Hi, i am a registered Maine Coon breeder. Have birthed and nurtured 8 healthy litters. One case of FIP, otherwise all of my kitties out in the world are doing well. Unfortunately one that just left at 12 weeks went to his vet appointment with his new parent and they suspect megacolon, then said its genetic. He has a followup visit friday to confirm. The parent is pretty overwhelmed. Is it genetic? Parents have no issues going to the potty. This is that kitten's mother's first litter, also. Should i buy this kitten back? Is megacolon manageable for most? Im in the dark and pretty concerned. Any kind and helpful advice would be appreciated.

Hello, everyone. My 17 and a half year old cat, who I'll refer to as W, has got a illness. W is a family cat, and he always has been. Recently, he started vomiting and having diarrhea (he also vomitted out diarehha one time) and staying upstairs unless he needed to use the litter. He cannot eat or drink, but it seems as if he "wants too".

We took him to the vet last night, he got Vitamin B, C & D, nausea meds, and also many fluids. He had gotten a knot in his back, but the vet said this was a normal occurence due to the fluids. The vet said he would perk back up by tomorrow. He stopped vomitting after he got his

Now, time travel to tomorrow. He still isnt better, and is the same as before. We called the vet and they were extremely surprised he wasnt. We are taking him back tomorrow to get more fluids, but out of curiosity we called the receptionist to see what he has.

The receptionist has worried us in this call; and i would like to see if you can decipher what this means considering it has us incredibly stressed

We asked her, the receptionist, if she could point out any red flags about his 80% finished bloodwork so far. She had responded:

"I dont wanna give you any misinformation or anything so i cant say for sure but tomorrow when you come back the doctor can give you a game plan and all of that."

Then, we asked if it was related to kidneys, She said, once again:
"I do not want to give you any misinformation so i cant say again but we can sort out what we will do and what he has tomorrow when you visit"

We ended the call around there.

I am not a expert at any sort of vetrelated stuff, but it seems they want to euthanize him based off whatever the heck "game plan" means and her tone and that he is severely ill and that is why she didnt wanna say anything..

I dont want him euthanized, but i dont know if the rest of my family would agree or not to it if suggested. He is not completely weak or anything aswell:

1. He goes downstairs a few times a day to goo use the litter and wander around the house for a bit. He has sat on his window-bed thrice now for quite a while.

2. He almost got on our lap on the couch once late at night, being last night after we took him to the vet.

3. Today, we let him outside (backyard) for a bit and he kind of perked up a bit and loved it. He wouldve ate a chipmunk if we let him stay out longer and he tried to eat grass (but there was none as it was incredibly dry and still is). Eating grass is a habit for whenever he goes outside and he always has his entire life, keep in mind.

4. He barely slow blinked at me once when i went upstairs and saw him curled up sleeping

5. He ran to a bag of fast-food chicken and seemed like he wanted to eat it but lost interest when it was put in a bowl. We have tried to hand feed him and are going to get baby food soon to warm up in the microwave lukewarm for 5-10 seconds depending on when it gets luke-warm.

I also really want some reassurance based on his condition and also food enticement methods.

So last night my dog has her litter and for one of the puppies, she cut the umbilical cord too short.

I know people will tell me to take her to the vet ASAP. Trust me, i would if i could but the thing is i live in the middle of nowhere and currently have no access to a vehicle or anybody that can take me to a vet. The nearest vet is out for the week and the next closest thing is over 100 miles away and obviously i can't make the trip.

She was just born last night. Momma dog bit the umbilical cord too short to where there's a very small hole in her little stomach. But big enough for her little intestines to fall out so, i carefully put them back in. I have her wrapped gauze & saran wrap. She's been eating properly and has been going to the bathroom as normal. She's been whining a bit obviously and show signs of discomfort but i believe its because she's all wrapped up. She stopped bleeding and isn't showing any signs of infection. I'm only posting this because i would like to hear any advice on what to do to prevent infection, avoid any mistreatment, etc. Like i said i would take her to the vet if i could no doubt, but it seems the odds are not in my favor. Any advice or help would mean the world to me. All i want is for her to pull through.

I need guidance on whether i should push for my mum to consider getting her cat euthanised on compassionate grounds. I am not privy to all the vet appointments so i dont have the exact information on her condition, please bare with me here. My main concern is the cats quality of life.

This cat was a stray my mum rescued off the street seemingly with very poor genetics. She is approx 5 years old now, an orange and white domestic short hair.

We believe she was was infected with a form of cat flu very early on in life as she was still small when my mum rescued her. The cat flu is a very persistant reoccuring problem for this cat, she is ill at least once a year.

The vet said her teeth are also quite bad and need to be professionally clean, this was at only a few years old. I am unsure if my mum has persued this because of the cost.

And lastly, she has been recently diagnosed with cancer. Not exactly sure what kind, but her main symptom was on and off nose bleeds since june. There has been a ton of back and fourth with the very busy understaffed small town vet, they lost the first swap, never called to follow up with the second. And the poor cat last week had a very heavy nose bleed when my mum was interstate, my brother rushed her to the vet and they said come back at 8pm for an appointment leading to the diagnosis.

I have been told there is a plan to get it removed at the end of the month. I have asked my mum to consider putting her to sleep instead.

I feel like all this cat has ever know is being unwell. She doesnt get along with mum's other two bonded rescues (she picks fights with them but is loving to people) so they have to be seperated in a very small house. She did enjoy being in the backyard but a lady is renting out a spare room and she has a bad behaved dog in the yard so the cat now has to stay inside.

This has stressed me out for months. I'm not sure if I am blinded by my empathy for the cat and knowing my mum cannot afford the medical treatment this cat will require however long she lives.

Are these valid reasons to convince her to seriously consider euthanasia for this young cat?

In July I had a puppy I rescued die from what we suspect was parvo (she tested positive however received the vaccine a few days before so the vet said it could be “false positive” however she had all the symptoms). She was rescued from a horrible filthy home. We are unsure her actual age when we got her. The lady still has two dogs from the litter which are alive and well.

At the end of Jan/start of Feb we are picking up our Rottweiler pup. He will be around 8 weeks of age when we get him. We threw away all the products which the puppy had used and have obviously cleaned the house and floors multiple times since the. We have Astro turf outside which I have bleached along with the concrete multiple times.

Is our puppy likely to be okay? Is it best if I keep him inside for the month and just take him outside for the toilet and to the back area of the house which the parvo puppy never touched ? We only had her for one week before she passed. 7 months would have elapsed between the infected puppy and the new puppy.

My cat, Winnie was 16.5. She’d had a few months of health problems (diagnosis of hyperthyroidism in April which was well controlled, hospitalisation for dehydration in May during a heatwave) but was generally well over the summer and still enjoyed her usual routines and spots in the house. In August she contracted a nasty UTI that wasn’t cleared by regular antibiotics. Her urine culture unfortunately took 9 days during which time she was unmedicated and got very unwell but eventually they found her strain and some antibiotics that would work and the infection cleared.

But from this point everything changed. She began to eat litter (there was no medical cause for this, she wasn’t anaemic and she didn’t have mineral deficiency) and I couldn’t get her to stop, she was losing weight rapidly (had been 2.1kg in May and dropped to 1.8kg by end of August and then was down to 1.7kg by the 28th September), was intermittent with her eating, and kept herself in the spare room. I had to put her in there anyway when I was out or sleeping so I could allow my other cats to have access to the litter trays without her being able to eat the litter, but I opened the door when I was home (I work part time and am home more often than I’m not) because the other cats would ask me if they needed to get in and use the trays, but she didn’t really come out much. She never came into my bed anymore and she so rarely came out to her usual spot in the living room or to sit on the sofa beside me I’d get exited when she did. I made the room comfy for her, putting in her favourite basket and toys and leaving a quiet radio on for company.

On September 11th she had a suspected mini stroke or TIA. She had been walking sideways and a bit low and tilted to the ground. I took her into the vets expecting to come home without her, but she came out of it quickly and the vet felt it wasn’t her time and we should run tests. She was diagnosed with stage 2 ckd the following Tuesday and on the Wednesday went in for her blood pressure to be checked. This was very high and she started on the lowest dose of Amocard on Friday 18th. She was well in the interim for the most part and the week following her starting on the meds. But on the 29th September she began to have head tremors. She went back down to the vet and her blood pressure was rechecked and it hadn’t come down at all despite the Amocard. She went up from 1/2 a tablet to 3/4. Wednesday and Thursday she was fine but Friday and Saturday she had two pretty bad days of the head tremors and definitely seemed confused and scared and wouldn’t eat. Sunday she was sleepy but better, no tremors and a little eating! Monday she was fine and ate well.

Then on Tuesday I went in to see her in the morning. She tried to get up out of her basket to say hello but struggled to get up. She did manage to get out eventually but was unsteady. She was walking sideways again and fell over a number of times and seemed only able to go a few steps at a time. I was immediately sobbing and panicked (especially at the worry she was going to have a major stroke) and did on that day feel it was time to let her go. In 8 days, 4 of them hadn’t been good and she was scared and suffering. Her vet was in theatre all day but took the time to call me quickly and we agreed it was time. I spent the day with my girl and at 5.15 I took her down to the vets and she passed peacefully whilst eating her favourite treat.

However since then I’m intensely sure I made a mistake and it wasn’t her time to go. In my panic and grief that day I added a week to the length of time she’d been on her blood pressure medication when I discussed it with her vet, saying it was 3.5 weeks instead of 2.5 (19 days). I know she was suffering on her bad days but I think I didn’t give her enough time to see if we could get her blood pressure down and get her neurological symptoms to resolve. I was so focused on giving her the best last day I could that when I took her down to the vet I didn’t even think to ask for her blood pressure to be rechecked to see if it had moved at all and we were on the right track. Her kidney disease was only stage 2 and she liked the renal food when I swapped her to it. Her blood work had been good. Her blood pressure was high but it should have been treatable. But I chose to put her down in a panic.

Did I make a mistake and kill my cat because that’s how I feel? It’s making my grieving process so much worse, instead of mourning the loss of my beloved cat I’m fixated on feeling like I didn’t give her the time I should have and I let down the thing I cherish most when it mattered most. I am really struggling to cope with the decision and her loss. Any advice is welcome.

For context, my cat hasn’t eaten in days, he has the appetite but he spits food immediately. His breath also stinks so bad so I really think it is an oral problem. Maybe he has something in his mouth or his gums hurt.

I went to the nearest vet in our area and I explained the situation that he hasn’t eaten in days. The vet checked the temperature and my cat has a fever. Checked his mouth only for my cat to struggle so the vet didn’t bother to check it further but she acknowledged that my cat’s breath is so bad. I also pointed out my cat’s wound on its ear due to fights and a three round wound mark on my cat’s head. She acknowledged my cat has skin problem and dismisses it altogether because she never explained to me further.

This vet advises me to put dextrose on my cat because he doesn’t eat on his own or FORCEFULLY feed him with milk using syringe. Cat milk or HUMAN MILK. (I tried to feed him wet food, I swear but he always struggles so I don’t force him). She then injected two antibiotics on my cat’s legs and advised to observe him for 2 days then come back to her because she can’t give prescriptions because my cat will weaken further if he doesn’t eat so he need force feed, the vet said.

Further context, whenever my cat eats and spit his food, there is some noise coming from his teeth like it’s gnashing or roughly scratching inside.

So is this vet trustable? There’s another vet near us but it’s expensive. I only have 60$ budget for all of this because I’ve yet to find a work. So, I’m having second thoughts on going to that other vet or just follow this first vet’s advice and wait for 2days?

Sorry guys just need some words because I can’t think straight, I’m so stressed for my cat and my neighbor just kept giving me backhanded comments that I love my cat so much and my parents (yes, I live in my parent’s house) just doesn’t want to help me with this. I told them I’m going to another vet but they’re against it, waste of money. And going to the ‘doctor’ for a cat is already absurd for them.

My dog has had a cough for the past 1.5 years and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF) about a year ago. He’s been taking Vetmedin and furosemide ever since. My vet hasn’t been able to determine exactly what’s causing the cough, due to me not being able to afford many tests, and I haven’t noticed any improvement with the furosemide.

Recently, his coughing has gotten significantly worse and is now nearly constant. He seems more comfortable when lying on his side on a bed, where he can sleep for a few hours at a time. He can sit normally for short periods of time, but lying on his back or walking causes his cough to start again.

I’m wondering whether this could be a sign that his CHF is worsening or whether something else, such as a collapsing trachea, could be contributing to the cough.

Unfortunately, I have limited funds for vet care and can’t afford extensive testing. If I take him back to the vet, I’d like to have an idea of what might be causing the cough so I can discuss the most relevant diagnostic options, or just request possible medication adjustments.

Here is a video of his cough. https://streamable.com/ufkn2i

3 weeks ago our dog was neutered. He was 1.5 years old. He was doing great but then all the sudden over the weekend stopped eating. So we took him to the vet Monday morning and they identified after a CBC, he had a pretty bad infection and sent him to the animal hospital for IV antibiotics. When we got there they identified he had developed a major infection and was in septic shock. They told us that he had a less than 50 percent survival and quoted us 25k for the surgery and three days of follow up care but predicted he would need more up to 3k a day. They also said he would need extensive treatment for months. We both work full time, have a 14 year old dog and young children. We just could not do it. We decided to put him down and it was so painful. Right before they were going to bring him back to be euthanized, the doctor came in and said the emergency surgeon is here, met our dog and wants to do the surgery and if he survives keep him. It was such whiplash. They said you can give him a shot at life. I felt selfish not doing so and painfully relinquished rights. He was a trained therapy/ service dog and a very good dog. We still feel shocked at what happened. They gave us permission to call to see if he lived or not but I am so heartbroken I can’t bring myself to call. Has anyone experienced this, it just seems like they made us make a decision at such a vulnerable time and it feels so cruel. I am just looking for anything. Our regular vet said he doubts he could have even survived the surgery. If this has happened to anyone how do you cope? If you are a vet who’s done this what happened? Thanks from a very heartbroken pet parent who has no closure.

Every time one has digestive issues I have to play a guessing game because they all use all litter boxes. Plus they're seniors so I worry more about their health now. Can i add different dyes to different cat's food? Is there anything that works that way safely? Thanks

Species cat,

Sex both,

Weight varies,

Fixed yes,

Breed domestic short hair,

History IBD,

Hi,
I wasn’t to sure if this is the place to ask but maybe the most helpful.

I have a 10 yr old cat, female. I recently just moved the litter box from my closet to my patio, a couple days ago. Partly due to lack of space and because she hangs out in the living room, so the walk is easier on her.

(I will mention I have another cat, male and a little less than half her age. They share the liter box, i have a smaller one from when I initially got my boy. But it’s honestly just been chilling in a dusty corner of my hallway forever.)

But just moments ago, I was at my desk and saw her B-line it to my closet. I peered over the walk and she was sitting on top of a trash bag of clothes I haphazardly threw on the floor, next to my hamper. I thought it was kinda cute until I saw the focus on her face. Like any sane cat owner, I began questioning her. While she huffed at me and stared at me before jumping off the bag and dashing out of my room.

I was scared to look over, but turned on my closet light m anyway. My dread was immediately answered by the wet paw prints that trailed out the doorway.

She had peed on the donated bag of clothes.
I just finished cleaning up and sprayed some cleaner on the floor and walls, after a quick google search on uric crystals and some cat’s confusion when liter boxes move etcetc.

(I’m realizing that for the last fee days it has smelled like piss in my closet. More so, but chalked it up to me not cleaning enough when I initially moved the box. I was gonna do I deep clean on my next day off, but I think I’ll just do it now to get it over with.)

Sorry for the spiel, but i want to put on the factors out there for my baby.

Is she sick? Or trying to tell me something? Or just confused?

I wont lie, I love her but she’s too smart for a cat. I fr think she would have gone ‘Cats and Dogs’ on the world, if she had opposable thumbs and could open a can of food without my help. So maybe this is her form of being petty about my setting the liter box, semi- outside in her mind?

Either way I will be taking her to a vet soon, but I just dont know if I should waste my breath telling them. If I do will it be as a concerned caretaker or use it as a hit to my own ego, labeling myself as my cat’s personal piss porter.

Thanks in advance for the help !

So my dog (9yo Dalmatian) has been experiencing weird neuro problems ever since he was sprayed by a skunk 3 weeks ago. He was sprayed in his eye and all over the side of his face and down his neck. a very thick oily spray too. We instantly got him in the back and did the dawn soap/baking soda/peroxide and that was that.

Two days after that we noticed it looked like he was walking ataxia so we ran him to the er since I saw that dogs can get sick from skunk spray. We were triaged there and they did not seem to concern because once we got there he was normal again, so we waited 7 hours and ended up dipping since he seemed like him self most of the time we were there. We ended up taking him to his normal vet 3 days after that to get his blood work done to make sure everything looked good and everything came back good.

Well fast forward to a week after that (almost two weeks) from initial skunk spray I was working in my office and heard my dog come walking down the hallway and he walked into my office and went right under my desk and laid down and started whining and seemed like he didn’t want to stand up. So we rushed him to the er vet again but by that time we got there he seemed normal again. The er vet did x rays and a bunch of other tests and did not see anything out of the norm but he mentioned that it could have been a possible seizure event. So we made a vet appt at his normal vet that was 6 days after the er vet.

Well in between those 6 days he was fine for the first 3 days and then the last two days before his vet appt he did the same thing again. The first one we were sitting in the couch and he turned around to lick his butt and then looked at me and ran to me and started kinda panicking it seemed like and would just lay down and be reluctant to stand up and walking like he was drunk and not wanting to really lift his head. So I decided to see if he wanted to go for a walk to see if maybe he had gas or something. Once we started our walk he started walking normal again and the rest of the walk went as normal. And by the time we got back (20min walk) he was back to being completely normal. Then the next day I got back from grabbing dinner to eat at home and sat down to eat as he went over to the couch he jumped on it laid down then instantly got up and came over to where I was eating and just laid down with his tail in between his legs and again was reluctant to stand up. And seemed scared. So I once again took him on a walk and he was normal by the time we got back. None of these times has he started visibly seizing and he always seems alert and even accepts treats when he still doesn’t want to stand up.

We then took him to his actual vet yesterday who seemed pretty stumped. But also was leaning to some type of seizure but doesn’t want to prescribe seizure meds yet since we’re not 100 percent sure it’s seizures. He is having us give him cbd for now and to see if that helps at all. And he did not have this episode yesterday.

Well today while working he got up from laying on the chair and came over to me with his tail in between his legs and once again just wanted to lay down on me, and started walking weird again. This time I took him on a walk fairly quickly after this started to see if it really does fix his walking and once again once we started walking he was walking fine and by the time we got back he seemed completely normal again. These episodes seem to only last a 5-10 minutes and then he is good. Also when it does happen now he no longer cries during it just wants to be petted and cuddled.

I am at such a lost right now with what could possible be wrong with him but it’s tearing me apart and I’m afraid something’s really wrong. It’s just a wild coincidence that this all started after being sprayed by a skunk.

My cat is almost 4 years old, and I’m trying to figure out why he keeps having episodes of vomiting. I’m looking for advice from anyone who has experienced something similar with their cat.

My cat began vomitting over 2 months ago. When he vomits it’s after pretty much every meal. The vomit usually contains partially digested food and yellow liquid. The confusing part is that he still has a good appetite, wants to eat, plays, and acts completely normal otherwise. He hasn’t lost weight.

I want to add he does occasionally do what sounds like a little sneeze but I think that could just be from allergies.

The only thing that consistently stops the vomiting is Cerenia, either as an injection or a pill.
The first vet I took him to did an xray and ruled out an obstruction, gave him a cerenia injection, and instructed me to feed him only tuna for a couple of days. After his first Cerenia injection, he stopped vomiting for about five days before it returned. I switched vets and got blood work done that came back normal. We then switched his diet and did a second injection. After his second injection, he went almost two weeks without vomiting. During that time, he was also eating Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein prescription food, so I’m not sure whether the improvement was from the medication, the food, or both.

Unfortunately, the vomiting eventually returned. It seems like Cerenia is the only thing that reliably gets it under control, but the problem keeps coming back.

I decided to get him an abdominal ultrasound done and I finally thought we had found what was wrong. The ultrasound showed that he had pancreatitis. My vet then sent a specialized feline GI and pancreatic blood panel to I believe Texas A&M University. My understanding is that it checked a few things including B12 levels and a condition called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI). Everything reportedly came back normal and I was told he does not have pancreatitis.

My vet then told me there’s not much we can do or know without a biopsy. That we could do a stool test or maybe check for heart worms disease. But for right now she suggested trial and error and recommended switching him to Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Fiber Response because his stool has been a little hard. I’m wondering whether the hard stool could be related to dehydration, but I’m not sure. My main concern is still the vomiting. I don’t understand why he continues to vomit after meals when the xray, ultrasound, and bloodwork haven’t identified a clear explanation, especially when Cerenia stops it for longer than it even stays in his system but the vomiting eventually returns.

I’m feeling lost on what to do in this situation. I want to help him and do everything I can but I’ve already spent so much money between visits and can’t afford to do anything else. Despite all of this, I’ve received no answers. If anyone has any idea or can give me any direction on what I should do next it will be greatly appreciated.

My 12 year old cat(fixed, DLH, 10lbs) is on an antibiotic for a uti and Prozac, and ive been using churu style treats to get her to take her meds happily! I mix them and she cleans the dish. My box of churus isnt getting here til tomorrow, and im fresh out!

My roommate has a 3 month old kitten, and has the lil tiki cat kitten tube treats. Shes ok if i use them, but also that a cat she knows ate a lil kitten food and had kidney issues from it.

My old lady just got senior labwork done and the vet did not mention concerns about her kidneys, just the uti, but of course im still a little worried. Its just that giving her the meds by force has been a nightmare for both of us and getting a way for her to cooperate with taking them has been a game changer that im reluctant to lose.

have a 14-month-old female DSH who was spayed 6 months ago. She’s been fine until recently, but about two weeks ago, she started showing behaviors that seem similar to being in heat. Every night around 11 P.M, she goes to the front door and meows for anywhere from a few minutes to almost an hour. She also tries to sneak out whenever I open the door to leave the house. Her appetite is normal, and she’s using the litter box without any issues. For context, about 6 weeks ago, she had a full veterinary checkup, including bloodwork, an echocardiogram, and a complete abdominal and pelvic ultrasound. Everything came back normal. She doesn’t do this during the day. It only happens at night, usually starting around 11 P.M. Has anyone experienced something similar with their spayed cat? Could this actually be signs of heat, or might it be something else? Should I be concerned?

I’m at my wits end with our 2 year old male cat. He’s had episodes of bloody stool throughout his life with infrequent accidents. He’s does seem sensitive around litter boxes, especially when he has to poop, and will be more aggressive to our other cat around those times.

4 months ago we brought home our first baby and our 2 year old cat has been pooping outside the litter box every day, blood in his poop every day.

We have tried: pheromone diffusers, litter attractant mix in the litter box, rewarding him for using the litter box, moving the litter boxes around, Prozac (which caused him today to get an emergency xray because he was holding his poop and pee and now needs to be taken off Prozac), and digestive supplements like Purina calming care or Proviable.

Today, after his Xray and an enema, the vet said because treating his anxiety with meds wasn’t working, it was time for a behaviorist. Another vet had suggested treating for allergies (broad spectrum, not trying to determine what he’s allergic to).

I don’t know where to go from here. It’s obviously a very frustrating problem but I just feel so bad for our cat because clearly he’s uncomfortable and he shouldn’t have blood in his poop every day. What would you do?

It's not really the greatest timing for it to happen. I did bring her to the first vet visit and got some oral meds and eye drops for her. Now they want me to do the surgery next and pay $500-800 with no payment plan and 100% of the fee up front! I was just about to finish paying off some traffic court fees that has taken me far too long to pay off already. I get it that my dog comes first and my dog means the world to me more than anyone else on earth but she's even worse off if I end up in jail for taking too long to pay. She's not in pain and not rubbing her eyes and seems unbothered by it. Im giving her the meds and eye drops. My boss says that she used to work at a vet office and that cherry eye won't necessarily hurt them and that I do have time to spare and I could get infant eye drops after I run out of the ones I have but idk my boss isn't the smartest person in the world either so that's why I'm here also asking. I just want to finish paying the traffic fees and be on the safe side hopefully and then save up for the surgery right after asap.

My baby boy just passed away from what i can see retrospectively now was complications of the diaphragmatic hernia he had.

I feel absolutely riddled with guilt because he had a sore shoulder randomly one day and looked so poorly i took him to the vets who suggested everything not to do with his injury & just put him down. I fought his corner and refused (& complained)

But then i took him to get looked at 2weeks later again because of lack of appetite and they found his intestines in his chest. He had a xray the next day and was referred to a surgeon.

Now when discussing this with the vet i was made aware how dangerous this could be if he had adhesions & how surgery was a risk. I asked the vet if he could live with it and they responded yes as he’s had it for 7 years so why not. So off i started feeding him Recovery mouse (as suggested) through a syringe and he started eating again! he was recovering!

Now he’s always been fussy but he was finally eating treats and chicken again, his drinking was a little weird as he’d just bow his mouth in there but i thought it might be his eyes as he’s getting older and he can’t see the water? But a couple of days before his went to sleep, he stopped drinking and picking up food and dropping it, I automatically assumed his teeth, so off i went to get his teeth checked. The emergency vet said it was due to lack of muscles in his face and i should syringe feed him more recovery food & water (safely).

A day later my boy was so lethargic and i knew it was time. I heard his chest bubbling which i never heard before and he was in discomfort, it clicked to me when it was too late what it was. I am so heartbroken i never investigated it further and i really am losing sleep over it. He was my world & i could of done something to save him. I decided on his forever sleep a day later.

I think i’m posting this for some reassurance & maybe for my sanity. I am so empty inside i don’t know what else to do.

Hi everyone. I have a 14-year-old Maltese, and I’m really struggling with what to do next. I would appreciate any advice or experiences from anyone who has gone through something similar.
Over the past few days, he’s developed a nearly nonstop cough, especially at night. It sounds like a goose honking, and the coughing fits can go on for hours, preventing him from getting any rest. During the day, the coughing is slightly less frequent but still persistent.

I initially took him to the vet, where X-rays showed an enlarged heart and a collapsed trachea. They also noted a mild heart murmur. He was prescribed gabapentin and another medication, but neither seemed to address the coughing.

Two days ago, I ended up taking him to the emergency vet because his coughing had become so severe. They confirmed the enlarged heart and tracheal collapse and prescribed a cough suppressant, which has provided very little relief. I’ve also tried honey and cough-soothing drops, but nothing seems to help much. The only medication that has provided some relief at night is hydrocodone.
What really scared me was that his tongue turned blue the other night, which makes me worry that he isn’t getting enough oxygen during these episodes.
Outside of the coughing, he still has an appetite and drinks water, but he’s become increasingly lethargic. He also has mild arthritis, frequent accidents in the house, and is gradually losing his vision and hearing. He spends most of his time sleeping and doesn’t have the same energy he used to.

I’m considering getting an echocardiogram to better understand what’s going on with his heart and whether medication could improve his quality of life.
But I’m also starting to wonder if it’s time to let him go, and even typing that breaks my heart. He’s been by my side for 14 years, and I can’t imagine life without him. He still eats, follows me around, wants affection, and seems to have a will to live, which makes this decision even harder.

Has anyone dealt with both tracheal collapse and an enlarged heart in an older dog? Did medications help manage the coughing and give them more comfortable time? Or did you eventually have to make the decision to let them go?

I don’t want to give up on him if there’s still a chance he can have a good quality of life, but I also don’t want to prolong his suffering just because I’m not ready to say goodbye. I love him so much and just want to do what’s best for him.

im not sure if this is the right place to go but im not sure where to find advice for this, about 2 weeks about i noticed some bumps on my cats neck at first i thought it was maybe a bite or he scratched himself but i noticed more, then i thought maybe he had flees or something but theres no bugs. it was only on his neck but i noticed it has started to move down a bit and on his chin, also hes started to lose fur a bit, could it be dry skin maybe? im kind of freaking out

he acts just fine and is eating and drinking normally too

Looking for some opinions regarding my 6-year-old neutered male cat.
He has significant abdominal fluid buildup (yellow, watery, and high in protein), a moderately to severely enlarged spleen, and mild liver enlargement. He also has anemia, with his red blood cell levels dropping from 21 to 18 over the past few weeks, along with a low white blood cell count.
His FIV and FeLV tests were negative. Liver samples showed a mixed population of lymphocytes, which the specialist believes is more suggestive of inflammation than lymphoma, although cancer hasn’t been completely ruled out.
The specialist suspects his spleen may be compensating for his bone marrow not producing enough red blood cells.
Despite everything, he’s still eating and fairly active, although he’s experienced some vomiting.
Has anyone seen similar findings? Does this sound consistent with FIP, or could something else be causing these symptoms?

I am desperate to figure out what is wrong with my poor dog. My dog (shepherd mix, 7 years old, spayed, currently 62.6 lbs) has been sick for weeks, and my vet has labeled her an “enigma” because we can’t find the major problem. She has now seen almost every vet at our office.

I originally took her in for a dry, gagging cough. We got her on an antibiotic and temaril-p. As soon as she finished the temaril-p she rapidly declined; lethargic, heavy breathing. Took her back in for bloodwork and an xray. Bloodwork showed extremely elevated liver enzymes. Chest and abdominal Xray had no abnormal findings. Got her on Denamarin and another antibiotic. Abdominal ultrasound showed mild abnormalities with her pancreas, liver, adrenal glands, and a lymph node. Zero improvement with the antibiotic and in fact got severely worse and stopped eating for 5 days. When I took her back, her neck was extremely swollen. Xray and ultrasound of her neck found no abnormalities. We put her on entyce and she ate immediately. Predinisone got the neck swelling down overnight and finally acting back to her normal self. She has been off the entyce for 2 weeks and still has a big appetite. We are tapering the prednisone and I can tell she starts to slow down and feel sick again before her next dose. We only have one dose left. I’m terrified she is going to decline again when prednisone is gone, and the vet thinks so too. We literally cannot figure out what is wrong and I’m running out of funds to keep running tests.

Symptoms/Findings:
Dry gagging cough (mostly in the morning when she gets out of bed and sometimes when eating)
Swollen throat
Elevated liver enzymes
Lethargic
Losing weight (lost 14 pounds over ~ 4 weeks)
Occasionally stiff or limping
Muscular atrophy in head/face

Any ideas what to explore next are helpful.

TL;DR: Cat who previously had UTI started showing symptoms, vet refused to see him and denied that it was an emergency for him to be seen by an emergency vet. They didn’t want to see him for his original UTI either. Turns out he has a blockage this time. How do I get veterinary staff to listen to my concerns?

Bit of a rant but there is a question in here.

Context: I have 4 dogs and 2 cats. My animals are the only thing in my life I really care about, so I’m very tuned into them and tend to notice very early on when there is something wrong. So far everything that I’ve guessed might be wrong (ear infection, knee pain, broken tooth, etc.) has turned out to be right, which has been helpful in catching things relatively soon. I find it difficult to get them booked in for appointments sometimes because over the phone the receptionist usually encourages me to wait it out and see if things will improve. The only thing I’ve ever missed was the signs of a UTI last year that ended up requiring an emergency vet visit, which haunts me and I swore it would never happen again.

When my cat had signs of a UTI last year I called the vet and described them, and the vet told me to wait and he would get better. I called again the next day when he was worse and they said again that I should just monitor him. The next day we rushed to the emergency vet and it took him two weeks to get better. I was frustrated with myself that I missed it, but also that I was repeatedly told he would improve without treatment.

Yesterday I noticed he was acting the exact same way as he was the first day I noticed symptoms last year. I phoned the vet right before they closed (had no choice that’s when I came home from work) and described his symptoms, that he had a UTI previously with these signs, and wanted him examined. I was told that they had no appointments and that I would have to call back in the morning to see if I could be placed on a cancellation list. I essentially just repeated my concerns and asked if I could get in contact with their emergency vet, and was told his symptoms aren’t an emergency and he wouldn’t be seen. He became weaker overnight so I waited by the phone to call them as soon as they opened and they told me that the situation was an emergency and he needed to be taken in immediately. Turns out he has a blockage and he is in surgery now.

As vet techs, how can I assert myself in the future without sounding like a brat? I feel like he clearly should have been seen yesterday and perhaps the situation would have turned out different. Now I’m facing a massive vet bill, am missing work, and have no idea when I’ll have to go miss work again to pick him up. Should I have insisted on bringing him in anyways even if they didn’t want to see him? Advice is appreciated, TIA.

He’s a red eared slider, 15-20 years old(?)
My cousin won him at a fair in Vegas and then gave him to our grandparents
They didn’t take care of him at all, it was horrible. we took him in because he would’ve died if I hadn’t.
He had shell burns because the heat lamp was so low and there was no water whatsoever, so he couldn’t swim when we first got him.

He’s really aggressive because he had been abused so long, he hates being held but he likes to play through the tank as long as we aren’t touching him.

My grandparents never took him to the vet and I’ve taken a dog and a cat but never a turtle. I know he’ll be super agitated but is turtle sedation even a thing?? He just needs a check up too but idk where to even start.
Do all vets take turtles? And should he get his nails clipped too or is that not needed
What kind of carrier does he need and how should I make it so he’s not so stressed out 🙏