Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
Good morning Pawbly friends. Our old guy, Butch, is has been piddling often in the house. Not always- and he is not peeing. Just droplets have been escaping when he shakes or stretches getting up if he hasn’t been out for a bit. I am not surprised- he is in his late teens. We just grab a Lysol wipe and clean it up, no worries. Now, Occasionally feces has started to escape as well???? I only imagine it will start to happen more often. I feel bad for him- he looks so shameful when it happens. Any advice on doggie diapers? I don’t know that Butch will wear them, but if it gets worse and he still isn’t ready to leave us, I’d like to know what to look for. Thanks!!!
**also, my apologies for not replying where I can lately- I think there is a little glitch on this site that they are working out.????????
my chihuahua terrier mix takes Phenobarbital for seizures. I am looking for an alternative natural medicine to replace the Phenobarbital. any advice on this.
I’m sorry to hear about your pup. I’m also sorry to say that unless you know what is causing the seizures and can avoid that there is not another way to lower the seizure likelihood than the medications your vet prescribed. If you would like to learn more about your pets seizures ask for a referral to a neurologist.
Hello, my cat Koshka has been suffering from chronic upper respiratory symptoms (snorty breathing, sometimes bloody sneezing) for quite some time now and I’m worried that she may have a nasopharyngeal polyp. I’ve watched several videos posted on youtube by Krista Magnifico and our situation sounds very similar to what was described there. This has been persisting for 2 years and she has been to the vet 4 times now and last week I took her to a new vet for a second opinion and she prescribed prednisone and said she could refer me to a specialist to do a rhinoscopy which costs over $2000.
My question is why hasn’t anyone thought to check for a polyp like Dr. Magnifico has been doing in these videos? It seems like a relatively simple and cost effective procedure. I’m getting very discouraged and frustrated at the thought of paying thousands of dollars just for diagnostics alone when I am currently unemployed. I’d be happy to take her in to the Jarrettsville Vet Center but I live in Nashville which is 12hrs away. I would love to hear any kind of advice on this matter as I’m not sure what to do at this point. Thank you for reading this!
Hello,
As with all of these cases I do t know why more vets don’t do a sedated exam and look for a polyp. I know lots who do, but most don’t. Please call around and try to find someone who is willing to look. Also based o the history of your cats symptoms it is unlikely this is a polyp. Most polyps I have seen are in young cats and the degree if inspiratory effort and noise worsens significantly over time. I would say about 6-12 months. I feel this is more likely to be either rhinitis (usually secondary to another disease or condition) or neoplasia (oronasal or facial tumor. Then best advise I can give is to call around and ask for a referral who will work with you and your cat to help get better answers that you can afford. Let me know if you find someone so I can share it with others. .
Rini a female mix8 yrs old has blisters on her nose been treated at pleasantville animal hospital past 2 mos was told to back off prednisone last week fm 60 ml to 30 ml infection returning with a vengeance
This started after killing ground hogs
Hello,
I think that the best plan is to make an appointment to see if we can figure out the cause. I think a few possible causes are on the differential list. I am at the clinic on Monday. Would you like to make an appointment to come in? If possible please bring in the medications you have been using.
Will call for a appt tomorrow will most likely be at 5:30 if possible eill call at time you open
Thank you!
My cat ate a piece of habanero cheese! It was small, probably about the size of a pea. Should I do anything? Expect anything? She seems ok as of right now
Hi there- I would keep an eye on her and if she acts like she is in distress give the vet a call. I think since it was a small piece, and in the cheese rather than a straight piece of habanero pepper she is probably fine? If she starts panting call the vet….and check the litter box. It might be messy later.
Hello,
I would be most worried about gi issues, like vomiting and diarrhea. If you don’t see any of this in the next day or two you are probably fine.
My 10 year old male Persian cat was blocked with a bladder infection.
One week ago, the Vet did a catherization to remove the fluids and sent him home.
He further recommended surgery to remove bladder stones. Is there an alternative to bladder surgery ?
Thank you.
Hi there-
We had a car with a blockage years ago. We had to have emergency surgery and put him on a special diet. We ended up with 8 more, stone free years with him????????
Thanks Sarah. This situation is really stressing me out. I put him on the Hill’s C/D diet. Do you know what emergency surgery he had ? I would like to avoid the surgery if possible.
Sorry- I hit submit before I finished- I was going to add that an in depth discussion with your vet is probably best.
Hello,
I don’t know enough to offer specific advice. Here’s what I usually recommend. If the cat is blocked do that they cannot urinate I place a urinary catheter and keep the cat on iv fluids in the hospital until the urine is running clear. Usually this is about 3-4 days. Then I remove the catheter and make sure they are able to urinate a normal amount easily and comfortably. I also start them on a urinary prescription diet. I much prefer watered down wet food vs dry. I take radiographs of the urinary stones and check a urine sample every 2-4 weeks. Many cats urinary issues will resolve over time with diet. For the rare cases of storms that are so big or those that will not dissolve we discuss a cystotomy to remove them. Either way all cats with urinary issues need diet changes and increase exercise and activities to help them from blocking again. I hoe this helps. Let us know what happens.
Thank you very much Dr. Krista. You have given me hope. I will follow your advice and let you know what happens.
Hi, my cat was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism about 2 weeks ago and our vet put her on Methimazole 5 mg liquid. Yesterday my cat started trying to urinate frequently (every couple of minutes) and defecated outside of her letterbox several times. I searched up to see if these were the symptoms of the medication and was unable to find anything online. So i just wanted to run it by you guys and double check. Today my cat seems to be doing well, she is not urinating every few minutes, however, I’m still a little worried. Thanks so much!
Hi there- I agree that your cat is trying to tell you something with this litter box behavior. Have you phoned you vet to let them know? I would definitely start there. I know that my vet would want to know any changes in behavior right away and be kept up to date on the patient…. I would call your regular vet before they close and speak with them. I hope things are ok????????
Hello,
Please follow up with your vet about your cat. I don’t think the medication and the litter box issues are related but litter box issues should always be followed up ASAP. Also I have not had much luck with the transdermal medications so please follow up with your vet on the thyroid level checks too.
Hi Pawbly friends-
I had asked the other day about antiseptic for minor scratches etc. does anyone have thoughts/advice on equisilver antimicrobial spray or povidone iodine solution? Thanks!!
Hello,
Iodine is great. But it can stain the fur. Equalizer if a horse product? Right? I’d have to ask the equine peeps.
Thanks- I found the equalizer when looking for the product Laura had recommended. I have been washing Rivas ear with warm saline- and it is healing up beautifully ???? Ihave no idea what she may have caught it on. The kids all came running “Rivas ear is bleeding” and sure enough…. so I did the first cleaning with peroxide and then switched to the novasal we had leftover from Rontus scuffle, which came in handy. When I ran out of the novasal, I started with saline and neosporin. And now it is just about healed and gone… I was just figuring since they’re out in the woods with the kids all of the time for the next few months, good to have something on hand. Thank you????????
My four year old dachshund was just diagnosed with IVDD, and is presenting with full paralysis of his hind legs. He seems to be in a lot of pain despite being put on Robaxin by our vet. I am feeling very overwhelmed because it happened so suddenly, and am really looking for ways to help him as much as I can. I work full time as well, but live with my parents who will be home with him everyday so I would like to be able to coach them in what I learn. Is there a go to resource for helping your dog to heal from IVDD?
Hi there- so sorry!! Dr. Magnifico has videos that may be able to help you on her YouTube channel. I would take a look there… very best of luck to you and your pup????????
Hi! My dog has recently been licking around is butt and has completely licked off the hair on the back of his tail. He’s been doing it for about 2-3 weeks now. I thought it was the new food I tried with him but after seeing him do it for a few days, I stopped and went back to his original food. However, he has not stopped and now I’ve notice my other dog biting around her tail a little. Not nearly as bad as my male dog though. I am concerned something else is going on like worms. I unfortunately still owe a lot of money to my current vet for emergency visits the dogs had early this year and can’t afford to take them in to be checked. Can I try using Safe-Guard with them to see if that corrects the issue? Is something else possibly going on?
This could be anal glands, it could be intestinal parasites, it could be his diet isn’t working for him. We can only guess. I would at least try to get a stool sample checked out.
Hello,
It sounds like he is becoming incontinent. In German shepherds I worry most about it degenerative myelopathy. We call it DM (not the diabetes thing though). Please see your vet for help with this. Or it can be from a result of muscle loss due to atrophy or even weakness or stiffness associated with osteoarthritis where they are reluctant to get up because it is painful.
Hello,
It sounds like he is becoming incontinent. In German shepherds I worry most about it degenerative myelopathy. We call it DM (not the diabetes thing though). Please see your vet for help with this. Or it can be from a result of muscle loss due to atrophy or even weakness or stiffness associated with osteoarthritis where they are reluctant to get up because it is painful.
My mom guess would be the latter????He struggles to get up and his one hind leg is just about frozen. We have him on dasaquin and his food has glucosamine additives. I will give a call this week to see what we can do to help him. Thanks????????????