Aren't there ants that keep aphids and they stroke them to get some sort of excretion to eat? Fish that eat the skin flaking off of whales? Bacteria in my gut eating the milk I've eaten as it goes on through...

I'd argue that humans drinking milk is the same sort of parasitic behavior that goes on all over the natural world. I am unimpressed by any uniqueness here.

"Ah hah! No other mammals are eating MILK past infancy or the milk of another species. THAT is soooooooo UNNATURAL!!!!!"

Please don't put words in my mouth.

I think evolutionary biology is interesting. The fact that some humans have a genetic mutation that allows them to continue producing lactase into adulthood is an interesting bit of biological trivia to me - I'm not attaching any moral weight to it.

What does the tomato juice do -- does it make their poo taste bad?

That's what I've been told. Since tomato juice is inexpensive I gave it a shot and thankfully it worked with Bailey. I have no idea if it'll work for your furry roomies but again with the fairly cheap. Plus, they have lower sodium kinds now.

Some say that it neutralizes dog urine so it doesn't turn your grass yellow, too, but I never noticed a difference there.

You have me curious now though.

Weren't you mailing out more polish to me? For the traveling Box o' Polish?

I was! I can send that on Monday from work though.

I will email you about that.

Please don't put words in my mouth.

I wasn't. I'm sorry if you thought I was. Lots of people say that with just that "so its WRONG!" tone. I've heard it all my life. I was talking about the statement in general. I wasn't even thinking about who had introduced it to this conversation and woudn't have known without scrolling back -- didn't someone's dad say it too? This wasn't Pick On Jessica Day.

I think evolutionary biology is interesting. The fact that some humans have a genetic mutation that allows them to continue producing lactase into adulthood is an interesting bit of biological trivia to me - I'm not attaching any moral weight to it.

I'm not sure that its a mutation (unless you're counting all of evolution as a mutation), frankly. Other mammals only nurse in infancy, this is true. There might be a brief period of mom feeding them chewed-up stuff. And then (broadly speaking) they spend a couple of months being trained how to get food and then they're on their own. Humans have this protracted childhood where they're fed for years and years after being weaned with food that gets gradually harder. Even complete weaning may well have been put off until four or five. If you have to do that earlier because there's a new baby (or whatever) giving the older baby animal milk makes a lot of sense. If that milk is available a human can go on drinking/eating it. It appears that those who do so are more likely to retain the ability to do so. It makes sense that cultures that had more of the behavior tend to have more of the retention.

To me its just one more thing humans do because we have this giant chunk of "childhood" that is pretty unique in the natural world.

Is there a women's version of Men's Warehouse? I would kill to walk into a store with a ton of well-made, reasonably priced professional clothes where people would dress me, find all my accessories, and alter my clothes right there. Seriously. I need a few casual suits for interviews and such, and I really don't want to wade through department stores on my own. I'm bad at it. I'm so envious of Drew being able to do all of this in one place.

Shall I give you a list of things that we do that no other mammal does?

Getting porn on the internet. Thank you, evolution!

What does the tomato juice do -- does it make their poo taste bad?

That's what I've been told. Since tomato juice is inexpensive I gave it a shot and thankfully it worked with Bailey. I have no idea if it'll work for your furry roomies but again with the fairly cheap.

Hmmm. I guess we'd have to give it to the dalmatian, because it's the black-and-tan coonhound who's the biggest poo-eater. And I can't imagine Chloe eating chow with tomato juice on it. Although she might, especially if it's warmed a little. Kato, on the other hand, will eat anything, including a rock, except for, as I mentioned earlier, the Evil Leafy Greens.

Getting porn on the internet. Thank you, evolution!

I just alarmed Tom on the other side of the room with my snort of laughter.

Skim milk in coffee is a crime. It makes this awful grey color. It does nothing flavor-wise

I'm so with this. Plus I feel like I have to put so much MORE skim in my coffee to make it worth it, that it sort of fouls up the point. OTOH, I do drink skim lattes. Because then there IS so much milk/coffee ratio...And I have skim in cereal and that sort of thing. But if it's straight coffee? Half and half or cream, and I'll just use a bit (less, the better the coffee is, more if it's terrible stuff)

Why IS honey so good in tea, and not such a thing in coffee? WHERE can I get good cuban coffee in Seattle? SHOULD I dye my hair red this afternoon? I think I'm going to.

I would be careful about giving dogs a tomato product. Tomatoes are supposed to be toxic for dogs. Probably not every dog but like chocolate, it's on the list of things you shouldn't feed dogs.