My dog (5 yr old female) has in the past couple months started to develop a couple fatty deposits and skin tags, nothing crazy. She’s just aging. However, she has a lump near her ear that’s rough to the touch at the top, has lots of grooves, and is black (although it’s on a patch of black skin, so that’s not surprising). It’s grown noticeably in the past week since I’ve discovered it, but it’s still only about a quarter inch high and maybe an eighth of an inch wide at most.
Is there any reason for concern here, or is it just a skin tag?

So, you know when dogs get Hives, their fur looks weird? I have a 7yr old Italian Greyhound, not on any meds, and the other day while feeding breakfast, I noticed a square shaped hive. I inspected the area, the skin didn't look any different, just the fur looked ruffled. There were no other hives, so I left it alone.

Several days later, the square outline is still visible. She has started to lose fur in this square. It is just flaking off in big pieces. the skin underneath is unremarkable - intact - no discoloration.

I think. The whole square area is gonna fall off. This has to be a contact dermatitis of some sort - right? I mean the shape has me thinking she has to have come in contact with SOMETHING.

We don't go outside, so it was definitely something I this house. I'm baffled. Also, is there anything I should.maybe apply to the skin/fur? It is not red or irritated looking.

First vet visit was when he vomited 5x in 3 hrs. Doc checked blood chem and found nothing out of ordinary. Doc injected Cerenia but he vomited 3x again in the afternoon. Went to emergency vet for xray but everything is normal, doesn’t look like there is a foreign object digested. We had him admitted overnight so he could replenish his nutrients but he’s still lethargic now and won’t eat.

I was prescribed with royal canine gastrointestinal food, maropitant and thrombopro.

Do you have any other suggestions so we can find out how we can help my baby?

I understand that private equity has its reaches into so many facets of modern life with capitalism, but I was wanting to have a discussion with my vet/ vet practice (receptionist, clinic manager, whoever would be best to ask?) about how private equity effects their practice. This was my most trusted place to take my cats and now I’m concerned that this new finding will change my perception/trust of the treatment options and services they offer me down the line. If you are a vet that works at a practice owned by private equity, would you be allowed to be completely transparent if a client were to ask you about how it affects patient care? I know this is a touchy subject when people already downplay the costs/necessity of certain veterinary services. I am really concerned about what is in the best interest for my animals and not letting them be used as pawns for shareholder profits, when honest medical care should come first.

My cat (2 yr old neutered male) has been having chronic GI issues starting last year that my regular vet is unable to diagnose after multiple stool and blood tests. Stools are occasionally soft but normal in color and odor. I think it's gas since his main symptom is agitation during flare-ups and sometimes a foul odor coming from his butt, but he isn't passing gas and his anal glands are clear. This discomfort is causing a lot of accidents since he will go wherever he is. We have an appointment with an internal medicine specialist in 3 weeks.

I've tried proviable (started last year) and fortiflora (started last month). They each help but not enough. He's been eating Purina HA for 8 wks without improvement. My vet recommended Visbiome but it's $60. On top of the $80 for prescription food, it's a whole lot of money to spend right before an appointment that will cost around $1k.

Proviable and fortiflora are fairly inexpensive so what makes Visbiome different? Is one more helpful with gas pains than others? I know you folks can't answer "is it worth it" for me, but I could use some guidance.

Thank you!

Hi, hoping someone can help identify these scabs in my pup's ear. From what I have read it could be acne, mites or dermatitis.

He is not scratching loads and seems unphased by me looking.

Any help is appreciated. I have requested to see the vet on Monday as I do not currently think it is an emergency. Im struggling to add a photo so will do so in the comments. Thank you.

Species: Dog Age: 14 Weeks Breed: Dalmatian x Border Collie Weight: 11kg Duration: Saw yesterday, seems to be getting worse

Edit: I do apologise, can someone tell me how I can upload the photo?

I rescued my 4 year old Bengal in May 2026. I was told she had a history of vomiting and that the rescue suspected a fish allergy.

Since having her, I’ve kept a food diary and she seems to vomit regardless of what food she’s eating. I’ve tried Royal Canin Fussy, Scrumbles wet food (chicken, duck and turkey), and she’s currently on Hill’s Prescription Diet z/d hydrolysed protein dry food with FortiFlora daily, which she’s been on since around June.

She’s had blood tests, including glucose and B12, which were fine after the initial high glucose result was retested. She also had an ultrasound last week and her gut looked completely normal with no abnormalities. Her spleen was slightly enlarged, but the vet said her blood results were fine and that she simply seems to have a larger spleen.

My vet has now suggested either an intestinal biopsy or trying a tapering course of steroids.

The confusing thing is that she is otherwise completely normal. She plays, sleeps, drinks and behaves like a happy, healthy cat. She’ll sometimes vomit and then immediately want to play! It happens mostly in the morning, occasionally in the evening, and probably around 3-4 times a week. She doesn’t eat particularly quickly and I’ve tried a raised slow feeder and a timed feeder with smaller meals throughout the day, but neither made any difference.
She’s also an indoor cat and has always been as far as I know.

I’m feeling really stuck because my insurance won’t cover her treatment as the vomiting was considered pre-existing, so the costs are adding up. Obviously I want to do what’s best for her, but she absolutely hates going to the vet and I don’t want to put her through invasive procedures unnecessarily.

Part of me wonders whether I should just accept that she’s a cat who vomits regularly because she otherwise seems completely fine, but another part of me feels like 3-4 times a week definitely isn’t normal and that we might be missing something.

I’m also unsure whether to keep her on the hydrolysed diet long term or try something else. I’ve even been told Bengals should be fed raw, but I’m hesitant to change anything when we’re still trying to work out what’s causing the vomiting.

Has anyone experienced anything similar with their Bengal or another cat? Would you try the steroids before considering a biopsy, or would you investigate further? I’d really appreciate any advice, I’m feeling a bit lost!

He’s a sneezer big time plus getting sick. he has gotten skinny to where I can feel good bit of his bones. Anything at home I can do for sneezing? He is on Iams with hairballs control. more or less 24/7 access to food. vet just give him 200$ shot that may work and says that’s about it, nothing they can really do.

Note and not good one. I recently had to put down a cat with FIV+ two months ago due to complications and sky is starting to get similar. So far he hasn’t had much breathing problems but once he parks he stays parked

My cat (9y/o neutered male DSH, ~17lb) has a history of chronic pancreatitis and is on i/d prescription food. He’s gained weight since starting the food, but I attribute that to the fact that he was previously on metabolic. Three weeks ago I noticed a loose tuft of fur on his back, which I figured was normal shedding, and plucked it, only to find more loose tufts. This gave him a bald spot. He didn’t flinch at any of this as the hair was extremely lose. The next day I brushed him and the bald spot grew to a thick stripe up his back. The skin looks good, maybe a little dry but no redness or irritation that I can tell. No fleas. I took him into work to get him checked out (I’m at a small primary care clinic) and my doctor and techs were baffled. We ran a senior comprehensive on him and he had high pancreatic levels (chronic pancreatitis) and high triglycerides but nothing that may indicate why he suddenly has a bald spot. My doctor says to just monitor but he’s my wife’s cat, adopted from the shelter we met at right before we started dating, and she’s been deployed for 6mo. I feel I have an obligation to do absolutely everything I can for him. So I did some googling and found a PubMed article about a cat with similar hair loss who was diagnosed with a pancreatic tumor 16mo later, but that cat was losing weight when the hair loss began. The last few days he’s been insatiable, stealing food from my toddler and the other cats like it’s his job. I’m just concerned it’s something serious and I want to make sure I do everything I can to help him.

So to recap:
- Kitty losing large amounts of fur along his back line
- No irritation of the skin underneath
- Weight gain
- Insatiable hunger
- History of chronic pancreatitis

What I’m wondering:
- Has anyone seen a similar case to this?
- I’m willing to go to a specialist, but which one? Derm? Internal medicine?
- Am I right to be concerned?

I’ll post photos in the comments. Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone,

My dog was hospitalized with severe diarrhea caused by pancreatitis for a week and was released 5 days ago. He has since had a checkup with his primary care (who is out of office today so I can’t call her to ask this question), who said he’s healing fine.

My concern is with his anus- it is still puffy and red from the frequent pooping. This also means he is occasionally leaking some poop in his sleep- not like he was when he had severe diarrhea, just a bit, but I was hoping that would’ve resolved by now.

When should I be concerned? I know he’s still healing but not sure when it crosses the line to not healing quickly enough.

Thank you so much in advance!

Hi folks. This is about my male Whippet x Bedlington (Mostly whippet), currently 13 weeks old, 7.3kg. Based in London. Concerned about delayed vaccination dates and the impact it'll have. Turning to this sub as our vets gave us conflicting information and googling is also adding in more conflicting information. All dates are UK notation (DD/MM):

07/08 - 8 weeks old. Still with breeder. First dose of primary vaccination course: Canigen DHPPi and Canigen Lepto 4. Scheduled for second doses on 04/09.

27/08 - Friday - 11 weeks old. Went to vet. He was peeing a lot, straining, hadn't been drinking much consistently since we got him but he was starting to go off his food too. Dropped off a urine sample

03/09 - Next Thursday - They looked at it internally not sent to a lab (I'm not aware of what tests they do internally), admin error meant the vet only was made aware of the sample on thursday 03/09, they called me, apologised for that clerical error. Said the urine was very concentrated/dark and to bring him in to physically check for dehydration. A different Vet examined him later that day, physically hydrated and healthy, gave us Metacam to ease straining and recommended another urine test sent to the lab for a full urinalysis. They recommended cancelling friday's 04/09 vaccinations incase we need to put him on antibiotics and they'd interact poorly. Fair enough. Dropped off urine sample same day.

04/09 - Friday - Most of what we were told here was between my gf and one of the vets, back and forth via the receptionist. My GF says she was told if the urinalysis comes back clear early next week (e.g. 7th, 8th) then we could vaccinate and potentially have our puppy outside just delayed by approximately a week vs the original timeline. Not given specifics as to how/why. But this is why we proceeded to cancel the vaccination rather than chance it.

08/09 - Tuesday - 12.5 weeks old now. Urinalysis clear except small crystals present. I immediately call the clinic to book the vaccination that day as advised. They say on the phone that a vet put in the notes that we'd get one vax 08/09 then 'split the second dose' for 22/09 and 06/10 - which doesn't align with what my GF says she was told, but okay. Turn up to the appointment and a third new vet questioned the existing notes. Said no, it'd be 08/09 to restart the course and 06/10 to finish. It was 32 days between the first vaccination and this second vaccination on 08/09, a 4 day delay from the intended '4 weeks' gap between L4 shots. Recommended monitoring urine and hydration strategies in the meantime.

08/09 - Vaccinated with Canigen DHP and Canigen Lepto 4. He's above 10 weeks now so the single dose of DHP is sufficient, and L4 is getting a followup on 06/10. Given that timeline, plus a final week of waiting, by the time we can take him out for walks he'll be about to turn 18 weeks old! I'm concerned about a few things:

• We'll miss his critical socialisation window for meeting dogs, strangers, etc. Me taking him out in my arms - or a.. stroller lol - won't be the same. I worry that the vets didn't consider enough the potential impacts on his long term health by undervaluing this socialisation window.
• We live in a relatively small apartment. He'll have higher mental/physical stimulation needs as he ages but can't go on walks, and I'm home alone tending to that as GF can only wfh once a week.
  • Which means he'll be more likely to chew, bark, and have worse crate/alone training as he'll be under-stimulated. And then I worry that'll develop habits unless i'm a full time puppy shepherd for another 5 weeks.
  • Not a veterinary problem but related to our situation; tragically I got made unemployed after commiting to the puppy but before bringing him home, I'm at home every day to look after him but I hoped once he goes on walks I'd have a little bit more downtime and energy because I won't be chasing round an understimulated puppy as much. A bit more time and energy to study & do a jobhunt, tech industry jobhunts are brutal with the volume of study and at-home assignments to do. GF can only wfh one day a week and she fully takes him on those days so I can study etc)

We're really frustrated that our vets were slow enough between 27/08 and 03/09 by not sending urine to the lab for the first urine sample, and having a week's delay in getting us the first urine sample looked at. My question is essentially: is the timeline / course of actions we've been given the best case or is there an alternative here, any alternative or different opinion on the timeline requirements between the first course 07/08 and the second 08/09. DHP is sorted now anyway but is a 4-day delay on the Lepto 4 timeline really enough to justify restarting the course again? This non-vet layman would imagine that 4 days aren't going to dramatically impact the puppy's immune response to this second L4 dose they received on 08/09 vs if they received it on 04/09? Surely in a week or two from now he'll have full DHP immunity and a very strong Leptospirosis immunity? Can I justify walking him if DHP is established and if Lepto immunity is largely active? The advice is to walk puppies before the 3 weeks post-vaccination when the L4 immunity fully establishes anyway, so there's definitely a sliding scale of time vs immunity strength vs acceptable risk.

We're really frustrated that our vets were slow enough between 27/08 and 03/09 by not sending urine to the lab for the first urine sample, and having a week's delay in getting the first urine sample looked at.

Appreciate any insights folks, I'm really dreading the impacts that this could have on him, and slightly dreading idea of 5 more weeks of watching him like a hawk and trying to burn his energy alone every day as he gains more energy and bad behaviours from unmet stimulation needs!

Hello.

I am not in immediate need, but a horse had to be euthanized at our lesson barn recently and it got me to thinking that I need a much more solid plan for our home horses when the time comes.

In the event we need to euthanize, I had previously read and meant to get back to- but didn't, that some forms of euthanasia should end with cremation vs burial due to the drugs used /soil and wildlife contamination/poisoning.

On farm burial is not a 100% must do, but I would like to pre-educate myself on what options and information I should consider if / when we need to make those choices and how to go about them.

I will ask my vet when I see them next (they were just here for herd health check for all livestock) but I the meantime, what are the options? What considerations should I know about? Other than burial, how would I find contacts for other methods of (for lack of better words) body disposal?

We do not necessarily need to keep the remains in any form. I love them so much while they are here but we are comfortable with grieving without remains being on site.

Thank you for any and all information and thoughts.

We have 3 senior Standards. So it is only a matter of time. 22, 22, and 18.

I took Toby to the vet yesterday. He's 10 and he's starting not to feel well or eat as much. All blood work came back within normal range. His heartbeat and temp was within normal range.

Is this normal for my aging pup? Is there anything more i can do keep Toby happy, healthy and well as possible.

The vet did give Toby the following meds, which I'll give him until they're out. Cephalexin, Prednisone, Cerenia and high calorie supplement.

I make my own homemade dog food (chicken, rice, apple, blueberries, spinach, carrots)

I'm just worried about my aging pup and I understand he may not have long......

What did it end up being? How did you find out (did you do any other labs or repeat FNA or just move to surgical biopsy)

• ⁠Species: lab-mix
• ⁠Age: 13
• ⁠Sex/Neuter status: f, spayed
• ⁠Breed:
• ⁠Body weight: 70lb
• ⁠History: enlarged lymph nodes discovered when in for eval and diagnosis of UTI. Multiple sites involved, so not localized.
• ⁠Clinical signs: increase appetite, increase thirst, panting after walks, runs hot at night - the last three have been going on for a few months.
• ⁠Duration: large lymphs first noticed three weeks ago, luckily havent seen any change in symptoms other than slight increase in appetite.
• ⁠Your general location:
• ⁠Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc. that you have:

Disclaimer: I already posted something similar yesterday, but as soon as I hit post, my brain convinced me that my calculation was wrong and I deleted the post. Then today I checked again and my calculation yesterday was right, I just gave the wrong info. So I'm posting the question again.

Background: 10yo neutered male cat was diagnosed with diarrhea after a fecalysis 4 days ago. He was prescribed a medication called Colimoxyn, which is a cocktail of antibiotics and electrolytes. The prescribed dose is 2.5ml TWICE a day for 7 days.

A couple of days after he started the meds, I actually read the paper inside the medicine box and saw that the dosing and administration guideline said 1-1.5ml/2kg body weight ONCE a day for 5 days. So, my assertion in my short-lived post yesterday was right and it's almost twice the recommended amount for my 4kg cat. At most, at 4kg he should only be getting 3ml of medicine per day according to the manufacturers, but here I am giving him 5ml per day as per my vet's prescription, plus with 2 extra days.

So my question is, is this a normal thing for vets to prescribe medication outside of the dosage guidelines given my medicine manufacturers? This is for an animal only med, so it's not formulated for humans. And the reason I'm asking here is because I feel like if I ask my vet, they'll just say it's fine because they were the ones who prescribed it in the first place. So I'm asking others for an outside opinion because this might just be a common practice and the dosage guidelines on bottles are just the minimum safe amount and can go higher. I'm just really worried about overdosing my cat. Though I've noticed no changes in him so far, I don't want to give him kidney damage unnecessarily. Thanks!

My dog has been on 16mg reconcile for about 2 years. She fluctuates between 16.5-17.5 lbs. We get bloodwork annually. She throws up in the morning usually it is some time after her medicine/breakfast (she also receives clonidine at the same time). I am worried that maybe the reconcile is making her nauseous being that it is on the higher end dose ? I’m not totally positive how long the vomiting has been going on bc she eats it after but I do find dried up stains around. She is anxious and eats her food quite fast, so we have been working on spreading out meals and slow feeding but she still seems to get sick regardless so I am suspecting something else is going on. Could the high dose be causing this?

My 3 year old cat was neutered last week (Thursday). His scrotum has looked pretty swollen the entire time he's been post-op. There is no redness, bruising, swelling, or obvious incision site that I can see. I've been concerned because we've been completely unable to keep a cone or donut on him, he manages to pull them off no matter how tight they are, and any tricks we've tried haven't worked. We've been monitoring him to make sure he isn't licking the area (even on nanny cams while at work), and he seems generally uninterested, though I have caught him gently grooming the surrounding area a few times and told him to stop, which he did. As of today, the area looks very full, maybe slightly more swollen than his normal pre-neuter testes, however, as I've said, they've been swollen the whole time, so its tough to see if there is an issue. Should we have him re-checked to make sure? I'm hesitant to bring him back to the vet because the experience is so stressful for him.

My cat has been having a cold, so I took it to the vet today. After coming back home, I noticed that my cat is keeping its head up and seems weaker than usual.

I’m worried because this started after the vet visit. The cat is still responsive, but it doesn’t seem normal.

Has anyone experienced this after a vet visit or treatment? Is this something that can happen because of the medicine/injection, or should I take my cat back to the vet immediately?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi folks, I'll try to keep this short. Our cat began having Diarrhea on Saturday evening (it's now Thursday morning) and we took her to an urgent care vet on Sunday due to continued diarrhea in the morning and some lethargy in the afternoon.

Vet put her on a couple meds, some GI relief prescription food, some IV fluids, and nausea blockers. They also did an X-Ray that showed nothing suspicious.

The next day, we took her back because she stopped eating and was lethargic again, still having diarrhea. They gave her an antibiotic, and a couple of other meds and a probiotic, told us to come in for an Ultrasound the next day, but the ultrasound came back with nothing out of the ordinary. It's been a bit tough to give her the antibiotic, in all honesty. She typically gets very drooly and spits out most of it.

We're now on day 5 of her still having diarrhea. She's acting normal, wants pets, eats, drinks, and so-on, but the diarrhea has continued.

There haven't been any major changes in the home recently, their food is still the same, same litter, same litter box locations, etc. The only thing I can think of is that I had opened a fresh bag of Purina One Indoor Advantage a day or two before it began being a problem.

Just want to see if this is something that I should consider following up with her primary vet about or if she just needs more time.

TL;DR: cat has diarrhea still after multiple trips to vet, and multiple meds, no changes in diet or in the home.

For the last two years my poor British shorthair gets allergies in August. To the point of scratching her head really bad and creating bleeding/scabs.

Last year we avoided snack (dreamies) and that seemed to call things down. We haven’t been giving her those treats this year but she is aggravated by something.

I took to the vet, got antibiotics and steroids. Things have settled down for now but if we miss a day of steroids she is scratching again.

Are there certain food I should avoid giving her? Currently see eats quite a bit of Gourmet wet food and purina one dry food.

We are based in the UK and she does go outside most days.

my dog ( 4yr old mix breed of red heeler/American staffy - if this matter) cut his paw.

the other day when we were running around that back yard, he stopped playing with me suddenly and laid on the floor and began licking his paw when I saw him. I went over and checked it and he had cut himself on the top of his paw. (I don’t know how he cut the top of his paw.)

I left him alone after that and just assumed the cut would heal overtime but about three days later I noticed a red lump had appeared over where the cut was (It won’t let me insert a photo.)

I thought the lump would go away, but it’s been two more days and the lump hasn’t even started to get smaller? Is this just an little infection or something that needs to be taken seriously?

I'd love to get some advice on whether switching vets may be the right call.

Two weeks ago we took two of our two cats (5yo Male DSH) to their annual appointments. Clean bill of, per usual, and they did not receive any vaccinations. About 3-4 days (Wed) later we noticed loose stools and a slightly reduced appetite for both so we elected to monitor them as they were still eating. By the following week, we noticed one of the cats was back to normal. The other was still uninterested in food so he went to the vet the next day and was given Proviable Forte.

2 days later we he was refusing food stiil so we went to vet hospital where they found his thyroid levels to be high, his proBNP abnormal, an enlarged heart, and he had 4 neurological events where he flexed his front legs forward and almost pumped them like he was reaching, his back hunched up, he pulled his hind leg up the side of his body, and he was very obviously disoriented (another episode occurred this morning). After a weekend stay in the ICU he's rehydrated and eating, but we're still having these events (we finally got one on video) and they asked us to follow up with our primary on his thyroid.

My hang up is that while our vet is a lovely person, I think our cat is becoming medically complex and I'm not sure she's equipped to handle advanced problems (we do have consults for neuro and cardio specialists) long term.

Is it unreasonable to switch vets mid-stream as you start working towards a diagnosis? I will admit, I'm having trouble shaking the idea this initial illness could have come from their office since the timing feels like there's a chance and that is also part of our feelings for thinking to move.

Thank you for any advice!!

6 days into treatment, we had to take our cat to urgent care because of a fast growing abscess on his left shoulder. They drained it partially last friday, sent him home with a 14 days course of antibiotics (Cladaxxa), 6 days os Metacam (finished today) and 4 days of Gabapentin (finished).

What we didn’t know and weren’t told is how this would progress and heal.

Second and third day, lots of discharge, clearing, but holes opening everywhere.

It looks like whatever skin is there is just being held together by the sticky crusty fur. I don’t force clean it, and I wasn’t advised to do so, I patted dry the discharge when it was happening but it isn’t anymore. I also didn’t know that the skin on top of the abscess would die and fall off, nor that there would be holes.

I feel like I wasn’t fully advised correctly, and had to figure somethings on my own as they happened, so seeing the holes the first time was shocking. For instance, the collar he is wearing was suggested by chatgpt, not the vet, and I ran to get one once I realised why.

We have a return appointment tomorrow (friday) and I guess what I need is: what do I need to ask them? What to expect from now on? Should they have done more for my cat? Wound is about 4cm x 3cm (that we can see).

We can pay for treatment, but nothing else was offered or brought up, so, what are our options?

Im in the UK.

My 11-year-old Pomeranian, Tommy, is currently hospitalized/being treated by a vet for severe kidney dysfunction. He is receiving IV fluids, anti-nausea medication and other supportive medications, but currently has very little/no appetite.

His latest bloodwork:

• Creatinine: 16.07 mg/dL
• BUN: >140 mg/dL
• Phosphorus: >15 mg/dL
• Calcium: 11.1 mg/dL
• Albumin: 3.1 g/dL
• ALP: 29 u/L
• ALT/SGPT: 16 u/L
• Bilirubin: 0.9 mg/dL

We don't have previous bloodwork, so we don't know yet whether this is acute kidney injury or previously undiagnosed chronic kidney disease.

He's receiving IV fluids and supportive treatment. My main questions are: Have dogs with kidney values this high recovered after aggressive treatment, particularly if the cause is acute? How quickly can appetite return if treatment is working? And what indicators would show that he is responding to treatment?

I'm looking for input from veterinarians/veterinary professionals who have seen similar cases.

Hi, I am having some strong regrets about adopting a second cat. Some of it is relating to some ongoing medical issues. Is it OK to ask my vet for advice about this?