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Chelsea | 4 years ago
I Have A Golden Retriever/Lab/Boxer Mix. He Will Be 10 Years Old This Month. A …

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?

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  1. Sarah

    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.????????

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Rebecca | 4 years ago
We’re Treating Our 6-month-old Kitten For Giardia And He Has Been Quarantined In The Bedroom …

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?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    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.

    1. Rebecca Post author

      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.

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Jodi | 4 years ago
Archie, 6 Mo Old Kitty Has A Neurological Birth Defect (likely) Which Makes Him Incontinent. We Have …

Archie, 6 mo old kitty has a neurological birth defect (likely) which makes him incontinent. We have to express his bladder and colon. His bladder became blocked, so he spent the weekend in ER. He did not have crystals or a bacterial infection, but he had mucus in his urine. Likely because expressing doesn’t empty his bladder completely … guessing. He Came home and we could not express his bladder again after only one successful expression. Back to ER and they are at a loss. It doesn’t help that we can’t find a urologist and clinics keep turning us away. The neuro we found when he was brand new seems to be advising us to euthanize him because of everyone’s QoL. I MEAN REALLY!?!?! Any advise would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I have had a few cases like this. Cases where animals need constant help to urinate (or even defecate). I tell them you can only fill in for their basic functioning for so long. Maybe months or years but only for so long. At some point the cumulative effects of non function cause collapse. This is where you are. Yes. As much as it is hard to accept it is probably time. There are no other viable options. All are fraught with terrible consequences. This happened to my own dear beloved pup. I actually considered crazy ridiculous options like marsupialization. I was desperate. I had to let him go. His body wasn’t working even though he was still young and mentally 100% aware. It almost killed me. I am so sorry. You are on my thoughts. If it would help please add your Archies story to our storyline section. It is such an important case to share. I applaud your dedication to him. He is so lucky to have found a family who loves him.

    1. Jodi Post author

      Thank you for replying! I am now able to express him. For now at least. We found your videos and had hoped for a different response!! My heart is too sad. He is right now playing with our pup. They are near buds. I don’t know how we could do this?????

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Nolan | 4 years ago
Hi, My Bernese Puppy Just Had, 5 Days Ago, A Jps (Juvenile Pubic Symphysiodesis) Surgery As Prevention …

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…

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  1. Sarah

    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????????

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chelsey | 4 years ago
Addisons Disease???

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!

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    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.

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Maggie | 4 years ago
2 Year Old Neutered Male, Indoor Only. Was Taken To The Vets And Had Crystals Removed Form …

2 year old neutered male, indoor only. Was taken to the vets and had crystals removed form his bladder. His kidneys appeared to be a little elevated and was put on amoxycilin, prazosin and meloxidyl. Prazosin for 7 days, amoxycillin for 7 days and meloxidyl for 14 days.

He was absolutely fantastic for about 7 – 10 days. When he was ill previously he was very distant (usually extremely affectionate), hiding under sofa, lethargic, not eating or drinking, struggling to pee and mewing. This time when he was ill he has actually still been affectionate and following the owner everywhere, a little slow and seems sad, but mainly noticed that he kept trying to pee – even outside his litter tray. Took him back to the vets and they recommend euthanasia so went to another vet. They gave him an epidural to relieve his bladder and put him on Hypovase for anti spasm relief, gabapentin for pain and buprenorphine also alprazolam for anti spasm.
All the above happened in the last few weeks
He’s back in the vets again this morning with another blockage and because he keeps removing the cathather they want to remove the urine via needle!!
Any help would be appreciated.

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  1. Sarah

    Hi there-
    The experience that I had with my blocked cat (years ago) was time consuming. He did undergo surgery to remove the blockage. Then sent home after urinating on his own. We had to keep him confined as he needed to rest and recuperate, plus he was leaking for a while and clean up was easier in less space. He needed Rx food for the remainder of his days. His recovery took a few weeks, but he did live quite a long time after that experience. Our vet had also advised us to change the type of litter we used as some apparently can cause stones/crystals. I know that they did some sort of ultrasound on his bladder at the time to help assess the situation. Perhaps to see the number of crystals and if they could pass? Not 100% sure…. regardless, I would check with the vet about diet, litter, recovery and expectations as to whether they feel all the stones have passed or if further surgery is needed. Please keep us posted ????

  2. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    Most of the cases is see happen like this. It takes weeks, months for the urethra to heal and the bladder to regain full function. I strongly suggest a canned urinary prescription diet and medication options to include a steroid. I also recommend discussing a PU surgery before recommending euthanasia.

    1. Maggie Post author

      Thanks Krista. He’s back to the vets again today to have his bladder evacuated and the same yesterday and the vets wants to do the same until Friday via needle. He been on the urinary food but won’t even do a droplet of urine. The vet is recommending euthanasia Friday because of his suffering….. at a loss!

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CARY | 4 years ago
Hi, We Are In Dire Need Of A Second Opinion As Our German Shepherd Is In …

Hi, We are in dire need of a second opinion as our German Shepherd is in Emergency now and we are waiting for the neurologist to call us back again. About 6 days ago our pup jumped out of the car and yelped. She seemed to start walking a little weird and we kept our eye on her. The next day she started having weakness in her back legs and swaying a little. A couple days later it was a little harder for her to get up from sitting. The vet thought she had pain from her stomach as she had diarrhea and she did blood work and an xray of her abdomen and middle of spine. Because when the vet watched her walk and did pain tests and mobility, she seems fine with no pain. By the 4th day she started to really have a hard time getting up and she had a little dragging in the back feet. 5th day, she had a hard time time squatting to go to the bathroom and was losing balance. Her front left leg started to show weakness and we took her straight to emergency.

The neurologist still has not done an MRI because she said that our pup was just laying there like a log and not being supper responsive. Which makes her think it could be a brain issue. I am waiting for er phone call now but I will be asking her to just do the MRI of the spine and the brain to have a better understanding. Our dog was fully responsive when we took her to emergency 12 hours ago so I am wondering if she is completely sad because we have never left her anywhere.

Please help! This is urgent.

Thank you.

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  1. Sarah

    I’m so sorry about your dog! I have to ask- I am assuming your car was not moving when the dog jumped out? And are you and your vet sure that her situation right now is actually related to that incident? I’m just trying to clarify- sorry. I am hoping that you get some more definitive answers today from your vet.

    1. CARY Post author

      Hi Sarah, No, the car wasn’t moving. She yelped a couple times coming down the sofa also, She is still at vet and is getting an MRI today and spinal fluid tap. The vet mentioned meningitis also. I am just frustrated that we had to wait 2 days for an MRI, especially if it is Meningitis and needs to be treated ASAP. I went to see her yesterday and she was excited to see me but can’t stand up or really lift her head up.

      1. Sarah

        Oh my goodness. I truly feel for you. I hope that something shows in the MRI so that you can start the road to recovery and that she is ok ???????? If you fe up to it, please keep us posted.

  2. CARY Post author

    We got the results back from MRI and spinal fluid and she has meningitis/encephalitis . They immediately put her on broad spectrum antibiotics and steroids. Today they got back the spinal fluid results and it showed no bacterial cause so they took her off all antibiotics and started an immediate 24 infusion of Cytostar, an auto suppressive medication. We now wait for another 18 hours to see how she is responding.

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Natalie | 4 years ago
We Brought Mila, My 7 Year Old Mixed Domestic Savannah Chausie Female Spayed Kitty, Early This Morning …

We brought Mila, my 7 year old mixed domestic savannah chausie female spayed kitty, early this morning for emergency attention because she was moaning and groaning in pain last night and could hardly move. Prior to this morning she had been seen two weeks ago at the same emergency clinic and her primary vet. Both determined she had crystals and a UTI and prescribed medication which we’ve been giving as instructed along with keeping her on the strict urinary care diet from hills c/d.

She tried yesterday and this morning to use the litter box but was unsuccessful in relieving herself so we had to treat it as if she was experiencing a blockage which you know is very dangerous.

The Dr. was able to express Mila’s full bladder and found no blockage there, but said Mila was in a lot of pain while undergoing the procedure. She did not feel any stool so Mila is not considered to be constipated, but a good sized stone or crystal was visible during the ultrasound.

The Dr. strongly believes Mila still has a UTI and wants to get that under control first, so we were given the following medications:

Pradofloxacin (antibiotic)
Prazosin (for urethral spasms)

We were also instructed to increase the dosage of the Gabapentin from 0.3ml every 12 hours to 0.5ml every 8 hours since it didn’t seem to be doing enough in terms of managing Mila’s pain. She was previously on buprenorphine for pain but we were concerned that it was constipating her.

We need to bring Mila in as soon as possible to perform another urinalysis and culture as was recommended by the Emergency clinic. This was recommended to determine whether or not the bacteria from the UTI has spread to Mila’s kidneys.

We chose to decline those diagnostics at the emergency Clinic today as they were going to charge an additional $800 for an already expensive treatment and we felt more comfortable going through our primary vet for Mila (the diagnostics will cost a fraction of what emergency quoted.)

I want to do everything I can for Mila but we are now in the hole nearly $2k at the point between the two emergency visits and the primary vet visit, so wanting to know what is necessary now Vs. what can be phased in.

I hate seeing her in pain and I’m just worried that she isn’t improving.

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  1. Sarah

    Good morning-
    Im sure you are getting her into see your vet right away. I would have a very in depth conversation regarding your budget and what you expect as well as your concerns and Mila’s overall comfort level. Years ago one of our cat’s had a urinary blockage and I do remember him being kept for a few nights, catheterized, and surgery to remove the blockage and Rx cat food for the remainder of his years. And it was expensive, and it was a long recovery, but he did well. I hope Mila does too.

    1. Natalie Post author

      Thanks Sarah!

      We’ve been acting with urgency and Mila is finally starting to improve – she was given a stronger antibiotic to tackle the UTI in addition to the pain and urethral spasm medications. It seems to be the right cocktail, allowing Mila to urinate without strain. I never thought I’d be so happy to watch her go! haha.

      After her most recent visit to the vet this past Monday, they confirmed no blockage, no stones, and a smaller less full bladder! Good girl Mila! We are waiting on the urine culture results which will tell us exactly what type of bacteria she’s got in her UTI, but in the meantime we are no longer in the “up all night watching her like a hawk” phase.

      After 3 emergency visits and 2 visits with her regular vet, we seem to be finally getting our playful Mila back.

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Amanda | 4 years ago
My Dog Is Coughing Mostly At Night When We Are In Bed. It Is Kind Of …

My dog is coughing mostly at night when we are in bed. It is kind of a cough where it sounds like she is trying to get something up. During the day she is sneezing alot and seems to have a runny nose. I am not sure if it is a cold or what. Also she still has energy wants to play and drinks water but is being very picky about her food. She strictly wants table food. Anyway the coughing is a little concerning. Is it something I should worry about she is 5 months old.

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  1. Sarah

    Good morning- i think that I would make an appointment to see the vet. It could be a range of things and they will be able to give her a thorough exam to rule out anything serious and probably give you something to help. I’m guessing if she is only 5 months a regular check at the vet is soon on your list of things possibly anyway? Hope your pup is ok????????

  2. Laura

    Coughing should be of concern. I agree, I would get her to the vet. Could be kennel cough, could be something else.

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Jennifer Farrell | 4 years ago
I Have A 12 Year Old Dachshund Mix Who I’ve Had On Grain Free Food For …

I have a 12 year old dachshund mix who I’ve had on grain free food for about 5 years. He has had ear issues over the years but it’s been manageable and infrequent. I have been transitioning him to Purina Pro Plan for bright minds and all the sudden his ears are bright pink and he’s shaking his head constantly. I have read so many terrible things about the grain free diets but now I wonder if I made a mistake and he might actually have sensitivity to grains bc I had him on grain free food for so long. Is that possible? Should I just go back to the grain free food given his old age?

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  1. Laura

    As I understand it (and I’m NOT a vet, but I’ve had conversations with a few veterinary nutrition experts about this since my dog has a food sensitivity), dogs are more likely to be allergic to the protein source than the grains. Chicken, beef, and lamb seem to be the most common protein allergens.