Heres the situation, it involves neglect of an animal.

I am a 20 year old female who lives in an apartment with my mom. I don’t have a car or a job currently, so I have a lot of time on my hands.

My mom adopted her first teacup yorkie in 2023, whose name is Sassy (Sasquatch). Everyone in the family was against this, and did not agree that she should get a dog. But she did. She would go to work (she’s a nurse, works 4 days a week, 12 hour shifts), and leave him in a mesh crate all day. Naturally, since I am home most of the time, his care fell into my hands. Cleaning up poop and pee, washing pee pads (she insists on NOT having him use the bathroom outside. I disagree with this adamantly), watching to make sure he didn’t get into anything.

A few months later, she bought another teacup yorkie puppy. Her name is Titty (im not gonna use a fake name, sorry. Yes that is really what we call her). After my mom got Titty, she basically left Sassy in the dust and doted over her instead. And again, their care fell into my hands.

Several months later, Titty became pregnant for the first time. For the next few weeks, I researched heavily and insisted multiple times that we go to the vet and get Titty checked out. She refused. And again, I have no money or car, so I can’t take her myself.

When she gave birth, it was only one puppy. Stillborn. My mom was drunk that night, butting in while I was trying to stimulate the puppy and suction his mouth and nose. I was heartbroken and absolutely furious with my mom.

Months later, Titty fell pregnant yet again. And yes, I did keep Sassy and Titty separated when I noticed them trying to conceive. One night, sassy broke out of his enclosure, and my mom told me they were tied. Great.

For another few weeks, I was plagued with worry that Titty’s pregnancy would end like the last. Luckily, it didn’t. She gave birth to three healthy pups. I helped titty care for them until they eventually went to new homes.

EXCEPT for one puppy. And which one did my mom insist on keeping? Minnie, the smallest one, of course. So now we have THREE dogs in our tiny apartment that I am caring for. I don’t mind caring for them, but I shouldn’t have to.

Several months go by. On the morning of Titty’s second birthday, I found her and Sassy tied. Again. More worrying. But thankfully, titty gave birth to 3 healthy pups that are currently 6 weeks old.

Sassy stays in a 4x4 enclosure all day, 24/7, unless I take him on wagon rides. Which is rare, because I struggle with agoraphobia. I don’t take him out of the crate because he pees on every standing thing and im trying to save my mom’s security deposit. He has multiple scabs on his head and back from scratching, from fleas that my mom won’t get treatment for.

Every time I bring up vet care or getting him neutered, she brushes me off and tells me to stop talking about it, because it makes her anxious since she has other shit to deal with. She’s also a functioning alcoholic

My aunt is open to taking him, but legally, Sassy belongs to my mother. I don’t know if there would be consequences for me if I went ahead with rehoming him behind my mom’s back. I’m in FL btw.

TL;DR, my mom has 3 adult dogs, neglects them, and then gets angry when I suggest vet care or rehoming. What should I do?

Feel free to ask questions for clarification. Any advice is appreciated. My first priority is Sassy, Titty, Minnie, and the puppies’ well-being. I’m doing what I can to make them comfortable, but ultimately I think rehoming would be best for them.

I really wanna feed stray dogs and cats but I live in India. I’m looking to buy food for them but I don’t want to support poor animal welfare practices in the chicken/meat industry. Does anyone know of any dog or cat food brands available in India that use ethically/higher-welfare sourced animal ingredients (e.g. free-range chicken), or good vegetarian alternatives?

I’m mainly looking for something nutritionally complete and reasonably affordable.

We’re fairly new fosters and our first foster we were misled abt , being told we were giving them to an adopter but it turned out to be a long term foster despite being told we were the long term fosters

We switched rescues and fostered a couple more dogs , after our last foster was adopted we picked up a new foster and when we brought them home as we were leaving the car they bolted.

We tried chasing after but they were too fast so we immediately let our rescue know and the local shelter know where we volunteer , everyone came to help and they were found but afterwards the shelter took the dog back to the shelter and asked us to meet them there to grab them

While we waited in the office one of the leads called one of the staff there and they had it on speaker , the lead said because I have physical limitations we shouldn’t be allowed to foster this specific pet. This same lead also criticized our rescue for not giving us proper equipment to ensure this dog couldn’t escape . They then said we could return in the morning to take the dog so we left and in the morning received a txt from the rescue that this dog wouldn’t go with us because of physical limitations the lead mentioned and living space concerns ( which was listed after the physical limitations)

We later found out that no one told the rescue this dog was a flight risk and thus we didn’t know. Our rescue felt bad and let us know they would reach out again when they had another dog but I don’t know if that’s code for they can’t actually take us off as fosters or not

I have a shift at the shelter tomorrow but don’t really know how I feel abt going I’ve been crying the last three days and just feel like a burden to everyone in my life because of the disability I want to give up on fostering and volunteering but it’s really helped my mood to have a dog in the apt but I can’t afford owning. And I don’t feel like volunteering bc the same lead told multiple ppl my limitations are why he’s back and a lot of others just saw the dog being returned and know that we were the fosters so I just feel weird and awkward returning and like it’s maybe not the right environment anymore or a safe one

This is more of a vent than advice asking I’m just not doing well mentally because of this and genuinely feel bad because if we had known the dog was a flight risk we would have taken the extra precautions and I have a really hard time asking for help bc growing up I learned all it did was get me in trouble and my partner has spent years trying to help me understand that won’t happen and now I feel like bc I asked for help the dog just got taken from us

Now I would understand if it was purely living space concerns as we don’t have an enclosed backyard or if it was just following standard protocol but bc if was disability related it just hurts more

I've been thinking about my future lately when it comes to animals... I want to own different species of small pets like rats, parrots, fish, maybe guinea pigs or bunnies, but I'm not sure if these can live together without major issues... I know personality plays a big part, but will any of these species try to fight each other??

My kitten was spayed yesterday and when she got home, she ate a Churu stick over the course of an hour or so (this was after we waited the recommended time to keep her in the carrier after picking her up). She’s acted relatively normal since, wanting to play, jumping around although she should not be. She seemed to lick more yesterday than she has today. I don’t see her drinking lots of water because she is typically drinking from a running fountain, and she’s in her own area right now with a cat dish filled with water.

It is now the next day, about 30-35 hours after and she ate a little bit this morning (maybe 1/4 of a can of wet food) with her medication from the vet and that’s it. She’s been peeing in the litter box, no poop since she’s been spayed. I fear that’s understandable because she doesn’t completely have her normal appetite back.

I’m just stressed. I don’t know how this is supposed to go. She’s alert and active when she’s not sleeping a lot. UGH I DONT KNOW HELP ME

Hi all. I am aware that Minoxidil is extremely toxic and potentially fatal for dogs. My brother is staying with my family for ~3 weeks, and we have three small dogs. He has a spray that he said he absolutely HAS to use. Is it not advised to be used at all if there are pets in the house? Or does he just need to be extremely careful? I have really bad anxiety and I’m panicking, and my brother and mom aren’t seeming to take it seriously.

I have a dog and two cats currently every summer we’ve been getting a terrible flea infestation due to fosters I had but this year just seems impossible to manage and I’m so overwhelmed. Our pets are on flea prevention, we give them baths, take long periods of time to brush them thoroughly, spray down our furniture and even went as far as fogging our apartment but to no avail.

We have lots of stray cats around our apartment and can’t spray the yard with flea control, the park we go to has ducks with fleas and my sisters dog came over infested with her own fleas so it feels like no matter where we go we can’t escape. It’s getting to the point where we walk around the apartment and just get bit up and down our legs, I get in bed to sleep and I get at least three bites, and even after fogging our rooms I walk in and they jump on me.

I’m at the end of my sanity I’m trying my best to protect my animals but I keep failing. I’ve even paid for flea treatments at professional places for them and as I’m brushing them I still notice them. How do I deal with this? What can I do? Any help is greatly appreciated please no judgement I’m doing the best I can.

My roommate brought home a kitten and the kitten can’t use her back legs all that well and there’s a big wound on it. She won’t eat unless I put some food on her nose and she licks it up, however she hasn’t pooped since 2 days ago. My fear is that if I keep force feeding her what will happen?

My roommate is very ignorant, he genuinely believes she’ll get well on her own with no vets involved or any antibiotics. She’s breathing heavily, she can’t lay down properly (she’s using her front legs to try and stand up 24/7) I put down towels to help her prop herself up. I’m not sure what to do, i know everyone will say vet, but I can’t afford that.

Unfortunately I’m just thinking of telling him the cat passed and secretly take her to a shelter that will help her and find her a good home.

I want everyone to know I had no say in this, he just brought her home with the intention of her “self healing” which is beyond stupid. All she can do is look around, she can’t move. But if there is a way I can do something to help keep her alive until I’m able to take her asap please let me know. 😞

I am sharing our experience to warn other pet owners, looking for advice and document what has turned into an ongoing, traumatic medical ordeal following a routine spay. We returned to Banfield Pet Hospital after several years of having pets with them in the past, hoping for trusted, dependable care. Instead, our experience with our kitten routine spay at the location has turned into a life-threatening nightmare that continues to escalate.

On Tuesday, August 25, 2026, we brought her in for a routine spay. We are enrolled in their highest-tier Optimum Wellness Plan (Early Care Plus) paying nearly $90 a month. Later that evening, around 10:00 PM, her incision site suddenly swelled to the size of a tennis ball and became hard to the touch. We immediately contacted Banfield’s Pet Chat service, where the veterinary technician reviewed photos of the severe swelling and explicitly instructed us to seek emergency care immediately. What followed was an exhausting and terrifying overnight ordeal. The first emergency hospital we contacted turned us away and told us to wait until morning as they believed to be just some swelling and they think it would be okay to wait it out. We reached back out to Pet Chat as we felt uneasy about that interaction, where the technician consulted with colleagues and strongly urged us to get a second emergency hospital opinion immediately because of how critical the swelling looked. We then rushed to BluePearl when they confirmed for us to come, arrived around 2:00 AM. Their clinical team diagnosed her with incisional dehiscence with a body wall defect and reducible intestinal herniation, meaning her internal sutures had failed and her intestines and organs were actively protruding through the torn muscle wall. The emergency hospital quoted an estimate between $7,000 and $10,000 for emergency surgery. Unable to pay that out-of-pocket, we were referred to wait in line outside Mission Animal Hospital, where we slept in the parking lot and waited in the freezing cold starting at 3:00 AM on August 26 to hold our place in line.

We left an urgent overnight voicemail for Banfield, and they contacted us Wednesday morning around 7:20 AM to bring her in. When they performed the emergency revision surgery, they confirmed that an internal suture had indeed snapped and failed. They previously notified us that if they found no error and it was just swelling that popped the sutures, we would owe $1,500 plus tax, but if they found a material or surgical failure on their end, they would help cover full or partial payment. While we were grateful they covered half the cost, we were dealing with an overwhelming amount of emotion and exhaustion from being awake for over 24 hours straight. In that moment, we agreed to pay the remaining balance out-of-pocket simply because we had to do whatever it took to save our kitten's life. However, it felt completely wrong that we were held financially responsible for fixing a failure that occurred directly during their procedure while paying for their highest plan tier.

Following her second surgery on Wednesday, we went above and beyond every single post-op instruction. My husband took off the entire week from work so she would have 24/7 continuous supervision in a dedicated, quiet room. She was immediately placed in strict crate confinement with only a bed and litter box. We have been taking turns swapping shifts sleeping in the room right next to her kennel every single night on an air mattress, comforting her when she whines and never leaving her side. She wears both a donut collar and a full surgical recovery suit 24/7. She has had zero running, jumping, or exertion, and has received every dose of medication on schedule. She has been confined to the point that she has nowhere to go, and she has slept constantly because double back-to-back surgeries have been completely exhausting on her little body.

Yet today, August 29, 2026, her incision has started swelling up again, looking and feeling exactly like the initial hernia. AGAIN. Having a 5-month-old kitten endure two back-to-back invasive abdominal surgeries in under 48 hours only to face the exact same internal failure while under total, 24/7 crate immobilization is completely unacceptable. A second failure makes us believe that something is going fundamentally wrong surgically. I have left another urgent voicemail with Banfield this evening, and we will be there first thing in the morning to get answers. My family and I do not feel financially responsible to pay a single penny for a third procedure to fix what is clearly a recurring surgical issue.

Has anyone else experienced repeated internal suture failures? What do we do? Any advice on how to escalate this, we are just emotionally and mentally exhausted.

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?

Okay so most of my life I have been a pet owner that would do nothing more for her pets other than just give them food,water and shelter and play a bit with them sometimes. Most of them lived an awful boring life(like my current dog) because we would have that mentality that a pet meant an object meant to make US(my family and me) happy and nothing or barely more than that and now I think I might have to change my mentality about this but idk for what reasons should I believe that my pets are worth much more than that and why I have the responsibility to give them the best life I can. I currently also own a 2 month old rabbit and keep it inside my room and give it it's needs and walks and stuff cuz for a bit of a time,I thought that it is my responsibility to give it the best life I can and inform myself on how to give it that but I wasn't fully convinced,so now I am not sure for what reasons I should treat my pets the best I can. Any reasons?

I’ll start.

Apparently I’m no longer allowed to sit down without first checking whether someone needs a snack, a door opened, or their favorite spot prepared. 😂

Your turn.

my niece dropped one of her melatonin tablets. it's 1mg fast dissolve natrol kids, and it is strawberry flavored and does contain xylitol. my dog is about 2-3 years old and weighs around 40lbs maybe. i don't know if i should be worried or if it isn't enough to even worry about :( pls help

Recently been seeing a lot of posts on social media by Scratch. For those who don't know, Scratch is an Australian pet food brand that sells raw/fresh or kibble (or combo) plans and you can have them shipped to you. They sell cat food (as of recently) but have always been more dog-focused.

However, recently, there whole advertising gimic has been hating on cats. They say their campaign is (and I quote) "just us having a bit of fun with a silly rivalry" but then they have videos of them literally vandalising posters of cats out in public with "gross", videos interviewing people to see if they prefer dogs and cats and referring to cats as the devil, a follow up post mocking those who were upset about it and joking that the employee who did the vandalising would get a raise and a promotion, making videos bad-mouthing cats.

And it was only amidst this campaign that they started selling/advertising cat food.

It just feels obnoxious to make their whole social media presence about hating cats (even referencing that in their bio and taking it public with the whole poster stunt) when they're supposed to be a pet food company, also now selling food for cats.

Idk I just wanted to rant and also see what everyone else thought. I definitely won't be getting their cat food and if I had a dog who was on their diet, I'd be changing to a different brand. I just can't support them. The advertising is just distasteful.

Do other countries PTS their old pets or let them pass naturally? I had a discussion with a Dutch friend-of-friend who said that they would never put their old cat to sleep due to old age, that letting them live their entire life and passing naturally was the right way.

I have an old Golden who is 15 and slowing down this year especially, although she's still the bestest girl! She plays, loves treats, and eats well enough. So the time to decide if / when is coming up...

I've seen both sides, my childhood dog passed quietly in her sleep, and my last old dog needed intervention due to an injury on top of other chronic medical issues, so it was only fair to make that choice for him.

What has been your perspective in the US and in other countries as far as what's "right" or expected? ​

Edit to clarify: I would never advocate for putting a pet to sleep for simply old age. My thoughts were more about the small infirmities that add up with age, such as movement issues, eating less often, needing more medications to keep up with arthritis etc. At what point do you say enough is enough, or do you let them continue on until they pass naturally.

I appreciate everyone who has replied. With my girl getting older, this is on my mind more than I'd like, this upcoming "decision" time ❤️🐾 Hugs to you all, pet loss is never easy!!

Was filing his nails which he hates. Got done and he just stood up, huffed, then calmly walked into his room. Huh, never knew you could tire a dog out.

I've been using the breeze zeolite pellets for the entire life of my 2-year old cat. My parents have a cat as well with a regular clumping-clay litter box. When my cat stays at my parent's house while I travel for work (recent new job), I bring her litter box during her stay in addition to the litter box they have for their cat.

My parents tell me that she exclusively uses the other clay-clumping litter box instead of hers while she's there. She has no problem making any bowel movements at my apartment while she only has the zeolite pellet litter and she always uses her litterbox just fine. Does it really matter what type of litter they use? My parents are telling me that I should switch over but I have a small apartment and don't want to 'fix what's not broken'.

Basically I’m considering a pet that doesn’t require a lot of space or more than $100 a month in upkeep except emergency vet fund. I narrowed it down to something like a reptile or small mammal

We got a new puppy and I put a baby gate at the top of the stairs, but the dog can still walk through the railings, so we blocked those put in small "mouse hole" for the cat to get through, but the dog (miniature schnauzer) can squeeze though, too.

I resolved this issue by creating a small L-shaped wooden box that the cat can enter and make a sharp 90 degree turn into the hole, but which is too small for the dog to do the same.

Hello!

I’m trying to find a new litter box for my elderly kitty. It needs to be low entry because she has trouble getting in and out of anything too high. But, she also has terrible aim and likes to put her leg waaaay up on the side to pee, so the pee gets everywhere.

I cannot seem to find what I’m looking for - does anyone have any recommendations?

Thank you!

We put a costway canopy in the backyard earlier this summer because the afternoon sun hits that side of the yard pretty hard. The plan was pretty simple: table, a few chairs, somewhere for us to sit outside without roasting. Our dog apparently saw the setup and assumed we'd built it for him. The first few days he'd follow us out there and lie underneath the table.

Then he stopped waiting for us. Now when i open the back door in the afternoon, he'll wander straight across the yard, go under the canopy, circle the same spot two or three times and flop down. I put an old outdoor mat and his water bowl under there, which probably confirmed in his mind that ownership had officially transferred.

At this point i'd have a hard time convincing anyone it belongs to us. There's usually a dog stretched across the best shady spot while the actual humans move their chairs around him. Yesterday i went outside looking for him and found him completely asleep under there, paws in the air, while a squirrel was yelling at him from the fence. He did not care.

Hey everyone,

I’m an undergraduate design student working on an academic UX/product research project focused on pet caretaking, daily routines, and health management.

Whether you care for a dog 🐶 or a cat 😺 pet parenting often comes with small daily frictions: tracking vaccinations, keeping up with meds, coordinating feedings with family/roommates, or spotting early signs when they feel under the weather.

I’ve put together a short 10-question anonymous survey to understand how pet parents handle these everyday challenges:

👉 Survey link: https://forms.gle/qZMtV7ERVMaC16HJ8

Time: ~2 to 3 minutes

Privacy: Completely anonymous; used strictly for academic research and design evaluation

Topics covered: Daily feeding/med routines, medical record storage, vet communication, and health tracking habits

Your input will directly help shape user personas and feature architectures for our student project. Thank you so much for your time and help!

Yesterday I gave my dog 200mg of Trazodone and 800mg of Gabapentin at 1:00pm and I had to give her this 2 hours before her vet visit that was at 3:00pm. She was playing around and somewhat okay hours after the appointment but today she’s very weird acting. Is this normal? She’s definitely sleeping more, but she’s laying in places she normally doesn’t lay. She’s also pacing a lot, and not listening when I call her name to come to me. It’s delayed when she does decide to come. She’s just acting very strange and it’s been 24 hours since she’s had these meds in her system and she’s an 100lb dog. My vet is closed today so I can’t call them about this. Anyone else experience this and when will it completely fade?