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I just wanted to check if Histiocytoma when first appearing can not be red as shown in the picture below ? And if they are known for ulcerating the next day ? Also can a mast cell tumour do both those thing also ? I edited the lighting of the picture so it stand out more. I also added a picture of what it looked like a week later after the scab got knocked off and a picture closer to what it look like now. My dog a staffy aged 8.
I noticed a raised lump on my Staffordshire bull terrier aged 8 on the 21st of November on my dog head that ulcerated the next day. The ulcerated lump scabed over then got knocked off the following week. I have been to 2 different vets within that time and both feel it either a histiocytoma or a mast cell tumour with both vets leaning toward it being a histiocytoma but only a biopsy will make sure. I have a biopsy for Wednesday but my question is would it be worth doing is this lump too close to the eyes for good margins? I have done days of googling and I see 1cm is all that needed for good margins and 90% of other sites saying 2-3cm is needed. I would not put my dog through radio therapy so if good margins is not possible would it be worth doing a biopsy? Another thing is I know it low chance but I don’t want to risk Anesthesia with my dog being that 1 in 2000 dog to die from it. Anyone know if good margins is possible from looking at the picture of my dog?
Hi there-
Sorry you are going through so much stress with this situation. Unfortunately, it is always so hard to tell anything definite from A picture. I would have frank discussion with my vet and ask about all of my different treatment options from aggressive on down. They know you and your pet best, and can advise accordingly. Best of luck to you both.????????
3 weeks since my dog was diagnosed with ivdd. I’m not seeing the light at the end of tunnel. He doesn’t seem to be getting better. He still cries and walks around in circles with his head low. He can walk for a few steps but then falls. Feeling so helpless. Any advice?
Hi Jasmine, have you contacted an orthopedic vet? Have you considered laser therapy, water therapy, etc? I understand your distress, and I have only barely followed your story so I’m not sure what you’ve done so far.
I have not. I have taken him to 2 regular vets but I don’t feel that they have followed up with him as they should. They did not tell me anything about a follow up appointment . I am going to someone else. I don’t have enough money for an MRI . I am looking into rehabilitation centers. I think I’m going to try a place called BARC. He is currently on galliprant and Gabapentin for pain. They seem to help for 5-6 hours but then he starts crying (usually at night) I can’t tell if it’s from pain though or from wanting to be near me. He stops crying when I pet him or when I pick him up. I have noticed he also cries when he can’t get himself up( like he’s frustrated)
Hello,
I would seek the advice of a neurologist. And reassess pain management and quality of life. I think you need help from someone who can examine your pup and talk to you about Your thoughts. Sending ❤️ To you both.
How did the appt go on 12/23. My dog has already had three spinal surgeries and is now dealing with his 4th episode. I would like some good news. I hope he got better. We really thought we had it beat. He did great after surgery. I just wish it was cheaper.
I recently notice a lump on my dog’s neck and went to go get it checked out. I found out it can possibly be a lipoma and came across a YouTube video and where the cost for the removal was cheaper compared to the close to $2000 I was shown from my vet. I’m a student trying to manage my own college costs and my part time job is barley helping me out. I was wondering if anyone knows of a great vet in Los Angeles with reasonable price for the removal or something to just help me
Ask friends and family and even place a post on social media or to allthe shelters and rescues for vets who might be more affordable. And talk to your vet about the price. Ask if there is any way they can do it safely but at a price you can afford. And please! Please add the estimate to our storylines page. That is the place we hope to be able to find information about vets and vet practices to rocked transparency in pricing to people around the world.
My 24 pound beagle, Shadow, jumped on the counter and stole a chocolate cupcake off of it. The recipe called for half a cup of cocoa powder and it made around 16 cupcakes (she only stole one).
Is this toxic and should I go to the vet immediately or is it only a certain amount of chocolate that would affect her?
Hi Samantha, in each case it’s whatever the dog will tolerate. I would certainly call your vet, but if you see no changes I wouldn’t worry overmuch. Monitor your dog. If she starts to vomit, shake, pee a LOT more, or have diarrhea? Take her in immediately, do not pass go.
Hello.
As the mom of a beagle who would be just as sneaky (but isn’t yet. Thank goodness) I can say this will probably only cause gi upset. That’s not enough chocolate to cause toxicity. As long as your pup is otherwise healthy. You should always talk to your vet and always if worried call the pet poison helpline. There are also choc tox formulas that help available online.
Hello, I have a 2.5 year old desexed female cat and a 4-month-old male kitten. We moved house 4 months ago, and adopted the new kitten about 3 months ago. In our previous house, we used to let the older cat out during the day to roam the neighborhood, although she never went too far.
Since we’ve moved, we only let her out once or twice a week as there are a lot of cats here and she gets into more fights and has gotten injured once. She seems very stressed out, wanting to go out constantly.
We have tried everything to ease her stress: playing with her a lot, brushing and cuddling her daily, giving her a mix of wet and dry good food (that she likes), putting up Feliway diffuser around the house, and she plays with the kitten daily.
However, she still exhibits signs of stress, ie hiding, minor crouching, hissing or growling from time to time to us or the kitten, sleeps more, meows more, generally less affectionate towards us.
Do we have to let her go outside daily like before, so she can be less stressed, or is there any other way to lessen her stress? It has been 4 months and I am worried it will become chronic stress for her.
Have you taken her to the vet? Those are signs of stress, but they’re also signs of injury and illness.
OH, I forgot to mention – you could always build a catio for her to spend time outside, SAFELY, protected from the other cats. There are tons of videos and plans online for this. If she truly wants to be outside, this might be the best option for everyone.
But get her to the vet, first, to make sure something isn’t actually wrong.
Hi Laura, thank you so much for replying.
We actually brought her to the vet a few months ago because of a fight bite she got from one of her outside trips. While the wound was not anything to worry too much about, we talked to the vet about letting her outside and expressed our worry (she’s gotten scratches before but it was the first time she got a bleeding bite wound), and the vet agreed that she should stay inside from then on.
Aside from the wound she was overall fine, thus why I believe these are stress symptoms…
As for the catio option, we are renting, and while we do have a garden, we share it with the landlord, so I don’t think it’s a viable option right now.
We believe our 3 year old French bulldog has IVDD related issue based on the exam at the emergency vet tonight.
We want to do everything we can as soon as we can. I spoke to a neurologist who said they won’t see him until he is referred by his primary vet. Just within the last 8 hours of this happening it appears he has loss all use of his hind legs. I’m not quite sure if this sign of paralysis or what I should be looking for. He is panting quite a bit from the pain so I’m assuming the paralysis hasn’t kicked in. We were given two prescriptions to follow through with until we can get him into a doctor on Monday. Is this going to be soon enough? We have pet insurance but also want to be sure it will cover the cost of the surgery if needed.
Hello,
In almost all cases you can be referred by any vet you see. So call the ER vat back and ask them to refer you. If they cannot ask for your money back as they are not much help and then find an ER with a specialty referral associated with it. This can be found in almost all large cities and every veterinary teaching hospital. For these cases seeking surgery time is critical. If you are not prepared to have surgery (usually due to cost which in my area is about $7-10,000) talk about starting conservative medical therapy. Good luck. Let me know what happens.
My cat got a FLUTD diagnosis yesterday morning after spending the night in the animal hospital because they were checking for an obstruction. He hadn’t obstructed, but they couldn’t get enough urine for a urinalysis, so when we picked him up yesterday morning they gave us a container. I got a hair under 3ml, dropped it off and was told they’d run it and let me know if it was enough but I have yet to hear if anything has come from it. He’s on an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxant. He’s a very vocal and clingy cat, but he’s been very quiet since we brought him home. He produced a decent amount of urine yesterday, but he hasn’t done more than a little dribble for about 4 hours now. I was told, if there were no additional or worsening symptoms, to bring him in immediately if this reaches 12 hours with no output. He doesn’t yell or talk or grunt when he’s in the litter, just stays there for a while and scrunches his back up as he tries to go but can’t, and will turn around frequently. He’s walking normally and isn’t having trouble getting to sleep, he’s eating normally and drinking frequently.
I was advised to start a vet prescription diet made up of 90% Hills Science Metabolic Urinary Care + CD dry food and 10% wet food, but the vets didn’t have any and after making a few calls around, was told my best option was to order it online and wait. Waiting is very stressful, and I’d really like to know if there is anything else I can do in the meantime to prevent any further discomfort or an obstruction. I would also like to know if there is a safe way to get him to the animal hospital the fastest. I’m worried if he’s obstructed, picking him up and carrying him or putting him in his cage might cause even more pain or make his urethra rupture.
Any additional tips or advice is very much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Hello,
I’m sorry but in these cases the only way to really know what is going on in the bladder is to palpate your cat to feel the size, firmness and pain in the bladder. I teach my clients how to palpate and I also advise giving at home sw fluids OR best yet hospitalizing with iv fluids until the urine runs clear and the patient is pain free and comfortable. I think that at this point if you are worried it’s best to see the vet ASAP. I also think it is important for the urinalysis results to be known. Lots of cats have cystitis and not a Urinary tract infection. Different things and therefore different treatment plans and options.
Let me know what happens and above all else ask the vet to give you a diagnosis and both a short and long term treatment plan and help in getting through it all. If they aren’t helpful go elsewhere. These cats need a lot of oversight and assistance. You need to have a vet who will fo all of this for you.
Best of luck !
Hello! I just discovered this app via a YouTube video, as I now spend my days googling things like “Cat breathing loudly” and “normal cat breathing”…!
Since perhaps June I’ve noticed with increasing regularity my cat, Clover, breathing very loudly, sometimes to the point of waking me up with the sound. In September this progressed and my husband noticed her breathing freakishly fast and we rushed to a vet.
However 5 vets, including a specialist, many xrays, and treatment for gum disease later, no one seems to know what it is, and I can’t take the wait and see method they are prescribing. She is playing and eating and otherwise normal, but her breathing does seem to bother and annoy her and at times she looks very despondent.
The history is that almost two years ago I made the most terrible judgement call of my life and she got out the window of a new apartment and fell 4 floors. She was unable to use her back legs for a few days during which they kept her under observation and she needed stitches in her soft palate. She has made an almost complete recovery.
The accident happened exactly a week after our other cat contracted an unknown disease and died suddenly and shockingly at aged 5. I still haven’t recovered from our other cat’s passing and both my husband and I comfortably acknowledge that Clover is the number one love in my life, and I will do everything to keep her alive and happy. However we have reached our pet insurance limit and I am so concerned about what will be next.
I have done all of the internet researching there is to be done, and I just know looking at her and hearing her stressful breathing that something is very wrong. I don’t know if it’s connected to the fall, but it isn’t bronchitis or asthma both of which treatments did less than nothing.
If anyone has any advice or had a cat with similar symptoms please let me know what you think?!
Good morning-
I am very sorry that even after all of your vet visits and research, you are still at a loss. Other than finding another specialist, my only thought is if there is a teaching veterinary hospital/school that would want to take on your case. Hoping that some other Pawbly friends may be able to share mor advice with you. Very best of luck to you…????????
Thank you so much!
Hello,
In many of these cases I have found that these cats have chronic rhinitis. A friend scan if about the best way to identify this, but, it isn’t usually able to be cured, only somewhat managed with long term use of anti inflammatories and adjunct treatment options like minimizing allergens and managing weight. I have also tried cerenia drips and steroids to some help. Or even an inhaler to see if it helps. Ideally I keep these cats in a clean ventilated moist environment and minimize allergens to include all household cleaners, litter and even their own pet dander. Finding a diagnosis is a challenge as it isn’t infection and if it isn’t it is harder to cure. Some cats just snore no matter what we do.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. It it usual for it to come on relatively unprovoked? Or could it be connected to the fall? Also, as it is deteriorating so quickly now, what is the likely time she can live with it?
The whistling is relatively constant now, with every day becoming more extreme.
We have an air purifier running constantly, I have never used harsh cleaning chemicals ever and we are in a small apartment, so her exposure to irritants is as low as I can make them.
She was on cerenia but it did nothing and nor did the steroids.
Thank you so much again.
Also anti inflammatories did nothing I should add!
Hi Pawbly friends. Quick question about apples???? Rontu and Riva (GSDs about 85 and 70 lbs. respectively) found apples that Were put in the compost because they were going soft. They just finished chowing down about three of them- the rest have been removed from them. Safe? Watch to make sure they don’t have any issues going? Or is it something we should be more concerned about!
Hello,
Then only toxic part are the seeds. And you have to ingest a huge amount for them to be toxic. So no worries.
Thank you???? They sure keep me on my toes????
Apples make a GREAT doggy snack! If they’d started to ferment, you might have slightly tipsy dogs on your hands (you don’t want to know how I learned about that…). Otherwise…let’em have a slice or two when you’re snacking on them every so often. 🙂
Nobody can diagnose this via a photo. Lots of lumps and bumps look alike. Please see your vet. They can help.