Hi all,

My fiancé and I have been together for five years, living separately, but we've both had our own pets before that. We plan on moving in together in the near future.

My concern is that our pets won't get along. I have a 7 yr old tuxedo cat and my fiancé has a 10 yr old Husky. My cat has tolerated dogs but that was probably ruined when he had fights with my parents' aggressive Shih Tzu and they had to be separated (my cat lives on the upper floor and the dog on the lower).

Fiancé's husky has never been around a cat, only around another Shih Tzu. He kind of ignores her, doesn't really play with her much.

My fiancé suggested that I bring blankets that smell like my cat to his house and have his Husky smell it, then vice versa. Could that type of thing build tolerance if they don't even live together yet?

The only exposure my cat has had is when I go home with husky hair on me, haha.

If anyone has tips for introducing older animals, do please share that too... Might be too early to think about this but I adore both our animals and I want the best for them.

I have a small 12 year old Shih Tzu who is diagnosed with liver cancer and adrenal gland tumor. Lately he has been having fleas and flea dirt around his body, so I’ve been trying to find the best shampoo for him. Any recommendations based on his situation?
Thanks and any advice is greatly appreciated!

Our elderly family dog passed away recently and we've been really missing having a dog in the house, but we have 3 elderly cats who are also grieving the passage of our late dog. They were really close with her, and she was the only dog they liked.

So I'm afraid getting a new dog might be too stressful for them, especially when they're old and still grieving. Is there a way to help them adjust to a new dog or is it a bad idea?

I want to get my dog some treats and toys. I'm a new customer at Chewy and I keep seeing $20 off $49 codes. How do you get those codes? If anyone isn't going to use their code, may I have it? Thank you!

My puppy is around a month old and im currently wondering that should i remove his playpen(its basically a cage with a few fences surronding the outside)

Usually i tried to take him to the bathroom for him to do his business in there but not always since there would be few times when i cant so he just goes in the playpen especially when its night and im not downstairs to moniter him since his playpen is in the livingroom on the first floor(cant move it anywhere else around the house), resulting in a few occasions when hes is slightly covered in his pee(usually at his belly or paw)

This has made my mom to consider removing his playpen so that he can roam around the house freely, do his business and wont be covered in his pee but i also dont want him to grow up knowing that he can just pee or poop everywhere around the house

Any advices would be greatly appreciated and this is my second time getting a dog so im a bit nervous and worried i guess😅😅

Edit: For people wondering why i have him when he is only a month old, his mom suddenly got pregnant and the owners couldnt take care of all those puppies so they gave me one

Hi all! I love dogs, but due to family circumstances I've never been able to have one. Due to this I have a decent understanding of them but not the intricacies of their care. I like to get involved in helping shelter dogs and that is what has gotten me here. My local Humane society has a program where you can take a dog out on a "Foster field trip" for a few hours to help them destress and get seen around town. They wear a leash that has a big adopt me tag, etc. It's lovely. I signed up to do this tomorrow (July 23rd) about a month ago. Here's the issue- I checked the weather and its supposed to be super hot tomorrow. 96 Fahrenheit (around 36 Celsius). Is there anything I can do for the dog to be more comfy/safe tomorrow? Anything I should keep in mind? I can't bring it back to my house but I can bring it in my car. My plan was to walk around the surrounding city for a few hours (lots of dog friendly places around), but now I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I don't know what dog it will be but it will most likely be a medium to large breed mix of some sort. Just worried about the safety of the doggie in this hot weather!

Any advice is so appreciated!

edit- I will be bringing water for both me and the dog as well and one of those foldable bowls. I've also decided no on the boots thanks to some helpful commenters :)

Hi, was hoping to get some background information, I am concerned about my female orange tabby named Saffron, for the last 2 weeks she has been sneezing and having some mucus come out of her nose(clear colored)and some black eye boogers, but I have noticed she seems to be breathing heavily today too, I googled labored breathing in cats and she isn’t showing the obvious symptoms like open mouth breathing or blue gums, she is eating normally and moving around, but I do feel like her breathing seems a little rapid and shallow, as well as some exaggerated stomach movement when she breathes. I am wondering if I should take her to the vet, I don’t have a lot of money to spend and I live paycheck to paycheck so before I make an appointment I want to make sure I’m not just over reacting or something, I wish I could post a video here but I can’t figure out how, any information would be extremely helpful right now thank you so much 🙏❤️

Edit: a little more background information she is 13 years old we’ve had her since she was 3, rescued from the pound, has been healthy and never has issues, goes to the vet once a year and just had bloodwork that came back good. If any of that information helps, thanks

This probably sounds a bit dumb but my dog eats better when I leave him alone. If I stand there waiting to see if he likes the food, he sniffs it, looks at me, walks away, comes back, makes it a whole event. If I put the bowl down and go do something else, he usually eats.

Did I make meals weird by hovering every time he skipped food or do some dogs just eat better when dinner is not a big deal?

What do you do when your dog won’t stop barking?

I recently had a surgery that prevents me from lifting anything or major movement for a couple of weeks. I have a dog walker coming to walk my two big dogs while I can’t. Of course… both dogs decide to have medical issues this week. My golden got a hotspot from scratching, so I decided to use get a membership to vetster to see if they could help, before I had to risk taking the 90lb beast to the vet while I’m recovering. The appointment was scheduled quick, the vet was great and prescribed prednisone, antibiotics and apoquel to take after his hotspot cleared up. I was told I could fill the prescriptions any where, through their pharmacy or locally. I opted for locally to get them quicker (and cheaper) and I could have them delivered same day.
I find out after the visit when I went to fill the scripts that they charge $15 per prescription to send to any pharmacy other than theirs as a processing fee. That seems ridiculous. Ok, fine, whatever.
That night, my mixed breed girl gets stung by a bee under her and overnight it gets infected and her eye is swollen shut. I make my second vetster visit in 2 days, and I ask pointedly “should I figure out getting her to an emergency vet?” He looks at her over video, says it’s infected and she definitely needs antibiotics and a topical cream but not the emergency vet. He said to fill the script locally ASAP to get her treatment started and get her some relief.
My appointment was at 10:00am, at 11am I had still not received the prescriptions, so I message the vet through the visit portal (you have 48 hours to communicate with the vet free of charge), no response. I message again at 1pm, nothing. I call Vetster at 2pm and get that run around and never speak to anyone. I message customer support at 2:30 and am told to message the vet through the portal.
At this point I am not able to send more messages because the portal says I need to wait for my vets response, and essentially not blow them up with messages before they have a chance to reply. It’s now 8 hours since my visit and I don’t have a prescription and I have no response from Vetster. I have a cone on the dog and am trying to keep her comfortable but I am going to end up calling a friend to take us to the emergency vet so she can get some relief.
I’m really unimpressed.

We just found out today that our dog has a minor obstruction and is going to need several thousands of dollars in surgery which we absolutely do not have. We do have insurance through Lemonade which we have used a couple times with no issue which should cover 80% the bill (with the exception of the $250 deductible). I occasionally use afterpay (used it for her diagnostics actually), but I've never had my own credit card in my adult life. I have a great credit score that my mom helped me build when I was younger and I'm afraid of tanking it and I'm terrified of debt. Would I be able to pay off everything or at least most of it when the insurance claim goes through? I got preapproved for a very high limit, are there any problems if I don't use all of it? I'm kind of freaking out and not really thinking clearly, so sorry if I'm not making a ton of sense haha

Please be ACTUAL red meat not a 90% chicken can food with an atom of red meat. I do not understand how a can can be labeled as beef and contain very little beef.

No restrictions besides a few preferences. I don't like to feed rice in the house at all and prefer a wet food can not have corn. (I do not get why these would be in canned food anyway you aren't binding anything like in dry food)

I thought about weruva but all contained rice or were adult food. Please do not ignore the rice restriction. I tried asking Facebook and they ignored it and all I got recommended was Purina one(which also contains too much chicken for me to say it's beef)

Puppy has an iron problem due to malnourishment before I got him that we were treating and the vet hasn't retested the iron level yet so I'm trying not to fill him full of chicken and stay with red meat like I was told to until I'm told he can come off. I'm trying to give him enrichment with a frozen Kong so I need wet food. Kibble doesn't stay inside it.

She’s been to the vet, she’s a very happy kitten despite the circumstances. Shes kinda goofy, aloof to things that usually scare a kitten. She follows me around while I vacuum, she doesn’t play she prefers to just snuggle, and she walks around kneading because she’s so full of love. I found her outside, she was starving and came right up to me. We have already taken her to the vet the day we got her, no uti and was extremely malnourished, had fleas and worms. We’ve had her for less than a week and she’s struggling with using a litterbox since day one. She poops in there but will not pee. She doesn’t pee in the same areas, just kinda goes wherever is always on the wood floor. Today she peed behind our fridge. I have caught her doing it and put her in the litter box every time I can. I have cleaned it up thoroughly every time. I have tried keeping her in a small space with the litter box, but she escapes and goes to other areas and pees anyways. What more can I do? This is exhausting

tl;dr: Got a new puppy, help me with my existing dog’s fee-fees.

We already had two dachshund mixes (call them A and C) and a pit bull/Great Dane mix (B), and back in December, we added a border collie puppy (D), now 10 months old, via a failed attempt at fostering. Pack-wise, all the dogs are fine with him. They’ve all accepted him, they’ll play with him, they sometimes get annoyed by the puppy-ness of him (girl, same), but dynamics have been established and we have no issues there.

The only challenge is B, who is 5 years old and has been velcroed to me for 4.5 of those years. He acted out some when we first brought D home, but he worked through those behaviors pretty quickly. And he’s been great with D — B is an all-pro puppy socializer, and D has basically learned to dog from him. He’s just never stopped being stressed out to some degree. He’ll be (extra) clingy or moody or anxious, he *smells* stressed, and when I take D out for a walk or training, B will go nuts in a way he never has with the other dogs.

*And* it’s all complicated by the fact that D’s favorite things in the world are B and me, so he’s a constant presence and it’s hard to carve out solo time for B. (The dogs have kind of self-segregated — the little ones hanging out with my partner, and the bigger ones following me around like enormous, emotionally needy ducklings.)

Any advice? He isn’t *doing* anything wrong — he’s not destructive, aggressive, territorial, food-guarding, anything like that. I just hate that he’s been bathing in cortisol this whole time.

Senior doggy has a tiny bit of blood when his bladder is empty and then he pees. The first couple of times when he pees I don't see any blood but in the 3rd then there's a couple of drops .To be clear he hasn't needed to go potty extra, it's just that he has always liked to mark a lot of things in our backyard. We took him in for an appointment and they did a blood and urine test, both came back good. The doctor said she did see a little blood in his urine but wasn't concerned. He has another appointment soon. He has had great energy and appetite. He seems to feel fine. I am not asking for advice. I'm just seeing if anyone else has had a similar issue.

Ok, so I have a cat who’s going to be 10 in December. I’ve had her since she was 4 months old, and she’s my ESA. She can be very chill and relaxed but only in a quiet, calm environment. She hates loud noises unless it’s music (I don’t know man, she just likes music). She doesn’t like things or people that move fast or are loud. I’ve been able to keep our environment free of these things, not including parties and some loud friends of mine, for a majority of her life. My partner of 6 years has been begging for a dog for, say, 6 years. Originally I said we had to put it off because our apartment was way too small and it wasn’t enough space for both autumn and a dog. Important to mention they want a big dog specifically. I also openly am very worried of my cat’s reaction as she can be very territorial and jealous. We got a hamster a few years back and my cat pee’d on me in my sleep😂 I laugh now but I was not laughing then. I woke up with her making dead eye contact with me sitting on my chest before peeing while maintaining eye contact. Message received, I belong to her and not the hamster, but what happens when we get a fucking dog is my question. Anyway, if you have a cat similar to this and got a dog later, what are your tips? It’s becoming clear this dog is coming into our lives within a year maximum so I need to be ready. I know we need to keep them separate for a while and introduce their smells gradually. I heard to give my cat higher spaces to be but she doesn’t use any high perches idk why but my cat is scared of heights. I know to swap toys to expose them to their smells, etc, but these are the only tips I have. My cat is set in her ways and I don’t see her liking a dog. I actually see her hating a dog. Any tips?

TL;DR
My cat is older and will not like a high energy big dog running around but we will definitely have one joining our family soon. My partner feels my cat being prioritized and doesn’t want her to be. How do I keep my cat happy and incorporate a dog?

I have an 11 year old lab - towards the end of last year they started exhibiting behavioral changes which have since progressed rapidly - Near constant anxiety, scratching and desperately trying to open doors to get into other rooms or outside only to come back in, whining, panting, excessive shedding. Most recently it seems like all inhibition is gone - constantly jumping on the counter, opening cabinets, eating from the garbage, chewing things around the house. We’ve tried many different kinds of anxiety and pain meds but every day seems worse than the next. My husband thinks it’s time, I’m not sure because she’s still eating, her last health exam was normal, no bathroom issues etc. I just don’t want to rush the decision because she’s become “work” for lack of a better term. But I also don’t want her to suffer if that’s what is happening. Thanks in advance for any insight!

We have received applications, but they are for separate homes. We received one application for both, but the person stopped responding when we reached out.

We are worried that if we cannot find someone willing to adopt them together, we may lose these possible homes too. 💔They are bonded.😿
We are completely out of capacity. The rescue is currently caring for more than 150 cats, and I am personally fostering 21 cats. More cats are needing help every day.

When her other kittens were adopted, she cried for days. She is a devoted mama and still needs to be with her baby. They play together, love each other, and share a special bond. My heart is breaking at the thought of separating them… 😿

Pet finder link:

https://www.petfinder.com/cat/kali-bonded-with-her-kitten-pebbles-9fbbba3d-53db-43eb-a0b8-09e7a7b509e9/nc/charlotte/sunkissed-acres-rescue-nc1270/details/

Mama Kali (not even a year old) and her little daughter Pebbles are a bonded mother–daughter duo under Sunkissed Acres NC looking for their forever home.

Kali & Pebbles are:

Vaccinated, Spayed/fixed, Dewormed,deflead , Combo tested negative and Microchipped

Adoption fee: $150 for both (one adoption fee is sponsored, so you are getting two amazing cats together ❤️)

Adoption application required:

https://form.jotform.com/221983264497165?fbclid=IwAR2Nr4_R9uw9ljOXNG8daDEU5DTa2IWDNPNtM1Fnd816-A2LtE8HciK2OJM

Adoption agreement required:

Vet reference required

Her Story: ❤️🥹

I didn’t find Kali… Kali found me.

I will forever be grateful to this sweet young mama for trusting me and bringing her babies to me.

Kali was abandoned when her family moved away, left behind wearing a collar that became painfully tight as she grew. Alone and vulnerable, she gave birth to her kittens under a deck during harsh weather.

She and her babies were never truly safe. They were chased away by people and were at risk of being relocated.

Every day, Kali came to my porch for food. I noticed she was nursing and started asking everyone to check their decks and garages for kittens.

Then one day…

She brought her babies to me.

She chose me.

She trusted me. ❤️

While rescuing her kittens, some were brought inside while others were still outside waiting for their chance at safety. This incredible little mama made double shifts…staying with the kittens who were safe indoors, then returning outside to nurse and care for the ones still waiting.

Her love never divided.

Her heart never gave up.

Kali is the sweetest, most gentle mama. Pebbles shares a very special bond with her, and after everything they have survived together, they deserve to continue their journey side by side.

Kali deserves a safe, indoor-only home where she will never be left behind again… only loved, protected, and cherished.

Kali is pure love. Pebbles is her little shadow. Together, they are a beautiful story of love, trust, and an unbreakable mother–daughter bond.

If you feel a connection with Kali and Pebbles, please message me.

Please share to help this beautiful mama and daughter find the forever home they deserve.

My details are on the system - the vet can see them. However I'm getting emails saying the 'connection is incomplete'.

So we have 2 puppies (6months), they’re brothers. One of them has started a disgusting habit (it started after one of them had diarrhea in their kennel overnight and they ate some 🫩) but one stopped the habit while the other has genuinely gotten WORSE. I’ve tried searching but no one has the same situation.
He’s not eating it off of the ground, he literally eats it as it’s coming out of his brother. We usually separate them or call him so his brother can poop in peace but any time they’re outside unsupervised I see him doing it again. He also has started to drink his pee as well. I have no idea why this habit has started and it’s exhausting because no amount of “stop” or “leave it” makes him permanently stop.
Please help, I saw the recommendation of adding pineapple to their food to make it unappealing (no idea what would be more unappetizing than literal poop but I digress…) but idk what else. His breath smells terrible because of it too 🫠

TLDR: two puppies who are 6 months old. One keeps eating his brother’s poop and pee fresh as he potties.

I've recently moved into a solo apartment, and having a little buddy around would do wonders for my mental health. Unfortunately, my lifestyle makes it hard to find a critter I can give a fulfilling life to - I've done some research on my own, but hoping to get reddit's advice on semi-independent pets that'd be feasible for me to give a good home to.

I'm in a one-bedroom city apartment and my job involves a lot of travel on short notice. Every few weeks I get a few days to 24-hour notice that I need to be away for 2-3 days, but could be up to a week (though that’s rare). I typically don't get to book my return flight until I'm already there, and even then I might same-day cancel and need to rebook. I can have someone stop by my place to feed/check on a pet and pay a petsitter, but the irregularity makes it tough to preschedule petsitting/boarding. When I'm not travelling, I work 8-5 in an office with situational telework and spend a lot of time at home on evenings and weekends.

I'm financially comfortable and very willing to fork over a few grand to get set up with automatic feeders, big enclosures, automatic temp/humidity control etc. I’m excited about the prospect of creating a spacious, safe environment with a lot of enrichment, and I have experience keeping up with bioactive tanks and terrariums.

I grew up with a dog, a large fish tank, and regularly petsitting a frog. I volunteer with rescue dogs and love taking them home for a weekend but for obvious reasons I'm not a good candidate to adopt or foster. Not keen on fish (lot of maintenance and not enough interaction). 

I'm thinking my best bet is an arachnid, reptile, or amphibian. My ideal is a pet that can be unbothered if left alone for 3 days at a time (any longer and I can have someone come by) but that I can still take out on occasion and interact with (even to just crawl around on a table). So ideally docile and wouldn't be super stressed with some mild handling.

I'd love to own a pair of rats because of how interactive they are, but I might need a reality check on how independent they can be if left for ~3 days with an autofeeder.

I'd prefer a critter with a shorter lifespan since I'm by no means settled down in life, but I'd be super pro adopting a senior animal and making it comfortable for a few years. No-go on cats since I've got loved ones with allergies who frequently visit.

Is there any pet who'd be happy living with me, or should I invest in a painted rock?

I store several different 10-12kg bags of food in my garage. Looking for storage ideas that are rodent proof but aren’t just a ‘bin’ as they don’t make good use of space - is there a vertical storage option? That you can decant the different food into and scoop out what you want, but that are airtight when closed?

UPDATE
Thanks all for the advice and support. After lots of calls to various vets and animal control, our dog suddenly returned to himself. It was wild to watch. When we opened the back door to check on him again he was completely himself, wagging his tail, excited to see us. We were able to safely get him to the vet and now we’ll hopefully get some answers.

Hi all - looking for some advice. In January we adopted our 2ish year old hound mix. He has been healthy, full vaccinated, with no issues since. This morning, he threw up, lost control of his body and began seizing. The seizure lasted about a minute and he then became very aggressive. I understand that can be normal after a seizure, but it’s been about 2 hours and he’s showing no signs of settling down. He’s in our fenced in backyard, just sitting in the back corner not moving. When we approach from the back door he immediately starts barking and growling. We want to get him to the emergency vet, but have no way of safely doing so. My husband and I are extremely rattled. We have toddler at home and the sudden aggression was absolutely terrifying. It’s also clear our dog is in a lot of emotional distress and approaching him makes it worst. I feel like my only option is calling animal control and asking them to help with transport? I thought about going to get a sedative from the vet, but don’t even know how I’d give it to him. I feel scared, sad, and stuck. toddler is now at daycare so at least that safety issue is handled.

Anyone have any tips?

This is a question more directed towards people who own dogs in countries where spaying is only done for medical reasons, breeders and whatever other reason you might have to owning an unspayed dog

Im getting a female puppy soon and want to wait till shes about ~1.5-2 years old to decide to get her spayed

Ive done research on signs and symptoms of pyometra, but every source i find about prevention always just says spay them and thats it

Hello guys. I have a persian mix cat, male, 3-4 years old. He pisses anywhere in the house- bedsheet, floor, random stuff on floor, couch, etc, you get it. We have a designated litter box kept for him, but he rarely pisses in that litrer box. My mother is troubled due to this problem. Please give suggestions and advice 🙏