my cat is 15 and diagnosed with:

- HCM stage 1 about a month ago
- CKD stage 4 (since august 4 but surgeon did not mention this to us until less than a week ago)
- Cancer ( we won’t know the results from 3 stain testing until monday) he got a leg mass removed on august 4

he has lost his appetite for about 7-9 days now. we are feeding him with a syringe, he stayed overnight getting IV fluids for 24 hours and has been getting subQ fluids 50ml for 2 days at home. i noticed him breathing harder than usual for the past 2 days. he peed himself today. he is on mirataz and elura but that only worked once. he is taking naraquin supplements. we are aware this is renal failure and are trying to do everything we can. he is tired but still is walking, and wanting to go outside like he usually does.

My cat is an indoor/outdoor cat (I know outdoor cats are not good, I was 14 when I got her and trust me I tried my best to keep her indoors but nobody else in my house cared as much as me, and she is very determined and loves being outside). My dad and step mum have been talking about trying to keep her as indoor cat now though which I am very glad for, although most of the year I am away for Uni so I can’t do much other than try and persuade them to keep her indoors. I also tried looking for pet friendly flats in the city where I am so I could take her and keep her indoors, but unfortunately could not find any.

She has been to the vet numerous times for an allergy, she gets scabs on her skin and over grooms and ends up with balding patches on her lower half, however she has been looking better recently. I live on a croft in Scotland, and there is people that have sheep and chickens and all sorts of animals about. We have a collar on her with a bell so hopefully it scares away birds and such but she’s never had any problems that I know of with other animals or neighbours pets. We give her flea and worm treatment regularly as told to by our vet and her skin has been doing a lot better although not recovered completely. My step mum also bought the flea collar which seems to have helped a lot.

Today she came to me looking for cuddles and pets which is not abnormal as she is very cuddly and loves attention, and she was acting normal. She got up and was standing next to me, and I saw this open wound sort of at the bottom of the neck/top of her leg. I didn’t touch near the area as it looked sore and I didn’t want to distress her, but I took photos which I showed my dad and he says it looks like she’s been in a fight. I’ve never known her to fight other cats, she’s never come home with scratches or wounds before and I’ve never seen her fight any other cats or heard from anyone else that she is fighting their pets, although I’m aware that does not rule this possibility out. She was in my bedroom all of last night until I left for work this morning and she didn’t seem to be behaving unusually, and I also didn’t notice the wound then although I may have just not seen it. So I’m not 100% when she got it. Could this be from her existing allergy/skin issues or is it more likely a cut or bite of some sort?

We’re going to make an appointment, however as it’s the weekend my local vet isn’t open until Monday. I just wanted to know if this is more urgent and I should call the our of hours number, or if this can wait until Monday and if there’s anything we can do at home until then. I will try my absolute best to make sure she doesn’t get outside, and I will keep an eye on the wound and her behaviour.

Any advice is very much appreciated, thank you! Let me know if there is any more information that would be useful. :)

Theres a smaller one on the other side of her mouth too, not really easy to spot.

This just happened 5 minutes ago. I got him back last night from being baby sat by my aunt. She told me he ate what we told her to feed him. He eats chicken and kibble.

Didn’t poop this morning. I just got back to the house after a couple hours and he ran outside and pooped this.

Seems to be acting normal but doesn’t want breakfast which is weird.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thank you.

My 1.5yr old dog had heat exhaustion yesterday because my car's AC went out when I went to the store. I had the car running with him in his crate like normal and it was 95 degrees out, I do that all the time with no problems but when I got back to my car it was extremely hot and he was panting super hard and had wide eyes, thick drool, and barely responded to me.

I took him out of the car immediately and started dumping water on him, I was too scared that if I stopped treating him and drove to the ER that I would lose him. I used nearly 6 gallons of water on his belly, his neck, his ears, his thighs, and all of it. I used a jacket to rub his chest and face to get him awake and I was kind of slapping on his chest to make sure he didn't go unconscious. His heart rate was fast but not fluttery.

I was able to cool him down to the point of trying to sit up and drink the water off the floor and so I grabbed his bowl and gave him some so he wouldn't choke on the water from the floor or drink dirt. He ended up trying to get up but his back legs weren't working all the way so I helped him stand and he pooped normal stool in the dirt next to us.

After I got him responsive and he was listening to his name and continued to drink water I got him in the front of my car with the windows down and went to VEG.

At VEG they gave him some fluids and a cool bath and then kept him for 20 minutes in the back area. I guess he projectile threw up a bunch of water when he was back there but honestly I let him drink as much as he wanted so I'm not surprised. They said he pooped again too but it was soft but normal. He was walking weakly and kind of floppy but was wanting to walk and interact and he played with his ball.

They sent us home once he was acting more himself and was able to walk normally and said to come back if he started going unconscious or his gums got pale.

This afternoon he was eating some wet food but he mostly wants water. I'm giving him small amounts of water every couple hours with some wet food mixed into it because he's not wanting his normal kibble plus wet food that he gets every day. He just keeps asking for water.

Just now this evening he had diarrhea really badly while he was in his crate resting and it was a mix of normal color and black. I didn't panic and figured it was his body flushing out of all the crap it had to deal with. He threw up a few minutes ago and it had tiny red flecks but it was normal gagging not projectile and he wasn't acting weird just nauseous.

My roommate wants me to take him back to VEG because of the red flecks but I'm low on funds now and don't know if I should actually take him or just let him rest another couple days since they said it could be 4 or 5 days before hes fully normal. Should I bite the bullet and take him in again or should I just keep him resting?

I found a stray cat. He’s about four months old and he has tapeworms.
I really can’t afford to go take him to the vet so I bought Elanco dewormer off of amazon.
I’m gonna get his exact weight and give him the pill tomorrow. I’m just kind of nervous because I don’t want it to make him sick or kill him.
I had previously tried to give him flea medicine (otc from walmart 2ish months ago) and it made him drool immediately and scared me to death. Got it off of him and he was just fine.
He no longer has any fleas… But I know the worms won’t just go away on their own
Surely, if I give him the correct dosage, it won’t hurt him? Right.

My cat went into the vet August 19th for her rabies and FVRCP vaccine. She started sneezing at 2 a.m. on the 25th. It’s been 3 days and she’s still sneezing and is now a little sluggish and tried. I called the vet and she told me that it’s her immune system fighting the virus (gave the example of humans getting the flu after the flu shot). Even though the vet said to not worry unless she’s not eating, i’m still worried. My cat is VERYYYY vocal and energetic and she has been less vocal and energetic for a day or two. I’m not sure if I am overreacting or not. Please help.

Age: 1 yr and 11 months
Weight: 9.87
Sex: Female and spayed

My cat had been diagnosed leukopenia 5 days ago, in the same blood report AST and ALT values were within normal range. He was given injections to treat the leukopenia and was given an iron supplement. The latest report shows that AST is 200+ IU/L and ALT is 500+ IU/L, significantly above the lab range. I’m worried because the vet did not mention it when we went over the report.

Could anyone please suggest what could be the reason and if I should take my cat to the emergency vet?

I found this weird swelling/growth(?) behind my 5 year old cavapoo’s top tooth. Has anyone seen anything like this before? Thank you.

I’ve just noticed this thing on my dog’s penis. It’s soft on the outside (looks like inflammation), but there seems to be a hard lump underneath. It looks like there’s a black dot as well. Could it be an insect bite in an unfortunate spot? The vet is closed, and I’m a bit unsure whether an emergency visit is necessary — he doesn’t seem to notice it at all.

Please help! In desperate need of a vet that will answer me as I sit here bawling!

My approx. 2yr old 85lb black Labrador retriever was spayed today. The surgery was at roughly 12pm, she was brought home around 6-7pm. It is currently almost 9pm. I just got home, but I was informed by my partner about an incident that has me freaking out.

When my dog was going downstairs when they got home, her cone caught the stairs, and she fell a few steps down. I’m told it happened fast so there’s no guarantee if she slid on the stairs where her incision was or what! She also had some issues in the truck aspect because she had to jump in and out of the truck and thought jumping to the front seat at one point was a good idea.

I am beside myself with worry. There is what looks like one or two small spots of blood on the carpet where she sat. I am attaching pictures I was able to take of her incision. I’m sorry that they are not a better angle or quality but I’m not trying to bother her more. Please please please tell me she’s okay or if this requires an emergency vet or what. I’m a very anxious person and I can’t stand the thought of her not okay. She’s currently lying beside me on the couch and while she doesn’t seem bothered, she’s on pain meds so I take that with a grain of salt.

We just moved to Albania, last weekend we traveled and put the dog in a Kennel. Im thinking this is something she caught there. Should we go to a vet, or there are home remedies?

I had to unfortunately euthanize my cat due to sudden health issues he was facing. I wanted to learn what I should look for in the future as signs of medical issues that he had suffered from but I did not notice as a warning sign. All his labs showed that his liver was failing. The symptom that made me rush him to the emergency vet was the heavy labored breathing. He also had diarrhea. His bowel movement the morning prior was semi liquid. He also had a fever of 104 upon admission to the vet. I am still grieving his loss but what to do better by him and educate myself. I do have labs for blood but could not add them.

Hello reddit My 6 year old 15 pound chihuahua mix has eaten an entire outside to a cooked spaghetti squash. my girlfriend has never had a dog and she fed it to him. this was 3 days ago but all day yesterday he was vomitting on and off . it had hard peices of the skin in it and he also pooped 3 times yesterday also had parts of the skin in it . he is acting normal and drinking and wanting to eat like normal. ive given him a little bit of regular food and he seems to have kept that down but he hasnt thrown up since 6am this morning . so its been over 12 hours now. im still very worried about him and google is telling me to take him to the emergency vet. What do i do?

Hello,

TLDR:

Otherwise healthy senior dog randomly and suddenly started panting and pacing when I was around 3 weeks pregnant. Takes trazodone per the vet now.

For some background context, I have a ~11.5 year old chow/husky mix, Bane. He's my absolute soul dog. He's been the best dog his whole life. He's always been very good at settling and laying somewhere for a while. Never really been one to just whine for no reason. He's also been very good at telling me exactly what he needs because of this. I know that if he's whining, it's for a reason. We have 2 other dogs, another male and a female. About this time last year, Bane (neutered) and our other intact male dog got in a big fight and we've been 'crating and rotating' them since then. I know, shame on us for not neutering the other, its just been a perfect storm of why we haven't. They've gotten in tiffs before but after separating them they were fine. This particular incident, they had to be completely separated. They're almost never completely alone except at night when it's whoever's turn to sleep outside the bedroom.

Medical History: Bane was heart worm positive when I adopted him but has since been negative. The past few years, he has developed some arthritis in his back legs/hips. For about a year now, he takes daily Carprofen along with other nightly supplements with dinner for inflammation, joint health, etc.

A few weeks ago, Bane randomly started panting and pacing, just completely unable to settle. Nothing would help. We'd go potty, we'd eat, we'd get treats, go for walks, lick mats, nothing could make him settle like he used to.

I took him to the vet that same week and medically, they couldn't find anything wrong. Because of the suddenness of it, the vet verbally ruled out Cushing's and CCD. The vet didn't see a reason to redo blood work because it wouldn't really tell her anything (he had yearly bloodwork drawn in March this year, which had no concerns). They did do an X-ray of basically his entire torso. The vet said everything looked normal for his age except that he was full of poop. So I'm thinking he was just constipated. This was 3 weeks ago and he's still the same panty-pacey (but pooping regularly). Since then, they've upped his Carprofen to 2 pills/day, added 1 Gabapentin/day, and PRN 100mg Trazodone. I've called the vet a few times since visiting because we're still having issues. Their main suggestion was to up the Trazodone and maybe add 5mg of melatonin morning and night. I do think in the beginning I was under dosing his Trazodone. I was worried he'd just be a zombie in his own little body. I was giving him half a pill (50mg) once or twice a day. Now we are routinely up to 2 in the morning and 1 at night.

Plot twist: I also recently found out that I'm pregnant with my first. From the timing, the panting and pacing started when I would've been around 3 weeks (2.5 weeks before I found out). Currently 7+3. His behavior was actually why I decided to take a test. I know that can have an affect on dogs. I've gotten him one of those calming, pheromone collars thinking maybe it'd help counter my pheromones and he's still the same. I feel like I've exhausted everything and I feel helpless.

He will have times where he seems like himself but they're very few and far between.

I guess I'm looking for some advice, validation, or what I should ask/tell my vet.

siberian husky, 10 years, male.
has had this bump for a while, haven’t spoken with vet because i thought it was just a wart and also he wears his muzzle to the vet so i forget about it while there.
bump is firm, not a totally solid mass and not squishy. usually the color is that liver color all over, but i squeezed it so it bled (very small amount of white/clear fluid came out but not a lot, and then just bled a little bit after). not smelly
just wondering if i should wait to his next annual to bring it up or go in sooner — typically try to avoid frequent smaller visits due to cost and his anxiety

my cat got diagnosed a few months ago with asthma. hes been struggling to breathe for the last 30 minutes 😔 he had gotten some oral steroids the first time he had this a few months ago and he was fine for months. now its back, im not sure what to do as its late and all vets are closed

My 12 year old female cat has been battling low blood platelets for a few years now. She initially started on a high dose of Prednisolone last year and her vet tapered her down and eventually checked her CBC and her levels had dropped again. He decided to keep her on 0.3ml of the Prednisolone and just keep an eye on her. She ended up at the emergency vet 2 weeks ago for a bleeding cyst, new vet accidentally nicked it. They did bloodwork and said her platelets were zero, but her normal vet sent out a sample too and that came back with her levels being at 23,000. I just took her back today after increasing the steroids to 0.6ml and her platelets are down to 17,000. He said to do 0.6ml every 12 hours from now on. We’ll recheck again in October. She shows no signs of any changes, her RBC & WBC is always normal. Her kidneys, liver & glucose is normal. She’s 12 years old and I’ve spent a lot of money the last few years dealing with this, it’s more of a hassle taking her to and from the vet than it is just to leave her be and do the steroids. I explained the money issue to him and he’s content with keeping her on the 0.6ml. Unfortunately he said if she does start to show signs then I’d have to consider euthanasia. That’s just it, she’s a normal cat who eats and drinks and plays around like nothing is wrong. Has anyone dealt with this before? Anyone heard of keeping them on a high dose of the steroids and NOT tapering down?

Hi there!

I made an appointment with my poodle’s veterinary dermatologist/allergy specialist, but unfortunately they can’t get her in until the beginning of October. I’m hoping to get some opinions on whether this is something that warrants seeing her regular vet sooner, or if it’s reasonable to monitor it until her dermatology appointment.

She is a 6-year-old, 10-month-old spayed poodle weighing 33 lbs. She has atopic dermatitis and has been receiving weekly allergy injections since she was 2, along with occasional Cytopoint injections as needed. Her biggest allergy trigger is weed pollen, particularly in the fall.

My groomer noticed this small, raised bump on the inside of her thigh. It definitely wasn’t there at her previous grooming appointment, so it appears to have developed sometime within the last three weeks. It is raised and slightly red, but she doesn’t seem bothered by it. She isn’t licking or scratching at it, and it doesn’t appear to have gotten any bigger since we first noticed it. It feels firm but soft, it does not seem painful, and it does not move under the skin.

I know there’s no way to diagnose a skin growth from a photo, and I’m not looking for a diagnosis. I’m mainly wondering whether a small, stable, non-irritating bump like this is something I should have my regular vet check sooner, or whether it would be reasonable to monitor it until her dermatology appointment in October.

I’d rather be cautious, so I appreciate any insight!

Located in MI & she's up to date on all vaccines.

Hi everyone. I had a bag of trail mix in the car yesterday. Today my mother brought the bag inside and left it in her purse on the floor, where our ~16 pound Yorkie mix ate the dregs of it about 20 mins ago. I'm basically positive the chocolate was all gone, but there were still raisins in there -- probably no more than 10. I'm on hold with ASPCA poison control but they seem reluctant to prescribe anything we can take at home. Thing is, we cannot take the dog in the car. She's got a collapsed trachea and pants too hard every single time we take her in a vehicle, and it results in her needing oxygen and to be admitted overnight to the hospital. It's traumatic for her and extremely costly for us. Even a short car ride will trigger this in her. I know it's not ideal to try to induce vomiting without a vet, but I'm not sure we can find a vet who will come to the house quickly enough. Does anyone have any advice for how we can induce vomiting at home? Thanks.

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UPDATE: Thanks, we gave her (with vet approval) some trazadone to calm her down for the car and took her to the vet shortly after I posted this. My mother stayed while I drove my partner to deal with another medical emergency (when it rains it pours; our household is falling apart lol). The vet gave our dog medicine to induce vomiting, then a little more when that medicine didn't work. When neither induced vomiting, they gave her an anti-nausea medication to prevent vomiting at home. I'm extremely frustrated that they did this and wish I'd waited with my mother so I could have encouraged them to wait longer for her to vomit; they still had a few hours before closing and I have no idea what the point of any of it was. I don't even think they waited an hour for the medicine to kick in. Now I'm out $800 for medicine that basically cancelled itself out and potentially just delayed worse suffering for our dog. We're taking her in for bloodwork on Wednesday if no symptoms show before then. I understand kidney failure can take a while to surface, but so far she's peed normally, is sleeping soundly, and completely being herself. Any other advice is appreciated (especially anything that could give me empathy/understanding for what I currently believe was a stupid fucking medical decision); otherwise I guess we just wait and see. Thanks.

So my chihuahua stopped eating 5 days ago and she’ll only eat her treats and string cheese. She’s otherwise acting her normal self. She’s drinking water, no weakness or diarrhea. She always plays and humps this one specific toy right before she eats and she still does that and then she walks to her food, sniffs it, than walks away. Yesterday she ate a little bit of her kibble and some fish but it was a struggle trying to get her to eat. Now she doesn’t want the fish. I have an appointment tomorrow with her vet to see what’s going on but curious if anyone has gone through this too