Please, please get him seen by a vet.
I adopted a feral cat just over a year ago. My elderly father was feeding him twice a day for two years. He moved to a condo when my mother passed and the cat sat at the empty house day and night waiting for my Dad to come home. I ended up taking the cat and have worked on taming him. I’ve been making progress but not quite where I can pick him up.
He’s been mostly healthy up until 8 weeks ago. He seemed to be straining to urinate in his litter box and had decreased appetite. I took him to an animal hospital. At this time, I couldn’t touch him. He was anesthetized and examined. His exam and bloodwork were all neg. He was put on a urinary diet and given mirtazipine to stimulate appetite. I was not able to consistently get the stimulate in his ear but he would eat, just not a lot.
Followed up with my vet who said maybe he isn’t that hungry because he doesn’t have to worry about food and just watch his weight.
Weight continued to drop and found out last week he has tapeworms. He got a topical dewormer. Since then, it seems like he’s lost more weight and his lack of appetite is worse. He does eat enough to poop and pee daily.
My vet does house calls only and is coming Thursday. She’s limited in what she can offer for interventions. I am contemplating taking him back to animal hospital for evaluation,
It gets dicey though because he’s not completely tame. When I went with him before I could hear the attending talking to resident on other side of door saying, “he’s feral, what does she expect us to do,” I get that, but to a point. Is it unrealistic for me to want Pinky treated? He’s getting sweeter and sweeter and enjoys being petted.
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I found a kitten, male. I first thought he had a cyst in his wrist but when I examined closer it popped through the other side and made crunches in the wrist. I now think that it’s broken and wondering if a splint would help him.
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Hi! This is my first time posting here!
We are taking our baby Rusty to the Vet next week. He has been recovering from Parvo this past week after being hospitalized for 6 days. He is doing AMAZING. Eating great, keeping it down. Still has slight runny poop/diarrhea. But we know that was to be expected. No blood, colors great.
We take him to the vet next week for a check up to see how he’s doing.
My husband and I noticed a tiny red spot on his arm where his vitals/catheter was they stuck in him at the hospital. We thought at first he was just picking at a scab, so to prevent it I went to wrap it back up and bought a inflatable cone from Petsmart.
As I was about to wrap it up, I noticed it was a pretty big open area exposed. Looking closer, I see a tiny pinpoint hole in the middle. At first, I thought it was again from the vitals they put in his arm.
Looking on Google being paranoid, I came across the possibility of warbles. My heart sank.
I just wanted to know what you think. He has been doing so so well. All my life my family has had dogs but never have had this issue before.
You can see it is right above where his previous bandage at the hospital was.. so not sure if it is really from all the IVs or warbles.
I really appreciate the feedback. Thank you so much!
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My Plott Hound had a large internal lipoma removed on Monday directly above his penis in his abdominal area. Almost immediately, he developed prominent swelling directly to, proximal, and distal to his operative site. In addition, he has swelling down his leg. Took him back to the vet where a needle aspirate was done. He was diagnosed with multiple seromas. There was no WBCs seen or anything else visualized under the scope to indicate infection INSIDE. However, externally, his skin is red and angry and there is a lot of swelling. He is on 2 broad spectrum antibiotics. He is having a hard time walking on his right leg. Took him back today (day 5 post op) because swelling is even worse. He has swelling all down his leg. Vet says it made sense to her because of gravity. My dog is in a lot of pain, can’t sit down. He put his paws down and his bottom stays up in the air. No one can even palpate his operate site without him going through the roof in pain. He is on Tramadol and an NSAID. I’m extremely worried. The vet isn’t a fan of the drain because she doesn’t want to create more room for infection. Ultra Sound showed no abscess. He is drinking a lot of water (more than usual) and urinating normally. His last BM was yesterday. Eating mostly fine. Low grade temp. Does this sound all right? I hate that he is suffering. The pics I have included were yesterday, not today. But you get the idea of the areas of seromas and erythema. Today, the swelling is worse and his entire leg down to his paw is fluid filled.
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Hi, i am wondering if a vet can help me with my dogs on going skin problem, he is losing excessive amounts of hair, fibres and his paws are very irritated, constant chewing and biting his paws. I have tried everything from medicated shampoos like malaseb, omegas, blackmores PAW Nutriderm conditioner, Virbac spot on skin lipids and the dreaded prednisone which we just experienced some very bad side affects. My vet doesn’t know what is going on just keep telling me the same thing to wash them in malaseb 3 x per week for his paws and they say his skin is fine apart from some ATOPY.
Any ideas or suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Thank you
Carlie
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a while ago my cat became sick, around the same time we noticed he had been leaving our house and stealing cat food from the neighbors who leave it out for other stray cats (therefore he was eating after other cats) his lymph nodes became swollen, he stayed in one spot all day and rarely moved, he wouldn’t eat or drink, and lost weight. We brought him to the vet and they examen him and did x-rays and said that it appears that he could have cancer/a tumor that has spread to his lymph nodes already as well as some other things like fluid/pus in his chest. They said the cancer was very aggressive since it’s already gotten that far and we just noticed it. A few days later his lymph node swelling went away, he started eating and drinking again, and he was acting like himself. We brought him back to the vet and they performed FNA on the tumor which came back inconclusive. They were also shocked that his lymph node? weren’t swollen anymore, and they said the tumor had moved places, and they started to question their diagnosis saying that he could just have an infection. The gave him antibiotics and sent us home. Since then the tumor has gotten bigger and moved places, it feels sort of soft and moves around easily. I’m questioning if this is just a lipoma rather than cancer because of the way it feels and moves, it has also been about 2 months since we very first noticed this, and to me it doesn’t appear or feel to have spread anywhere, his vet was also talking like he wouldn’t live more that a week or two and it’s been 2 months. No one can really come to a definite diagnosis… so if anyone could give advice or help on this i’d appreciate it very much!! (i’ve also included a photo below of the tumor though it’s a litte difficult to tell)
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Teddy sprained something in his left hind leg about 3 weeks ago. He is a standard golden doodle, weighing 72 lbs, and before this injury, was having a hard time getting up at the end of the day, from lying on the floor. The vet said, without x rays, that Teddy has arthritis in his back legs, even though he is young for this, at 5. I’ve been giving him Dasequin, 2x a day for this. I thought he was starting to improve, when he took a bad step, running up some stairs into the house from outside. He let out a yelp, then cried for less than half a minute, and would not put his left rear foot on the floor. Eventually, he did try putting the foot down, and walking on it, but immediately picked his foot up again, and would not use that leg. I took him to the vet, who x rayed Teddy’s back legs and hips. Everything, bones and joints, looked normal and healthy. The diagnosis was a sprain, and I was given a bottle of carprofen to give Teddy, 2x a day. Teddy now is using his leg, but with a slight limp. I have taken him out of doggy day care, where he was going twice a week, to play with other dogs. I didn’t want to risk the sprain getting worse. I’ve also been taking him out on a leash, to potty, and for short walks for exercise. At the end of the day, however, he is obviously sore, and has a harder time getting up from lying on the floor. He is back to getting onto the couch, but can’t climb on the bed yet.
He’s also very bored, as I won’t play fetch with him (I don’t want him running on that leg yet), and is probably depressed at not seeing his doggy daycare friends. Poor guy won’t play with his toys, and now is turning up his nose at everything but treats. He will eat breakfast-at about 5 pm, then wants more kibble at bedtime. I’ve been reducing the amount of kibble late at night, and giving him apple slices and carrot sticks for treats.
So….how long will this sprain take to heal? How long until I can let Teddy go outside, and let him run around as he usually does? And, how long before I can let him go back to doggy daycare?
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Last summer my beloved cat, Summer escaped my home and was missing for two months. When she was found she had lost about 1/3 of her body weight and her personality had changed. While she was previously very much the “alpha” cat and could be a bit of a diva she is now timid and very loving. During the time when she was missing I was under an incredible amount of stress; having a pet pass away is heartbreaking but having a pet go missing is agonizing, I would not wish the experience on my worst enemy. I couldn’t sleep for much of the two months. Our cat Gracie was by my side the entire time. She did take over as the leader of our little cat pack (pride??). When Summer returned Gracie and her initially got along okay, however within about two weeks Gracie started going after Summer causing a significant amount of stress on Summer. She would chase her off the litter box and food bowls. We created a safe space for Summer and over the past year she has very much chosen to stay isolated away from Gracie, our other cats come “visit” without an issue. Several months ago Gracie started urinating outside of her box. We first had to go through the process of elimination to determine which cat was urinating outside the box. All cats have had urine and bloodwork done to rule out any medical issues. Gracie is now isolated and Summer has free reign of the house. Inappropriate urination has stopped. Our other cats can come “visit” Gracie without incident, however as soon as Summer enters the room Gracie attacks her. We have tried medication and we have tried putting a drop of vanilla on each cat so they smell the same. I would prefer to not spend the rest of my cats lives isolating one or the other to create peace in our home. I will note that Gracie has limited or no sight in one of her eyes, she has always been a bit of a “scrapper” with the other pets when they approach her on that side, that being said this isn’t a case of Summer startling her, she is seeking out Summer to attack her.
I would love advice from anyone who has had a similar experience; what worked, what didn’t?
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We have rescued two feral cats for our farm. They came from West Virginia rescue with vaccines. A Maryland rescue took them and thus we have them. They are friendly to us and one lets us pick him up. The other loves to be petted but not picked up. My question…..I would like to have them chipped. The problem is I don’t know when I can get them in a carrier. It will take some time. I don’t think I can set an appt. time for the chip. I have all their paper work for you. Any suggestions??
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Hello I recently watched a lot of your videos on youtube about ivdd and the beagle you were taking care of. My Gracie was diagnosed with ivdd yesterday and my vet gave her a steroid shot and she is now on steroid medication prednisone, pain killers and muscle relaxers. She is not able to walk or stand on her own, her right leg drags, her left leg seems normal. I have been using a makeshift sling to help her use the restroom, she is able to pee and poop on her own as long as I am helping her stand outside with a sling. She sometimes sits up in bed but mainly only using her upper body. Is this a good sign? My vet said I need to put her on a diet and give her strict rest but my vet also said if she is not better in two days I should take her to get surgery. I am relucatant to get surgery not just because of the cost but because my Gracie is 11 years old and I am afraid that it could worsen the paralysis in her other legs or it might be only a temporary fix. Me and my parents want to try naturally helping her, and I am not sure how to start or what to do. Should I just try making her get strict cage rest and see what happens or should I start physical therapy right away? I am planning on calling my vet to see what she thinks but from what she told me yesterday she seems pretty set on surgery only. Gracie has only been laying on one side when laying down. Her left side. Her right side is the side with the bad dragging leg. She is eating well and drinking well, I just want her to get better soon. Any advice or suggestions you can give me would be great. Thank you Krista.
Sincerely,
Gracie’s mom.
Hello,
No it is absolutely not unrealistic. When we get feral cats at our shelter we try to treat them as best as we can, too. Obviously there are things that you can’t do with feral cats like you can with tame ones. But still we were still able do give daily fluids and feed them with a syringe, when they wouldn’t eat on their own for most of them.
However for this it helped a lot that they are usually in large crates, as this makes daily handling a lot easier. We place them in pillow cases to feed them or give them fluids. Most stay calm when they can’t see.
Also, a lot of needed exams can be done under anesthesia. Ultrasound (except heart), xray, bloodwork, urin analysis…
Not all treatments can be done with ferals, but there sitll is a lot of possible. That also depends on how far you are willing to go, and how stressfull daily handling for him would be. Most, while obviously hating to be forced daily, were still able to build trust after treatment or even with ongoing treatment. However it is helpful to have a second person do to the “bad” things.
Thank you for your response. He is currently hospitalized and being ruled out for a brain tumor. He is getting excellent care and the medical team is treating him well.
That sounds very good! I wish you two all the best!
Hello!
I applaud your dedication to this cat. It’s a hard case based on the cats temperament but it sounds like you are doing all you can. I wish you the very best of luck!