Hi! Penny and Sampson are patients. They are currently eating raw dog food. I want to switch them to one like The Farmers Dog. I know how to handle it with kibble. Would it be the same from raw to cooked or is the transitioning different?
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My dogs belly went from pink to Black should I be concerned? Hes a Presio Canario and he will be 2 in July
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I inherited a healthy, except for a slight heart murmur, 10 year old chihuahua. She is current on shots and had no reaction to them. She ate small breed pedigree at first, but now feed Lotus good grain chicken kibble and pet plate topper (left over from a dog that died). I noticed she scratched her back alot, but didn’t see fleas, hair loss, a rash, and she mostly scratches after coming in from walks or arriving anyplace other than home. For a month, I left her home with my 7 year old chihuahua. They had the run of the house. One day I noticed pieces of my carpet in the hall. Now a whole corner of the rug is gone. I crated her. She screamed and whined and eventually escaped. I secured the crate with a carabiner. I came home to a crime scene. The bridge of her nose was bloodied and one of her nails was pulled out. I am taking her to work with me at a doggy daycare and boarding facility. Her nose has hair missing. I want to treat it, but with what and when will the hair grow back? Money is an issue because my hours are severely deceased now
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I have a female cat, around 4 years old. I had noticed she was gaining weight, or so I thought, as her belly was starting to get really round. She is not fixed but there is no chance of pregnancy. I have now noticed that she seams to have a discharge and quite a bit of it. I have read that it could possibly be an infection. Vets are quoting me around $3,500. Due to covid 19 my hours at work have been cut so I can not afford all of that up front. I doubt I will be able to get approved for care credit and if so I will not be able to get approved for that much. So I’m wondering what other options I might have? I dont want to loose my baby girl and it may be coming down to rehoming her to get the care she requires right now. What can I do to at least try to keep her comfortable during this?
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Charley is a 9 year old lab mix female, approx 70 lbs. She has always been an incredibly active dog. Over the last year or so we have noticed her slowing down and assumed it was wear and tear of her joints after being so athletic and active. We started her on anti inflammatories (ostimax) after speaking with our vet, and used it as needed. It seemed to help. Within the last 3 months things worsened and we began giving her the anti inflammatory daily, as well as gabapentin. Things worsened again, and we finally requested that xrays be taken. They found a partial tear in one back acl and a fully torn acl in the other, we aren’t sure when this happened. She is receiving an injectable (adequan) 2 x a week for a month, and is taking the anti inflammatory, a cbd chew and gabapentin. This regimen is new this week and she looks a little better but still prefers to be laying down, has a hard time standing up/sitting down. We try to walk a block and she stops to lie down (we never push her). She sleeps most of the day, assuming from the meds. She is a different dog, it’s heartbreaking. She still eats and drinks but we put her food in front of her now, and mix it with wet (to hide the pills), otherwise I don’t know how often she would eat on her own. Thoughts on how surgery will help? Recovery? Our consult with the surgeon referred by our vet isn’t until July 31st (there is a backup with Covid) so we are looking for other options and might have a spot with a local vet- we are hoping to not have to wait that long because she’s just not our Charley, and we don’t want to see her in pain any longer.
some notes from vet: Ambulates tender hind legs R+L . thickened stifles- toe touching both and small stride on gait . Sits
slowly and swings legs out to avoid flexing too much . Crepitous on flex/ ext R side- patellar groove . Rlat- chip prox tibia- thickened JC and irregular lat collateral. L side – joitn mouse caudal joint – thickened JC irrgular medial collateral lig mild drawer both
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Pisoi is an indoor 18 year old male cat who is also allowed to spend as much time as he wants outside. Last summer he started to get from his left nostril a discharge, first clear mucus which despite an antibiotic injection (good for two weeks) became later a thick puss. The doctor’s supposition was: A) sinus infection; B) a foreign body in the nostril; C) cancer. The Doctor’s opinion is that more precise investigations requires anesthesia but due to the cat’s advanced age the doctor felt that he might not wake up from the anesthesia. It was prescribed Tobramycin Dexamethasone Ophtalmic and the puss became again a pretty clear discharge. He was eating and behaving normal. Everything remained in this state until two months ago when Pisoi began to snore, a sign that his left nostril was beginning to be affected. There was no discharge from his “healthy” nostril. After six days of doxycycline, his snoring became a little softer, then loud again. Another six days doxycycline, another week of soft snoring. Now he received doxycycline for 20 days. Already after four tablets he seams to be better but still 1) he cannot rest well because of heavy breathing and 2) his appetite is gone. Only ¼ tablet mirtazapine will make him to eat (really well).
Dr. Magnifico, I would appreciate it if you could see Pisoi as soon as possible, especially after I read what on this page what happened to Tony’s cat, Destiny.
We live in New Castle Pa, five hours and a half from you
Thank you very much,
Mihai
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Hello . My dog was just diagnosed with ivdd. She is 5 years old . We are on day 6 and at night I notice she will wake up from a sleep and Yelp and try to get comfortable again . Sometimes she twitches too . She seems restless . She is on gabapentin tramadol and predisone . I feel that she is still in pain any suggestions?
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Hi. My Welsh Springer was drinking alot but not eating for 4 days and following an ultrasound was diagnosed with pyometra. She underwent surgery ten days ago.
Since having the operation she still refuses to eat. She has had anti nausea treatment as well as mirtazapine. The vet has now also prescribed trazodone. We did book her in to stay at the vets for a couple of days and they said she did eat some chicken. They showed me a video as evidence. Physically they could find nothing wrong with her. On returning home she still refuses to eat but is drinking. She will not eat anything, even her favourite treats, her usual dog food, nothing. So far it has cost me nearly £2000 for her treatment and I have no funds left. It really feels as though she will starve herself to death, although I thought dogs would never do this. I have tried restoring her old pattern of eating and have removed uneaten food after an hour and offered her nothing until her next meal but she still will not eat. I am at a loss as what to do next. Thanks for your advice. Andrew.
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Hi Krista, I have a 6 month old kitten (Shadow) with polyps and I saw your video on YouTube and got excited because I know how much vets charge and I can’t afford that. I’m in Greensburg PA, just east of Pittsburgh. If you know of any affordable vets in my area I could try them but most places are 3+ weeks out just for appointment or not taking new customers at all. Otherwise I could definitely take the drive to MD if it helps my baby breathe and meow! Please let me know if you can help. Thanks!
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I have a 4 year old poodle that I adopted after he became paralyzed from his back legs. He became paralyzed Dec 2018 and due to lack of resources, we chose the conservative method, but have seen minimal changes in the past 1.5 years since his injury. He is a very happy and friendly dog and doesn’t appear to miss his rear legs. My question is if he’ll ever feel his rear legs again? If his brain will ever detect them or know they are there? He has a wheelchair, but he dislikes it. His diagnosis is a slipped disk from two vets who also said he would be paralyzed for life. I took him to a trial treatment at Texas A&M Vet school, but unfortunately, the product they are developing is too far into the future. Looking for your opinion on what options, if any, my pet might have.
Thank you!
Hello!
I am happy to help as their veterinarian but I am not a nutritionist so these questions make me a little uneasy. First I have to admit that I am not a raw food fan. There are a lot of studies about how dangerous it can be and how high the contaminated samples are often found to be in these studies. I get so much flack for this opinion, but it is sincerely based on science. As far as switching to the new food I also have to admit that I am not familiar with them so I cannot advocate for that food either. If you are comfortable with the food change, it isn’t a raw food, and, it isn’t grain free (cardio concerns with them), then the advice about how to transition is often as follows;
Do a very gradual transition. Ideally 1/4 new with 3/4 old for a few days (maybe 3-5), then 1/2 and 1/2 for the same period and then 3/4 new with 1/4 old for the last 3-5 days. This is done to help slowly transition the gi system and not overwhelm it with a sudden change that might cause vomiting, diarrhea or even pancreatitis.
I hope this helps.
Take care. Ty for the question.
I don’t know what food is best. One site says, kibble is over processed and has very little nutritional value because of the high heat used. Then there is organic and non gmo but dehydrated or freeze dried keeps more nutrients but I can’t find a dehydrated food that is also organic. They (mainly Sampson) did not do well on any of the kibbles and both gained weight even on the prescription diet food. I would cook for them but I’m afraid I wouldn’t give them all the nutrients they need. I tried to find a nutritionist on line but no success. I welcome any suggestions you may have. Who knew finding good nutritional options for your pet would be this difficult. Just want them healthy and to live a long like.
Thank you!!!