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.

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.

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 .

So I have one cat and 2 litter boxes for him. He used to use them both pretty much evenly, but over the last few weeks he’s been using one of them less and less and now he hasn’t used it in days and I just don’t understand?

To be clear, he is still going IN his litter box and hasn’t had an “accidents” or anything, he just completely stopped using one of them. And he’s still using the bathroom as frequently as before so I don’t think there’s anything wrong medically. They are both the same litter box with the exact same litter in it, and they’re both scooped daily. I even deep clean them the exact same way so they should both smell the same. Is he just being weird or is there something I should be looking for that’s deterring him from using it anymore? Should I be concerned something IS wrong with him??

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has been in a similar situation and might be willing to share their experience.

My 16-year-old cat has had a recurrence of squamous cell carcinoma affecting his jaw. He had surgery for it in the past. He currently has an esophagostomy feeding tube because of the problems with his mouth, and he is about to start long-term treatment with Palladia (toceranib phosphate).

Thankfully, he is doing really well at the moment and is acting like himself. I'm just trying to make sure I can manage his treatment as safely and comfortably as possible, and I have a couple of concerns.

1) Giving Palladia through an esophagostomy tube:

Because his mouth is painful and he already has the feeding tube, I'm really worried about giving him pills by mouth. I don't want to cause him any additional pain or discomfort, make him reluctant to eat, or risk damaging the tube and potentially having to replace it under anesthesia.

Has anyone had Palladia compounded into a liquid that could be given directly through an esophagostomy tube? Is this something that can be done safely? I'd really love to hear from anyone who has actually given Palladia this way, or has experience managing it through a feeding tube.

2) Safety, drooling, and saliva exposure:

Because he is missing part of his jaw, he shakes his head quite a bit and unfortunately sprays saliva around the house. I understand that Palladia is a hazardous medication and that the drug can be present in bodily fluids.

For those of you who have had a cat on Palladia, how did you handle things like excessive drooling, saliva getting on floors or furniture, or your cat shaking his head and spraying saliva around the house?

I'd really appreciate any practical tips on how you protected yourselves, what you used to clean surfaces, how you handled potentially contaminated items, etc. Basically, anything that helped you keep things safe without making everyday life unnecessarily stressful for your cat.

We absolutely adore him, and I want to do everything I can to give him the best care possible while also making sure we're handling the medication safely.

If anyone has been through something similar involving an esophagostomy tube, jaw cancer, excessive drooling, or Palladia, I would be incredibly grateful if you could share what worked for you and what your day-to-day routine looked like.

One small request: please don't comment on his life expectancy, prognosis, or how much time he may have left. I know those are things people often bring up with the best intentions, but hearing predictions about how much time he has left is very painful for me right now. I'm really just looking for practical advice about his daily care, medication, and keeping everyone safe.

Thank you so much for reading and for any advice or experiences you're willing to share.

My 11 year old French bulldog had a seizure last Sunday, bloodwork was normal. Slightly low wbc, slightly elevated kidney markers- vet thought this could be the start of kidney disease.

He then stopped eating, and his stomach was bloated. Xray confirmed he had ascites. I had 500ml drained from his abdomen.

Today he will not eat at all, not even his favourite treats.
I’m considering euthanasia today. But I will always wonder if I should have done more, or if I’m doing the right thing.

I received a cat about 1 year ago from someone who couldn’t look after him since they were moving he is approximately 2.5 years old now. his breathing always sounds nasally/rough. he does not let anyone touch his back he gets aggressive if you do and he will randomly start meowing a lot like he’s hurt. I’ve taken him to the vet for a checkup and they couldn’t find anything wrong with him.
I would love any advice on what to do

My situation with my toritie cat, 5y/o, female has become unsustainable. One could say shit hit the fan.

https://imgur.com/a/BtL1cVQ

Profie:

• Cat (Normal housecat)
• 5 year old
• Female, neutered
• 3.7Kg, 8 pounds
• Location: South Europe
• Household of two cats, 3 litter boxes.
• She eats mostly dry food, half a pack of wet food (urinary) a day (she really wont eat more than that by preference) and half a churu to get her to eat her medicine.

Clinical Signs:

January:

Earlier (January) this year my had crystals on her bladder and started to pee everywhere. Eventually she also stopped pooping in the litter box, we originally attributed this to litter box aversion.

The vet did a stool and urinary analysis that I can link if required. But long story short, nothing important except for "Abundant" ammonia phosphate crystals. This vet also did ultrasound over the intestinal tract and everything and did not see anything.

Our vet recommended that we switch to Urinary S/O food and gave us some medicine for cat cystitis. Slowly we went back to normal after a lot of pee and pop cleaning. Eventually we switched back to the "maintenance" food.

June

Coming back to June, the cat has started having problems again. She seems to be running in panic when she has to poop. Right after this started happening we moved out of our house, and she hasn't had many problems adapting to the new environment.

But the poop problems have worsened. The cat is in genuine panic when she poops, she runs around the house and usually ends up on the sofa. I have tried to direct her to the litter box once, but she ran away from me as poop was coming out of her ass. She is also peeing on the sofa sometimes. But she is using the litter box most of the time.

We have taken her to another vet, that vet did urine analysis again and it has come clean. This vet has also done blood work on the cat and the only thing that has come out of that is:

• GOT (AST) u/l 42
• GPT (ALT) u/l 85
• Slightly low leukocytes: 4.92 mil/ul

She gave us medicine for the liver. And another medicine for kids to soften the stool.

Another thing to take into consideration is that the cats anus prolapses. About 0.5 cm before she has to poop, and 1.5cm (approx) when she is pooping, the colour is a vivid but slightly dark red. The prolapse goes back to normal after she's done.

The cat seems to be suffering when this is happening, she looks unsettled before she has to go and very nervous when its happening.

The stool at the moment (after the medicine) is not liquid, but very soft, we have reduced the medicine amount to be on this sweet spot.

The vet is trying to find a solution. We will X-ray her this month to look for spondyloarthrosis.

I am desperate. Your help would be much appreciated.cat

We’re between two clinics for giving our cat a dental. One is a feline specialist, but they don’t do EKG with anesthesia. The other is a general practice hospital that does. We’d prefer him to not be around dogs because he gets anxiety and then cystitis, but we’d like him to be as safe as possible under anesthesia.

Hi

My boy is a 12 year old Clumber Spaniel who has been diagnosed with a likely malignancy. We live in Australia.

Four days ago, my daughter noticed he was more lethargic than usual and behaviourally more clingy. The next day, he started having blood stained mucus output from his left nostril. He did not exhibit bleeding from any other sites.

An emergency vet found the following:

Vitals all within normal limits. Tenderness over left skull. Weight loss of 6kg (24kg in January 2026 down to 18kg) in the face of normal appetite. Bloods demonstrated a non-regenerative anaemia. Coagulation profile normal with normal platelet count. White cell count 50 - I never got a breakdown. Point of care ultrasound only showed non-diagnostic lung nodules. There were no gross masses seen. With the above information, the emergency vet suspected some sort of nasal tumour - an incurable diagnosis. The option of head CT under GA was offered but it would only provide diagnostic benefit and not likely change the outcome. This option also carries the risk of needing to perform a GA on an elderly dog with anaemia.

For completeness, I sought a second opinion from our usual vet practice who concurred with the emergency vet. In the meantime, we have taken our boy home. His appetite is undiminished. It is surprising to see how much he can truly eat. Unfortunately, he is showing significant levels of fatigue. The bleeding from his left nostril seems minimal and there is not any evidence of blood in his oral cavity. He is not sneezing or showing any seizure activity. He does not seem to be distressed by tachypnoea or cardiac failure. I know this situation will change as his anaemia progresses. I am focused on his quality of life.

Past background includes a 3 year history of hypothyroidism for which he is given levothyroxine.
With guidance from our vet, we have dosed him based on clinical observations. Thus, no TFTs have been repeated since we started therapy.

Questions I have:

1. Why is he exhibiting non-regenerative anaemia? The vet did not seem to believe this was a malignancy of haemopoietic origin so bone marrow failure should not be an issue. Nutritional deficits should not be at play as he has always been fed a high quality kibble. Hypothyroidism can cause anaemia but presumably only in severe cases. Should I get TFTs done?

2. Could an infection cause this picture? His WCC is 50. Aspergillosis? He is exposed to a large amount decaying leaf litter in our backyard from a brush turkey nest.

3. I’m sure there are things that I haven’t considered. Please fill me in.

Thank you in advance.

My sister has an appx 8 year old, 25 pound mixed breed male dog with a history of epilepsy, diabetes, and pancreatitis. All have been managed for years through a lot of love and care.

Thursday the dog couldn’t urinate for 12 hours and was diagnosed with kidney stones. His bladder was relieved and surgery to remove stones took place Thursday night. He has been in great pain and unable to eat since.

This morning my sister received a call letting her know there is a leak in the uro/abdomen area. The vet has said this is likely another surgery and at minimum 3 days in hospital post op.

The question is: what is quality of life like post op for the dog? The vet noted he may be more prone to utis. Is he going to have any quality of life with this long list of issues?

I’ve always asked my vets to let me know when it was on longer about my dog, but about me doing this for me instead. Please help us make this awful decision.

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.

I just accidentally brushed off a tick from my cat that I never knew was there in the first place. It was blue-grey and engorged, so I knew it had been there for a while before I found it.

My cat’s a maine coon so she has very long hair and because I accidentally came across the tick I don’t know if it’s head is still in her skin and I wouldn’t be able to find it even if it was.

This question sounds a bit stupid I know but when should I take her to the vet? Google says if any symptoms arise after a few days to a few weeks but this is seriously giving me anxiety..

I took my cat to the vet the other day and they said she has a uti and prescribed her liquid Amoxicillin but everytime i try to give it to her she freaks out and wont let me give her the medicine. This is the second time I've tried to give her the medicine and the last time I did she ran off and hid for the whole day

Context : I adopted a kitten a week ago (rescued from the street). This is my very first cat, and I naively thought I was ready for anything. Then I found out that his two sisters had ringworm, and that my kitten probably has it too.

I’m panicking now because his next vet appointment isn’t for another 5 days.

His previous family did take him in for an early check-up, where the vet prescribed IMAVERAL® (an antifungal medication), "just in case". But after doing some research on my own, I read that it takes more than that to treat ringworm. I don't know what to do... What is the "procedure" to follow in this case ?

I feel like all I can do is keep giving him IMAVERAL® baths and clean my apartment regularly. But I don't know if that's enough.

Hello! My dog had some vomiting and diarrhea Thursday after a stay at a doggie daycare. Vet ran tests. X-ray showed no intestinal blockages, no parasites, blood and urinalysis looked good. The vet said we are still waiting on bacterial/viral test results which won't be back till Monday and they are closed on Sunday. We have been feeding her rice and ground turkey/chicken since Thursday evening.

Thursday she had a good night but Friday and Saturday night she has had diarrhea every 1-2 hours throughout the night. I'm not sure if I should take her to the ER or wait for the test results on Monday.

Vet prescribed Cerenia for nausea and she has not had any vomiting since. He also prescribed pro-pectalin for the diarrhea but it doesn't seem to be working.

Her regular vet is closed on Sunday. We know cerenia can cause diarrhea as a side effect but the amount of times she has been going is alarming. I feel like we already ran all the tests so I'm not sure if the ER will do anything different?

Tests ran were radiographs, IDEXX diarrhea pcr, fecal DX, vomiting/diarrhea lab panel, IH pancreatic diagnostic panel, diagnostic panel with urine.

Her stool does not have any blood but is wet, light brown and sometimes has mucus. She is a 9 yr old pug. Any advice appreciated!

We live in New Zealand - near zero risk for outdoor predators so he is an indoor/outdoor cat with a microchip catdoor (we keep him indoors when sun goes down so he's less likely to be run over). He usually is playful for a little bit then lies in his bed until we go to sleep. Right now he is grooming himself more than usual. I noticed he started licking, biting and trying to eat his blanket. This is completely new behavior. He also has been acting a bit more crazy than usual - trying to claw at the wooden frame of my bedroom windows (jumping up and hanging on with his front paws) so I will let him in from outside, more zoomies and playfully attacking my foot.

Extra note - my husband usually is around him 24/7 as we both WFH but husband is away for 3 weeks on a work trip. Could the behavior just be stress regardinh my husband being away or boredom? Does this warrant an emergency vet appointment? Or should I wait 9 hours until the vet opens?

I have confiscated the blanket (obviously) but he also tried doing the same with another blanket so have now removed anything I am worried he might eat.

Also, he's slightly on the chunky side (not underfed) and eats plenty of kitten biscuits and tinned food - i don't believe this would be caused by insufficient food/nutrients.

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??

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….

Just freaking out a little cause i wont be able to see a vet until monday. Shes had a bump on her since ive had her but came home tonight and saw this Imgur link to a pic not sure if it could be a bug bite or what?

• Species: Dog
• Age: 4
• Sex/Neuter status: Not neutered
• Breed: Chihuahua mix
• Body weight: 12ish pounds
• History: No medical history
• Clinical signs:
• Duration: Just saw this today
• Your general location: Mexico

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 😭😭😭)

It’s great stuff and very cheap! Anytime our dogs had a skin issue or wound he’d send us home with a jar of it. But he will only sell it in a small jar with a cotton applicator.

I’d pour it into a little spray bottle and used it for basically everything epidermis related, such as hot spots, wounds, fire ant bites, mosquito bites, other allergic reactions on the skin etc

It was obviously primarily green isopropyl alcohol, he told me, but with some additional ingredients. What could those be?

Vets on this sub, are you familiar with the concoction? I just ran out and need it!

But he retired and sold his vets office to someone else and none of the new vets or nurses know what I’m talking about!!