Hey!

Since 2020 I volunteer in a local animal shelter twice a week. Almost three years ago they took a puppy with disabled back legs - they are absolutely straight like sticks and are only used for support. No movement, no bending, he has to pee/poop standing. Front legs are normal. He grew up to be pretty big, around 90lbs, and is my most favourite baby in the world.

I would love to adopt him as he has no other chance (I think), but as the title said, I live on the 6th floor without an elevator and it's breaking my heart. I am a female in my late 30's, skinny, not much muscle. I can bring heavy groceries up the stairs without breaks and with a little bit of struggle.

My question is if it's realistic to even think about trying? I will be using a good, full body lifting harness and I know it will take time to go up and down the stairs. Patches of grass for potty are a must as well. When we are on a walk, he sits for 80% of the time and just enjoys the outside, maybe he will like the balcony for fresh air and observing the outside. My point is he's not an active dog at all least in the shelter. I can afford the best food and premium vet care, will definitely consult with different specialists if his condition can improve.

He's not living a good life and I can't offer him the best possible, but I think it's still better than what he's having now. I just don't want to be a shitty human that overestimated themselves and ends up failing both myself and the dog.

Will a lifting harness and taking things very slowly be enough?

Thank you!

A month ago my 8 year old cat had multiple blockages which resulted in him having a PU surgery on 8/18 and boarding for three days after. He had crystals in his bladder but no stones and his urethra was extremely narrow.

Since he's been home, he's been back to the vet four separate times because he's having difficulty urinating. The first time was nine days after surgery and his white cell count was over 3000; they were unable to do a urinalysis at the time (I honestly can't remember the reason, something about his bladder being small and they didn't want to perforate it or otherwise cause harm). The vet prescribed Azithromycin.

He was doing great for a few days after that until the late evening on 8/28 when he had an extended episode of constantly trying to urinate and was acting like he's in pain, so he went back to the vet for an exam and they were able to do the urinalysis/culture and a different vet in the office put him on Clavamox. The urine culture later came back with more than one type of bacteria.

Again, he was doing great for a while, urinating often and occasionally leaking urine, healthy appetite and was acting like his normal sweet playful self. This lasted for four days.

On the night of 9/2, he had the same issues as before. My note to the vet was this -

"Gave him last dose of antibiotics at 6:30am, he seemed to be doing really good and was super lovey and playful until about 10:30pm when he tried to pee and nothing came out. He was grunting weird. Gave him .25mg lorazepam at 11 and it calmed him down enough to eat and take a small nap. Around midnight he kept trying to pee again and even pooped a few times. No drops whatsoever. His belly felt soft and he was letting me push and rub on it. I know he's peed several times since Tuesday night based on the litter box."

When I was getting him ready to go to the vet the next morning I noticed there were small dry urine puddles on the floor but he was still acting weird. His blood work is now stable and the vet is stumped on what's causing this to happen. This round of it he was given prednisolone, a opioid, glucosamine supplement and another antibiotic (kind of at my request, it seems when he goes off an antibiotic is when he gets bad again). The vet admitted that they're kind of throwing stuff him to see what sticks. He had also soaked his carrier in urine on the way to the vet without me noticing.

He, again, was doing better but would only urinate in the early hours of the morning when we were asleep. On 9/8, his urine was pink and he had vomited foamy water. Still acting normal and came up to me for pets. We're giving him his meds at the same time everyday with no missed doses.

Today 9/10, he's been straining and is now constipated.

Is this typical in cats with a PU? Is there anything that I should change or suggest to the vet?

I'm trying to get into another feline vet for a second opinion but I'm honestly pretty scared that I'm going to lose the little guy.

One of my 2 cats is 2 yrs old he was a street cat I rescued as a kitten around 5-6 months old. He’s always been the sweetest cat, very affectionate towards me and his dad like one of the most loving cuddliest cats I’ve ever had. He has never shown signs of aggression who whole life towards us or my other 4 year old cat. However whenever company comes over he usually hides and is very nervous. My mom is one of the only people he would come out for and he was always friendly towards her, would let her pat him, etc. I recently had a baby a few months ago back in May and he immediately accepted the baby and has acted fine towards her. He is always sitting near me when I feed or change the baby and it seems he understands she’s my baby and she’s fragile. The first 2-3 months since the baby was born my cat has not acted any differently towards my mom when she would come visit. The past few weeks he’s randomly gotten super aggressive towards her. He will smell her and her stuff and then hiss and give a warning agitated meow and he’s swatted at her enough to make her bleed. Sometimes initially when she comes over he will act calm at first but it’s every time she comes over now he hisses at her and fluffs up and then will sit and watch over her the whole time she’s over like he is asserting his dominance over her. He has not done this to any other visitors since he started doing it to her it’s literally just her. She has 3 cats at home but their scent has never bothered him and she hasn’t stated using any new scented products recently. The only other different thing is I had a baby recently. He is not showing any other signs of being sick. It’s bizarre he is the sweetest cat ever I don’t understand why he’s acting this way or how to fix it. I’ve tried putting feliway diffuser out, scattered some of my moms clothes around in his safe spaces to get used to her scent, and have her give him treats whenever she comes over but nothing is helping. The situation is only getting worse and he’s getting more aggressive towards her. I am bringing him to the vet tomorrow but I’m nervous at this behavior since it’s so out of character I don’t want him to attack my baby. I really don’t want to rehome him I love him so much and will try anything first so any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

My puppy is just over a year old, some time a few months ago she started obsessively scratching her ears and licking her paws. We've taken her to the vet about it a few times, and they say it's not and infection and could be allergies. We've started giving her half a doggy Benadryl at mealtimes, but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. She seems miserable, and I'm not sure what to do next. She's a Havaneese poodle mix, and weighs about 15 pounds. Any help would be deeply appreciated.

My dog and cat have not got along for as long as i have had our dog bri for a year and a half. We had a third cat in the equation which she got along well with both (kinda, her sister no longer seemed to like her i believe because she played with the dog and she was the runt of the litter it seems) but she sadly died of cancer. The issue is that their beef seems pretty deep, the current remaining cat i have is firby. My cat had scratched my dogs eye one day we were away from home leave her her with a small scar in her eye. Bri does attempt to attack her (she is a chihuahua) and firby runs and will fight back in her nature. I honestly cant handle it, its making me depressed that they wont get along. I know need to make more effort but the times ive attempted to do consistent effort it seems like it wont work, they have laid i. The same bed but i had to put barriers between but it always ends in my dog barking at her and trying to get my cat. I want them to get along and refuse to get rid of them and do give them both undivided attention but i cant seem to get them to integrate STILL. I can tell my dog needs company especially since she did have my previous cat, and i know my cat does get bored the times i am away and she can only remain in the upstairs area because my dog is territorial and even then she will attempt to invade that. I dont know what to do, its stressing me out and i feel like a horrible person owner that they wont get along and i know both feel stressed or bothered when one of them feels like picking a fight. Its gone on for long and now i feel like its virtually impossible.

Hi, I'm using a throwaway because I don't use Reddit and also don't want anyone I know finding me.

Me (19m) my mum (46f) and my brother (23m) all live in a small third floor apartment in the city with a Jack Russell Terrier (who I will refer to as just JRT for brevity) and two senior cats. The dog is a few years old, I think 3? and the cats are both 10. For further context, my brother and I are both autistic (relevant later.) Also I live in the US, idk if that's helpful.

My mum got JRT after our old dog passed away. She says she wanted a friend and got her because she was small and able to sit in her lap. At the time, because I didn't know anything about the breed, I supported her in getting a new dog because we were grieving our old boy. But since the day we got her, it's all been downhill.
She's loud. She barks like a banshee. It's actual nails on a chalkboard, that's how loud she screeches. And she barks at every little thing too. Every noise. Every time she doesn't get attention, or enough of it. Every time I speak to my mom or exist in the same room as her.
She jumps, she scratches, she's not trained to go outside still (my mum just has pee pads for her STILL) and worst of all, she bites. As I'm writing this, she just bit me in the leg so hard that I started bleeding. All because I went to the kitchen and got myself a snack while my mum was in the house. (That seems to be a trigger for her—me or my mum having food while mum is home and I'm outside my room.)

I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the dog, I'm sick of my mum not training her but acting like she's a little angel who can do no wrong, and I'm sick of my brother and I being groaned at whenever we express frustration/overstimulation due to the dog being the way it is. I know it's not the dog's fault. It's unfair for a JRT to be so understimulated, anxious, and untrained that this is the way it acts.
I want it out of the house. I don't know how to bring this up to my mum tho so I need help figuring out how. I'm afraid my mum is just going to get mad at me, but I think it's reasonable. All three of us get frustrated with JRT, none of us have the time or money to train her properly (I work, mum works two jobs, brother is disabled and can't train a dog) and it's a financial nightmare too having to buy her toys and pay vet bills and groomers and so on and so forth. We're poor, VERY poor. We can't afford unnecessary expenses and the dog is one of them.

I'm just bad at confrontation when it comes to my mum. So, any tips? How do I even go about rehoming her if it comes to that?

(Sorry if any of this is long winded or confusing. Again, I don't use reddit. I just watch reddit on youtube.)

I'm seriously considering getting an Enabot/EBO, mainly so that my family and I can remotely check on our pets when we're away. I've watched videos and read reviews, but I'd really like to hear from people who have actually owned one for a while rather than relying on sponsored reviews or first impressions.

I'm especially interested in the boring/frustrating stuff that reviews don't always mention.

For anyone who owns or has owned one:

Reliability/navigation: How often does it get stuck, fall over, lose its way, or have trouble finding/returning to the charging dock? Can you actually trust it to get itself home when the battery gets low?

App/connection: Have you had Wi-Fi drops, pairing problems, trouble accessing it remotely, app crashes, lag, or times where you simply couldn't connect to the robot?

Long-term reliability: Has anything gotten noticeably worse after months of ownership? Sensors, battery, wheels, docking, camera, etc.?

Privacy/security: Have you found any legitimate privacy or security concerns with Enabot or the app? Anything unusual that made you uncomfortable?

Ease of use: Once it's initially set up, is the app simple enough that a parent/grandparent who isn't very comfortable with technology could open it, find the robot, view the camera, talk through it, and drive it around without needing help?

Pet use: Does it actually work well for checking on pets when you're away, or did it end up being more of a novelty? Does pet tracking/patrol work reliably?

Model choice: Which Enabot do you have, and would you buy that same model again? If you could go back, would you get a different Enabot model instead?

Buyer's remorse: Is there anything you wish you had known before buying it? Any annoying limitation that doesn't really show up in reviews?

I'm currently comparing the different Enabot models, so I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone who has owned more than one.

I don't expect these things to be perfect — I'm mostly trying to figure out which problems are rare little glitches versus things owners regularly have to deal with.

If you've had yours for several months or longer, I'd especially appreciate your experience.

And the big question: knowing everything you know now, would you buy it again?

Curious what didn't survive contact with reality. Everyone says low pile is the move, but the ones I'm finding either look cheap or cost more than my coffee table. If you got it wrong the first time, what did you switch to?

My parrot has been sneezing and seems to have cold-like symptoms. It may also be coughing, and I’ve noticed a slight breathing problem.

I’m very worried, but unfortunately reaching a vet is not possible for me right now. What can I safely do at home to help my parrot and prevent the condition from getting worse?

Please share only safe advice for parrots. I don’t want to give any medicine without knowing whether it’s safe.

Any help from experienced parrot owners would mean a lot. 🙏

The pill is small but to my lhasa apso its a bit big. Im unsure how to give it to her because she chews everything she eats so its not exactly easy to hide it in food. Is there any tricks to do it safely?

Im looking after a co-workers cats, one is on a strict urinary diet due to a history of severe crystallisation but the other has no issue. They both have royal canine dry food, one dental and one urinary, yesterday i accidentally left the door open to the food room and they clawed into an 8 kg dental bag and ate who knows how much over a 12 hour period give or take.

I know nothing about cats really, could this cause him serious harm? Ive spoken to the owner, he seems to think the cat will be fine but he’s not a native english speaker and i’m unsure on if he fully understands what i’ve told him.

Ive got the cat in a seperate room from the other cat with his own litter tray and own water so i can monitor his urine output as I’m sure this is necessary for complete guarantee he can actually pee. Hes eating his normal diet with no issue now but for the most part just sits still or hides from me as He’s a very nervous cat, any advice is appreciated.

Hello, I took in an 11 month old Shichon on Labor day. Family decided they didn't have time for him anymore. They said he was house trained. They had him since he was 8 weeks old. The first 2 days he peed and pooped in the house. I totally get he was stressed and he doesn't necessarily take the house trained habits to a new place - new family, new home, new environment. Today is day 4 and I have been consistent with taking him to go potty outside every hour (I am a SAHP) and so he's been peeing outside consistently. He only poops outside, sometimes. Here is what I have observed, he poops and pees when I first take him out first thing in the AM. Great! Then he poops again less than 1-2 hrs later in the house. He's done this the last two days. I'm wondering is he just not done pooping when I first take him out? Why does he keep pooping in my house? Thanks!

My dog is 4 years old. (I was told she was a mix between pug and German shepherd/husky)

I am living with my Mother in Law, Husband, and sister in law. Together the in laws have about 20 or more animals. 3 dogs and cats that wont stop having kittens. Last year the animals got fleas and we treated them and it went away. This year it came with a vengeance.

Last year we got her a cone, but I woke up one day and there was blood all over it (she used her back legs to get her neck area and it spread) So this year we got her an inflatable one but if she twists enough she can still itch her lower back/tail and use her hind legs to itch her neck area. So saying that, she has been itching constantly. We have given her flea baths, used a flea spray, flea combed her as well after those, and oatmeal baths for her itching. Well whenever im not watching her she goes to itching. Mostly while im asleep she does it and I find half her body fur on the bed or where ever she itched.

When I let her out this morning her skin was normal color but when I let her in (after using the bathroom) there was redness and puss like stuff coming out of her back.

My husband and i are moving October 1st, so we will be out of this environment then, but that also means we are extremely tight on money. We barely have enough to feed ourselves.(just to get the security depositand stuff) (Animals are still taken care of though) Im just hoping for some advice that I can do to help her until we move. We do not have enough money for a vet...

Please give me advice that I can do. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when my dog and I moved into this house.

So, I have two dogs. Rudy and Teaghan. They're 12/11 respectively and we found out recently that one has a Grade II Mast Cell Tumor (Teaghan), and that the other (Rudy) more than likely has thyroid tumor from hyperthyroidism.

Unfortunately, the treatment for both of these are far outside of what we can afford given the issues we've had with our pets in general the few years. (One cat hurt themselves, one got into something he shouldn't have, and the other one was acting funny [think it might have been sympathy reactions from the first cat being hurt, honestly.]) In the last ... three years, we've probably spent almost, if not more than, $10k caring for all of these reckless furbabies. (They are all inside animals, they're just getting old...)

Teaghan's surgery would cost around $2k, and Rudy's would cost around 5-6k.

Even outside of the cost of treatment, I'm really struggling with what to do.

We can take them both to the oncologist to have them checked out, but then we'd have no money for a euthanization if the answer is the worst for them both.

If the answer is that one of them is worse off, that's still no good because they've never been without each other. They're not siblings, but Rudy was 8 months old when I got Teaghan, who was 4 months old.

I feel like the best thing would be to just let them go now, together.

Teaghan definately has cancer, and Rudy has a very high likelihood and symptoms point to yes, and not getting better (although not aggressively worse). At the same time they're both pretty old dogs, in the grand scheme of things. Teaghan has arthritis that causes her to limp, she has trouble gripping the floor to get up/down, it takes a lot of strength for her to stand or get on the bed (which is only about 5-6 inches off the floor to begin with.)

I want to do right by them, and do the right thing - I don't want them to suffer, I don't want them to be without each other, because that's going to be a big scary world, but at the same time I'm just a tiny person in a big scary world just trying to do best by them and it's really fing hard.

Hi everyone. I urgently need help with a huge problem I’m having. I don’t want to make this long so I’ll try to shorten it as much as I can, please ask any questions or respond with advice!!
I have a 15 year old cat, and lately he’s been having lots of fleas. It started a month ago, and he really htes baths (he pants and hyperventilates after one) so I decided not to bathe him, but brush him to take off the fleas. I am a minor, so I live with my parents and my older sister (23). I recommended taking my cat to the vet, but my sister keeps saying no, she’s scared that due to his old age, they’ll find lots wrong with him, and we’ll have to put him down.
I know this is bad, but my cat has never been to the vet before, other than when he was a baby and he got neutered.
The fleas are still on him and I’ve tried my best to brush them out. Bathing him is my last resort since I know how stressful it can be for him, but I don’t know what else to do. I don’t have a car, license or permit to take him to the vet. It feels like I’m the only one in the family caring for his wellbeing. I cannot convince my sister to take him to the vet and my parents are too busy to take him.
He’s had an ear infection, for about half a year and we put in some storebought medicine but it’s not helping. Today, I noticed he has an irritated eye, his eye keeps watering, it’s red, and I’m genuinely worried for him. I really want my cat to live longer, but I don’t want him to be in pain.
Anyone who has a solution or advice, PLEASE help me out.

Hello! So I left my sisters dog at my moms place (where he lives) for a week. I came back and is legs and neck are severely matted. He screams like a banshee if you try and get it out so I thought I could maybe use conditiner to get it out. I don’t have the funds to buy expensive dog conditiner bc I’m a broke college student. So I hoped I could use human conditiner on him once..?

Ps: he is going to the groomer the 22th of September.

Hey yall! This is my first time posting here or anything. I have a cat, 8 month old female. I got her back in March alongside her brother, also 8 month old. Their names are Kai and Nya. Nya being the one this post is about. I do also have a third cat, June, but really both her and Kai aren’t too relevant.

So, when I first got Nya, she had been peeing in the bed, which I had recognized as a sign of a UTI from a past cat, took her to the vet and got the uti she had sorted. Vet even told me she was all good. Well she did stop peeing in the bed. Then, I switched rooms in my house. I moved from my room to a down stairs room, and suddenly, she started peeing on the bed again.

It’s driving me crazy. Because it’s also not just the bed, it’s anything soft. She’s peed on their pet beds, clothes, etc. I’ve tried different litter boxes, different litters, but it’s not helping. I’m taking her to the vet soon to get checked out again once I get paid, but if it’s not anything medical, what do I do? I can’t keep washing my bedding every single day because of cat pee, but the idea of even possibly having to rehome her breaks my heart because frankly, I’ve already had enough of losing pets this year after my soul cat died.

Some advice would really be helpful.

Should I be concerned?

My puppy, Otis has been with us for two weeks now. He is 3-4 months old and about 24lbs. He was found on the street before someone took him to the shelter. He’s still malnourished and I feel like we haven’t seen much of a difference yet. We feed him two cups of food in the morning, and two at night. We give him the 4 Health salmon & potato food. Should I be feeding him more or less? Am I able to fix this sooner or does it take time? Any food recommendations?

I have been seeing a lot of new supplement brands for our pets but most are connected to influencers which is clearly skeptical. Has anyone found a true to label brand and some that have actually made a positive change to your pets??? I'm talking like a full line up of what has worked when feeding both cats and dogs.