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I feel like when it rains it pours, we just had our dog down for 3 weeks with a herniated disc and IVDD, now, our 2 year old cat started acting weird. Meowing, howling, laying in the litter box. It’s Christmas Day and we cannot afford an emergency vet visit. What do we do? I suspect it’s a UTI, I just want him to be okay until the morning.
My 16-1/2 year old calico has been on prednolisone since August. Even though she was still eating normally she went from about 9 pounds to 7.2 pounds in a year. Tests showed everything was good with the exception of inflamed intestines. Being on the prednolisone has helped her gain weight again, she now weighs about 8.4 pounds. Within the past month on occasion she has started howling very loudly for no apparent reason. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain, sometimes it actually seems as though she’s confused. Any ideas on what could be causing her howls? What can I do to help her? Dr Graff has been her vet since she was a tiny kitten, I would bring Pumpkin in if necessary but hate the idea of stressing her out in doing so. Thanks for any suggestions.
Hello,
I think it would be best to bring her in. In cases like these I get worried about kidney and liver issues and these are best diagnosed with bloodwork and/or an ultrasound. Certainly dementia can happen to any and all mammals but we rule out medical issues first. Dr graf is at the clinic on mon-weds through Saturday. I hope this helps. Best of luck.
I have an 18 month old male cat, Chubbs 🙂 – he was a stray that we took in from the neighborhood as a kitten, vaccinated and neutered and we just adore him. On Monday this week, I noticed he was having urinary issues – lots of in and out of box and no action. Our vet was full so we drove about 30 minutes to another town to take him to an emergency vet. Vet told me that he did not have a urinary blockage, but his urinalysis showed evidence of infection and crystals. A chicken and the egg situation he said. They gave him subQ fluids, antinausea med, anti-inflammatory med and send us home with a supply of pain meds and antibiotics. He was low key the next day, but seems back to normal as of yesterday. However, still lots of urinary urgency and frequency attempts with dribbles here and there, but is producing actual normal appearing size voids 3-5 times a day. No blood, no howling. Bowel movements seem a little looser, assuming from antibiotics but no diarrhea. Is this expected behavior? Can male cats have partial blockages that wax and wane like this? Will this continue on for 1-2 weeks while treating the UTI component? Emergency vet told me to follow-up with our vet in ~2 weeks for repeat urine.
I would call your vet and see if you can schedule an appointment before the two weeks just to get your own vet up to speed and see if there are any changes in diagnosis. Err on the side of caution. I can tell you from experience- getting these things taken care of sooner rather than later and staying ahead of the game, is a LOT less expensive in the long run. Best of luck.
Is there a technique to reduce the side effects of Mirtazapine? My 9lb cat takes 1/16th of a 15mg tablet every 5-7 days. She meows and howls for 12 hours after each pill.
Hello,
Have you spoken to your vet about this? Can you try a different appetite stimulant (assuming that is what you are using it for) to see if maybe that would help? Also ask about concurrent disease like thyroid, blood pressure, kidney diseas etc?
Hi, thank you for the response. Yes, the vet knows, and it is being used as an appetite stimulant. The cat has IBD. I was just hoping there was some way to lessen the side effects, the dosage has been reduced over time. It used to be 24 hours of hysterics. It may be time to try something else.
I have adopted a dog from the pound about 4 or 3 moths ago, he is a very good dog but when someone enters my room, my dog starts growling and he won’t stop. The behaviour has gotten worse when my fathers partner hit him with a leash with a metal spring on it, now whenever he hears someone walking outside of my room (going upstairs or to the bathroom) he immediately starts growling, his growling got more loud and now when someone passes him, he’s scared and walks away. Another thing is when I leave the house, he starts howling and it’s annoying my father he wants me to sell him but I still believe there is something to help my dog. He is a sheepdog collie mix and 2 years old, he is a very good dog and I presume his previous owners must have been abusing him since he’s scared of everything. Is there a way to teach him not to do it?
Have you spoken with a trainer yet?
No, there isn’t any trainers around where I live so it’s hard
Well hitting has made it worse. Your dog has several anxiety/fear issues. you can teach a dog confidence but it
takes time and dedication. Start by always having your dog on a leash with you. when he lays quietly, tell him good dog. start teaching him to sit on command. then start teaching him to sit in place on a carpet or matt. All this will teach him proper behavior, and make a bond. once he and you have developed a bond, start asking a friend to come over to help work with your dog. Put a bowl of treats outside of the door, have your friend come to the door, your dog on a leash, you ask your dog to sit, treat him. the friend comes in, no eye contact, talks to you, if dog stays sitting, no growling treat him. Once dog accepts friend, let friend treat him.
Start teaching your dog that all good things come from you when he listens. Get what we call High value treats, something he ONLY gets during training, cheese, chicken, moist dog treats, whatever, but he only gets it during training.
Collie and shepherding dogs have such a strong desire to be with their people, to please them, that you should be able to train him.
As for crying while you are gone, he should be crated, with a cover over the crate, and give him a large Kong to work on while you are gone. He only ever gets the Kong in the crate. Fill it with dog food, and mix in some peanut butter, plug the whole over with peanut butter and freeze, give it to him when leaving, but make sure you feed him less so he doesn’t get fat lol.
Take time, he will be a good dog, dogs know when they are rescued.
Good luck!
Friends, my beagle, Abby is on bed rest and will be for 6-8 weeks. It’s been a little bit over than a week and I think she is getting fussy/lonely. She would always howl and bark during the day & night. As much as we want to keep her company and be with her 24/7, it’s hard because we all have school, work and other obligations.
When she first started doing this, the family thought there was something wrong and rushed to her side but she just wants to be petted and see people. It’s getting very annoying to having to wake up at 1am because she won’t stop howling or barking, especially when we have to wake up the next day, and sometimes (this is what’s told by my vet) we would ignore her because she has to learn that this might be her life now for a long time and she needs to learn how to self sooth and accept the fact that no one is there to clean her poop or pee right a way…
I understand where my pet is coming from, we cannot communicate with them and they cannot communicate with us. My dog is probably terrified out of her mind as to why she cannot move and has to stay, and truths to be told, I would be bored too if I had to stay in bed for 6-8 weeks. We’ve tried our best to keep her company when we can, but if any owners out there can provide us with some advice as to entertainment wise for pets (maybe a bone she can snack on without gaining so much weight), or some kind of a toy that can keep her entertained, it would be much appreciated.
Try diapers for one. For two give that dog as much attention you can when your home. Do not give up.
I didn’t read back so I don’t have all the details, but I’ll bet your dog is terrified and looking to you to fix it. Is she in pain? Dogs absolutely do communicate with us. If I told you some of what my dogs do you’d be convinced. All animals communicate with people but you have to “listen”. Her barking and howling and having to soil her crate have her totally stressed and frightened, Her whole life has changed. Your vet should be giving her something for anxiety. Same as with people…stress is a killer. Her howling is a cry for help. How can you ignore that?
Hi everybody!
Well my pup is going on five months now, he’s been desexed and had all his needles ect. and he’s a healthy happy boy. However, he has always been an inside dog due to the fact when he was a little guy he was very unwell. We are now moving to a bigger house with a large yard (he’s a cattle dog) and we are hoping for him to become an outside dog. However the problem is we’re having trouble convincing him to be an outside dog 😉
Hes currently being put in the garage with his bed, toys and clothing of ours, we have a clock in there and he has his own radio to keep him company. However, for the last two weeks he will not stop crying, whining, howling, batting at the door loudly and barking. Fortunately, he cries a bit when we put him in at night, and mainly sleeps through the night but as soon as he hears the birds which is like (3 am or 4 am) he won’t stop carrying on from then.
Its driving us crazy, we aren’t getting any sleep and neither is he. It makes us much less approachable in the morning when we get him out. We have started leaving him in there when we go to university and the shops during the day and he continues to do the same thing. We have tried everything, we have ignored him and turned to some smacks on the bottom but nothing is working!
Please if you have any advice, we are willing to try anything!
Thanks!
honestly, he wants to be with his family…unless you have some pressing NEED for him to be outside, let him stay in. in fact, i’d crate him away from windows and give him some sort of radio in the room so he doesn’t hear the birds.
as for the rest of his carrying on…he sounds BORED. what do you do with him when you’re home? are you actively training him? if not, you need to start.
Laura and Dr Krista are correct – he wants to be with his family! A 5-month old puppy cannot entertain himself and neither can an adult dog without a job. Show him that outside is a wonderful, fun place to be by being out there with him and playing games. End the game before he is bored with it and then go inside. Once he is an adult, will he have cattle to herd? If not, he can get into all sorts of trouble outside alone out of boredom.
Please stop smacking him! He won’t understand why you are hitting him. He needs to be shown how you want him to behave and it will take dedicated work on your part. Find out how long he can stay in his kennel without starting to whine, even if it is just 30 seconds. Put him in his kennel, go out of sight and return before he starts to whine. They praise, praise, praise! Have a party – what a good, smart boy you are! Continue to do this, gradually extending the separation time.
My male 8 yr inside cat was running jumping playing, suddenly he appeared wobbly, pupils huge, and howled. 30 minutes later he appears normal. This episode lasted 3minutes. What do you think happened? Thanks
maybe a stroke? i’d call your vet.
Hello,
Based on this brief description I am very worried that your cat has a urinary blockage which is often fatal if not treated. I’m sorry but I cannot advise anything except to go immediately to the closest ER.
There is no at home treatment and hoping it’s a uti and being wrong may very well cost your cat their life.