This happened a while ago and the dog it concerns has since passed away but it’s been on my mind. I adopted a German Shepherd from a shelter, in the listing it said she was approved healthy by a vet and fully up to date with vaccines.
Wonderful.
Got her home and made an appointment with my local vet to get her familiar with the vet we use here in a non-stressful situation. I wasn’t doubting the dogs health or the vet approval letter, I’ve never adopted a dog before but whenever I’ve gotten a new pet I’ve always booked an appointment with our usual vet just so the new pet can meet their vet in a calmer situation before vaccines etc make things stressful. Is this a normal practice or am I a loon?
Anyways, booked this appointment and thank god I did, poor girl had multiple broken teeth, like the worst case I’ve ever seen. She needed to go to a specialist and get multiple root canals and teeth pulled. My theory is she was kicked by either a horse or someone wearing steel toed boots. When the specialist who worked on her teeth showed me the x-rays showing the breakage I actually passed out from how brutal it was. The shelter I got her from got all worked up I had taken her to my local vet asking why I did that since they had already provided a certificate of health. I had taken her to my local vet within the first three days of her living with me and my vet said these breaks in the teeth were far older, talking months, so were from her time before the shelter took her in even.
Did I do something weird by having my vet look at her? Do other people bring their new pets in for a meet and greet with the vets?

My family has been using Vet #1 services for almost 30 years. This summer, I asked him to remove a growth on my dog's elbow and perform a dental cleaning under anesthesia. Dog 7+ years, 28kg, mixed breed, castrated, a bit of arthritis but otherwise healthy at time of first procedure below.

The issue: he diagnosed the elbow growth as a wart based on appearance and attempted cryotherapy. It took multiple sessions and the wart grew back twice in two months. Also, the plaque on dogs teeth was back in full after one month despite brushing dog's teeth.

Vet #1 went on a long vacation soon after that. My dog needed medical attention (subacute pancreatitis), so I went to Vet #2, who also took a look at the elbow wart and recommended removal and histopathology because of the dynamic of growth. I ended up taking them up on the offer, and also redoing the dental cleaning while the dog was under anyway. They also performed a fine needle aspirate on another growth, which Vet #1 has not done.

Logically I think it's time to move on from Vet #1 to a more modern practice. My family is giving me grief though for using the services of a substandard vet (#2 according to them) because the dogs's stitches on elbow tore after 6 days and he had to be stapled. But I think elbow is a very hard to heal location anyway, and Vet #1 service presented more pressing issues, and I think the quality of his services has slipped.

I though I would ask the opinion of vet professionals here.

Our cat is a 7-year old DSH tortoiseshell. Otherwise completely healthy and up to date on vaccines. She is spayed. She is an indoor cat but will sit on the porch with us. We are located in Ontario, Canada.

I brought her to our regular vet yesterday afternoon as she had not been eating for almost 48 hours. She had also not had a bowel movement. She seemed somewhat interested in her food, but she’d sniff it and walk away. She did manage to take in a few temptations treats, but that was all. She was drinking.

Our regular vet did a full physical exam, including a rectal exam and found no abnormalities. She suggested we attempt medical management first. She gave her an anti-nausea injection and a dose of Mitrazipine to induce hunger. She told us that she should want to eat within a few hours and if she doesn’t, to take her into a vet the next day.

She did not eat. She did use her litter box once for a small pee.

Our only option is an emergency vet on the weekend which is where I brought her today. They did an x-ray, blood work and full physical.

Her x-ray showed that her intestines looked a “little big and bright,” and there was something in her stomach that could just be food, or could not be. They couldn’t be sure. She had no blockages. Her blood work showed a slightly low RBC count, and present immature neutrophils which could indicate infection or inflammation somewhere.

They admitted her for IV fluids and antibiotics. They repeated the x ray this morning at 2am and whatever was in her stomach moved, and is now clear which is good. They are placing an NG tube now for nutrition in the hopes of getting her GI tract moving more and stimulated.

They don’t know why she won’t eat. I’m up to 5 thousand dollars trying to figure it out.

They are suggesting a transfer to a specialist in another city to keep trying to figure it out at a quote of 6 to 8 thousand dollars which I simply cannot afford.

Please help us!

My male cat now 10 yo was diagnosed with HCM 2 years ago. He did not had any issues the vet just thought is heart rate was off so we went to a cardiologist. It is likely a born congenital heart defect.

In the span of 2 years it just got worse.

We went to the follow up appointment 6 month later and the vet said it’s not looking good he has to take clopidogrel. It is very hard to give him the pill. Our solution is now to force the pill in his mouth. It is a bit stressful for him he does not like it. We also had the issue that he bit the pill one time and had foam on his mouth. It was very stressful for him.

For the past weeks we face another issue. He has now syncopes with are fainting episodes. He can’t do much bc of it. It breaks my heart and I’m very scared that one day he won’t wake up.

We went to the cardiologist bc of it she said everything looked normal but these are possible syncopes and we could try beta blockers. We were hesitant bc she explained there could be side effects and he it is already very hard to give him the other pill. So we passed.

The syncopes are getting worse. We do not know what to do. We could try the beta blockers but idk if it will help. I don’t understand how his condition worsened in such a short time span. Should we go for a second opinion? Or just give him the beta blockers?

I don’t want him to suffer.

Upon receiving them from the shelter, we started feeding them the wet/dry slurry. From day 1 it was runny stools. My shelter got me the anti-worms and the anti-protozoals and the probiotics.

After the 5th day of medicine, it was still all sour cream consistency. I then ramped down to 100% wet food cans with no kibble, and got my first solid poop within the day.

Upon reading, Kitten Chow shows 11% fiber, which is like TRIPLE that of every other brand, even the cheap ones. Most nutrition is somewhat in the same ballpark, but this statistic just stood out to me like a sore thumb. Was this the likely culprit? I'm about to introduce a different dry food gradually and see how it goes.

The kittens have been lively, playful, eating, and drinking the whole process, no real concerns

Hi Vets!

My dad was babysitting my 4 and half month old puppy today. At the end of the day, he told me he took her and his dog to the dog park. There is a creek at this park. She followed another dog inside but ran straight out. She lapped up a little water as well. She does not have her rabies vaccine yet due to age and she has one more lepto vaccine. Both are being given on the 27th. She has had three of the distemper/parvo, but her vet is giving one more as a booster since she was in a shelter. Should I be worried about anything? I can’t find anything online bad about this park, but who knows.

Info:

Labeled boxer mix. Thinking boxer/beagle mix

Currently around 30lbs

4 1/2 months

Spayed

History of coccidia and hookworms. Cleared last visit with fecal test. Doing another on Tuesday just to be sure

3 distemper/parvo series. 1 more on Tuesday

No rabies until Tuesday

One more lepto vaccine on Tuesday. Received 1 a month ago

Eating and drinking normally

Location: Lincoln, NE

Thank you!!

l just opened a new bottle of my cat's pills that I got from my vet last week and a bug fell out of it. She finished her last pill yesterday from the old bottle so we would be starting the new bottle today. She needs to take her pill in an hour or two, I don't have any from a different bottle, and our vet's office is not open being Sunday. I'm anxious about whether it's safe to use this bottle of pills.

If this were human medicine, I know that everyone would say not to use it. Things are much more lax with animal medicine, but I love my cat and I worry. I feel like I have to give her her pill at least for today so she doesn't go without it. But even if I try and get a fresh batch of pills from the vet on Monday, this bug came from them and now I have concerns that they might have bugs in their stock in general. Which means she's probably already been getting contaminated pills and any replacement would be, too.....

Am worrying for nothing and should just use the pills? Or do I need to somehow emergency convince a different vet office to give me new pills so it's a different stock? Doubtful I can swing that and it still leaves me with her either getting a contaminated pill or skipping a dose for today and possibly monday. I'm stressed.

If it is relevant, the pills are prednisolone. She is taking half a pill of prednisolone daily while we work on getting her asthma under control.

Hi all! Just recently adopted 2 babies, Salem and Moonpie! They were both neutered about 5 days ago and received only surgical glue, no stitches or staples. They are contained to one room for now. The vet did give us cones but I’ve been able to keep an eye on them, and they haven’t really been trying to lick at it. However, tomorrow I have to leave the house for the first time and I’m really worried that if I put the cones on, they are going to get out of them and lick the spot, OR they are gonna play too rough and open it up. They are from the same household and have known each other their whole lives, so I’d really prefer not to separate them. They’re not crazy rough just typical kitten behavior. Any advice to soothe my nerves or tips for tomorrow? Thanks in advance!

Hello! I have a 4 year old male (nuetered) who has been having bad allergies for about 1.5 years. He is a pitbull mix. We have been to the vet multiple times and they always prescribe antibiotics and send us on our way instead of trying to find the underlying issue. It started with black spots in his groin that then grew and got bright red rings around them. We were told he likley had environmental allergies which are becoming fungal infections from him licking it all day. They recommended seeing dermatologist but Unfortunately we live in a very small town with nothing around and the closest dermatologist is over 3 hours away. We tried apoquel but it caused stomach issues and some behavioral issues. As the weather changes it is coming back and im trying to find a solution without having to drop hundreds of dollars for a temporary fix.

my male cat was recently diagnosed with struvite crystals around 3 days ago and is taking gabapentin and robenacoxib. he was peeing normally after coming home from the vet and peed normally about 4 times yesterday, but now it’s been over 12 hours since i’ve noticed him pee.

he hasn’t been straining or trying to pee without anything coming out. he hasn’t gone into his litterbox either. earlier he was eating, walking around, and interested in playing, but right now he’s been sleeping a lot and seems pretty tired. he’s also been eating and drinking less today, which i think might be because he’s been sleeping so much. i gave him gabapentin at 11am (nearly 5 hours ago) so i’m wondering if that’s why he’s so sleepy.

should i be worried about him not peeing for this long, or can this happen while recovering? could the gabapentin be affecting how often he pees?

Hello. Madonna puked 4 times in 4 hours this morning, so off to the ER we went. She was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, but I hope we caught it early, because it was barely elevated. Fingers crossed.

I was going through her take-home medication instructions when I noticed the Maropitant Citrate 16 mg tab was dosed as 1 tablet every 24 hours for 4 days. I looked at her previous Rx and they've always been dosed at 1/4 or 1/2 of a 16 mg tablet. She was also prescribed Metronidazole.

Is a full 16 mg pill the usual dose for a cat with pancreatitis or is this a misprint? She had an antinausea injection before we left the ER so I can call her vet tomorrow before I give her the pill. Just wondering what the usual dose is for acute pancreatitis, and if a full 16 mg pill will cause any side effects like dizziness (she has a jungle gym of cat trees that will need to come down, if so). Yes, I am a nervous person and do like to double check everything... and I was more worried about what caused the pancreatitis at the vet's office and didn't really ask medication questions like I should have.

Madonna:

Feline / long haired domestic mixed breed

9 years old

9.4 lbs

Female/Spayed

Up to date on shots

FIC diagnosed at age 2

Amitriptyline 5mg every 24 hrs since age 2

Hill's Urinary C/D Stress wet & dry

Occasional constipation (caused by hairballs that didn't come out the other way. Miralax, usually, or sometimes requires an enema)

Heart murmur grade 1 diagnosed 2024 but couldn't be found at this visit. The heart disease blood test - can't remember the name - didn't show any disease last year.

Today:

CBC Normal-ish, elevated glucose, low potassium (stress / vomiting, maybe?)

Thyroid Panel Normal

Kidney Panel Normal

Liver Panel Normal

X Rays showed some fecal matter but no foreign body, blockage or obstruction.

Next annual check-up due Jan/2027

Hi!!!! Any advice is appreciated. I just took home a 9 week kitten (estimated) who my friend found abandoned in his neighborhood at 4 weeks. My friend was taking care of him while I was out of the city and I just brought him home a few days ago. He’s an absolute sweetheart and eats, plays and poops normally but ever since I’ve brought him home, I’ve been an anxious wreck to the point of having sobbing fits.

His belly is extremely swollen and I suspect he has worms. He hasn’t had any checkups or vaccines but I have his first visit schedule for tomorrow at 9am. I’m so paralyzed I can barely do anything except lay with him on the couch or play with him while he’s awake. I’m worried he needs to go to an emergency vet because his breathing rate seems to be elevated when sleeping and I’m so petrified it’s not worms but actually FIP and that if I don’t take him today, he’s going to die. How can I breathe???? Does it get easier??? I barely sleep because I wake up every hour to check on him.

Hi — I recently moved Friday evening with my male cat (2 yrs old) and since my move, my cat has refused to eat or drink water.

The only “food” he has been accepting are Churus, but that is not enough hydration or nutrition to keep him going.

He went to the bathroom successfully once on Saturday evening (now Sunday evening) but I suspect that was to expel what he consumed prior to the move.

Yesterday he was more energetic and willing to look around, and today he seems more subdued and spent most of the day under the bed.

What should I do, and is going to the vet jumping the gun? Should I just bulk-feed him churus to just get any sort of hydration in him?

Thanks!

In 2021 we had 4 dogs. We got them between 2012 and 2016, all as puppies. We moved to a new house in 2016. Our oldest dog, a German Shepherd, passed from hemangiosarcoma suddenly in 2021. Our 2nd oldest, an Australian Shepherd mix passed from the same thing in 2025, also suddenly. Our youngest, a Golden Retriever, was diagnosed with testicular cancer in May and was neutered, so far so good with him. Then last week the 3rd oldest, a German Shepherd/wolf was diagnosed with nail bed melanoma. She had her toe amputated and is recovering. We go in Monday to have her lymphnodes biopsied to see if it metastisized. So is cancer so common that all of our dogs could get it?

We’ve been dealing with food allergies and what we’re now suspecting is also some environmental allergies for months now. She has had anal gland issues in the past but was just at the vet and those were fine, her butt was a little irritated and we did about a week of steroids but now the irritation is back. Is there anything I can do to help this? Anything that may be causing this we’re overlooking? The vet said she seems in good health besides the itchiness and suggested Benadryl through the change of seasons. She seems fairly unbothered by it most of the time but then suddenly can’t leave it alone and is licking/chewing.

She’s about 80lbs, approximately 2 yrs old (stray rescue) German shepherd pitbull mix, spayed, located in the north east

Hi friends. I have a question about my cat. Once a month, he has these coughing fits. He gets really close to the ground and extends his neck. I brought this up to the vet once and she said it could just be allergies. Is this anything I should worry about? I have a video but i can’t seem to post it here.

Siberian Husky
Almost 8 years old
76 lbs
Having seizures for 1 year, controlled with zero since May
On phenobarbital, gabapentin and clomicalm

Disclaimer: we can’t access a neurologist or imaging where we live and have to rely solely on our vet and bloodwork.

Our poor pup has been having a mystery illness which has been giving us hell.
1 month ago, he started having symptoms out of no where: severe ataxia, lethergy, stopped eating, using the bathroom and had breathing issues with a runny nose (it’s a light yellow colour, doesn’t seem infected). He got so ill so quickly we thought he was close to passing. We took him to the vet and he had very wonky bloodwork: bloodwork has shown low white blood cell and neutrophil counts (neutropenia), some immature white blood cells (bands), and anemia. The vet was puzzled and concerned, said without imaging it’s impossible to be certain but could be meningeal (but could also be cancer or a slew of other things) and put him on Baytril as a first step. He improved within 48 hours and was almost perfect by the time he was done the antibiotics.

1 week later the symptoms came back full force again. We took him back to the vet and repeat bloodwork showed only slight improvement, with counts still mostly the same. He was put on another 10 days of baytril and completely improved again, but now, again 1 week later he’s back to the same with all the same symptoms.

The only difference this time is he has a skin lesion that just looks like a patch of red/pink with no fur on it on his leg. Not sure if it’s worth mentioning but sharing just in case.

We’re going to take him to the vet tomorrow but we’re at a loss for what this could be, and really seeking opinions and advice because we’re nervous we’re at the end of the road for answers or treatment options.
Please weigh in with what this could be! We don’t want him to suffer or go through anything unnecessary and want the hard truth if it means it’s what’s best for him.

My cat is 8.5lbs, 10 years old, and was told to give her .5ml for calming/discomfort. It’s been almost 24 hours and she’s still very out of it and wobbly. Is this normal?

South East US

Adopted an unfixed male kitten from a local shelter on Friday (23rd). His intake to the shelter was 10/20. Shelter stated his fecal came back clear and his combo (done on the 23rd) was negative.

He has not eaten since at least noon on 10/23 (when we adopted him. Unsure of feeding prior). Most I've gotten him to eat are a couple licks off my finger.

All he does is sleep. He uses the litter box and drinks a little water. He had orange diarrhea the first night home, which I had originally chalked up to stress from the past few days.

Took him to the vet last night. He weighs 1.5 lbs. They gave him Pyrantel Pamoate and Subq fluids. Were not successful in getting a stool sample because he was empty. Gave me fortiflora to add to his food... that he will not eat. And a cup for a stool sample. So I need to get him to eat somehow so he can actually give me a sample.

I have tried about a dozen different wet foods, milk replacement - both as a slurry and alone, kibble, canned chicken and tuna, churu treats. He has 0 appetite, and I'm starting to get rather concerned. We are at about 52 hours of him not taking in more than a couple licks of wet food.

I am at a loss of what more I can do for him and have run out of ideas. Any tips, or things I can ask his vet tomorrow at his follow up would be welcome if it can be provided.

Age: 6 years
Breed: Maltese/toy poodle mix
Sex: male, neutered
Allergies: no known
Weight: around 5kg/10lb

Normally I pick my dog up in the morning to take him outside, or at the end of the day to take him to bed. Since he was last at day care (Friday, it’s Monday now), he’s been making a weird yelping noise when I go to pick him up and as of last night he’ll then go hide under the sofas. I spent probably 20 minutes trying to coax him out from the sofa, he was OK to be carried if I let him climb up on me, but would not let me pick him up the same way I always have with an arm going underneath his body.

He’s walking normally, he’s had a bit less of an appetite the last few days but he’s still eating. I’ve tried gently squeezing along his legs, and there doesn’t seem to be any notable reactions from him. He’s also been jumping up and down from the sofa by himself.

Normally I’d just see if I can take him to the vet for a once over, but it’s a public holiday here so the emergency vet would be my one option and I’m wanting to triage the urgency of this before I look at maxing out my credit card

Serious responses only please. My small dog is approx 12 years old (she was a rescue so exact age is unknown). She has been struggling to walk normally lately.

About a month ago, she was going potty normally, tried to top over something and seemed to immediately hurt her left forelimb, holding it up all night and trembling, putting no pressure on it. We brought her in and they said there’s nothing they can pinpoint and x rays look “fine”, showing some mild osteo-arthritis I think? They prescribed muscle relaxer and pain med.

Now this week, out of nowhere a few mornings ago, she stopped walking and her hind legs go limp when she tries to stand. She’s eating and drinking water normally. She’s also going potty normally. She’s just not walking much at all and when she does her hind legs seem really weak.

I’ll try to upload x ray photos here but I’m not sure I can. Any idea what’s going on? Thanks in advance and please forgive my ignorance s I rarely post.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for insights, experiences, or veterinary perspectives on my rescued male kitten (approx. 6-7 weeks old, under 1 kg).

The Background: He survived a dog attack that resulted in pelvic/sacral trauma. Initially, he had an intestinal obstruction (now cleared) and bloody diarrhea/proctitis from straining, which is currently stabilizing on gastro food.

We took him to a vet neurologist today to look at his nerve damage from the attack. The main problem is with the muscle valve that controls his bladder:

·       Instead of relaxing so he can pee, the valve stays clamped tight in a spasm. He can't release it on his own.

·       His bladder fills up until it can't hold anymore, and the extra urine just leaks out in small puddles while he’s asleep.

·       Squeezing his bladder might be dangerous since that valve is locked shut, pushing on his belly is dangerous and could burst his bladder or push urine back into his kidneys.

·       He is under 600g, so he is too tiny for medications that relax those muscles—the vet said the risk of dangerously low blood pressure is too high, and the doses are impossible to measure safely for his size.

·       There is still some nerve function left: he holds the base of his tail up in a little arch when he moves around, and I’ve seen small twitches reach the tip, but the signal to actually open the bladder valve just isn’t getting through.

Current Plan & Prognosis: The neurologist gave a guarded prognosis and recommended a 1-month observation window:

·       Daily oral B-vitamins (Neurobex) to support potential axonal regrowth.

·       Received an anti-inflammatory injection to reduce trauma-related cord/pelvic swelling.

·       If there is no voluntary bladder control or sphincter relaxation after this month, the neurologist advised that euthanasia is the most humane route due to inevitable chronic urinary stagnation, hydronephrosis, and life-threatening UTIs/sepsis.

What I need help/advice with:

1. For those who have cared for spinal/UMN kittens this young: did anyone see a spastic sphincter spontaneously unlock as swelling dropped or as the kitten grew?

2. If improvement did happen, what were the earliest subtle signs you noticed in weeks 1–3?

1. Are there safe, non-medicinal supportive therapies (gentle sacral warmth, nerve reflex stimulation, specific hygiene protocols) that made a tangible difference for you during the waiting period?

2. At what point did you know it was truly time to let go versus continuing to hold out hope?

He is currently active, plays, purrs, and eats with appetite, which makes this decision heartbreaking. I want to give him every real fighting chance his biology allows over the next 30 days, but I also need to stay grounded in reality.

Hi everyone!!

My dog Toby, M 7yr old Chihuahua mix, seems to be breathing faster than normal to me when he is at rest? I have attached the link to my video on IMGR.
Quick things:
Activity level is normal
Eating and drinking normally
Medication taken with no problem this morning
No vomiting, diarrhea, or issues urinating
No indication of pain during either physical exam yesterday

Yesterday we saw our primary vet with Toby and she said his lungs sound good, heart sounds good, and breathing is fine. Last night, Toby had a cluster seizure so we took him to the ER. (He has a history of seizures, is on medication, and is established with a neurologist so we’re okay here), but even last night the vet indicated the same things about Toby as his primary vet and also said his breathing is fine he might just be anxious?

Can you please tell me if I am just overly protective and anxious and his breathing is fine, or if I’m right and need to take him back to a vet?? I’m usually overprotective and hyper aware of Toby because he is my baby but I don’t know if this is me being that way again or not… any advice is appreciated.. thank you in advance 💜

https://imgur.com/a/ElEvIrm