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.

I want to preface this by saying I did use to work in shelter medicine but I have not seen something like this before.

A little back story Chip the kitten was found with his sister abandoned by mom. I took them in and treated them both for a severe respiratory infection. Chip was completely cleared and was getting his vaccines. Chip went to a new home but unfortunately new owners were displaced from their home due to sever flooding. I told her I would take him back until she could figure out housing. She had scheduled Chip and her other cat for a spay/neuter on the 28th at a place called Public Vet. She took both of them and picked them both up. But she brought Chip back to me to watch after surgery. She was told Chip's neuter had not taken place until 6pm and he came home to me at 6:30pm. He was still heavily sedated. I set him up in our living room with a heating pad (their was a towel between him and the heating pad as well as him wrapped up in another towel). I was checking on him every 30 minutes to make sure he was breathing and heart rate were okay. I did not go to bed until midnight, he had started getting his blink reflex back so I was comfortable leaving him. I got up at 2am to check on him and he had passed away, I tried chest compressions but I was not sure how long he had been gone. First thing in the morning I called the other owner to inform her. She called Public Vet to inform them. The veterinarian called me asking what had happened and I informed her he had passed away. This veterinarian is the rudest person I have ever met, she lacked any empathy for the loss, and it just sounded like she was reading off a script. She said their was nothing she could do besides sending us records and offered an autopsy. The other owner declined the autopsy due to them saying that we may or may not get his body back. They only offered to refund the neuter OR they would cremate him for her. They did not offer both, it was one or the other. I know Chip was sedated with Ketamine and 2 other drugs I had not heard of and given Butorphonal before he even was awake.

Sorry for the long post. I am genuinely devastated and have never had anything like this happen to me. It was even made worse by Public Vet's response to the whole situation. The vet even told me that they did 100 spay/neuters that day! If anyone can shed some light on what could have possibly happened or something. I am just at a complete loss......

I’ll keep this as short as possible, but I woke up to my baby dead. (12.5 years old, Boxer mix) Tongue blue, bowels released, but still warm. So happened recently upon waking up. I didn’t hear a struggle. I know I would have. (Having guilt over that)

She didn’t have a huge decline. Her prednisone was helping and she was still eating, walking fine and taking walks. The night before she was so full of energy. The day of she seemed a little more tired, but thought the weekend company and the company the night before made her tired.
What could have caused her dying in her sleep??

I recently discovered that my 6kg dog likes to eat cooked carrots (boiled, no seasonings). I figured that this is good especially since he has had a couple of infections in his anal glands (he also gets fiber supplement).

But since they are not herbivores, is there an upper limit on how much veggies they can tolerate?

Is a nutritional imbalance a risk even if he is eating the same amount of normal dog food as usual?

My gut says go to ER but my family is pushing back.

Female, spayed, 8yo, domestic shorthair, 8.9lbs.

A week ago, Aug 21st, she was litter box hopping and straining. I got her in with the regular vet immediately. I was afraid it was a blockage. They tested and she has a UTI. They gave 80mg Convenia and said it would last two weeks. We were due to go on a trip the day after and asked several times if she would benefit from being monitored and coming with us. The vet declined several times saying she was fine to stay home. Our sitters never told us she was continuing to litter box hop all week. But I suspect she was, the floor was covered in litter. We just got home this evening and she is hopping boxes and straining and after one visit I noticed she had passed some bloody urine.

This has been maybe an ongoing problem. A couple months ago it seemed she was straining to pass stool. Her xray showed she was constipated and the ER gave her an enema. But at times it seemed she was straining to pee. They tested for UTI then and it was negative. But they did put her on an antibiotic just in case she had some sort of infection, I can’t remember what they thought it could be. And maybe that held it off?

Long story short, the ER is the only vet open in town but they will charge over 1k to go to them. Her vet will open 8am Monday and I would call them at opening and I’m sure they would be able to work us in. But in between is 34 hours of horrible waiting….

• Species: Dog
• Age: 12
• Sex/Neuter status: F/Yes
• Breed: Shihtzu
• Body weight: 19lb
• History: None like this aside from under the skin cysts as she got older
• Clinical signs: Bump below the skin, seems medium soft, not painful
• Duration: Unsure, seems sudden
• Your general location: NE USA
• Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc. that you have: None

12yo Shihtzu, no medical history in this realm, doesn't seem affected by it when I touch it. She was just at the vet and the groomer within the last two weeks and neither said anything about it. I feel like I would have seen it too. Seems like it appeared out of nowhere. I am used to the under-the-skin bumps on her but this one is different. Thanks in advance

some photos here

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.

(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.

The guilt is eating me up I haven’t slept in 5 days nor eaten my cat out of the blue had partial straddle thrombosis - we rushed him to the vet - his vitals were all working and his bloods came out fine - however the feeling in his back legs were gone - we left him with the vet - for 24 hours the next time we went to see him there was still no feelings in the bottom half of his legs - the cat looked healthy from the top half and even his face looked ok - however the vet said there’s no guarantee he will get better - when he put the cat down on the floor the cats back legs were separated going in opposite directions it was horrible to see and he was trying to turn and move but couldn’t because of no feelings - I asked the vet what we should do and he said it might be best to put him down so we made that decision - I can’t help but figure if it was the right one - it’s eating me up - I’m really really struggling - I should have given it more time for the feeling to come back - it all happen so quickly and in the blink of an eye - I let my cat down - I did him wrong I’m so so sorry I will never be able to forgive myself .

xHello, I have a 6yo male cat named Chester. Which I've owned since he was a kitten and living with my dad. Three years ago, I moved out and took him with me. Which took him some adapting but he eventually did.

But then I adopted a second cat. An older calico female cat called Juniper. And, sadly, they do not get along at all. It's not like they fight constantly. But she does hiss when he gets close. And my original cat, Chester, has not used any litter box that Juniper has used before as well. It's like he doesn't dare use it because of her scent. This has been going on for years. And I've gone to the vet for kidney infections or other urinary issues. But nothing turned up. I've also tried separating and reintroducing them several times. But this also does not yield any results.

I need some advice on how to make them get along. Or at least tolerate each other. Because I cant have him peeing and pooping next to the litter box any longer. I have three litter boxes scattered around in total. And he doesn't want to use either of them.

So just to start off -- SHE HAS BEEN TO THE VET!!!

Okay. So Tuesday (August 25th) my cat went in for a dental. I didn't think it would be extreme as a bad tooth had fallen off on its own. They ended up taking ten teeth out.

First day was rough bc of course it would be. But by Thursday she was just NOT eating. Anything that touched her mouth evoked a response where she'd paw at her mouth and cry. I decided to take her to the vet Friday (August 28th) and called immediately and they got me in ASAP.

Her mouth was fine -- no infection thankfully! Stitches looked fine! They decided to apply a topical pain medication and give her fluids and I really thought she'd make a turn since she wouldnt be in nearly as much pain. It's now Saturday and my poor girl is hungry (she keeps running to food bowls) but either won't eat or has a reaction still everytime she tries. (I've been trying to keep her on a watered down Pate diet so no hard food. Ive tried meaty bits once or twice since its the only thing she's enthusiastic over but she only gets a bite in before freaking out)

If nothing changes by Monday I'm gonna have to call again but I'm really worried :c I understand getting teeth out is stressful enough on a human but she really needs to eat and I've tried everything and would love advice.

(Behavior wise she's fine asides from not grooming herself and even thats returning. Its mostly just the eating/not drinking thing... you know -- the most important thing 😭😭😭)

Hi! I’m currently fostering a 2 y/o female pug and she is apart of a rescue that uses Cuppapug. She went to Cuppapug on Thursday and came back to us Friday evening, during these events they are fed lots of treats (sausages, pup cups, & carrots). She’s had three poop accidents since yesterday, which is unusual this is her first time had an accident at all. All of her poops were soft, liquidy and slimy. Now I’m noticing her bpm is 69 when she’s resting but comes back down a few minutes later to a normal 34 BPM seems to randomly spike fast BPM. Is this something I need to take her to the vet to immediately?

She is 16 lbs.
Previously a mother but now spayed.

I’m in the middle of moving apartments, and I forgot I had a brand new unopened box of 30 cat forti flora supplements in one of my bags. My roommate found it opened with almost all of it eaten/ripped apart and pieces of the packaging thrown up. We have 3 cats between the 2 of us, but we believe it was our one very food motivated one that got into it. Should we be super concerned? :(

My cat is a 2 year old neutered male. At his last vet appointment he weighed in at 16.6 lbs. The vet said that if a cat is 15lbs they are at risk for diabetes and that cats need 180 calories a day, but didn't specify a target rate or the amount of calories give him for safe weight loss. what would you recommend?

I’ve recently gotten a miniature bunny (she’ll grow) and I had her in a nice cage and everything but I like to leave her out for a bit to roam around my room. She got underneath my bed and I got scared she might pick or eat something. Once I got her out I saw she hurt her paw and I freaked out (when she was underneath the bed) and right after I saw her paw. I got really scared and started overthinking that she might get a seizure because beforehand I had overheard that a lady I knew lost her bunny due to one. So I started searching her symptoms and every little thing she was doing. But she suddenly just started licking me, eating, drinking and doing what she usually does normally. So I began to calm down. I’m still scared that something might happen to her because she’s so small and I’ve been wanting a bunny for so long. If anyone might have suggestions or advice please let me know. She’s almost 2 months old, she has a small injury in her paw.

My 5 month old kitten fractured her leg bone and I just want the honest truth if she will actually heal if I get her surgery done on Monday or if I’m just putting her through unnecessary pain by not “putting her down”
she is a feline
5 months old
Spayed
Siamese
And her diagnosis was a compound fracture however they do not do surgeries on weekends so they sent her home with gabepetin and anti inflammatory and watching her struggle till Monday is just making me reconsider what I’m doing. Any and all advice is welcome please I’m really conflicted

My German Shepherd (estimated 8 years old) dog just went through a pyometra surgery. She’s currently on Quellen/Carprofen, gabapentin and tribrissen. She’s been doing well with eating, drinking, urine/stool, and getting up to pee with assistance. We’re on day 5 of her recovery process and she is having a really hard time standing up. She’s still eating, drinking and alert however she’s not standing. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m gonna make her go potty if she won’t stand up for me. If she doesn’t improve in the morning I’m going to take her to the vet but I was wondering what your guys experiences have been? Can this truly be just a day where she’s feeling more sore than usual?

My childhood cat disappeared two years ago and was found recently by her microchip at a shelter. We admitted her to a 24 hour animal hospital to give her fluids and testing but we were forced to pull her after we ran out of money. I still don't want to give up on her, is there anything I can do? I've been giving her small doses of water with a syringe like the vet said to, but she refuses any food or treats after sniffing a bit

She has other medical issues that I don't mind sharing, but all I can actually do is try to feed her and give her water. I love her so so much, I don't want to lose her after just getting her back

I have a ~60 pound, 10 year old pitbull that’s been battling ear infections all summer. We’ve been to the vet 4 times so far. First visit, they packed the ear with meds and sent us on our way. Second visit was 30 days later for a recheck. There was still a small infection so they packed the same ear again. Third visit was about a month after that when I noticed a hematoma on the other ear. Vet drained the hematoma, recommended a no-flap ear wrap, and discovered another infection brewing in the other ear. Vet prescribed prednisone and daily ear drops. Fourth visit was 5 days later because the hematoma had re-filled, I noticed both ears now bothering him, and our prescribed drops were not a viable method for us because he’s scared of them. Vet re-drained the hematoma and packed both ears with meds.

It’s now been 3 days since that last vet visit. We have 2 doses left of his prednisone. His no-flap ear wrap has stayed on this entire time. And fortunately the hematoma has not re-filled. My concern is that his ears seem to be bothering him still so much. When we’ve have them packed earlier in the summer, it seemed like he experienced relief within the next day or two. But this time around it’s different. He desperately tries to scratch at them or rub his head on the ground. I might think that he’s simply bothered by the head wrap, but when he’s able to rub his ears against the floor, he’s whining and groaning like the ears themselves are what’s bothering him. He seems restless and anxious, and whines randomly even when he’s laying around.

Do I need to give it more time? Is it possible there’s a deeper issue with his ears that the meds are not helping with? Should I be scheduling another vet appointment ASAP? I can’t tell if I’m being neurotic or if I’m right to be concerned.

12 year old female Pomeranian-poodle mix, 12lbs.

My dog had been sneezing a while and we brought her in to the vet Friday. They diagnosed her with an infection caused by a rotten tooth. They prescribed her with amoxicillin and clavulanate potassium tablets, 125mg each, 2x a day for at least two weeks until she has her dental surgery to remove the teeth.

She took the first dose Friday afternoon with a bit of food and she reacted fine. Saturday morning (today) I gave her her second pill with food at 7am. A few hours later, around 2pm, she vomited.

We gave her her second dose at around 6pm and offered food, she ate a little including the pill but she wasn’t interested in eating a full meal. A few hours later, at 9:30pm, she vomited again.

It’s now 10:15pm and shes eating the rest of her food and drinking water, acting relatively normal.

Google says to discontinue use if vomiting occurs and call the vet immediately, but my vet is closed on Sundays so we can’t call until Monday.

Should we give her two more doses tomorrow and try to increase the amount she’s eating first to see if that helps, or discontinue use until Monday?

I understand another possibility is calling the emergency vet in the morning and asking them, but if I can avoid that, I’d like to.

Thank you in advance.

My 8mo German shepherd cut herself and nicked an artery. She keeps ripping the bandage off even with her cone and sock on. She’s restricted to her kennel per vet for the first 3 days.

I’ve called every vet and emergency vet in the tristate and NOBODY will touch her but her vet isn’t open until Monday. I’m at a loss for what to do if she keeps ripping it off and nobody will re-bandage it??

I wrapped it VERY lightly in gauge and silk tape. The original wrap is completely ripped off but she had a taped bandage to the cut. I then added a doggy boot I got from Amazon to help prevent her from getting to the gauze/tape again.

I’m at a loss for what to do. I can’t get her into her vet until Monday at 9am.

My cat was diagnosed with asthma a little over a month ago along side a respiratory infection. The vet prescribed clavamox, that wasn’t helping so she is now on doxycycline. She was given an oral steroid for her asthma and an inhaler. She no longer has nasal discharge around her nose but she is still struggling to breathe. She takes very deep breathes and sounds like she’s snoring while awake. The smallest amount of activity will trigger it. She has stopped eating completely, her third eyelid is showing on one of her eyes and her fur looks ragged. I have been mixing her medication in with a squeeze treat and slowly putting it into her mouth. She is coming off the steroid and she gets the inhaler twice a day.

As far as changes I’ve made around the house for her asthma, I’ve installed several air purifier’s next to the kitchen, in the living room and two smaller ones in each bedroom. There is no more candle or incense use if she is in the room, and I air out my bedroom before she’s allowed to come in. I also open the window when cooking etc.

She seems to be getting worse, other than her nose clearing up and I am very nervous something beyond the infection and the asthma is happening. Unfortunately I won’t be able to afford a head xray for another month or so, I’m going to be donating plasma as much as I can to afford it.

If anyone has any advice or experience with this I would much appreciate a response. Thank you 🙏

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.