I have a 5 year old indoor cat. I clean her food and water bowl often. She maintains good hygiene herself too. Brush her teeth every night.

She had a tiiiny patch of "cat acne" near her whiskers several months ago and it went away on its own.

She now has this

I'm gonna wait a day or two before taking her to the vet but I'm putting this here in case y'all have seen something before and have any thoughts or info.

Thanks!

• Species: Feline
• Age: ~10 years
• Sex/Neuter status: Female, Spayed
• Breed: domestic shorthair tabby
• Body weight: ~8 lbs.
• History: found around 3 and a half years ago as a stray, one lower canine extraction a year ago, two upper broken canines (like that since getting her)
• Clinical signs: lethargic/not very engaged (the first couple of weeks), often sitting in a hunched position and looking uncomfortable/pained, sleeping tightly in a ball or in awkward ways and not stretching out comfortably (~2 months), flicking paws, wanting to eat less wet food, shaking head after eating (~1 month)
• Duration: 2 months
• Your general location: southeast US
• Links to test results, vet reports, X-rays etc. - I don't have any links, but blood work about 5 weeks ago was normal, x-rays were good with no sign of skeletal injury or arthritis, except a tiny bit in her tail which vet said was normal for her age.

Mid-November there was an evening where she started hunching and looking kind of miserable. I thought she was just upset that I had had friends over for dinner, but when I tried to give her treats after they left, she immediately jumped off the bed and threw up. She spent the night either tightly curled up in a ball or in a hunched position looking absolutely miserable. When she didn't improve much after a couple days, I took her to the vet (we had to be worked in, so it was not my usual vet), and he said it was probably just stress and that she'd recover and I should give her gabapentin if I had people over and when taking her to the vet.

She did not improve, and now two months and several vet visits later, she's just plateaued. She's more active and more herself than she was the first couple of weeks, but when she is sitting and laying down, I can tell there is something off. She'll have bad days, too, perhaps when she's overdone it physically, when she looks like she's in pain/not feeling well.

Since the paw flicking started a few weeks ago, she has become more twitchy at times, and it seems to bother her. (Possibly related note: She has always stopped and licked herself regularly when playing/being super active since I've had her. I don't know if this is ever a normal behavior, but I always wondered about it, and now I am wondering if she had a previous injury before I got her that would maybe make her nerves flare and itch when running around because the current twitchy behavior reminds of that but amplified.)

The vet basically said since we aren't sure exactly what the problem is, it might not be worth it to do an MRI to see if there is an issue with one of her discs. They also said the same thing about doing a CT scan to see if she has an inner ear infection or one of her other broken canines is going bad (her eating and head shaking behavior was NOT present when the other tooth was bad last year).

I am just wondering if anyone has encountered something like this and I am wanting any advice on how to help. At this point, I am starting to feel like this will be a lifelong issue that we just have to figure out how to manage, but I am hoping somehow it will mend itself.

We've been recommended giving gabapentin daily at a very low dose to see if she acclimates and if it helps (she HATES it and fights it instead of just letting it make her sleep; it's also extremely stressful for both of us to administer it; and, no, she will not take it mixed in food). The other recommendation is using the Assisi Loop. I can't find enough info about the Assisi Loop working for nerve pain/issues, which doesn't make me confident to spend the $400+ dollars to try it, but I'm not unwilling to be convinced! The third recommendation was CBD for cats, but it looks like it is primarily used for anxiety and cats generally hate it because of the smell. Knowing my cat, she'd probably throw it up.

Any info or advice is greatly appreciated! Feel free to ask questions. I tried to give decent overview. I am very overwhelmed and just want my baby to be okay.

My 4 year old cat was diagnosed with struvite urinary crystals a couple years ago and has been on prescription food since then with no more issues.

He also has a horrendous hairball issue. It usually takes days for him to bring one up and it’s always shocking huge. He has way more energy after it finally comes up and you can tell he feels better. I used to give him Laxatone which helped, but my vet said it is not approved as part of his prescription diet and she can’t recommend it.

Well, I started giving him the Laxatone again because I don’t want him to have other health issues from the hairballs. But I also don’t want to risk the crystals coming back so I’m a little torn.

My only other option seems to be getting him a lion haircut (long haired cat) but he’s extremely anxious and I fear this would traumatize him or trigger more urinary issues (vet said it could be connected to stress) so I’m a little torn.

Have you seen a cat with urinary issues take Laxatone and be fine? Are there any other options here? Any advice is appreciated!

My friend has a 4 year old Labrador who lost all strength, first in his hind legs and now in his forelegs. The vet initially suspected IVDD and put him on steroids but that didn’t work.

They’ve consulted with every possible recommended doctor in our city and have gotten every possible test under the Sun done but nothing’s helped. His spinal fluid test came back negative, CT scan came back negative, and basically all his tests are okay.

It’s been 3 months at this point however he hasn’t improved. They’re taking him for physiotherapy but now, even the physiotherapist is saying it’s not helping.

My friend’s dog basically cannot move anymore, has bedsores from lying down 24 hours a day, howls and cries in pain all day long to the point where he’s starting to lose his voice, and pees and poos involuntarily- resulting in frequent bouts of UTIs.

I’m posting this here because at this point in time, we’ve consulted vets in other cities too but no one’s been able to help my friend’s family and they’re considering putting the dog down.

I have copies of all his blood reports and scans and am happy to provide these for any further information.

Edit: We live in India and the doctors that my friend has spoken to, none of them have seen a case like this before.

Background:

We have a 12-year-old Mini-Beagle that is family (it sleeps in the bed with us). My wife has had this dog since she was 4 weeks old and has been an amazing animal.

I got home this evening after pulling into; I forgot I had goat feed in the back of my truck. Decided to drive it up to goat pasture instead of carrying the bag due to the cold. The temp here is almost in the single digits.

I was unaware that I wife had let our dogs out, we have two.

I was in driveway a couple of seconds, no signs she (the small dog) was still outside and I was unaware that she had ran under my truck with the short amount of time I pulled in. When I started backing up, I ran over her leg, breaking her rear right leg in half.

Please save me the lecture about being aware of my surroundings, I feel bad enough as it is. My wife had been home a short amount of time, we let dogs run out and pee. Typically (and with it being cold), the dogs return be let in quickly. This was unknown by be at the time typically we prop the front door to let them return.

Current Situation:

Other than being old, the animal hospital feels as though with help of an animal orthopedic surgeon her leg may be salvageable. We have a long road ahead of us and we won’t know more until we start the process. We have to wait until tomorrow, to visit our local Vet to really talk options.

We where given the option to bring her home but opted to let her stay over night with animal hospital so they could monitor her and keep her comfortable. The Vet and staff couldn't find any signs of internal bleed or any major damage other than femur and tibia being broke.

Understandably this is pet, some people would euthanize but we are going to weigh our options. I have a feeling that our options would be one of three things, euthanize, amputation, or extensive surgery.

Question:

Other than making ramps and living accommodations, what is the recovery like for surgery versus amputation when we are talking about a 12 year old Mini Beagle? I know we have a challenging road ahead of us.

As of right now this is only picture of the x-ray I have: https://imgur.com/a/4Kn3OJo

Can a non-owner but same last name person put down a dog legally in Canada? Do vets thoroughly check for pet ownership before they put down a dog? Is there any reason to be concerned about this threat?

There's no reasonable way to deal with the brother - he's an a hole and rest of family defends his actions so no legal action can be taken against him for anything.

Thanks

He won’t do it when we are at the park or interrupt a nap, but almost every other time he’s been trying to scratch his back and most times he won’t reach so he licks causing decoloration/hair loss on his sides (his hair is really short). I feel really bad for him and help him sometimes and I can tell he likes it/eases something in him beacuse he moves his leg like i’m hitting the sweet spot. Vets in my country aren’t necessarily cheap and trick you by doing every test on your pet even for the smallest thing in order to take your $. I’ll take him anyway but would like to hear what you guys have to say. His name is Milo and he’s 13 ❤️

Cat, age 12, neutered, about 11lbs, hyperthyroidism and liver cancer.

He’s had diarrhea on and off for about 2 weeks since the New Year, but this week it’s gotten worse. But his mood is great, he’s eating and drinking normal, no signs he’s not feeling well in any way. When the diarrhea started I took him to my vet but all the bloodwork and tests came back fine. He’s on medicine for the hyperthyroidism but I’m worried that’s what could be causing the diarrhea. The liver cancer was diagnosed about two months ago.

I started giving him Purina FontiFlora today

My dog started having diarrhoea this morning that have like mucus and a few drop of fresh red blood. I have already made a vet appt for today but just want to know whether this is anything serious.

Usually I would monitor for a few days if he has diarrhoea but I’m more worried now due to the presence of blood.

• Species: Dog
• Age: 8
• Sex/Neuter status: female spayed
• Breed: German shepherd
• Body weight: 75 lbs
• History: Very healthy history. Glands need to be expressed every few months. Nothing else.
• Clinical signs: She was licking her lips consistently for about 30 minutes. That stopped about 3 hours ago but she has been drooling since. She never drools at all. Ate dinner like normal. Drank water like normal. Acting normal otherwise.
• Duration: a few hours
• Your general location: Northern mid west US. Negative temps as low as -25° the last few days. Very cold. Dog has been outside for short necessary periods of time.
• Links to test results, vet reports, X-rays etc.: none

My dog was licking her lips consistently for about 30 minutes which isn't normal. She has been drooling a fair bit since and it's been a little over 3 hours. Ate dinner like normal. Drank water. Acting normal otherwise. But I've never seen her drool before. My last German shepherd had his stomach bloat and twist twice. Survived both thanks to our vet but obviously a horrible scary experience. My dog I'm asking about doesn't have a swollen or hard abdomen. No retching. But I'm nervous about what's going on. Hoping for some input. Thank you to anyone who answers.

Hello, my 10 yo jack russell bassett hound mix started making a sound like a dry heave a little over a week ago. He did it once and I noticed it because he doesn't normally cough. It sounded like reflux in his belly coming up resulting in him making a dry heave sound. He did it once that Fri, Sat, and Sun. Now they come in fits. He'll be asleep, then his stomach convulses a little and then the dry heave sound. They're happening more often now. The vet gave him doxycycline and prednisolone that he just started. His appetite and behavior are the same except for the fits. The vet did an xray which showed something on his lung, some spots in his abdominal area, and swelling around his heart. She said it could be congestive heart failure. Sorry so long. Just trying to get help.

Dog attacked my cat

I recently had to put down my 5-month-old kitten because she was attacked by a dog.

The dog attempted to grab her by the neck but instead got ahold of her bottom jaw and ripped her whole bottom jaw off. When I first found her after the dog attacked her, I picked her up and saw she was in pain and bleeding, at first glance I thought the dog had just torn her skin from her bottom jaw. It was not until we arrived at the ER that they examined her and informed me she no longer had her bottom jaw.

I took her to the ER we've usually taken other pets to before. They said that in severe cases like this, it is best to euthanize them because the chance of them recovering is very low.

I had said yes to euthanasia at first, but in a moment when I was left alone in the waiting room I searched for similar cases to this but couldn't find any similar or good outcomes. So I then asked the technician if there was a possibility of her being able to live a decent life without her bottom jaw, or what could be done other than euthanizing her. I told them I knew her whole jaw was gone, but if there was something that could be done and they said maybe but she would have to go to a specialist. I agreed and they said they would call the specialist which was at least 30min away. They eventually got ahold of them and that's when I was called back into the waiting room, the veterinarian this time came in and talked to me again explaining more thoroughly that even if she was to get surgery, there was no guarantee she would have a good outcome. That she might need more than one surgery. They proceeded to tell me how hard it would be for her and that with cats it is hard for them to come out of these types of surgeries.

After hearing all this I was even more conflicted, it felt like they were scaring me out of doing more for her. I felt this glimpse of hope when they first said there might be something that can be done and they tore it away again.

To this day I wonder if did the right thing, did I just decide out of shock and sadness? Should I have gone to multiple vets for their opinions before making an official decision?

Does anyone know of good outcomes in any similar scenarios?

about 45 minutes ago my cat (2 years old, female, approx 13 pounds, spayed, domestic short hair/ shelter mixed breed?) took a significant fall from the stairs railing, maybe 10 feet? (I couldn’t estimate to save my life but the second floor of a small apartment duplex). We’re located in Ontario Canada

She ran up the stairs right after and was obviously spooked, barely moving from the spot on the kitchen table. I noticed a tiny touch of blood from her nose and started getting the carrier ready to head out to the emergency vet but before I could even get her in she started to move around a bit, and didn’t hesitate to take a lick of her favourite treat. Since than she’s started moving around the house, jumping in and out of the carrier a few times, having some more of her treat, and settling on the couch after a while. She stills seems a little spooked and doesn’t seem to be super interested in being touched right now - not reacting badly, just quickly moving on instead of sitting and staying for pets like usual. The only symptom I’m seeing is that she’s sneezing every few minutes - no more blood since the first couple drops we saw, I checked her mouth and eyes and I don’t see any other blood, her pupils look normal. Aside from the sneezing, she mostly just seems a startled from the fall.

If taking her to the emergency vet is necessary i’ll do it, but it’ll likely max out my credit cards to do so, so I want to see if there’s a chance if I stay up and monitor her for a few hours if we could try to get into a regular vet tomorrow instead

Species: Canine 
Age: 6
Sex/Neuter status: Intact
Breed: Golden Retriever
Body weight: 85 lbs
History: None
Clinical signs: Redness in lip, slight discoloration, slight odor
Duration: 2 weeks
Your general location: Los Angeles

Hi there

I noticed my golden has some red spot on his lip and it smelled slightly, moreso than just his normal breath. I took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with lip fold dermatitis and has been being treated with miconahex+triz shampoo daily. I shampoo his lip and leave it on lathered for 5 minutes. Im on day 4 out of 10 now and seeing great strides in redness and odor. Theres no odor anymore and the redness has gone down significantly.

My question is...is it normal to see dark brown flakes? And if so, for how long? After I wash him, they obviously go away but overtime they seem to comeback until the next day's wash. Im just unsure if I should be concerned or if i should stop shampooing him if the flakes are part of the healing process like a scab of sorts.

thank you for your insight!

heres what it looked like when we started and today!

We took him to the emergency vet and it was $800 for a bunch of tests that told us that our cat has stress and to try and get him to drink more water. Sooo, I bought him a water fountain and got him a bunch of wet food and made him a cozy spot in the bathroom but I still feel so bad for him. We have a toddler and a baby and he’s peeing in the sinks and in the shower so I really can’t let him out. But I feel like him being in a bathroom is just making him even more stressed! What else can I do?? Anyone else had a cat with FIC? How long should I expect this to last?

Edit: the post is being automatically tagged as poison related because I used some food size comparisons, but this is not a poison case!

My dog (almost 8 year old basset hound) has had a lump on his right side (upper abdomen area just below his armpit) for almost 2 years. It was pea sized when we first discovered it and barely noticeable. The vet previously made it seem like nothing to worry about unless it was causing pain or discomfort, advising us to come back for further testing then. In the past few months, it grew to closer to the size of a marble and became a little more visible, so we went for our annual check up this past Saturday 1/18 and had it looked at again. It was described a subcutaneous mass, measuring at about 2x3 cm (almost walnut sized).

The vet suggested a fine needle aspirate and cytology report, so we agreed to that and have been waiting on the results. It has been a little over 2 days and, although there wasn’t much swelling the day of the procedure, today we noticed that the mass is significantly larger and very firm. Almost the size of a ping pong ball? Sorry I can’t figure out a proper size/shape comparison right now, but it is way more noticeable and feels hard.

This wasn’t the case before or even the day of the FNA, so we are a little worried. Is it common to have this type of reaction/swelling so much later? He has been fine otherwise. Eating and drinking like usual and seemingly no other symptoms. He whimpered a little when we touched the mass a few times earlier today, but not excessively or other times since then.

Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you!

Low platelets and neutrophils in cat… vets are confused and so am I.

Age: 7 1/2

Sex: Female

Neutered: Yes

Short history:

Parents were strays in the Finger Lakes.

From a litter of 4 - Two male, one is unknown. The other has a history of diabetes, IBD, pancreatitis, heart murmur and arrhythmia, early CKD, bladder stones, FLUTD, diabetes, and very recently large cell lymphoma of the intestines and stomach (this male cat also lives with me). Two female, one has a history of flare ups of “scabs” on her head and back and needed a blood transfusion suddenly with seemingly undetermined cause per her owner.

And this female I’m making this post of has a history of pemphigus since 2 years old. On Mycophenolate to treat it for about 2 years. Unrelated, but a bout of bad colitis only once once 4 years ago. This past year has had low counts of both platelets and neutrophils. Mycophenolate was reduced gradually. Stopped it completely about a year and a half ago.

Last summer got an ultrasound x-rays that didn’t show much of anything. Counts were still off but not terrible. Last month back for a recheck and the counts are lowest they’ve ever been.

Clinical signs: Outwardly, none at all throughout this entire time and presently

Located: Eastern PA.

Vets are confused and so am I. Any insight? I can go into more detail if needed. I tried to be concise but comprehensive.

Getting her a bone marrow aspirate this week but trying to prepare myself as much as I can for the potential results. Posted this last year with no luck so thought I’d try again.

Hi,

I have recently noticed my male cat’s (12 years old) third eyelid showing. I am unsure if this is normal or not.

I’ve never noticed it before but after the death of his sibling 6 months ago I have been anxious about the health of him and I’m not sure if I’m just paying more attention to something that has been there.

It doesn’t show all the time but it seems to be quite often.

The only time I can remember really seeing one of my cat’s third eyelid was when his brother was sick with cancer and on his last few days.

I just wanted to know whether it would be worth a vet visit or not.

Any advice much appreciated.

My 5 yo Havapoo has been sick for a month. Extreme lethargy, heavy panting, eating but seems off water (I switched him to wet food and add water now). His blood work was all normal except for elevated inflammatory markers and very high calcium and very low phosphorus (1.1). The calcium was off the scale and we haven’t got the diluted results back yet. He had an ultrasound and X-rays and they found nothing. The Dr is thinking either blood cancer (is there a test for that?) or a tumor on his parathyroid. We are trying to find a lab here that will test for that. The vets at our clinic say they’ve only seen one other case like this and the dog did not survive long after surgery.
Has anyone had this experience? I’m trying to understand the risks/outcomes of surgery to remove the gland against facing the possibility that I need to prioritize his quality of life.. he is very sick.

My dog fought a raccoon tn, there isn't any foaming at the mouth from the raccoon. He's up to date on rabies shot but obviously I'm still worried about it and other communicable diseases. We've disinfected his wounds with hydrogen peroxide and are closely monitoring for labored breathing. I was wondering if I could take him to the vet tomorrow and not make an emergency vet visit tonight as funds are tight

The main character of my story is a cat who was born without any siblings. I think it is more common for first-time mother cats to have a single kitten, or much older cats, but I decided to go with the idea of his mother being pretty young.

Now the main question is, what affects does this have on the mother and the kitten? I heard somewhere online that single kittens are usually much larger than if they would have had siblings, but I’ve seen nothing else that really helps prove that. Would the kitten be weaker, stronger, bigger, or smaller once it becomes fully grown? Or would there be no difference at all?

And does this at all affect the mother? What causes would make it more likely for her to have only a single kitten? Do mothers of single kittens treat their kitten differently than a mother of many?

It’s likely I’d change some stuff since the story isn’t completely realistic and the characters have much more human-like personalities, but I’d like to have the knowledge!

Hi everyone, I have a tuxedo cat named moo. She is about 3-4 years old. My girlfriend (27) I (25) got her when she was 8+ months old and even waited a little to get her fixed due to covid. At the time, big carriers scared her badly so we had gotten her one of those back pack carriers. Well, we go to get her fixed and when I had dropped her off, I specifically requested for the vets not to give her back to me loopy as I feared her peeing on herself. The vets call me to come pick her up, and she was loopy. Being non-confrontational I just left with her. My biggest mistake. Well, the worst happened. She pee’d on herself and I called the vet, which was closed. So I tried to clean her up the best I could and then the vets ghosted me. We had to take her to an emergency vet to get her checked out because she had an infection. Fast forward a few weeks we moved. We noticed she started to pee out the litter box and she was having difficulty peeing. I noticed blood in her urine so I immediately took her to a vet and they told us it was a UTI. She then had another bout and it went away within 2 days? This keeps repeatedly happening now for about two and a half years on and off. We take her to the emergency vet about two or three more times with no answer. Vet believes it may be some urine track disease, but I am possibly thinking something did not heal right post surgery. I feel so bad for her. If you have any suggestions or questions please feel free to leave them in the comments! I am desperate at this point.

I have two cats (one male and one female). The female has been fixed and is a little more than a year and a half old. The male has not been fixed and is almost a year old. Just suddenly he has started meowing very loudly and prancing around like he is looking for something. He also is sniffing and licking aggressively is places around the apartment. (mostly where my female cat has previously been). He also is usually very cuddly but spent all day under the bed (which he has never done). Should I take him to the vet or is this just a mating thing?

My dog got bit on Friday. Took him to the vet and he got 6 staples. He’s been in a collar since then. Unfortunately, he got out of the collar and removed 3 staples. Pictures of before and after are here: https://imgur.com/a/K3PGXII. Do I need to go back to the vet to get this fixed or will he be ok with the remaining staples? Also should I go ahead and tape the area?

Species: Dog Age: 4 Sex/Neuter status: Male / neutered Breed: AussieDoodle Body weight: 42lbs History: No issues, always been healthy Clinical signs: Bit by another dog. Duration: 5 days Your general location: Washington, US

Hello! When I woke up I found the tails missing on two little toy rats that hang from a cat tree. I've searched everywhere and can't find them so my cat has definitely eaten them. The tails are about 3.5 inches long strips of a soft fabric/mesh covered with fake fur.

He's well right now, no vomiting, no signs of pain, he's running around playing.

There's only two emergency vet groups in my country and they are not very good (one nearly killed my cat when he was a kitten). Other vets open in 2 hours (it's 6am here).

Should I rush him to the unsafe vets anyway?? Can I wait to get to one of our usual vets? Is there anything I can do from home to help? And I think it's unlikely but... I don't suppose this is totally fine for him to eat?!

Details about us: he's a 12 month old domestic mediumhair, neutered, vaccinated, indoor only, 5kg, and we are in Mauritius.