foil was stuck to the kitchen floor where it had been licked so hard it was pressed into the grooves of the floor!

So, when my other co-workers were telling the bread-giver how great the bread was, I had to say that it was very good, according to my Dane!

Hi! I've been lurking here for a few months, and finally got my first dane! Her name is Star and she's five years old. We adopted her from MAGDRL yesterday, and already she's fitting nicely into our family.

The rest of the family includes my husband, two kids (5 and 8 years old), a chow/akita mix named Max, and two cats. So far, Star is not eating much, but loves to lean against you and get belly rubs! She is drinking some water, so I'm thinking the loss of appetite is due to the stress of a new home. She does prefer Max's dog food to hers (and Max likes hers better), and she lights up when there's people food around! I'm not too concerned, yet

We are looking forward to getting to know her more, and I hope to learn lots from you on this board!

Tracy