Bill, No.6 - I apologise for calling you gnu - I was very tired! I hope you decide to give the metacam a trial - it takes a while to kick in. Our dog also had skin allergies in the pollen season, so we had to give her another medication which contained steroids, and balance the dosages out, plus watch her carefully for gastrointestinal distress. A funny side effect of the summer steroids was that she would act like a male dog for a week or two at the start - cocking her leg and other 'male-ish' behaviours.

Susan, sounds like a successful transition indeed.

Becca: I'm laughing at you, not with you. No more kittens, Ha!

Anyone here knowledgeable about photography (of course someone is)? I'm having trouble taking photos in which both a mostly white cat and a mostly dark cat appear. Either the white cat is a brilliant blaze or the dark one's a muted dark spot. I've tried (available on my simple digital camera) messing with white balance, the snow/beach setting, and the portrait option with little success. If I aim the shutter slightly above or below or to the side on a neutral object, might that help? It's the only thought I've had that I haven't tried.