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Hi, I have a 14 month old australian shepherd mix that has had a terrible time dealing with the car since I got him, specifically a lottttt of drooling. I’ve been able to counter-condition him to be relaxed just sitting in the car but whenever we try to go to the next step and he notices we start moving in the car, the drooling comes right back and he is visibly anxious. I have started taking him to a nearby park with trails (about a 10 minute drive) after seeing Dr. Magnifico’s video on youtube about the subject. He has not vomited yet on these trips but the drool is definitely a concern and so far hasn’t improved (just had our fourth trip today). Also, after these trips he appears more wary of the car, with drooling sometimes starting as we approach the car to return home. As long as he is not vomiting am I not pushing him too much? When I first got him at four months, he was fine until the last 3 minutes of a 45 minute car drive, at which point he threw up. I think this has unfortunately traumatized him since and I just want to make sure I’m not creating further trauma.
I have also tried anti-nausea medication both OTC and from the vet with limited success, definitely does not help the drooling which makes me further believe it is anxiety related.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
Our chiwinnie unexpectedly slipped a disc the vet recommended laser treatment. She was fine for the first 3 days now even tho her back legs are getting better she’s in a lot of pain and air snapping here is the weird part I can pet her all over run my fingers down her spine and she’s fine but when I try to move her she cry’s a lil bit and air snaps is this normal
I think a phone call to the vet today and possibly a visit, are in order. Your vet can get her on a Rx for pain. Meantime, I would try to keep her quiet and comfortable. Dr. Magnifico has a lot of videos online (YouTube) that you might also find helpful.
She’s been to the vet everyday for treatment I took her back today he couldn’t figure it out either her back legs are improving but she doesn’t want to stand on them she’s just in pain she on pain killers and anti inflammatory she eats and goes potty. She didn’t cry as much today when I got home from work
Hi. I have a 3 day old pit bull puppy. He was born very small. I didn’t even know my female was pregnant. She was suppose to have been spayed but that’s something I will have to take up with the office that suppose to have done it. Anyways, the puppy at first was suckling fine from mom. Over the last couple of days it’s progressively gotten to where he will not even open his mouth to feed. I went and bought puppy formula, baby bottle, eye dropper and have been trying to get some food into him. He still will not eat. What else besides see a vet can I do? I’m very limited on funds right now because I had a work related injury and was off of work few days last week so no money for a vet.
Hello,
Puppies are fragile and without intensive dedicated care they can die quickly. You need to find a local breeder or rescuer with experience and you need to do it immediately. Put out a social media plea for help and call every local rescue and shelter to find someone who can help guide you on taking care of a puppy. They need to be kept warm and fed to start but other critically important things are disease and infection. Along with checking for birth defects that might prohibit growth. I wish you luck. Please be diligent in some cases I have seen puppies die in a day or two from hypothermia, malnutrition and disease. .
Hi!
I have a 10 year old tabby named chunk — he is overweight hence his name. Roughly a month or two ago we noticed that he started to limp. While he isn’t holding the paw or crying while walking, it is a noticeable limp. He is still jumping up on the bed and off, walking up and down all the stairs in the house, eating, drinking, and grooming himself. We can’t touch the paw, rub on the paw, and Chunk does not react in anyway as if it hurts him. My question is, his one paw is somewhat swollen at the knuckle. Could this be arthritis? I don’t want to take him to the vet because he does not handle that well and I’m worried about giving him a heart attack or other health issue by taking him to the vet for something that might be nothing. You can see in the picture the differences in his paws. Thank you in advance!
I have a Golden Retriever/Lab/Boxer mix. He will be 10 years old this month. A couple weeks ago, we took him to a vet specialist. He has a prostate mass that is connected to his urethra. He also has spots in his lungs that are believed to be metastasis of the cancer. I needle aspirate was done to confirm his cancer diagnosis. Recently, he has lost bladder control so we keep a diaper on him when he’s inside. Last night, he started not eating his food (even when it was mixed with wet food) so today I made him chicken and rice. He ate some of the chicken but did not touch the rice. My vet is not recommending surgery due to how invasive it will be. He is currently taking an antibiotic (clavamox) and a pain pill (gabepentin). He’s also been prescribed a medication for inflammation (carophren). My question is… is there anything that can be done for treatment? we wanted to have the mass removed to remove pressure from his bladder (because he peeing frequently). However, the vet nor vet specialist is recommending it. Are there options for metatastic cancer? What are the benefits of giving dogs CBD?
Good morning. I think your best corse of action would be to schedule a visit with your vet simply to discuss ALL of your options and then move forward from there. I cannot really comment on your specific situation, but I can definitely sympathize. This past July we had to finally say goodbye to one of our dogs and towards the end with the loss of bladder control and lack of appetite, it was really difficult to watch and in hindsight deal with. The last month was just to keep him as comfortable as possible and measure his quality of life. I had success getting him to eat by mixing beef broth and rice in with his regular kibble. And peanut butter became a regular treat. I hope that you and your vet can come up with a plan that works.????????
We’re treating our 6-month-old kitten for Giardia and He has been quarantined in the bedroom since diagnoses. our 1.5-year-old cat ran into the room for a moment and crawled under the bed before running back out of the room. I clean the room once or twice a day but under the bed is definitely a hard place to be precise with cleaning. the kitten wasn’t in the room at the time since he was getting his meds for the giardia. should I be worried that now my older cat could be infected too?
Hello,
I have loads and load and loads of patients with giardia that I have tested over the years. In most cases the older healthy pets are exposed and never get it. I wouldn’t worry too much. I would just be diligent with the litter box.
We’re cleaning the liter and vacuuming, sanitizing fabrics, and hard surfaces every day. just wasn’t sure if it was a risk with him crawling on his belly over the carpet under the bed.
Hi,
I need advice on how to calm my cat.SHe is normally nice but ately she acts a little aggressive when she hears other noises like,cars,dogs,and other cats.She is not acting as nice toward her own collar and grooming time with me. Do you have any answers how i can get her to act nice again?
Hello,
As with all issues like this we always start with looking for a medical resin behind the behavior. This includes an examination, perhaps bloodwork and a thorough work up. If this doesn’t yield a possible cause then we talk about providing safe places. Making sure she feels calm in her surroundings, undertaking and helping her accept her triggers and perhaps in some cases medical therapies.
I have a feeling it was helping her accept her “boundaries”.I really don’t fel like it has anything to do with medical issues.I think stuff is just irritating her for some odd reason.
My 14 year old boxer bulldog mix (probably pittie) fractured her tibia (confirmed by vet) but they want 100 bucks a week to change the splint. Can you give me a reference to an accurate how-to video on how to properly wrap it myself? She has a plastic splint that a youtube video called a “quick splint” (see photos). We have rewerapped it two or three times and the first time she got right up and ate a whole bowl of food and put weight on it. The past two times she hasn’t put weight on it and she’s barely eating, only people food. I can tell she’s not happy cause she won’t let me stop touching her. I have no idea what we did the first time that was right vs what I’m doing now that is wrong, but I think there is some slippage happening (see photo of knee joint). I’m making sure to line up the joint and the splint, but when I take it off, it isn’t lined up. How do I prevent slippage? Also, I’m going to wash her before I rewrap, her skin is very dry and she needs conditioner. She also has significant blackheads and chafing- I was going to use the benasoothe shampoo, should I take any other precautions?? I was thinking I would try some clay and apple cider vinegar for the blackheads?? She started licking her leg so I just put a little extra wrap on it so she can’t irritate it. What signs should I look for as an absolute NEED to return to the vet? Swollen toes, what else? Please respond ASAP
More pictures
Here’s my professional 25 years of experience advice. Pay your vet! It’s a very very fair price. I’m guessing that you can not afford surgery so you are going to be lucky to have it heal as it is. You can not manage this alone. You shouldn’t even try. Honesty is the best policy. I tell clients that even with me checking it weekly (often more often than that) the chance for failure is high. Be the pet parent your dog needs and stuck with your vet. Not being hateful. Being brutally honest. For your dogs sake.
I took her in today actually, she was there all day. I renewed her health plan and got her a full workup, and they changed her splint (and tape signed it) and I’m taking her back next week to get it checked. There are some family problems with spending the money because my family doesn’t think it’s worth it, but I put my foot down. She’s 14 and she’s the sweetest dog that’s ever existed, literally the only reason I didn’t commit suicide when I was late teens early twenties. She has absolutely earned it! Thank you for your advice!
Hi, my bernese puppy just had, 5 days ago, a jps (Juvenile pubic symphysiodesis) surgery as prevention for hip dysplasia. He has stitches just under his penis. Yesterday, he had the worst zoomies which caused him to run so fast, he got to the end of his leash and litterally backfliped. He seemed physically fine until I noticed quite a lot of bleeding coming from his stitches: for sure from the leash. I cleaned the wound with soap and water and everything looked fine. No more bleeding, stitches were fine too (picture #1, where we can see a finger). Today, we found out he had quite a big, pretty firm bump around the stitches (picture #2). No signs of infection. It seems to change size depending of his position, too. I just found out about seroma, but a bump like that is pretty scary. I will talk to the vet tomorrow but would really appreciate a quick opinion. The JPS recovery is already so stressful because we have such a hard time keeping him from running and jumping, now this…
Good morning- it is really hard to see anything from a picture. I would just keep him calm as can be and try to get into the vet ASAP first thing, so that they can take a close look and feel around. Hope everything is ok????????
My 4 year old Lab has been sick since Thursday. She wouldn’t eat, threw up bile, has diarrhea and just wasn’t herself, I took her to her vet Friday afternoon unfortunately they were closing, they gave her some fluid and medicine to calm her stomach, and sent us home with some medicine and a canned food.. They said if she wasn’t improving in 24 hours to take her to the emergency room for a full work up Unfortunately, we had to take her in on Sunday, after some test and after 3 day they told us she is finally eating a small amount and her stool is thicker and not bloody anymore. Her protein is low they did a ultrasound of her stomach and said everything looked normal but her adrenal glands are small so they are now testing her for Addisons disease. I tried to do some research but cant figure much out, does anyone have any information or has had a pet with Addisons disease? Is it common for a 4 year old healthy dog to start showing symptoms?
I just want my baby home!!! thank you!
Hello,
It sounds like you are getting a thorough work up and moving in the direction of some answers.
I have treated quite a few Addisonians and once diagnosed and started on treatment most do very well. If you have any questions or concerns ask for an internal medicine referral and go from there. Good luck. I hope she is feeling better soon.
Hello,
The drooling is part of the anxiety. In my opinion and experience the only way around it is through it. Keep working with him and keep thinking of new ways to make the car less scary. Like sitting in it and not going anywhere. Offering treats. Just going for a quick ride to the post office. Or a little jaunt around town anything and everything to make it less stressful and more enjoyable. Foe my pups this usually takes 4-6 months. But now they can (and do) go anywhere and it doesn’t matter if it is a ten minute or ten hour drive. They love to go anywhere and always think it’s an adventure.
Thanks so much for your reply, it is relieving to hear that despite the lack of results I should be on the right track, I’ll keep chipping away at it!
Hi there- Dr. Magnifico is definitely right. We had one shepherd (Butch) that was terrified of the car. It took about 6 months, but we finally got there. My trick with him was to make the ENTIRE experience worth it. At first, the car itself meant a treat of ham. Then, staying in the car meant more ham. We actually would go to visit the vet to get a treat, not for an appointment. Many times, I would just go to the end of the road and back- before the anxiety could grab ahold. After those first months, the car became a fun experience for him???? Also- a strong bond with your dog will help them overcome seriously just about anything. So working on that will help. If their bond with you is right, no matter where you are, they will want to be. Time, lots of love and patience are key. Keep up the good work????????
Ahh, I’ll try using some ham. I had been using bullysticks in the car but once the car gets moving he got sick pretty quickly. Ham might be a bit easier on his stomach. Fortunately I have had lots of time to train him so I do have a pretty good bond and can keep him in a down position in the car. Thanks for the reply!
Use a crate. My Doberman is a hellion if she isn’t secured – she screams and whines and won’t settle. Try a crate, and cover it.