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Laurie | 2 years ago
I Am Agonizing Over The Hardest Decision We Have As Pet Parents…euthanasia. Our 12 1/2 Year Standard …

I am agonizing over the hardest decision we have as pet parents…euthanasia. Our 12 1/2 year standard schnauzer has been having various behaviors and symptoms the past 6 -8 weeks. Excessive panting, fatigue, decreased appetite. We brought him in and he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He finished all his meds and we brought him back in for follow up X-ray and labs. He really wasn’t much better. X-ray confirmed pneumonia had cleared but lab work, which had been normal 2 weeks prior, now showed probable pancreatitis. He has declined rapidly the past 3 days. We are trying to get him to take meds, Pepcid, Cerenia, Carafate but we literally have to force them down his throat. He will not eat and I have tried everything , rice, scrambled eggs, bread, even doughnuts He is isolating, going upstairs instead of being with us. He still has labored breathing, his legs give out, he is restless. He has a strange odor. I have had dogs my whole life and all this points to end of life. I know this in my heart. When do you know when is the right time? I really was hoping he would pass naturally. Thank you for listening

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  1. Laura

    First off: I’m so very sorry. I know how much this hurts. I know how much it sucks. My biggest regret was not letting my cat go earlier. I couldn’t be with him when he crashed, and it absolutely destroyed me.

    It’s always, ALWAYS better to let them go too early than to make them suffer for our need to keep them with us. We owe them that for all the love they’ve given us.

    Self isolation is a big sign. So is the refusal to eat, the general restlessness. It sounds like he’s miserable. I would give him the best day you can, and let him go gently.

  2. Kaya

    I’m so sorry to hear this , I myself was and still am angry about putting down my kitty who was very young due to a UTI going south and after much attempts to solve the issue , I am angry for this being the 2nd time , and I’m angry that no one seems to prevent this food from being sold that slowly kills male cats and that no matter what efforts I took to upgrade the food, give him supplements, take him to the vet or whatever , nothing helped ! It only managed to give him another 8-9 months to live .::: but … for me that’s not good enough…. Why can’t we stop this from happening before it happens to male cats !? I don’t get this fail system government and greedy people that only look to get paid rather then save a life. So, with that being said, I am so sorry you lost your pal woof woof ???? I know how u feel , and that it’s better to let them go in peace then suffer this dreadful painful bs life .

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Kayla Jo | 2 years ago
Hey Everyone. My Sweet Baby Girl Ellie May Is 11 Going On 12 And Has IVDD With Back …

Hey everyone. My sweet baby girl Ellie May is 11 going on 12 and has IVDD with back leg paralysis. The funny thing is that overtime she has been able to sometimes memory walk which resembles a raccoon on our carpet and can even kick her back feet when you carry her. She’s unable to urinate on her own so I do that for her and have for years. She has a wheelchair, her own playpen and even her own stroller because she is my diva child.

Last weekend little miss decided to jump from her stroller because she was too impatient to see what I was cooking in the kitchen. She didn’t help or anything and has even done this before and it doesn’t phase her but about gives me a stroke. Last Sunday morning I was getting her out of bed and she yelped and when I gently sat her on the floor to get her morning drink before tinkle time she flopped out on her left side. Since then she has weakness In the front and she knuckles the foot but can still put pressure but is hard to get around and will cry in pain and breathes heavier. She’s a dachshund so we all know their attitude and behaviors.

I called my veterinarian and it has been a back and forth battle the ENTIRE week and I haven’t actually spoken to the vet just desk people who apparently don’t like to pass messages or do anything really. I totally understand how busy a farm vet practice is but some communication would be nice. Thankfully I had some gabapentin left from her sister Miley’s dental and have been doing that twice a day but the dose is in half as she weighs less than Miley. When they did call me back they said yes what I was doing was fine as I’m also doing crate rest. I’ve done this dance before with my girl so we know what to do. From the start she wasn’t a candidate for surgery they said since she had already lost function In her legs. But with my love and care she bounced back within 2 weeks and then slipped again a few weeks later and has been without full use since.

I expressed my concern she could have slipped a front, they don’t seem all too worried,really????? Now my hubby and I have a game plan that as long as Ellie has the will to fight and live then so do we but the second she is truly suffering we will not allow her to deal with that. I’ve had so many folks wonder why we have a special girl and didn’t just put her down, I respond with would you shoot your own child if he broke his leg and couldn’t play sports again? You don’t give up on your dogs. If anything she has more attitude being my handy girl. We call her the sheriff of tiny town. I called my vet yet again yesterday to try and get in for a steroid injection and some nsaids and they just don’t seem to pass the message. So tomorrow I’m calling as their hours are 8a-12pm and if they can’t get me in then praying that at least doc can call the meds in for her. As a mama of an IVDD baby I’m familiar with the drill. Thank you for letting me vent.

We are ordering a secondary pop up playpen for her for when we are upstairs and when we are downstairs . Also ordering a raised bowl set so she isn’t angling her head down, I’ve rolled up blankets into the open areas in her playhouse so she is more secure and comfortable. Are there any other IVDD parents out there? Any and all tips would be greatly appreciated

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    Congratulations on doing so well with managing your pups disease. It really is a total investment in love.
    I know a lot of people like Dodgers list Facebook page. If you aren’t a part of that community go there.
    If you have specific questions I will do my best to help. I have a really exhaustive library of information on my YouTube channel and blog. Maybe they can help? Search Ivdd on the YouTube channel or blog at kmdvm.blogspot.Com.

    Good luck.

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Hala | 2 years ago
Hello I Live In Atlanta, GA. I Believe My Cat Nava Has A Nasopharyngeal Polyp. She …

Hello I live in Atlanta, GA. I believe my cat Nava has a Nasopharyngeal Polyp. She has been consistently sick over the last 3-4 weeks and I took her to the Vet, he suspected middle ear but he said try Famcilovir and antibiotics to treat what could be FHV. She has been on the medication for about a month now and her symptoms are just not getting treated and I’ve been to the vet 3 times and all 3 times they have suggested the same thing. I’m a masters student and I’m fairly broke right now and I’ve already spent a thousand dollars. I have a feeling in my gut that she has this as she stopped eating and has had difficulty breathing. Do you have a vet in Atlanta I can take her to do xray or scan and remove this for a cheap or affordable price? Thank you so much :'(

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Lika | 2 years ago
My Female Sealpoint Siamese Cat, Lika, Has Been Constipated. She Is 16 Years Old And Has Historically …

My female sealpoint siamese cat, Lika, has been constipated. She is 16 years old and has historically eated Science Diet dry cat food. She turns her nose up at canned foid; I have tried many. I have tried putting mineral oil on her treats and she would sometimes eat them but now will not, at all. She is still eating and she drinks a lot of water. She is active, bright, and seems to usually be in no distress. Her abdomen does not feel hard or distended. She vomits on occasion after which she sometimes poops. For the past two weeks she has been straining as if to poop but nothing comes out. I gave her an enema 4 days ago and it was successful. She had not pooped since, so I gave her another enema today, with success but with not as much poop obtained as there should have been after 4 days. Her stool is very hard. I would like to know if I can give her liquid docusate sodium , which I can buy in the grocery store and if so, how much can I give to my 5 lb. cat. How do I administer it? I would not want her to aspirate any medicine I’d give her. I am trying to avoid large vet bills because of my financial situation and bevause Lika is an old cat and I prefer to avoid any major costly intervention(s).

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  1. Autumn

    Hello.
    A few suggestions to help with her bowel movements… try introducing different type of wet food. Often kitties aren’t fond of certain smells/flavors. You can also try adding water into her dry food to moisten it. If able, try adding small amounts of wet food into the dry food. Softening up the food can help form stool easier and make things less stressful.
    Please reach out to your vet if this continues to be an issue as she may have more going on than we can tell.

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Marie | 2 years ago
My Dog (beagle, 4yr) Has Been Diagnosed With Potential IVDD. Vet Provided Meds For 2 Weeks To See …

My dog (beagle, 4yr) has been diagnosed with potential IVDD. Vet provided meds for 2 weeks to see if there is improvement.

She is still able to walk, eat and urinate/poop normally. However, when she gets spasms in her neck, you can see she is in pain and she cries.

Is there anything else I can do to release her pain? Massage? Ice pack? Heat pack?

Also, the Vet did not say that I needed to crate her. She is pretty much always laying down, getting up when she wants to go out to pee or to eat. Should I still crate her? She is not used to it so I’m afraid she will try to fight out.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    I’m Sorry for the delay. I have a huge amount of information including the medications I use in these cases at my blog kmdvm.blogspot.Com and my YouTube chane. Go to each and search Ivdd.

    Your pet should be crate rested at all times and there are medications to help pain.

    Best of luck.

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Jesse | 2 years ago
7y/0 M Golden Retriever Had Mass Removed Near Spine. Incision Site Was Relatively Large And Is …

7y/0 M golden retriever had mass removed near spine. Incision site was relatively large and is healing quite nicely . Since about day 5 post op he has had a sac of fluid underneath the skin (diagnosed by vet as seroma). After 2 fine needle aspirations, 2 rounds of anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic, the seroma has not gone down in size. He has been very minimally active (just goes out to use potty). Seroma has not reduced size and vet said it is ok to ease back into routine.

Any advice on how long this will last and if playing with buddies at park (he wrestles his one best friend) will delay healing? It seems no activity is not helping the swelling anyway.

Just want my pup to have a bit more fun during the day he’s been isolated for over one month!

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello

    Seromas can take quite a long time to resolve. I have seen it take weeks. Or even 2-3 months. The key is that it is never bothering your dog and never shows any signs of being n infection.
    In my experience it just has to reabsorb on its own and on its own time.

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Emir | 2 years ago
After Emergency Urinary Tract Obstruction Procedure My Cat Is Peeing Small Drips All Over The House, Also Did Not Poop Yet

My 3 year old male cat had emergency urinary tract obstruction. Luckily we very able to get him to teh hospital on time. He stayed 2 nights in hospital (super expensive). All went well and he was back home on Friday. Eating well, purring, playing, sleeping. He also goes and pee in litter box, but also is peeing small amounts around house. Like he cannot hold it. I just hope that is because of sensitive urethra and relaxation medication that they gave him. I stopped that relaxation medication immediatelly.

Another worry is he also has not been able to poop. He ppooped in hospital last time on Friday and today is Monday morning. I am thinking because of brand new urinary food that he started eating and his stomach needs to adjust. Or maybe antibiotics.
I hope he is OK and that this is just healing process. Ut has been only 2 days since catheter was pulled out. I am worried so much here.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I hope that your cat is doing better.
    Many cats have discomfort when urinating for the first few days after the urinary catheter is removed. This is normal. Make sure he is able to urinate (pass urine) I usually recommend a prescription urinary diet and ask about any and all options to help manage inflammation (I like a few things so ask your vet which might work for you (nsaid, steroid, other anti inflammatories) pain medication (analgesics) and any way to increase fluids ( there are lots of options like sq fluids at home, adding water to food or hydra care).

    As far as defecating goes. I only worry if they are straining to defecate and unable to. In almost all cases they are not eating well in the hospital to form a stool. So it can be days before they poop normally.

  2. Emir Post author

    Thank you so much for your thorough answer. He is doing much better now. It has been 9 days since catheter was removed. We are only feeding urinary wet food. He is peeing normally:), and is pooping fine. Urine is still sometimes rose color, like maybe there is blood but he seems to be fine. Does not make any painful noises, purring a lot when we play with him. I give him half 5 oz can in the morning, and other half at night. During a day, few crunchy treats. Since did is wet he does not drink much of the water, rarely. Today he was not really having good appetite , so we again stated to worry. Hopefully his urinary tract has not been damaged by procedure. Our vet is super experienced.

  3. Emir Post author

    My cat has been doing fine for the past week or so. Now again all of sudden he started peeing pinkish pee. Like bloody. And he cannot control himsself. It seems like urinary infection. What is going on all of a sudden. Such a mess and stress for all of us. What do I do? Can urinary infection be fixed? He has been doing fine. He is only eating wet food. I think the food might be the culprit. Who knows where this food is coming from…

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Jessica | 2 years ago
Please Help! I Have Never Owned A Cat Before, Actually I Am Allergic. The Universe Dropped …

Please help! I have never owned a cat before, actually I am allergic. The Universe dropped two kittens in my lap that the mother never returned for. On of the kittens dies. I had them before their eyes were open. Through some good people at my vet I was able to learn some things (the hard way) and able to raise the kitten off the bottle. I have the kitten and named her Luna. And to say the least Luna is a handful. She acts feral when new people are around or I take her to the vet. She attacks everything and she is rarely calm enough to love on. She has peed in my tub one time before a couple weeks ago but today she pooped and then hours later peed in my tub. The same day. Today actually. Please if anyone knows anything about bottle baby kittens or has any advice please help.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    Call recurses and vet offices and post something on social media to see if you can find anyone locally to help advise you. Also there are multiple resources on YouTube and Facebook for kitten experts. See if you can follow them. They have extensive articles and archives.

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Alexis | 2 years ago
My DSH Cat Ollie, 6 Years Old Started Vomiting And Having Trouble Eating On Wed 3/1/23, Same Thing …

My DSH cat Ollie, 6 years old started vomiting and having trouble eating on Wed 3/1/23, same thing Thurs. threw up everything he ate. I gave him watered down fancy feast broth via syringe that evening. I took him to the ER vet Thurs night. The ER vet did body XRays and found nothing abnormal. Gave him fluids. She thought it might be related to his teeth removal in Aug 2022. She gave him pain meds and nausea medicine. There’s been no more vomiting.

Followed up with his veterinarian practice Friday morning 3/3/2023. She did a very thorough mouth exam. Did not believe related to dental work. His blood work came back normal. Was not reactive to firm pressure anywhere near mouth. She agreed to continue pain and nausea meds but no other info. Given antibiotic shot. He was fed watered down meat baby food on Friday and more water via syringe.

Saturday 3/4/2023 went back to his vet practice to see another vet. She did additional bloodwork and ruled out pancreatic issues. She did same exam and noted his was not reactive to pressure/touch anywhere except back of mouth/throat area. Told to stop pain meds. Given steroid shot to see if his throat/back of mouth is inflamed. Said should notice a difference Monday if this is effective. Has follow up with this vet on Tuesday morning. He started hills science prescription a/d food today via syringe and continuing water mixed with a little baby food for extra hydration/nourishment. She said if this doesn’t help he will need to seek an internal specialist.
Please help. Thoughts ?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    This is a tough one because we don’t have a direction to go in

    Here’s my advice. First weigh him everyday. We need to be sure he is not losing weight. Next try a canned only food. I like science diet I/d. (As in intestinal diet). Available at your vets office. Ideally feed small meals every 3-4 hours as long as he is not vomiting. Next make sure a full cbc chemistry fecal (very important to do a fecal) and urine is done. Then full X-rays. If I am still worried I send the X-rays to a radiologist for review and then do an ultrasound. If possible find a feline only veterinarian to get a second opinion. Then I call for an internal medicine consult via my lab services company. All of these are things you should (hopefully) have access to before you go to an internal medicine specialist.

    The issue with your cat seems to be the hat you do not have a diagnosis for the cause of the vomiting. All of the above should help you get to one.
    I hope this helps. Please keep me posted.

    Krista.

  2. Alexis Post author

    Thank you Krista! The vomiting has stopped but he won’t eat on his own. I truly appreciate your help. I’m really trying while we work toward answers.

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Setayesh | 2 years ago
My Female DSH Cat Started Having Urinary Issues About 5 Days Ago. I Noticed She’s Not …

My female DSH cat started having urinary issues about 5 days ago. I noticed she’s not used the litter box for a day and I took her to the vet. They did an ultrasound and a blood test. The blood test was normal and the ultrasound detected a cystitis. We started giving her antibiotics. The night after she still wasn’t using the litter box so I took her to the ER. They said there was nothing with her though.
She still doesn’t use the litter box on her own, I have to put her in it a couple of times a day to make her pee(and still she does that only once a day)
What should I do?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello
    These are often complicated issues involving multiple underlying things. To include diet, litter and litter box dislikes and environmental stress. I would look for a vet who specializes in feline medicine and place different kinds of litter boxes and litter types for your cat. Also make the area your cat lives in is as free of stress as possible. Calm quiet and easy to access all of the things she needs. Like fresh high quality canned food. Fresh water. And immaculately clean litter boxes. Also I add an anti inflammatory like dasaquin and a pain medication. I like gabapentin but your vet might use something else. Also ask about learning how to give sq fluids at home. Follow up with a urinalysis too.

    Good luck