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Susan | 2 years ago
Misha, 5 Years Next Month, German Shepherd, Either Pulled It Strained Her Left Hindquarter. Today Is Monday. …

Misha, 5 years next month, German shepherd, either pulled it strained her left hindquarter. Today is Monday. Vet can’t see her till Friday. I hate that she’s in pain, is there anything I can do? There is no bony deformity, can walk, steps are a struggle. I just need to be able to help her!

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    You can rest her. Or go to the ER. Or call your vet and ask for pain management assistance until you can be seen.

  2. Susan Post author

    Thank you! Already asked for pain management, I was told “not without seeing her” it’s a catch 22. She’s walking, can go down steps now, very hard to walk up them, but she’s so stubborn! Making her rest, hoping it helps

  3. Laura

    Crate rest and support her hind end (if you don’t have an appropriate harness, a rolled towel works in a pinch) when going up and down stairs.

  4. Susan Post author

    So far today, she seems to be able to move fine on a flat surface – we have NO squirrels, birds, or cats in our garden! It’s UP stairs, which she can do, but very slowly, at least she’s not screaming now.
    She was talking these 5 steps in 1 or 2 leaps until now.
    She is fine with the right side being touched, but not the left. She is resting, apparently almost pain free on her cushion by the TV, and seeing off seagulls on the state farm commercial.

    By now you probably have an idea of her personality. She’s very opinionated, drama queen, who thinks vets and vet techs are snack food.

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Julia | 2 years ago
Hi! My Dog Is A 3m Old Shepherd Mix And She Was Attacked By Another Dog, …

hi! my dog is a 3m old shepherd mix and she was attacked by another dog, she has multiple fractures in her jaw. I was referred by Dr. Trout to UPenn but they’re quoting 6-10k and I just dont have it, I’m very young so no one will lend to me and rescues that I’d contacted basically said they would euthanize because of the costly procedure, shes only a baby and I really want to save her, is there any financial aid for hardships like this anyone can recommend? Dr Trout said to get in contact with Dr. Magnifico and her practice referred me here to get in contact with

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I’m sorry to hear about your pup. I spoke to two of the vets who are taking care of your dog to try to get a better idea of what kind of injured there are. This is absolutely imperative to try to formulate the cost of treatment. In some cases a broken bone can be more affordably managed by a splint or cast IF very very!!! strict cage rest is implemented for the 6-8 weeks that it takes for a bone to heal. But your pup has a brown jaw which needs to be stabilized very quickly so your dog can go back to eating normally. We don’t have weeks to see if it heals.

    The degree of injury is so severe that a surgeon (an expert and not a regular surgeon like me or other vets) is needed. We have no margin of error to oaky with. UPenn had the best of the best and that’s why you are being sent there. They are not a rescue or non profit. If you don’t have the ability to pay for this (provably over $5,000) then your options are very limited. There are some pet care financial services like a credit card, care credit, go fund me , selling items, or asking friends and family. If those aren’t options I strongly recommend you look into rescues you can surrender her to so she can be treated and find a home. Otherwise there is only suffering with a very badly injured mouth where she may never be able to eat or euthanasia.

    In cases like this I know it’s hard but if anyone will take her and take care of her I urge you to let her go to them.

    As a personal note I will offer this. Before I went to vet school o found a puppy walking on the street in Balt Maryland. I had her for two days while I tried ti find her family. On day three she became very sick. So sick she needed to go to the er. I was 21. She came up positive for Parvo. The er bill was $200. The estimate to care for her was $3,000. Which I didn’t have. It killed me to have her put down. KILLED. so much so that I decided then and there I would never be in that position again. I went to vet school 8 years later. If anyone has offered to care for her I would have been so grateful. But no one did. Or would in those days. Sick puppies were everywhere.

    I wish you the best.

    If no one will take her call my clinic jarrettsville Veterinary Center. I will see if I can get a rescue to take her.

    Krista.

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Joseph | 2 years ago
I Gave My 15 Lb Dachshund A Whole Tablet Of 250mg Of Metronidazole By Accident Instead Of …

I gave my 15 lb dachshund a whole tablet of 250mg of metronidazole by accident instead of a half tablet. Can this be harmful to him?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    For all accidental ingestions I recommend calling pet poison. But this is a dose I would suspect is not too far out of the dosage range to cause much worry. Call the vet who prescribed it or the pet poison company

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Heather | 2 years ago
My Question Is About Urinary Crystals And Cat Blockage. I Specifically Want To Know About Jaundice …

My question is about urinary crystals and cat blockage. I specifically want to know about jaundice after surgery, but also to know if we should have done anything differently, we lost our little sweetheart a few days ago to urinary crystals.

Details: 4 weeks ago our little fellow, a 2-year-old neutered male, got worms. We brought him to the vet and, with medicine, successfully treated them. They stressed him, and he didn’t want to eat much, but the vet said this was normal. He seemed to get better, but a week ago started acting stressed again, not eating much, drinking very little, but still eating and drinking. Seeing his pee was not possible due to having 2 other cats (and not knowing what urinary crystals are, much less know what to look for)

We called the vet Friday morning, they told us he would probably need another dose of worm medicine, and scheduled an appointment for the following Monday. Keep in mind we had never heard of urinary crystals before, we thought he had worms again.

On Saturday evening, it became clear it was more than worms. He was lethargic, not going potty at all, and just wanting to lay down and close his eyes. We called the vet clinic which was closed, several other numbers for local cat places (adoption, care, etc) and could not get him seen but got the same phone diagnosis at every step, “probably a stomach tumor”.

It was 5pm Sunday before we got lucky, found an animal hospital 2 hours drive away, got a hold of an actual vet through their emergency number, and she agreed to open the hospital late on a Sunday and see him immediately for $1000. We got there at 7pm and by 7:15 he was in surgery to unblock him. She immediately knew what was wrong. His temp was already low, he was very weak and barely moving but alive.

The next morning, we found out he survived the surgery and was recovering with a catheter and IV fluids. The plan was to keep him in the hospital for 3 days and to let him come home if his pee was clear and his blood work for liver function was acceptable.

We got a phone call early on the second day telling us he was occasionally moving in his cage but wasn’t eating or drinking. She said he seemed depressed, and we could visit at 4pm to see if it perked up his spirits. It was the earliest time they could let us visit so we took it.

On our drive to see him, the hospital called us and said he wasn’t doing well. They asked if we wanted the blood work done immediately instead of on day 3 and told us he had become extremely jaundiced. During our visit he could only manage a couple of steps, so we held him, he was clearly exhausted and under the effect of pain medicine.

The hospital had taken the blood after the call and said his sugars were 3 times normal and other things “5 times normal”, and he was a deep greenish yellow in color around his ears. They brought him warm food but he was not interested. They explained organ failure and said his lungs would fail eventually, but he was breathing well.

In seeing us did perk him up a little, he focused on us, but he quickly faded again, preferring to lay down with his tongue out after 20 minutes. We didn’t want him to suffer and linger with no hope of recovering, and he was heartbreakingly euthanized at that point.

Again, I didn’t know anything about crystals before he went into surgery, and I have questions in case his brother, or any cat, is in that situation.

My questions are….
– Was the jaundice a terrible sign or could it have been from the IV fluid, exhaustion, surgery and lack of eating? IE was it normal after surgery, or recoverable?
– Given what I’ve described, should we have waited another day? Could it have been just needing more time to recover? Or is the jaundice and blood work at that point enough to know he’s fought all he can?

We just want to know more. We’re still in shock and miss him terribly, but we felt alone in making decisions, the hospital clearly didn’t want to influence our decision either way. We’re just not sure now that 24 hrs recovery was enough to make a decision, or how serious jaundice is when he didn’t have it pre-surgery/IV.

Any advice appreciated, we found this site via a YouTube video on urinary crystals. Thanks.
P.S. We aren’t second guessing or wanting to hear we did the right thing, it’s too late to help him, but we want to know more in case it helps another cat.

Also, the hospital took a deposit from us when we agreed to the $1000 fee, and said they would accept payments since there was no way to forsee this type of thing. They did seem caring and knowledgeable, but clinical, and would offer no advice on euthanizing or not. We felt alone with that specific decision…. and in hindsight aren’t even sure it needed to be made yet… or did it?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    I’m sorry to hear about your cat.

    It sounds like there are multiple issues here and I don’t know how they are related. I don’t expect the crystals caused the jaundice. Most of the time I see the crystals because of poor diet or stress. Stress can be many many things. I suspect this was either a cat with underlying conditions like FeLV fiv or fip. Also I suspect the jaundice was either hepatic lipidosis or parasites.

    You sound like you really love your cat but never had a vet who was invested in your cats care. It is my biggest gripe in vet Med now. We don’t care for people who care about their pets. We need to do more in providing both care and advice.

    I am also very concerned about the vet who took the deposit and didn’t do pre op blood work. Or talk about the possibility of all of rhe things that can happen if there are underlying conditions or post op complications.

    I’m sorry for your loss.
    Dr magnifico

    1. Heather Post author

      Thanks for your time, I’ll try to keep it shorter.

      Yes, we loved him and his brother dearly from the day we found them in our barn, a couple of weeks old at best. His feral mom didn’t return, we watched with remote cameras. After bottle feeding him and weaning him to soft food, we got him dewormed, neutered etc. He seemed happy and normal in every way, clean bill of health.

      – The jaundice first appeared 24 hours after surgery to unblock him, and he’s never had it before.

      – The vet said the surgery was too urgent to wait for tests, and after surgery said testing was pointless until he was ready to leave. She ended up wanting it on day two when he got jaundice, so it did feel a bit irregular.

      That’s why I want to know more about what the jaundice meant. We really thought the jaundice and other signals + a bad test result was what the vet needed to know he was not going to recover.

      Was that normal with meds? Post surgery? After not having eaten much in a few days?… Or was it the terrible sign we thought it was? It’s so emotional to experience.

      We weren’t being told what we SHOULD do, but were asked to make a decision anyway. It’s so hard to do what’s best for him at that moment, especially with how things happened.

      We had to leave either way, the hospital was closing. Leaving him there alone for the night, in that condition, felt wrong. Bringing him home for the night felt like it might just make him suffer more. The IV couldn’t come with us she said, it’s illegal, but she would leave the catheter in if that’s what we choose.

      It was a “decide now” moment… and then he rolled to his side with his tongue hanging out, exhausted. It’s truly heartbreaking.

      We live in a rural community and the only licensed vet is over an hour away. The only local cat care is from a local donation based feral adoption service, run by a woman and a Facebook group of like-minded people, but without a full time vet.

      This happens strictly on donations to have a vet visit regularly. Resources are always stretched. Spending lots on one cat means little is available for others. I get that, but we were willing to pay.

      What we did is what people usually do at that point, she said, but we don’t care about that, we wanted him to live. Did we do the right thing? It’s too late to help him, but an answer may help another cat in the future.

      As you said, premature end of life for avoidable reasons is such a needless loss.

      I did call the hospital to ask about the jaundice afterward, what it meant, and was told it was his organs failing and cells breaking down. Again, not technically wrong, but of no help to a non-vet to decide if it’s time.

      I can answer any specific questions you might have.

      Thanks again.

      1. Heather Post author

        About hepatic lipidosis, he was a fit 2.5-year-old cat that passed away at 12.8 lbs and had been exactly 13 lbs a month earlier when he was given worm medication.

        He was solid, lean and strong in appearance, like most young cats. He was a long-haired male cat often called a Tuxedo, if breed matters.

        I wouldn’t describe him as anorexic, though he had stopped eating as much 3 weeks prior, and stopped eating at all 3 days prior. He didn’t have kidney stones, but it was enlarged at the time of his blockage surgery.

        He also had crystals in his bladder. She showed me a picture of it opened up with pink colored crystals, which seemed to have worried her more than anything else.

        He did pee afterward, and the color was good, but it got dark a day later when jaundice set in.

        I’m not sure what else might give you a clearer image, but I can find out, I feel like he still had hope. Also, she wanted to know what specific food brand we had been giving him because he was the 4th complete blockage that week, which is a lot in her practice.

    2. Heather Post author

      Sorry for the triple response, more information. He was given warm wet food after surgery and didn’t touch it. He hadn’t eaten for 3 days prior, and hadn’t been eating much since he started showing what we thought was worm related behavior, or about 2 weeks before that.

      Would it be normal to see jaundice appear in an already exhausted cat AFTER surgery, if likely hepatic lipidosis was not treated immediately by feeding him nutrients through a tube? It all seems to have progressed so quickly.

      He was never given a feeding tube, and in hindsight, I don’t see how he could have been expected to take a bite and swallow, he was too weak.

      The jaundice though, it was entirely absent pre-surgery and extreme 12 hours later. I can’t help but feel it was not a sign of the end but a sign of hurry up and do…. ??

  2. Heather Post author

    Closure – When he was diagnosed with worms, the vet missed that he also had urinary crystals forming, likely from being stressed. The change in behavior was attributed to the worms, and we didn’t know until it was too late.

    A lot of things went wrong, obviously.

    We’ll never know if a young male cat could have survived through the jaundice, after an unblocking surgery, with bloodwork showing levels 5x too high and not an ounce of energy left in him.

    The grieving has been difficult through the sense of guilt for not having been able to figure things out in time. I don’t believe in ghosts, but regular activities trigger memories of when he’d join in or watch… which is like a ghost, but the memories bring smiles too.

    He touched our lives in such a meaningful way that he’ll never be far from our thoughts, still bringing those smiles.

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Minnow | 2 years ago
My 3yo Cat Has All Symptoms Of Inflammatory Nasal Polyp, In Combination With The Fact That …

My 3yo cat has all symptoms of inflammatory nasal polyp, in combination with the fact that antibiotics and allergy meds have not resolved the situation. She sneezes out (sometimes bloody) green clots about once a week that can be up to 1/4 the size of her whole head. I have had trouble finding a vet who can do the surgery even if they can diagnose it. My vet didn’t even seem to know how to diagnose it when I brought up the possibility. Even emergency vets that I have called refer me to clinics that are not certain that they would be able to perform the operation or who have scary reviews. I literally just adopted her and she came with this undiagnosed issue. Can someone recommend a vet near Richmond, VA who would charge an appropriate price and provide good care?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    If you are looking for a vet to look for a nasal pharyngeal polyp in your area I suggest that you post a plea on Facebook and nextdoor.Com. Also call all of the local shelters and rescues. I guarantee someone local will look. If not call my clinic and ask to leave a message for me. You will have to reference this reply. We will find you someone. If you do please let me know. We will start a directory

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Cheena | 2 years ago
Hi Everyone, It’s My First Time To Have A Pet Her Name Is Kumiko I …

Hi everyone,

It’s my first time to have a pet her name is Kumiko i got her when she was only 3month now she’s already 6months. When i got her her fur parents didn’t told me initially that her mother got her tail degloved. She was born inverted butt first so her mom accidentally degloved her tail. I have been treating her since then. Her tail will dry up and will last for 4-7days then the skin sheds and bleeds. She’s been wearing Elizabeth collar since then. I am getting desperate already. I consulted a Vet and now they are suggesting to have it amputated. There is no current infection but it doest heal properly. Hope someone can help me. I still don’t want her to get amputated.

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  1. Laura

    Unfortunately, amputation really needs to happen here. Please do this – your kitten is suffering otherwise.

  2. Krista Magnifico

    Hello

    The tail is already missing the tip. We call this amputated. So I would say your cat already has an amputated tail but a little bit more needs to be removed so the tail can heal properly. It’s not a difficult or expensive surgery (probably $ 300-400) at my clinic. Once it heals she shouldn’t need the ecollar anymore.

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Emma | 2 years ago
I Have A Himalayan Male Cat Who Had A Urinary Blockage. He Was At The Emergency …

I have A Himalayan male cat who had a urinary blockage.
He was at the emergency vet for three days and was cleared to go home and has been doing good since, but he is peeing everywhere except his litter box. They said this would be expected but it has been longer than they said and he has no desire to use his box.
Has anyone else had this issue and how did you help fix it?

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  1. Laura

    Have you tried cat attract litter? Or moving the box? Or *changing* the box to a different style? He probably associates the litterbox with pain, so changing things up should be the next thing. Also make sure you use an enzymatic cleaner for the messes.

  2. Emma Post author

    Hi Laura, thank you for your response. I guess I should have mentioned what I have Done. I have Two litter box in his room with two different kinds of litter and do use an enzymatic cleaner to clean the messes. I will Try moving the boxes around to see if that makes any difference.

  3. Laura

    Are you using cat attract litter?

    How about dirt? I know that freshly turned dirt attracts cats, so why not try that? (Make sure it’s plain old organic topsoil with no additives.)

  4. Krista Magnifico

    Hello

    I would add that in cases like this I place the cat in a large crate. They stay in the crate for whatever time it takes to retrain them. Like a dog crate. Place newspaper on the bottom. Then add a litter box and bed. If they aren’t using the litter box in the crate then remove the litter box and place litter over the newspaper. If they aren’t using it then I rem e the bed. Therefore the only thing their feet feel is litter. I should also add that I let the cat pick the litter they like by giving them Potok s. Like place clumping litter in one area. Non clumping in another. Try sand. And try potting soil. Some cats just have a preference and you never know what that is until you offer it. Also people need to be thinking about litter boxes. Some cats want open. Some want covered. Some want big and flat. Others hidden and quiet.

    If the cat still isn’t using it I add a medication for stress and pain. Maybe gabapentin. Or fluoxetine. But there are others.

    Ask your vet. Or find a feline vet who only sees cats. They are often great resources.

    Hope this helps.

    1. Emma Post author

      Hi krista , thank you for the suggestions. I will Try those ideas. He has started to slowly come around to using it and it’s 50/50 now if he’s in the box or on the floor. He does have gabapentin and zylkene to help lower his stress. Will update with results!

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Jean | 2 years ago
Why Are The Majority Of Harford County Veterinarians Charging $400-$650 To Spay/neuter A Cat Or …

Why are the majority of Harford County veterinarians charging $400-$650 to spay/neuter a cat or kitten? Only a few offer under $200 surgeries for what is generally a very simple and quick procedure – I know, as I assist at low-cost spay/neuter clinics. Cecil County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County all offer the same procedure for less than half the going rate in Harford. Several local veterinarians, when clients balk at pricing, are referring them to rescue groups rather than offering a reasonable price for an operation that is ESSENTIAL to the animal’s well-being and longevity, not to mention eliminating unwanted litters.

What can Harford residents do to force changes to make our county more cat friendly and help owners wanting to do what’s right but not at unreasonable cost?

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  1. Laura

    I’d guess the low cost clinics don’t do pre-op bloodwork? Furthermore, costs of everything have gone WAY up, and shelters/rescues are funded with donations and fundraising efforts while veterinarians have businesses to run and employees to pay.

    I find $400 to be quite fair. We paid around $700 for our Doberman’s spay about 6 years ago.

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Lara | 2 years ago
Hi All !! I Have A 1 1/2 Year Old , Female Chinese Crested . I Have Had Her About Six …

Hi All !! I have a 1 1/2 year old , female Chinese crested . I have had her about six months now and she’s been in great health and super happy and active . Saturday am , she went out and came back in a little while later limping on her back left leg . I checked her out and couldn’t see anything that would have caused it , so I had her lay down in her crate for about 2 hours. When I went to let her out , she couldn’t get out of the crate and soon I a realized that she could not use her back two legs at all !! I was so shocked ???? and just couldn’t believe how this could happen?!? Got her into the vet and he said she had absolutely no feeling in her lower half ???????? He said that he believes she had IVDD and we need to go to a neurologist for blood and X-rays to rule out anything else . We called two different places 1-2 hours away . One wouldn’t even tell us how much a visit was or bloodwork or X-rays or anything. The other place told us that if she had no feeling that we’d be wasting out time on bloodwork and X-rays , because it won’t change anything and she’ll be like this forever ???? I am so distraught and have been googling and watching YouTube videos on IVDD . I found Dr Krista Magnificos YouTube channel and all her videos on IVDD . I am
Praying that there is some kind of hope that my girl will be able to walk again. I would love any and all advice in this situation and I would love if Dr Krista herself could help me with this !! Thank you so very much !!

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    I think we already saw her. Right? I’m so sorry. Some how this one slipped through my inbox.

    I have tons of info on my blog and YouTube channel.

    Most of all I urge people to never give up hope. Ever. And keep looking for a vet who will help you.

    Please call me at the clinic if you need anything.
    Krista.

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Lilith Broquard | 2 years ago
Hi, My Vet Recommended That I Give My Long-haired Cat Malt Paste Every Three Days Or …

Hi, my vet recommended that I give my long-haired cat malt paste every three days or so. I’m seeing that there are lots of brands and prices. Do you have any product suggestions? What should I look for in a quality malt product?

Thank you!

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  2. Lilith Broquard Post author

    I took her in for her yearly exam and the vet said that it would help prevent a hairball blockage given that she has long hair. (As of now I don’t think this has ever been an issue, she rarely vomits, etc. and she doesn’t have any health issues.)