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Morning, I have a golden retriever called Roxy who developed a abscess following a anti inflammatory injection (in her neck) – this was incised under GA and left a MASSIVE seroma. Many months later it eventually closed only to reform again and rupture. The vet gave a course of antibiotics when the discharge changed colour from a light pink to a dark red colour and the exudate improved to a lighter colour. It is still a very deep sinus. I have been dressing it twice a day with boiled cooled water and two drops of tea tree oil, and then packing it with a natural bee wax ointment and a Betadine solution mix. Recently I took her back for another opinion because the lump was not improving, which in all honesty was a nightmare vet trip. The vet stuck her hand into the sinus and scraped and scraped – the return was clots of blood that looked like liver and the consultation room looked like a slaughter house. They said that if it didn’t heal over the next few weeks she would need to have surgery again and they would do a ‘running stitch’ to close it from the inside. I am not going this route! I vowed that would be the last vet trip I take her too. It was so traumatic for her and for me (I am a nursing sister so I can stomach most things, but this was too brutal and too close to my heart). So the twice a day dressing continues. I have been working away at this for about 6 months now and it is a huge strain on me, washing bandages and dressing whilst working a fulltime job and caring for my child and house. I do not want to give up, but I have moments when this is what I want to do, I suppose this is normal. She is 11 years old. This morning it seems to be smelling like infection is brewing again… 🙁 Should I do Milton solution irrigations? What can I do to aid healing? Any advice gratefully received, I am desperate. Claire Neithercut
I have a 8 week old kitten with possible spine fracture I have the x rays but my vet said they”couldn’t tell” they said he needs a mri and surgery but that something I just can’t do. He is pooping just fine but he is unable to pee it’s been 24 hours and he isn’t responding to pain in his back legs when I pinch them. He is on pain meds. Any advise will be greatly appreciated! Please help me decide what I should do!
Hello,
Kittens this age will surprise you every time. I would cage rest and keep doing physical therapy for at least 3 weeks. I would also feed watered down wet food and learn how to palpate his abdomen so you can help him urinate and defecate if needed. Kittens will surprise you. I have had so many success stories simply because I didn’t give up on them. Best of luck.
So I had the question a few hours ago about missing a dose of heart worm medicine. My pups, Penny & Sampson are your patients. Sorry for the lack of information. They are indoor dogs except for walks and potty time in the yard. Should I have them tested before giving it to them again. Thank you!
Hello,
Thanks for clarifying. I can’t really tell you what to do but I can explain the scenarios either way. The reason we test is to check Heartworm status of the patient. For new patients starting the medication we want to make sure they are negative before starting meds so we don’t miss a patient harboring adults in the heart. Over time Heartworms In The heart can be fatal. Your dogs were tested in feb (Sampson) and April (penny) and clear. We test yearly if they stay on meds year around. The advantage is that we will catch a dog in the earliest stages if we monitor yearly. This way we hopefully avoid the dangers of many adults in the heart. A missed dose is cause for retesting so we know they are always negative while always on prevention. If a pet on preventatives comes up positive AND if the test and prevention was bought at our clinic the hw rx manufacturer will pay for treatment which is about $1000. Realistically it is unlikely your dogs will test pos now as you just missed a dose. It takes 6 months for the test to show pos after exposure. I know that’s a lot of info. But to boil it down. There’s a low chance of infection in our area. A low chance they will test pos now. And they need to be on hw meds year around. So if your budget is tight just keep them on it. Give a dose now. And then another on Nov 1. And each first of the month there after. Retest in feb and April and go from there. If you want 100% peace of mind bring them in ASAP and have them tested. And retest in 6 months. There is not a cut and dry answer. Sorry. .
I give my dogs Heart Guard Plus. For the life of me I cannot remember if I gave Them their September dose. (They were due September 1st). I need to know should they be tested for heart worms before I give them a dose now or is it ok to just give it to them?
Thank you!!
Hello,
These are the questions that are best decided by a phone call to your vet. I don’t know where you live and I don’t know the degree of Heartworm disease you have there. Here, in N Md late Sunner I would say to my clients to start now and work back toward the beginning of the month. Some vets will prefer to test and restart the pills from there. It’s definitely a question of exposure, environment and risk of disease. I hope this helps. Thank you for having your pets on Heartworm prevention. Take care.
My 14 year old female cat had surgery yesterday to remove a tumor on her right side. She has been doing very well until about 1 hour ago. Something about the surgical site is bothering her. It may be itchy or something, but she tries not to bite at the bandages at first. She will growl & run around, but will bite at the surgical area. Is there anything I can do to help her?
I asked my question already. Is there anything I can do to help her?
Hello,
Sounds like pain or discomfort? I would call the surgeon in the morning and ask them to help. Cats are terrible with bandages. I usually only use them if the cat is stating in the hospital to be monitored. Please call the vet ASAP. .
3year old yorkie is crying when he poops. Stool is soft and rectum is not swollen. He doesn’t want to go , peeing fine.
Hello,
Your pup needs a vet ASAP! I would do a very thorough exam looking for back pain, do a recital exam to feel for strictures or masses and even an X-ray to look at the spine. My point is that this can be many things so it’s super important to see a vet tomorrow to start ruling out possible cause to the pain and difficulty. This isn’t a diagnosis that can happen any other way then an exam with a vet.
He has been seen by our local vet and she did a rectal exam and found nothing. He is healthy but having this issue. Going to have to do an exray now since it is still happening.
Thank you for your response.
Yikes!! Autocorrect. Rectal. Not recital. ????
My cat is a domestic long hair. She gets occasional hairballs every couple of months but tonight yacked up an almost 6 inch hairball. She has been eating, drinking, and defecating fine. Should I be concerned about a bowel obstruction? I have never seen anything like this before. At first I thought there may be a long worm inside of it but threw on some gloves and discovered its just matted hair. I have called multiple vets and can’t get her in for nearly a week. Is this worth an emergency vet visit?
Hello,
It’s very hard for anyone remotely to know whether a pets condition is truly an emergency or not. In general we go by the rule that “if they are acting completely normal it probably isn’t an immediate emergency”
If you have a regular vet I would call them first thing tomorrow and ask to be seen ASAP after explaining what happened. I would also keep the vomit sample and collect a fecal sample to bring in. If you don’t have a regular bet or can’t be seen soon I would go to the ER for peace of mind. I hope this helps. Let us know what happens
We are getting ready to have our son’s dog brought here to MD from AZ. She was just spayed a few weeks ago and her blood work shows low phosphorus. We plan on taking her for a checkup when she arrives but we want to make sure she should be okay for the long trip. She hasn’t had any medical issues that we are aware of.
Hi there-
I would start with a phone call to her current vet- they know her best so far. So long as the vet says she is good to travel, I think you’re fine. I would also make sure to plan the trip out beforehand- it is a long ride and you will have to plan stills along the way and find pet friendly hotels, etc. to utilize. If you go online, you can find a list of places that allow pets- not just hotels, but restaurants as well. Best of luck!
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about your pups condition and your experience with the vets so far. I would never advise anyone to give up on their pets but I am a vet so it is also difficult for me to advise you to go this without medical assistance my first concern is that it sounds like your pup needs a better plan for treatment. If this was an abscess/ seroma or hematoma it would be nice to have had a culture to better decide the antibiotic and maybe even a drain placed do help healing. Although it might have been difficult to see exploring a wound or mass is often indicated to help rule out infection disease and even cancer. This is important so we can provide a treatment plan and prognosis. If you are seeking alternative treatment options please ask for a referral for this. Or seek a third opinion from another vet who you trust. ask your friends if there is a vet they can recommend. I’m just concerned about going this alone. There are vets out there who can help. It sometimes takes a few visits before you find your preferred provider. I wish you both the best of luck.
Thank you, I won’t give up, I love her dearly, just irrigated and fluid return is clear, just very deep, about 20cm, I will look for an alternative vet referral, thank you so much
They did take a sample to look at but I haven’t had feedback, disappointing…
Good morning-
I am sorry that you are having such a time with this and worse that your experience with the vet hasn’t been the best. I would definitely find a vet thatbyou trust and will listen to you and help guide you through a treatment plan.
Thank you, just hit a low point and here there isn’t a huge choice with vets and alternative treatments, just don’t want any aggressive treatment anymore xx