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Is it safe to put chicken broth/stock on my dog’s food? She is a 13 year old German Shepherd mix who is a picky eater. She has no problem eating human food but isn’t especially interested in eating her dog food. Just trying to think of ways to get her more interested in her food.
Just caught my dog eating a Churu cat treat wrapper she dug out of the trash. I only found 1/3 of it. I’m guessing it’s plastic and foil and I have no idea if this is going to cause her to be sick.
Hello,
It depends on a few things.. how much of the wrapper was swallowed. How much was chewed (for example did the wrapper get chewed into small pieces), and how big and healthy is your dog?
All of these influence the ability for it to be passed.
I wish I could help you more.
After I finished panicking I went on a scavenger hunt and found all the pieces that I could and compared to a new wrapper. It looks like only a few small pieces were ingested—maybe 3. The pieces left over were all squished up and I had to smooth them out. If it was that easy to chew through and tear up I’m going to hope it passes ok. She’s a regular patient with Dr Morgan and is a youthful 11 year old border collie/lab mix. Her lab work is decent and only real health issues is arthritis and some lumps and bumps. She’s healthy weight of 42 lbs.
My 12 year old male dog has two tumors on him and I took him to the vet but they said there wasn’t anything they could do about it because of where he is so old what should I do about these tumors I just need somebody to help me with him I will travel. He is a lab mixed with a beagle and is 12 years old
Hello,
I would find a vet who helps you and your pet. If you aren’t comfortable with the answer you are being given keep looking for a vet who helps you. There is no such thing as being too old to be helped.
Hello I have watched a lot of your videos and I have been very impressed with your work. I would like to know where you’re located to see if I could bring him to you. I have all of his records and he just got cleared blood work it came back good. I would like to see about getting them removed or at least see what you could do to maybe help me with my dog. I am willing to travel to help my dog. And pay whatever I need to pay.
I am in northern Maryland. Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
was wondering if I could ask a question.
About my Shih tzu MeiLing:
MeiLing is not having symptoms. My question is related to lab values. She is 14 years old and just acts tired at times.
1. The paperwork shows that she is positive for Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Her vet did not offer any treatment advise on this or even mention this to me during the visit. I happened to find it later when reviewing her lab work. I have never found a tick on her since I rescued her 9 years ago.
2. Other lab work:
BUN 41, had been 33 year prior, one month after that was 29;
ALT 227 was 134 year prior, one month later 117;
ALP 673 was 668 one year prior and 1040 one month after that;
MCV 59.3 was 61.1 year prior and one month after that was 59.8;
Platelets 504 was 542 year prior and 561 one month afterwards;
Plateletcrit 0.62 was 0.66 and 0.68 one month later.
Based on some of the labs in point 2 the vet started MeiLing on Hepato Tru Benefits which supports healthy liver function and is telling me that we should do an MRI.
I love my dog and would like very much to do whatever is necessary for her health. However, I am retired, living on social security and am not able to afford a monthly payment for health insurance for her much less $1000 or more for an MRI. So my question is, with these labs, considering she is having no symptoms, granted she is not as lively as she once was but she is 14 years old, in your opinion how necessary is it that she have an MRI? Also why would he have not even mentioned the Anaplasma phagocytophilum? Should I seek another opinion?
I don’t expect that I will be able to afford other treatments revealed by an MRI.
I know I am asking a lot here but if you could just help me with a little guidance I would deeply appreciate it.
Thanks for any info you can give me.
Hello,
I think that I would ask for a second opinion from a different vet at another practice. I say this because I cannot interpret lab values without an examination. These go hand in hand to make an accurate assessment of a patient. Ask your friends and family who they use and trust and go there.
I also think you should bring all of the things that you mention above to your old vet.
Also I think it is important to talk to your vet about your financial abilities and ask for diagnostics you can afford. This is your right and the vet’s responsibility in my opinion. If they cannot help you find answers that are meaningful to your pet and their care go elsewhere.
Lastly I have been a vet for almost 20 years. I have not had many patients able to do an mri. And although I may offer we always (always!!!) tell about more affordable and readily accessible diagnostics like an ultrasound. I also ALWAYS talk about why I am asking questions them to do this. I fear very few vets do this. There is almost no point in asking you to do (and pay for) a diagnostic if we cannot do anything about the disease or problem from there. So what is an mri going to get you that is treatable? And Would you be able to afford that? If the answer is no why are we worried about the mri?
Rottweiler, female, 11 years old.
Vertically split nail; under vet care but I think we need to get more decisive.
The vet trimmed the nail half way with local (dog has bad reaction to sedation protocol, narcotics, etc). Still hurt and vet said it would cause undue pain. However, the nail continues on splitting.
How common of a procedure is cutting the nail off all the way to nail bed? How does that improve outcome? How much faster is the recovery?
By what percentage is anesthesia risk lower with such a short procedure? (Has to be anesthesia as explained above). Last time, after anesthetic procedure, she had heart rhythm problems and other problems; became critical and almost died. But was also full of drugs and had pancreatitis as complication of splenectomy. I’d assume the shorter the time under, the lower risk of complications?
I’m concerned about putting her under but I’m also concerned about dragging this out for weeks, taking valuable time from her, and having to do it that way anyway eventually.
I really don’t know what is the best thing to do for her. Hubby leaning toward waiting if it heals but I’m not seeing it healing any time soon if at all. (Photo of the present state of the nail attached.
I’m sad, depressed, concerned, and don’t know what I should decide for her.
Hello,
First I will admit that I have had cases like this and they are frustrating. So I remind my clients this.
Next we take it in small steps. I do start with trimming the nail as much as able and start toe/foot soaks to keep the area clean and place an ecollar to stop the patient from licking and further traumatizing the nail and seeding infection from the mouth . I ask them to give it a week or two to heal.
If it doesn’t or other nails start cracking we talk about oncodystrophy. And start talking about what to do if that is the case. The treatment options are not great so the decision to treat needs to be made with a great deal of thought or referral to dermatologist is recommended.
In one case I had a dog who was placed under general anesthesia and the nail was ground to the base to allow a new nail to grow back.
Risk of anesthesia is something discussed on a case by case basis and usually has little definitive concrete information to allow predictive measures or reasoning. That would be a conversation for an anesthesiologist.
Also I have had some cases with underlying nail bed infections so antibiotic’s, foot wrap and medication or culture and sensitivity testing might be helpful.
It’s already been three weeks now. It appears the nail was vertically cracked from the beginning with the first part in the middle (which is now the end)
How well did the grinding to the nail bed work and what was the recovery?
The other nails appear to be fine.
Grinding the nail was a last resort for a difficult chronic case. It worked but it was a last resort treatment.
Actually, it looked quite bad and hurt every time she brushed it on something. We had the nail entirely removed last Friday. Anesthesia was a risk, but I didn’t want her to spend whatever time she has left trying to get that damn nail healed–she already lost months with the first one.
The upside–48 hours of bandage, some pain meds, and all done. It looks good now and doesn’t bother her at all. She can now get on with her life and have fun.
I hated taking the risk but I”m glad I did.
This isn’t anything urgent but it’s been happening over time.. my dog frequently secretes fluid from her anus; she has had her anal glands expressed multiple times and uses the bathroom normally. She licks her anus afterwards and when I try to get close and/or disinfect the area she gets aggressive. So I just want to know the reasoning as to why she secretes fluid frequently if nothing is wrong with her?
Good morning.
Sometimes dogs may need their anal lands expressed on a normal basis. Some come in every 2 weeks, others 4-6 weeks. There may not necessarily be an “issue” per se, but some may need this as a routine for them.
If it becomes a concern, you may want to talk to your vet about removal if they start to become impacted/infected…
Last night about 8pm my dog had lump around her eyes and her mouth was swollen, this morning they have gone down but now she has got some more on her head, they seem to not hurt her but they are very itchy for her.
Hello!
Could she have possibly been stung by a bee? allergic reaction?
You can give benadryl 25mg, it is 1mg per pound… for instance if she is 50pounds, she would receive 2- 25mg tablets. This can be given every 8-12 hours. If she does not improve, I would reach out to your local vet for a check up.
Hope this helps
– Autumn
My 2 year old female dog was neutered last week and the incision site is looking concerning. The only veterinary clinic close to us is closed today and I am worried about infection or other issues. The dog is an obssesive licker and I don’t know if the wound is healing ok.
Hello
Try to keep your dog from licking the incision and follow up with your vet asap.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Hello,
If you told me that you were making the stock and you werent using any salt, or dangerous ingredients (onions, garlic, etc), then I might say ok..
but the issue for me is in the why your dog isnt interested in a dog food? Ask your vet for recommendations on a diet that is suitable for your dog. This advice should come after you have done a thorough physical exam and blood work to include fecal, thyroid and urine. (maybe additional diagnostics after these?).
I also use canned and dry food with my dogs to keep the dry kibble more interesting and palatable.
hope this helps