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My soon to be 11 year old shnoodle (6 pounds) has to follow me around everywhere. We moved to a new house about two months ago and she has went pee on the stairs, bedroom and hallway at the new house. I finally had to gate the stairway and confine her to first floor only. Which has hardwood floors. She crys the whole time I’m upstairs getting ready for work or folding laundry. I’ve been crating her with my other dog at night and all she does is whine cry and scratch at blankets, the bed and metal bars on crate. Yesterday I went and bought her a crate of her own because I thought maybe she just didn’t have enough room to lay down with being in the same crate as my other dog. Well it was the same old thing last night plus she pooped in her pin and this afternoon pooped right by the pin after she had just been outside. I’m afraid she’s going to her herself too by scratching those metal bars. I tried a mesh crate and she got her toenail stuck in the mesh material and I had to cut the material to get her lose. Any thoughts on what I should do? I’ve tried crating her in my room but she doesn’t sleep she just whines, crys and scratches… PLEASE HELP!!!
Thank you
DeAnna
My cocker spaniel is 18 months old. Only one of his testicles dropped and he had what we thought was a retained one. He went in to be neutered today and after two hours under the vet couldn’t find the other ball!
He will do a blood test in a few months to check for testosterone. If there’s none then it looks like he only ever had one but if there is hormone then it’s in there somewhere.
I’m worried sick as the reason we got this done was retained testicles are at a higher risk for cancer. Has anyone experienced this with their dog? Did the dog go on to be okay?
I have had a few cases like this. It sounds like your vet is doing everything I would. If you are really having a tough time waiting and worrying ask for a referral to an internal medicine specialist or ask a boarded surgeon to go in and take a look for it. In my opinion these are your next best options.
Let me know what happens. Please!
Good luck
Thank you for such a quick response. There is another issue in that my dog has a cleft palate and I’m unsure about another major surgery. The vet suggested ultrasounding his tummy every year (or 6 months if I was really anxious) to catch anything that might start to grow. Nothing showed on an ultrasound today.
Prior to the neutering the vet was very much “this missing testicle needs to come out as the risks for cancer are very high” ….now it cant be found it’s “well we can ultrasound him regularly and catch things in it’s tracks, I’m not too concerned”. so I’m a bit confused.
Do you know how risky the retained testicle is for disease? I have my fingers crossed for a negative blood test.
Eww gross! This morning, I saw one of the dogs nosing in the dirt and figured that he smelled cat poop- I said “no” and he left it but ran straight back when I turned to continue walking everyone. So I ran back to make sure he didn’t eat it (why is cat poop a delicacy to dogs?????) and I saw him with a leopard slug in his mouth. Ugh! I don’t know what is worse? He did not eat it- he dropped it. I’m guessing that he probably has eaten them before. Are they dangerous or just protein?
Hello!
All of the items you mention are the highlight of your dogs walk. Gross as it might be. They are at their best, living their best life, with the wind in their faces the dirt on their feet and a delectable tidbit just at the tip of their tongue. If you didn’t see drooling right after then it’s probably very safe.
My dogs new favorites are the mostly dried out dead worms on the driveway. Yummy!
Xox
Lucky happy dogs. Be well all
Good morning,
I want to say that I had written back in April about my dog who I suspect has IVDD. I took Dr. Magnifico’s advice and went to another veterinarian other than the one who told me my only option was surgery. This new veterinarian said she suspects my fur baby has IVDD but instead of saying his only option was surgery, she continued to give me the RX for steroids. She said she became a vet because her own dog had IVDD and had surgery and it did not rectify the situation. She said no dog should be made to suffer and if he improves on the steroids she would not withhold care. What a breath of fresh air!!! My dog has been on the steroids for a little bit now and is doing so much better. He is able to walk around without much of a limp, sit in his window, and play with us. He is so much better. I’m not sure how long it will help but we are grateful and I appreciate your advice to get a second opinion and do not give up. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Hello!
Thank you so much for the follow up! I’m so happy to hear about your dog and your experience! These stories are exactly why we are here.
Could you please (please!) enter this to our storylines page? So others can benefit and we can promote your new vet!
Thank you. And very best of luck!
????❤️
Krista
I could use some advice to keep my dog from eating cat poop. We have 1 dog and 2 cats. On our first floor there is a mudroom with a pet gate with a cat door. The cats have their litter boxes on one side of the mudroom and food on the other side. This arrangement has worked for 8 years. My daughter’s young cat has had digestive issues for her entire life and would poop on the floor outside the box once a week. We tried all different kinds of boxes and litter and probiotics and food but no changes. She also hates the feel of litter. We tried all kinds and newspaper and towels and pee pads…you name it.
For a month she decided to poop on my daughter’s bed twice a week…which of course was a cleaning nightmare. Sometimes she pooped on the bed while my daughter was sleeping in it.
Finally we found a limited ingredient food that worked along side of a probiotic and her poops are now more manageable for her, less painful I’m guessing and pretty regular. We added a litterbox upstairs to my daughter’s bedroom but she would never use it. We moved it to the large hallway outside my daughter’s room where it was darker and more private and she still didn’t use it. Purchased cat attraction litter and after 1 week she finally used the upstairs box to poop. I held my excitement but it’s been 3 weeks now and no more pooping on the bed. Her poops are also a lot less messy and stinky. Now my problem is if she goes at night the dog jumps right up and eats it. I caught her doing this twice but she was too fast to stop. Other times you can smell that she must have pooped but it’s gone. She’s only going upstairs so I don’t want to take the box away. She’s so picky with boxes and how she sits in the box and how it smells a covered litter box won’t work. There isn’t way to put a gate up in that hallway as it’s a super old house and shaped weird. I’m afraid any change to the box will stop all the good progress. My dog probably gets to the litter box before us about half the time–so it’s not every time. My dog is healthy, eats well, is up to date on everything and is well taken care of. Thanks for your patience with the long explanation.
Clevercat litterboxes are a LIFESAVER. Not even my long-nosed Doberman can get into them. That said, now that the cat’s using the box reliably, can you move it to a room with a gate? You can also get free-standing gates for oddly shaped entries…we use one in our puppy pre-K class to block an egress point, and it works very well.
OH and as far as your dog’s nutrition is concerned…for some reason, most dogs REALLY LIKE cat poop. I’m not sure why, Dr. Magnifico might have an idea, but this seems to be a thing even with dogs which wouldn’t normally do this. I agree it’s gross, and I hope you can find a solution which works for your situation.
My one year old lab mix has worms. She did not even poop and their was two worms stuck to her but and I don’t have money for a vet please help
Good morning-
There may be OTC options of dewormer, but I can not make a recommendation on those. I would be extremely careful in going that route. Dosage will probably vary greatly. If I were you, I would call my vet and find out how much an office visit and a shot of dewormer would cost upfront. The longer you wait, the worse (and subsequently the more expensive) things will get. Your dog is 1, so probably due for an annual exam anyway. I’m sure your vet will be able to do the yearly exam and deworming altogether. They may be willing to let you pay in multiple installments.
Yes thank you I ended up just taking her yesterday to the vet and she got her shots and stuff and I’m working with them on paying thank you
Hi all, I have a six year old Jack Russell mix presented with neck pain about 5 weeks ago. The vet did xrays and saw calcifications in the c2-c3 area. I can’t afford to go the neurologist, so my vet is treating him with prednisone, tramadol, diazepam, methocarbamal, and gabapentin. He had a few days last week without his “episodes” as I call them after we upped his diazepam. Also last week we lowered his prednisone. I have had to hand feed him soft food because crunchy causes an episode, and him eating from a bowl causes an episode. These “episodes” are him screaming in pain, his neck thickens up, his back arches, it is so gut wrenching to see my baby go through this. Well after 5 days of no events, he had an episode yesterday and he hurt all day. It seemed to be worse than when it all started. Today is awful also. He is taking his meds but cries when he does. I have him on crate rest. I even put a note on the door asking people not to knock or ring the doorbell as barking also causes problems. I guess my question is with all these meds and rest, should we further along than where we are? I will call my vet in the morning for his opinion, but I was curious as to how others have handled this timeline.
Hello,
These cases are really hard to fit a normal. Everyone is different and each has its own twists and turns. Also I get concerned when we don’t have a firm diagnosis. Has your vet done xrays and bloodwork? If so I think it’s best to ask for a recheck ASAP and go over your pets medications and plan. It might need a little tweaking based on the pain your dog is having now. Also please inquire about cage rest. It sounds like you are on a good pain regimen but rest and sedation might be needed now. I hope this helps.
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, the doc did bloodwork and xrays. That’s what concerns me. We have tweaked meds several times now. We started with 10mg prednisone, upped to 20mg, now back down to 10mg since my boy is only 28 pounds when we started. We are at 100mg tramadol, 1000mg methocarbamol, 25mg diazepam, and 300mg gabapentin. Is that a lot for his weight or is there still room to change it up?
My 12 year old Jack Russell just recently had a some drops of blood in her stool. She was straining a bit the last time she went, and this time she was straining a lot. Her stool wasn’t completely solid, nor was it diarrhea. She has been very gassy the past couple of days. Now her stomach is making noises, but she just passes gas and it stops. She ate her food normally before this happened, and now she doesn’t seem to have any other problems besides being gassy. Do I need to be concerned, or could it be from straining so much?
Good morning,
I would keep an eye on her bathrooming. Hoping she just ate something that isn’t agreeing with her. If she continues having difficulty, then I would definitely call the vet. Sometimes, it may just be a one off and they get back to normal just fine, but if it doesn’t resolve quickly then they could get into trouble. Try to give her bland food… boiled chicken and rice. That might help settle her stomach from grumbling. When she passes that, I would check the stool. Then go from there. Good luck!????
Usually a few drops of blood is normal if they are constipated. A large amount or not happening every time would be a sign they need to see a vet. I agree with some bland food. Also a little pumpkin can help move the stool along. It could be a small episode that will never happen again. I would monitor and if it continues they would need to be checked out for a blockage or tumor or something.
Today after running errands I came home to find my 7yo Shepherd Mix cowering in the corner. Typically he runs to greet us. I made sure he hadn’t gotten into anything then I let him out while unloading groceries, typically he enjoys running around the farm but today he hopped into the back of my SUV and refused to budge. As my truck was in a shady spot I let him be with the hatch and windows open while I mowed. Now several hours later he is still in the back of my truck. He has been offered water which he drank and we let his Golden Retriever best bud out who he was happy to see but still refused to budge. Typically he is a “Velcro” dog and stays right with us, especially my daughter. This behavior is very out of character and has me concerned .
I am sorry you didn’t get a response sooner. I would be concerned as well with such a sudden change in behavior. I would get to the vet- just for peace of mind for sure. Even if you go and they find no temperature or anything else wrong, you will at least know that part of the equation is ok. Maybe he just ate something he shouldn’t have and will bounce back? I’m hoping by now you have a better idea of what is going on.
Hi
Did you talk to the vet? I’m worried for your pup.
I am very lucky in that I could contact my vet after hours who suggested taking him for a ride and seeing if he was normal upon returning home. We took a quick drive to our favorite hiking spot, he had popped up, tail wagging so we took a short hike and swim. Upon returning home he again refused to leave my SUV. I moved my vehicle and offered to take him in a different door to the house which was a success. Seems something must have scared him in our kitchen and the hike was an added bonus. Completely normal today.
Hello,
It sounds like something got him startled and he needed a little change if scenery to get himself off the issue. If he’s still afraid of the kitchen start desensitizing him back to it.
I have a one year old lab basset hound mix and every time we go in the car she throws up I know it is just car sickness but is it something she will grow out of or something I should be worried about
It could be nerves/anxiety… in which case you would have to work to change the behavior and also work on her anxiety. You may want to discuss it with the vet and see if they have any recommendation as they know your pet better than me. I would try to find a good dog behaviorist (your vet may have a recommendation) to help show you the best way to handle this with your dog. Best of luck.
Hello,
I’m not sure what your question is? Can you please explain what you are concerned about and why?
I think maybe it’s the flooring you around part? But I don’t know if this is a new behavior or not? And I don’t know why it concerns you exactly? And was your dog housebroken before?
Any idea what changed and why?
I will say that I emphatically believe that pets do things for a very specific reason. The key is to figure out what they are telling you they need or want and then help them resolve it. It sounds like your dog is desperate for help. Have you seen a vet to discuss any of your concerns? That’s always the best place to start.
I assume this is a dog? Retrain – new places often mean new rules, and sometimes our dogs need to be reminded of the rules. I’d also get her to the vet for a checkup with urinalysis, just to be safe.
Good morning! Even though this dog may have already been trained, this is an entirely new situation to them. THey may be regressing. With the new change comes a new challenge. Start with the basics- positive reinforcement for good behaviors. Check with your vet to make sure there isn’t an unseen medical issue going on. My guess is that because of all the change in lifestyle (sudden crating, new smells, new house) and routine that your dog is having a hard time adjusting. Hope this helps.