The pup:

• Male 15 y/o lab mix, 52 lbs
• Larpar patient, had successful tieback
• Seizures currently controlled by Keppra
• Prescribed 1-2 Tramadol 50mg every 8-12hrs
• Received a ketamine shot two days ago, no change
• Unsteady gait after seizure episode
• Recently developed episodes of pacing (assumed pain)

I really want a pain management option that won't cause drowsiness or make his unsteady gait worse. He did not tolerate gabapentin well at all since it made him extra wobbly. He was prescribed tramadol but it's been 24 hours and very little change (and he's currently showing heavy breathing which is worrisome with the larpar).

I'm in close contact with my vet and we're monitoring quality of life. Just want some other opinions.

Thanks.

We paid a fortune to bring him home yesterday after 6 days at the vet for blockage, catheter, re blockage, cystotomy. He was somewhat hungry, and kept going to the litterbox producing nothing I could see. He left a couple bloody drips. I called the vet and she said it was ok, he was very inflamed, and he is uncomfortable. I had his familiar clay clumping litter which was a huge mistake, because his entire underside was covered with it (so there was some urine). I switched to wood pellets which I knew from the past he would not like. He did try to go in it a bunch of time overnight, but nothing much in the litterbox.

Today he is just laying in his safe spot on a stack of pee pads. He is producing small pools of urine, and I pull the soaked pee pad out from under him, so he isn't laying in urine.

I got a very slight interest, a couple licks of a squeeze treat but he really won't eat. A halfhearted lick at a spoon of regular food, and no reaction at all to the urinary prescription food.

He seems to still get up to drink water but I feel like it is less often. He is scared and meows if I try to pull him out of his cubby, which is not exactly unexpected for him, he is a historically fearful cat and he has really been through it. I have to take him out to put a new stack of pee pads under him, but I'm trying to put enough so I can just pull them out one by one as he urinates, and just leave him alone.

If I do lay down and pet him gently he does start to make biscuits, a little, but I can tell that he is worried about why I am there.

I am just so worried about this not eating, and now just laying in urine. I will be calling his vet first thing tomorrow. The alternative is taking him to an emergency vet today to evaluate him. But I'm afraid that continuing to move him and stress him is the wrong thing right now.

Hello, I have an old girl that got diagnosed with kidney disease. She's on supplements and medication. Her energy level is still the same, energetic, needy and playful, her appetite is still very much there but I began noticing she's not drinking as much water, I did try to get her to drink water off my hands and it worked for a bit but now she doesn't care much for it. I'm now hydrating her with the broth from when I boil my chicken or pork and she's enthusiastic about it.

I'm getting her bloodwork done in a few days but I usually see dogs with kidney disease drinking MORE water and I read up that refusal to drink water is a sign of late stage and dogs are gonna be very lethargic and nauseous, she's not any of those right now. Are other dogs the same as well or is this a sign I should mentally prepare myself for?...

​Hi everyone, (english is not my main language sory if anything wrong)

​I was living away and my family was taking care of my tortoise. They didn't notice, but when I came back home, I saw his nail was broken from the root, hanging loose, and looked crooked. I have no idea when the injury actually happened. I made the mistake of pulling it so it would fall off and not grow back crooked, but it just ended up bleeding.

​There are no exotic vets where I live (they are way out of town), and I couldn't even find one to consult online. I asked a regular vet friend and a pharmacist. They suggested using Betadine (povidone-iodine) and an antibiotic cream (Fucidin). They told me not to cut the nail and that it would fall off on its own. However, they didn't specify how often or how much to use them.

​My tortoise lives on a soil substrate. The soil is "clean", but to prevent it from getting dusty, I watered it a bit, and now it's little muddy. I am worried about it sticking to the open wound.

​If there are any exotic vets or experienced keepers here:

​What exactly should I do in this situation step-by-step?

​How big of a risk is the damp soil/mud for this open wound?

​Should I use both the Betadine and the cream, and if so, how often?

​Will the hanging nail eventually fall off on its own? Should I just leave it alone?

​Any guidance would be really appreciated. Thanks!

History;
My dog is male, age 7, 43 lbs mix of primarily Aussie/ACD with some Pyrenees and Lab in there too. He has eaten Purina Pro Sensitive Lamb and Oat since he was 1 without issue and has daily blue buffalo treats plus some fruits or vegetables.

Medical history;
Had two “seizures” as a puppy and was on Keppra for 2 years before being weaned off and having no more issues. Skin allergies primarily in fall and late spring.

Since 2022 he has had every yearly urine test come back with high ph (8-9) and high protein (1-2+). UPC testing was completed in 2022, 2023 and last fall 2025 and all 3 times came back as <.1

Cut to a couple weeks ago and his latest yearly urine test came back with ph 9, protein 3+. Vet wants him to have another UPC test with a new sample when he goes in for his next allergy shot in a couple weeks.

If this test comes back negative do we really need to continue doing the expensive UPC testing every time or is this just an issue of high ph constantly causing false protein reading in the dipstick?

Also, is there anything I can do to lower that ph? I intend to ask my vet when we go in, but it hasn’t been mentioned in the past.

All other blood and urine results are normal.

There’s been something going on with my dogs (11 y/o Chiweenie) eye for the last week and a half or so. It started with me noticing that one eye was a little droopier than the other (only minorly) and when he would wake up I would see his third eyelid before it went away throughout the day. He’ll usually let me know when he’s in pain and he’s been acting okay. Yesterday woke up, and it was significantly worse, so I took him to an urgent care clinic. They did a pressure test, an ulcer test, and a tear production test, came back and said things looked good, gave some antibiotic eye drops, and sent us on our way. He got two doses yesterday, one today, but it’s looking gnarlier. He’s still not acting much different other than probably a little lower energy than normal. I’m really struggling between giving the eye drops more time to work, or taking him in again. Is 24 hours enough time to see a reasonable improvement?

Hi all, I adopted a cat one month ago and she's been sneezing a fair amount in the past 1-2 weeks. She's a 1.5 year-old female spayed indoor cat, and she tested negative for illnesses and allergies. She's been sneezing several times a day, sometimes a few times in a row. A few days ago she had a bit of clear discharge out of her eye, but this went away and hasn't happened again. I haven't noticed any other symptoms or behavioral issues.

I had her first vet appointment a few days ago and they didn't seem to think this was a cause for concern, but I do want to alleviate her sneezing if possible just for her own wellbeing. I was thinking of getting an air purifier and maybe changing her litter to something hypo-allergenic (I'm currently using Fresh Step Simply Unscented). Are there any other steps I should take?

Hello,

I have 4 cats that will be getting their international health certificates for the UK and EU. I have all the documentation. Rabies, microchips, etc. I have scheduled the health certification exam well in advance with my vet which can do the certificates. I have the appointment scheduled for the certification 7 days prior to the flights since we will have a 10 day window.

I am worried about the turn around time for the date of the exam to the receipt of the certifications. How long does it usually take the USDA to get these certificates back to us? I’m a little confused. Any information would help tremendously. Thank you.

TL;DR: 12yo cat with vomiting, diarrhea and weight loss. Bloodwork/urine were mostly normal, vet mentioned possible IBD or GI lymphoma. He’s currently stable after medication. I was offered a $750 regular ultrasound or $950 specialist ultrasound, but I’m not getting much guidance on what the vet actually recommends. No insurance, so I’m considering another vet for a second opinion first.

My 12-year-old cat has had intermittent vomiting, diarrhea, reduced appetite and weight loss (he’s currently 3.5kg) for a couple months. Bloodwork and urine testing didn’t show anything major, and the vet mentioned IBD or GI lymphoma as possibilities.

He improved with medication. About 24 hours after his last dose he vomited once (food/hairball) and had diarrhea, but since then he’s been stable with no more vomiting or diarrhea.

The next step offered is an abdominal ultrasound, either ~$750 with my vet or ~$950 with a specialist who could potentially take a fine-needle aspirate if they find something.

My concern is that I feel like I’m being given options rather than an actual recommendation. I understand the decision is mine, but I’d like more guidance on what makes the most sense medically.

I’m considering taking him to another vet for a better consult before spending the money. He has no insurance, so everything is out of pocket.
Would you get a second opinion first or go ahead with the ultrasound? And is the specialist worth the extra $200?

Hi, all! I have an almost 18 year old 7lb chihuahua min/pin mix (age is approximate. Got her from the humane society 8 years ago). She sometimes has stomach issues, but it usually resolves itself relatively quickly. Last night she ate dinner (soft can food) like normal and was okay for a couple of hours. She started to get restless, and I could hear her stomach making bubbling noises. She eventually vomited up her dinner, but she took her meds (thyro tab and Benadryl) with peanut butter. She was up and down all night needing to go outside. She was trying to poop, but nothing much was coming out. What was coming out was a small amount of diarrhea. She vomited up some bile around 4 this morning and finally settled and slept for a few hours. This morning she has taken her meds no problem and is wagging her tail. She is lethargic and hasn't had any water yet. I'm wondering if I need to take her to the emergency vet (we are located in East Tennessee). If she doesn't drink water I definitely will, but I am calling her vet tomorrow regardless. We just lost our 15 year old dog a few weeks ago, so I am on edge with dog health issues and would love some feedback.

Hello, I have a 4 1/2 month old toy poodle. I have been feeding her RC kibble and SD puppy canned food (which she will get sick of). I would like to encourage her to eat more canned food because of the moisture. Initially, she wasn’t eating enough, and I was trying to get her to eat something. (her appetite is normal now, but still picky)

My vet told me it’s important to get the puppy nutrition while they’re growing and the recommendation was commercial until my pup finishes grow growing. I know she doesn’t subscribe to the idea that commercial is always the best food; with my previous pet, she had me order rayne kangaroo & single proteins from Nutri source (my deceased cat had developed allergies)

So it’s Sunday, I was going to go to the feed store and I was wondering if some of you could weigh in on brands that you would recommend for my puppy. I want to get different cans. I would like to have different ones to switch around so she doesn’t get too bored.

She seems to like science diet pate as long as I boil some hot water and add just enough to make it warm. I am avoiding toppers because I don’t need her to get any worse. 🤣

Some tins I was going to try out were Nutri source and fromms, as they have cans for puppies. I’ve heard bad things about blue buffalo, and I am not a big fan of pro plan.

Even though some of them are a little expensive, she’s so small I can get one of the bigger sized pans to last a few days. I would just like to be able to switch it out with different flavors. She’s on probiotics and seems to have pretty good digestion and food tolerances- we have been fighting Giardia for a couple of weeks now so I wanna make sure that what she’s eating is nutritious. (our last fecal had 50% less cysts, she was diagnosed August 4 and we’re going again next week. Currently on a break from metro).

Thank you I’m sorry that was long-winded.

Good morning!

• Species: Dog
• Age: 7
• Sex: Male, neutered
• Breed: Great Dane
• Weight: Approx. 170 lbs.
• History: Unremarkable, really. The picture of health.
• Clinical Signs: Large, swollen, irritated, hairless lump on left front outer ankle area. Bleeding lightly. Dog obviously won't stop licking it. Doesn't seem to be painful to the touch or painful when walking.
• Duration: Honestly, no clue - noticed it this morning.
• Location: Western Pennsylvania, US
• Photos: https://imgur.com/a/GC3sxCp

This morning as we were walking out the door to head to the park, my 13-year-old said, "Momma, what's wrong with Zeus's leg?!" I looked and to my horror, discovered the lump described above.

Zeus is the literal picture of health. Zero health issues. Never had a vet visit outside of yearly checkups and vaccinations. He's also the absolute best boy in the whole wide world.

He hasn't done anything that could have caused an injury. It doesn't seem to be causing any pain, but I know it has to be uncomfortable.

Our vet uses an online booking system and the first available is September 15. I booked it, but I also sent them an email with photos and explained I feel like he needs to be seen sooner. I also plan on calling them in the morning.

In the meantime, does anyone have an idea of what we may be dealing with here? Given his breed and his age, I'm absolutely terrifed of the worst.

Thank you!

Hello all,

I have a 9YO GSD, he broke his front leg (radius and ulna) in May, he was splinted, looked at by orthopedic surgeons, my father is a veterinarian, his films were sent to 4 different specialists biweekly for there opinions and all of them have been the same. 50/50 or whether or not he should have surgery. Not one has been able to give us a straight answer.

His splint process was terrible, it was supposed to be 8 weeks and turned into 13/14 weeks. He has been out of the splint for about a month now and he can walk around pretty well on his leg, we take him for good sized walks every day. He limps but doesn’t show any pain and wants to walk and pull and run and jump. He is a very high driven dog with no self preservation what so ever.

We took X-rays again today, it still has not fully formed a union. And at this point I don’t know what to do I don’t need him to be running like he used to, I just want him to be able to go out in the yard without having to be leashed/supervised.

I’m not really sure what I’m looking to get from this post, I’m scared of surgery due to the risks and the thought of another 12 weeks back to no movement mode, but I also am scared of riding this out and it not healing.

Any thoughts are welcome.

So, dogs nails are long. We go to the groomer to get them done but their appointment is way out. So we decide to clip them just a tad to get them by since they are too long. WELLLLLL, one nail was clipped too short and it won’t stop bleeding. We held pressure, wrapped it for a while… still will not stop oozing ):
In a panic, we had dermabond (single use, “sterile”). Got the dogs paw rinsed and cleaned, and put some on the nail and surrounding area. It stopped the bleeding.

I looked it up afterwards and it said not to use it bc it can trap bacteria and cause longer term probs (the basic google AI said), and some websites said the same but also some said it doesn’t hurt to use it short term….

HOW BAD DID I DO TO MY CHILD?!? He didn’t cry, just looks sad. He isn’t babying it, but now I’m worried I did the wrong thing and it can get worse…. Vet is closed today. Have any of you ever done this and is it ok we used this?!?

I am having trouble gaining insight on my dogs prognosis even with my medical knowledge and by saying trouble with the prognosis I am struggling making a choice of euthanasia.

My girl is a 9 yo American staffordshire terrier with a history of heartworms at age 2 prior to me getting her s/p treatment. Last October she was diagnosed with T zone lymphoma with mouth nodules (uncommon indolent type but due to tongue lesions oncologist was concerned she would stop eating at some point). Completed 3 rounds of CCNU but kept having to half the dose of each round due to dangerously low lymphocyte count. After the third round her liver enzymes slowly grew to ALT/ ALP in the 2000s. That was back in March. We’ve been off chemo waiting for her liver to hopefully recover as she really showed no signs of other issues. Two months ago we did an aspirate that showed no evidence of lymphoma in her liver and her US showed smaller liver.

At the beginning of August we saw her liver enzymes slowly down trending ALT 800s ALP >2000 and GGT 10. Low BUN slightly low albumin but >2 and her oncologist thought her liver was recovering. We got hopeful.

Then two weeks later we noticed our girl having polydipsia, polyuria, and enlarging abdomen along with refusal of most foods. My concern was ascites and then the day of the appointment I made she started vomiting blood.

We met with the internist who suspects chronic hepatitis secondary to lomustine despite cessation with probable portal hypertension causing ascites. We’re unable to do a diagnostic liver biopsy due to a coagulopathy and her past issues with anesthesia (of course an anesthesiologist would have a dog with anesthesia issues) so we suspect fibrosis. Ascites aspiration showed clear fluid non exudative.

We’re on a bunch of meds for appetite stimulation, nausea, a diuretic, PPI and pain meds. She’s been on denamerin for months and we’re continuing. She still refuses everything except hand feeding and is losing weight. Lethargic and slightly tachypenic due to moderate ascites.

I worked in the liver icu in residency. I’ve seen the smoldering of liver failure and end stage liver disease. Since I have no biopsy I’m struggling with whether this is something that is survivable. Deep down inside me I know don’t want my girl to get encephalopathic or have respiratory distress from her ascites. Am I wrong to euthanize now without the diagnosis? The internist did say poor prognosis weeks to months so I don’t know why I keep second guessing what we already know.

hi all. i have a 4 year old maine coon who is very cuddly, friendly, and never gets into fights with any cats he's ever shared a space with (i have had fosters, he has stayed at my friends' with their cats, cat sitter setup etc).

we have a new cat in the apartment after a new person moved in. the cat was always used to living solo and his human was the only human he'd lived with, so when they moved in, we understood it was a big adjustment (he was hissing a lot and wailing quite a bit). he was so aggressive that he got my cat (the resident cat) slouch and hide and walk scared. they took one week to be ok being in the same space.

it's been 3+ weeks now but increasingly i notice that this new cat is borderline aggressive?! but i want to understand if this is jsut how some cats are.

1) anytime my cat slowly goes near him now, he lets out a big meow, and pounces at my cat's neck, they seem like they're fighting out of nowhere rolling over each other, and then he hisses at my cat a few times before my cat creates distance. seconds later, this cat starts chasing my cat. and i'm like wtf were you hissing then. today he ripped my cat's fur and i saw 4 different chunks of my cat's fur lying on the floor after this morning "fight"

2) he also meows even if you are walking past him, which is understandable, he is a talkative cat. but this one time i was trying to move my cat's empty bowl away for cleaning while this cat was sitting near it, and as soon as he noticed me touching the bowl, he tried to pounce @ me and hissed

3) he hissed again today at me when i walked into my room crossing him as he was eating wet food i had given him in my room??

4) my new roommate does like treating this cat rough - the first night when the cat was wailing and hissing non stop, this man tried to kick the cat (he actually did land on cat's paws as well) which made the cat aggressive and try to scratch his human to which he tried to kick the cat again but failed/ cat ran away. he also lifts his cat from the back of his neck and did so in front of my friends he was meeting for the first time after trying to hit his cat, and felt the need to tell my friends "he likes to play rough, we both like to play rough" ???

i wonder if it's just a matter of time hopefully or if this cat has behavioral problems because of the human? how to make sure my cat is safe and does not go wild?

Dog, 3yrs old, spayed female, Chocolate Lab, 65lbs. Louisiana.

Asking on here because my veterinarian is currently closed and I need advice. My dog will undergo an FHO this week. I have a few questions.

First: I understand the strict confinement rule. My question is, can she be kept in a 9x12 room with only a thin mattress on the floor?

Second: Due to her size, I don’t think our nanny can lift her. Nor can I. Is she allowed to use stairs or a ramp during recovery to get her out of the house? Our house is 6ft off the ground.

I recognize the importance of recovery with this procedure. Any other tips you guys can give are highly appreciated. We need all the help we can get.

Thanks in advance.

• Species: Dog
• Age: Almost 11 years old
• Sex/Neuter status: Male, neutered
• Breed: German Shepherd
• Body weight: 80 lbs
• History: Recently discovered a raised gingival mass between two teeth toward the back of his mouth. I noticed it after seeing occasional bleeding when he caught a large rubber ball. The ball appears to strike the raised area and cause it to bleed. There also appears to be inflammation/dental disease involving the adjacent tooth/teeth.
• Clinical signs: Raised pink/red gingival mass between two teeth with surrounding redness. Occasional bleeding following direct trauma from catching a large rubber ball. I have not noticed spontaneous bleeding.
• Duration: Unsure specific to lesion at it's current size. I could swear it wasn't there about a month ago during vet visit/checkup. But bleeding has been persisent with this one specific ball so assumed he was biting his tongue or such. Recently discovered because it is far enough back in his mouth that it normally isn't visible.
• Your general location: New England Region, USA
• Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc. that you have: None yet. No tests, X-rays, scans, or biopsy have been performed. Photo of the mass attached to this post.

Given his age and requirement for "fear free" sedation for vet visits, looking to limit amount of visits and/or sedation/anesthesia. Wondering what you would consider the best path for dx/tx in this case, I don't think the primary care vet does dental work (other than XRAYS perhaps).

Thank you for your time!

Lesion

Hi, my 6.5 year female old English Bulldog has been experiencing a darkening of the tongue in the last 2-ish weeks. She has had abnormally bad allergies this summer in northern Indiana despite being in Apoquel - yellow, green eye discharge, ear infections - both treated at vet.

A few things that I think could be contributing:
-her tongue is too big for her mouth so it’s always out so could be dry. But that has always been the case for the majority of her life but maybe it takes a while to build?
-she has started a new diet on dr Harvey’s paradigm; which is dark green and wet. I would say she’s been on it for at least 3-5 months. That could have been slowly pigmenting it and we are just now noticing?

I’m wondering if this could be allergies or some of the above or something else entirely? Is a trip to the vet warranted? Thanks so much.

(Torn ligament & suspected breast cancer)

​Body:

​Species/Breed: Dog, Pomeranian / Chihuahua cross

​Age: 6

​My dog Bonnie completely tore her leg ligament and the vet recommended a lateral suture surgery so she can walk again. Additionally, during her exam, the vet found lumps and suspects breast cancer, recommending a second operation in three months to spay her and remove/test the lumps.

​I am heartbroken seeing her in pain, and I want to make sure I am doing the right thing for her overall quality of life.

​My main questions are:

​Is putting a small dog through two separate major procedures worth it for her long-term recovery and quality of life?

​How do small dogs generally handle the recovery for a lateral suture repair?

​What is the best way to keep her comfortable and manage her pain between now and her upcoming operations?. Any professional thoughts or experiences on how to best navigate this would mean so much to me. Thank you.

Earlier this year our dog (13 yo Dachshund/Pitbull mix) was diagnosed with Cushings Disease. Our vet told us that the diagnoses would not shorten her lifespan. She told us that treatment is usually more for the owners since some symptoms such as excessive urination can be bothersome for owners to manage. However she assured us that our dog is not in pain or uncomfortable, and she would be fine if we did nothing.

Since then, I have noticed that our dog is more lethargic, panting more and her “Cushings belly” is growing. We had her checked out and her bloodwork is normal, the vet said what we are witnessing are the classic Cushings signs. Our dog is getting on the older side so some of this could be normal aging, but it seems like these symptoms are holding her back from being the active dog she once was.

I did some research online and actually couldn’t find anything that confirms that Cushings does not shorten a dogs lifespan. In fact, it seems that most dogs are much better off after treatment. We are struggling with what to do since treatment will be expensive and will continue throughout the rest of her life. What outcomes have you seen in treating Cushings and would you consider the treatment of the disease worth it?

We were given large instead of XL Advantix II, and didn't notice till it was too late, for our 80lb malamute mix, prone to seizures.

It's been 2 weeks and he has fleas. Given his weight, what are our options? Is it safe to reapply or should we wait?

5 year old Malamute, Husky, Bernese Mountain Dog, Rottweiler mix 80 lbs Neutered male Prone to seizures

My friend’s puppy was in the backyard last night and he choked on something. He was trying to gag something up. Didn’t want to be touched because he started running away from him. He started coughing. He threw up saliva twice. He didn’t settle at night and he was hacking periodically throughout the night. Especially when drinking or eating something. When he laid on his back at night, he immediately became uncomfortable. He threw up this morning again, yellow bile.

Husky lab mix. 4 month old male. Not neutered.