Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
We are having some issues with our Shepherd that two vets, an ER vet and dermatologist couldn’t figure out. My dog went to a dog park and a week later his leg started to not be as strong. The next morning after that his back leg was so swollen!
We’ve have ultrasounds, blood work and X-rays done and nothing. Now it is making his other back leg swollen as well. Please tell me you have experienced this or do you have any recommendations?
We are still awaiting results from the skin biopsy but I was hoping this has happened to someone else.
I feel at such a loss the professions don’t have a clue and I just want to help my baby get better!! ????????. Thank you!
My dachshund Lucy is now starting her 3rd week of conservative home care for IVDD from C1-2 with paralysis of front and rear legs with deep pain present in all extremities. She is currently on gabapentin, prednisone, pepcid, and methocarbamol. I’m trying my best to stay hopeful however she still has pain with any movement. The only time I move her is for repositioning, cleaning, and feeding. I can’t afford surgery due to spending several thousand at the ER vets where she was misdiagnosed numerous times. I will however do anything in my power to keep her happy, functional, and pain free. I’m fine with her ending up in a quad chair if that’s the best we can do. Am I doing my best?
Hello,
Without knowing the doses that you are using I would say it might be helpful to see if you can get into a neurologist ASAP. I would also ask about increasing the doses of the meds with your current vet. Also acupuncture might help. Lastly I think that at this point you may have to consider rechecking xrays to make sure this isn’t a fracture or neoplasia. I guess I would suggest to regroup and reassess. I hope this helps. Good luck
It does help. We do have an appointment to see a vet acupuncturist but with the holiday they are booked until Jan. 13. We have consulted on Zoom with a neuro who read her CT. Thank you!
This is the third day without Atlas — Apollo’s littermate, alpha and captain. We lost him due to hemorrhage and dehydration. He just recently turned 4 months. Apollo hasn’t been eating and drinking water today. Was asleep all the time, too. Previously, he wakes up at night and cries so he comes to me in bed to wake me up. Last night he started vomiting and having loose stools. I can also here rumbling in his stomach, and i think is passing gas. Earlier that day we went on a walk and had munched a few plants/weeds on the way. He has also accidentally taken in expired milk he left the other day. Today the stool had a few blood patches in it. I’m worried he might end up his brother. Is he only suffering from dog depression, or is there other medial conditions?
This sounds very serious… the lethargy, the blood in the stool and loose stool. Not how a four month old puppy should be acting. I would make an appointment with the vet right away. The first fear that comes to mind is possibility of parvo… which can be deadly. I hope your puppy is ok.
Thank you so much.
I agree with Sarah. Anything abnormal in a puppy goes to the vet immediately. Period.
Hello. I appreciate your input.
8 month puppy was bit at the dog park. He devoleped a big lump filled with loose fluid a few days later where it started smaller and then grew to about the size of a baseball in under 1 week. I didn’t think the event at the dog park was was a factor because there was no blood or any sign of skin puncture at all. He also seemed to be happy, eating normally and still crazy full of energy as usual.I took him to the vet where they said it’s a seroma and should go away on its own in about a week. Ive been doing a warm compress but it doesn’t seem to be working to shrink it, and it has gotten even bigger and tighter 5 days later now. It still doesn’t seem to hurt him, and he is acting completely normal/happy. It has now been about 10 days since the seroma started, and 5 days since the vet. My concern is that it has gotten a bit bigger, and wasn’t as loose as before and is now a bit tighter/harder. I can still feel that it’s moveable fluid but just tighter. The vet didn’t tell me to cut down on activity, and I have been going on runs and playing a lot with him. Should I be trying to avoid activity? His harness is about 6 inches away so it doesn’t rub on it directly, but still fairly close to the bump. Just wondering if I should keep away from running/walking and try to keep him calm until it goes away? (not likely as he is high energy)
Hello,
I consider every dog bite or fight an infection. And if it isn’t healed in 5-7 days I consider it a problem to keep monitoring closely with the help of your vet. Please go back to your vet or get a second opinion. Your puppy is too young to not have healed quickly and completely by now in my opinion. Better safe than sorry I always say.
Thanks so much krista, I REALLY appreciate your input here and for taking the time! I will be taking him in again
My cat is about 14 years old. Male. Last week really noticed he goes to litter often but doesnt go. But sometimes he did have a few times of clumped urine litter. So took to emergency clinic Sat 12/13/30. They could not get any urine to test. Sent home with antibiotics antiflamatory- pain meds and told to get in see regular vet.
Took to vet today 12/15/20. They were able to get a good stream of urine out as well as these blood clots tissues. See image. Said that I would need to ck his bladder ongoing to make sure it doesn’t get rock hard baseball sized. Gave me a medication to help dilate. Did blood panel and Im waiting to hear back on any other medications.
I feel like imaging should be done like yesterday.
If this blood clot tissue can happen again should he have been keep at vet to do something ?
Was this blood clot a actual plug and blockage. So since they got it out the blockage is gone at the moment?
I am just worried and dont want to make a mistake and not know if he has a full hard bladder.
Or did this clot coming out as he is good currently. How long would it take for another clot to form?
Any input advice would be much appreciated
Hello,
I think that all of the questions you pose are excellent questions to ask yourself vet. I also talk to parents about feeding watered down canned food. I often add a steroid and I give cats Sq fluids daily to help flush the bladder. Just things to talk to your vet about. I get super aggressive with these guys. And I offer lots of options for parents to do at home. Along with showing them how to palpate a bladder to monitor at home. I hope this helps. Good luck.
My small 12 pound terrier/chihuahua mix has suddenly (in the past 24 hours) stopped jumping up on things – couch, chair, etc – which is very unusual because she prefers to be on the furniture. She will stand and stare at the couch and seem like she’s going to jump, she even starts to a bit, but then she won’t follow through. If I pick her up and put her on the couch, she will not hesitate at all to jump down when she’s ready. She will let me touch and move all of her legs and has not vocalized in pain. She walks and runs normally and will come up and down the stairs with no problem. I assume she has injured something. Is there an injury to a specific place that would cause her reluctance to jump up but not affect other behavior? (I should note that she is very independent and doesn’t like to be picked up, so it’s not that she’s preferring to be lifted up)
Hello,
Well I would start by saying that I wouldn’t encourage jumping on or off of the couch. I would get her a ramp and train her to use this. My concern is that someday she will land wrong and either strain/sprain/fracture a leg or injure her back. Next the best way to try to understand what’s going on now is to have your vet examine her. I can’t tell you what is going on here without an exam.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I called the vet but she seems to be back to normal now. I will still keep her from jumping for a while just to be sure.
My cat had a cancerous tumor removed approx. 1 1/2 yrs ago (at JVC) She has had this black (not sure how to describe it) crusty substance under her chin, on her front paw and I recently spotted more underneath her and on another paw. Could this possibly be caused by her cancer if it has returned? Other than that she is acting normal.
Good morning-
It is hard to tell from a picture. The only time we ever had a cat with something that might be similar (and I too was worried about it) it was also on his chin. Turned out to be some sort of kitty acne that I had to cleanse. I do not know if this is the same thing though. When is your next scheduled visit? If it is fairly soon- maybe wait until then. But if it isn’t for a bit, I think I would call to get her seen just to be safe and to also get instruction on what to do. Best of luck!!!
Hello,
I have two cats who have very dirty chins almost all the time. I always tell clients that they should use glass, ceramic or stainless steel bowls (no plastic) jic it is an allergic reaction and that some cats just have dirty chins. For the cats like mine I do the following; I use the chlorphenaramine scrub called nolvasan that we have at the clinic, and the ketohex wipes (also at the clinic) and I keep the chin clean every day. If your cat is current on their annual exam with us I am happy to fill these for you.
If you need any hwlp with this please call me at the clinic.
Krista
My pup started about 3 days ago having skin tags on the exterior of her mouth. Now she has them appear inside her mouth, on top of her head, one on an eye lid, and based on the amount she’s itching one ear there’s likely a wort-like growth inside, too. Is this oral papillomas?
Good morning- I would call the vet and get her in to be seen right away. They can get a better look at things in person, and then will be able to provide you with some form of treatment. Hope pup is ok!
Hello,
It looks like it might be. Keep her quarantined and don’t share any bowls with other dogs. They have always been self limiting but they are highly contagious.
Our Morkie, Stella, is having an allergic reaction since last night. She was licking and biting herself all night and when we finally realized she wasn’t just being just neurotic (she has some weird behavior sometimes) we took her to her regular vet.
The vet told us she is having a serious allergic reaction and they gave her a shot (cytopoint 20mg).
We think maybe she got into something that was really no good for her because while the shot seemed to help for a short period of time, it basically has now stopped working.
The vet thought maybe it was the food were giving her, but we’ve been giving her the same food for weeks.
She is now panting, refusing water and treats, and going back to biting and itching her sides and legs. Her ears are bright red inside which is a common allergy sign for humans but I know nothing about what that means for dogs.
She just seems itchy and twitchy all the time. Our vet is currently not open and is not accessible by phone.
We’re wondering if she maybe got into essential oils or massage oil we used for ourselves and licked it up. Nothing seems too scary right now but she does just seem completely uncomfortable and twitchy.
What should we do from here Pawbly? Please give us some guidance.
Hello,
Well. I am going to answer this as your friend. Some of it is general advice and some is more personalized.
First. Every allergic reaction should be treated as a possible topical allergen. Bathe! Bathe! Bathe! It doesn’t really matter if you use doggie shampoo or detergent. But get the pet completely wet. Lather in shampoo. Rinse well. Repeat three times. Dry with a towel. Too much hot air from a dryer might worsen the red skin. (If it is red. And lots of allergy dogs get red).
Next think about oral diphenhydramine. One mg per pound. If the face isn’t swelling. Facial swelling can lead to possible throat closure which is a severe reaction. So nothing oral if having trouble breathing. These cases go straight to the ER! If you’re have intense itching, redness or hives and/or swelling I give injectable diphenhydramine and a steroid. In my experience it is the best way to stop these clinical signs. I also send home both. (Diphenhydramine is otc). If the clinical signs worsen I have the pet return. If they aren’t better in a few hours I have the pet return. It bugs me to pieces that vets don’t provide help after the vet. I call it documenting and sending home instructions for “if this, then that” scenario. Just for things like this. Too often it isn’t a single one stop and you’re cured.
Also once you have a reaction you are more prone to others so ask to have these meds available to you for your at home pup first aid kit.
Lastly Cytopoint is not for allergic reactions. It is for itching due to allergies. I don’t think it is the best choice for this case. (Just my opinion).
Call me if you need anything. You have my number. ????
Oh. And cytopoint can take four days to take work. Apoquel is faster. But it’s still not my go to for an acute severe allergic reaction.
So much love to you for commenting on this so quickly. Do you think we can give her a little bit if liquid children’s benadryl if she doesn’t feel better after a bath?
We gave her some before the vet gave her the cytopoint. Both seemed to help but not permanently.
PS- the bath totally did the trick (at least for now). Thank you!
Our 7 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback / German Shepherd mix, Duke, had surgery a couple weeks ago. He came home with a small fluid pocket where his tumor was removed. It ended up becoming bigger, and retaining a lot of fluid. As of now it is getting smaller, at least a little bit, but I noticed it’s feeling a little more solid on one end. I’m not sure if that is normal. He seems to be doing fine in all ways otherwise, no discomfort or any other noticeable changes to his behavior. I’m not sure if I’m starting to worry over something that may be normal, but the portion that feels more solid is still engorged and it doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t know if it will start to feel more solid, if that’s normal… I don’t know.
Hello,
Did you discuss this with the person who did the surgery? That’s the best place to start. I wouldn’t assume anything. It’s best to have it rechecked.
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about your pup. When I get cases like these I refer to a university vet school. They are the best resource for finding answers when everyone else stumbles. I hope this helps. Good luck
Going to second Dr. Magnifico’s recommendation. Looks like you’re in Washington? Ask your vet to consult with WSU’s vet team, and possibly refer you over there.