Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
My dog has a patch on the tip of her ear that looks like a build up of something. It is dry and hard. I started picking at it and the hair started coming part. What is this and how do I help?
She also has other spots on her body that are just dry and thinning hair. Is there anything I can do to help with hair loss/thinning? Anything topical? We were told she may have an allergy to chicken so she is on a sensitive diet.
Hello ! My 6yo husky have like a filter in her eye. She had this about 1-2 times / years, only for few days and it pass. But now, it’s been more than a week, don’t seem to disappear and worse than the other time. What could it be ? Did she need à vet appointment now or I wait a little more ?
Thank you ! – sorry I speak french, I hope my text is clear !
Hi there! While I am not a veterinarian, I believe that is your dog’s third eyelid. If it isn’t retracting, that could mean there is something wrong, and I would absolutely get your dog to the vet TODAY. I don’t let eye problems sit for too long without vet care – it could be something very simple, like allergies, or something significant that could lead to blindness if not treated immediately. Only your vet can tell you what’s going on, here.
Thanks a lot for your answer ! It retract yesterday, but I take an appointment. It happen few time a years so maybe the vet can tell me why / if I can do something about it. Thank you 🙏
I’m have a 7month old female tortie who broke her left humerus last night. The ER vet at falls road animal hospital who was the only ER able to take her, and delayed a surgery to do so, said it was a spiral fracture and they were worried it could puncture through the skin. I was quoted $1400 for everything needed before surgery. They say they can do surgery Thursday which they estimated to be 4-5k but has always been higher in my experience with them so I am anticipating 6k. I do not have those funds. I made a gofundme, waggle, and posted to fb groups. I’ve reached out to other vets like JVC, timonium, padonia, spaynow for second opinions. Hoping to hear back. Especially from Dr Magnifico at JVC as she has come the mostly highly recommended on every post I’ve made.
Any help would be beneficial.
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about your cat. I understand how expensive and difficult it is to manage an injury like this. This is a difficult bone and fracture to treat. In all cases of broken bones it is ideal to see an orthopedic surgeon and be at a facility that specializes in this. There are board certified veterinary surgeons in our area. You can google them for a facility near you. If you are staying at this hospital please inquire who is doing the surgery and what their credentials are.
This fracture is beyond the scope of what our hospital can do. For cases like this we would offer a referral to a specialist or cage rest and pain management. This is a young cat and it will likely heal with strict cage rest. In my opinion this should always be offered before discussion of an amputation. Your cat must stay in a small cage with a low bed, low sided litter box and rest for 4-8 weeks. Even if you have the leg surgically repaired these cats need strict cage rest for 4-8 weeks. Re-Xray every 2 weeks.
In 20 years of practicing veterinary medicine almost all of these cases were managed with crate test alone due to clients not being able to afford the $6-10,000 estimate for surgery. They have ALL done well with cage rest. I also recommend that she is spayed after healing. Best of luck.
Hey so a couple of months ago,my dog had a sort of a film that was covering his eye and it has been growing and it seemed like a bother ( I could see his perception greatly reduced. I asked the former owner about it but he told me that it might be age. I overlooked it until it started to become to disturbing, he’s been getting a lot of eye discharge. No matter how much I remove,it simply comes back the following day. I live in a very rural area and there’s no vetinary close and to top it off I’m ina non-english speaking country and I don’t know any other language besides that.so I decided to ask for help, and that’s how I’m here, I also took note that this film is somewhat forming in his other eye,very easy to overlook but I can’t afford to, if anyone can offer some sort of help or advice I would really appreciate it.
Hello,
I’m sorry but I cannot offer much help here. Even with good photos eye conditions are very difficult to diagnose without seeing them in person.
When all else fails I offer an ophthalmic antibiotic to see if this helps. Too often we struggle with the ability to diagnose (because we aren’t specialists) so we see if response to treatment offers any help. In some cases I might also do an oral antibiotic. This is especially the case for very young or old patients.
I cant get a picture because the website wont work on my phone for some reason but my cat lost one of his whole back claws, there is dried blood along the top of it should i be worried? He is sleeping rn and a little bit ago he was walking around like he wasn’t in pain, is this normal for cats? He got back from the vet about a month ago for an abcess on his neck from one of my other cats being a little too rough and bitting him, could this be the same issue of the cats playing too rough and his claw got ripped out?
hello,
In most cases this isn’t a problem that I worry about. But, infection can happen, and litter boxes are inherently dirty.
So, the best option is to seek veterinary care for an examination and perhaps antibiotic soak, or oral antibiotic option.
We will see about getting the photo option fixed.
Happy Holiday
krista
Hi Krista,
I discovered your YouTube videos yesterday and found your advice on cat care incredibly helpful. My wife and I are caring for our 18-year-old Birman cat, who is in stage 4 kidney disease with significant muscle loss. She’s also struggling with constipation and has other health issues, including high blood pressure and a heart murmur.
Currently, we’re feeding her a mix of wet food (chicken broth, chicken, pumpkin, and egg yolk), and providing SubCut fluids (50ml/day), along with the following supplements:
– Epakitin (0.5g/day)
– Pet-Tinic (2ml/day)
– Lactulose (3ml/day)
– Phos-Bind (0.2g/day)
– Potassium chloride (0.19g/day mixed in the broth – though we’re concerned she’s not getting the full amount since she’s unable to finish the broth).
– In addition, she’s on Amlodipine (0.25ml/day) to manage her high blood pressure.
Despite this, her weight has decreased significantly over the past year. She was once 3.3kg, but a year ago dropped to 2.5kg, and three weeks ago, it dropped again to 1.8kg, despite our best efforts to feed her.
A week ago, we had an enema done at the vet, which relieved some diarrhea, but there was still hardened stool near her anus. We’ve been massaging her abdomen and anus daily to stimulate defecation, and were able to help her pass a large, hard stool last Wednesday. Since then, she’s only passed small amounts of stool – mostly liquid or dark – and has had a lot of difficulty.
Today, we used a Pedia-Lax suppository (1ml), and after about 30 minutes, she passed a larger stool with dark liquid diarrhea. The stool was slightly hard, dark, and very smelly. She’s now very exhausted and resting, but did purr a bit before falling asleep.
For hydration, I gave her 10ml of SubCut fluids before the suppository to prevent dehydration. We’ve seen three different vets, but none have been able to provide lasting relief.
We’re reaching out for advice on whether we’re on the right track and if there’s anything else we can do to help her feel better and poop more easily. Any suggestions, given the circumstances, would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for your time and any guidance you can offer.
Warm regards,
Joel and Sonia
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about your cat.
I think that the question is how to help manage the constipation? I think that the weight loss and progression of the kidney disease is Kelly part of the problem. Have you checked her thyroid function? I typically see these older cats having this disease develop with the others your cat has. This disease also causes muscle loss. But this one has an available treatment option.
I think that you should recheck your blood work and see if’s his might be part of the reason for the constipation.
Also try to encourage play and exercise. It will help her fell better and eat better and also help the internal muscles that assist the colon and avoid constipation.
I’m saving a small 8-10 week kitten. We found her while we were walking our neighborhood, she was crying for help on the side road/gutter. She has a hurt right leg. We have caught her and made sure that she was alone…we visited her for about 1 week (feeding and winning her trust) and new we had to help her ASAP. We got a trap and trapper her and took her home. We don’t have much money since I have already saved two other feral kittens in the neighborhood and kept them both. I won’t get into that since that is not my purpose on here. But we have taken Lola (the new found kitten) to get x-rayed and started her shots. I’m at my wits end because we took her to AM/PM Vet to get the x-ray and they simply said that she has no broken leg and that more than likely she would need the leg amputated but to give her two weeks. They did not offer any advice what to do. So, we took her back and this time they (another vet at AM/PM) said that it was a mis diagnosis. I have been spending lots of time with Lola and massaging her leg and I think she has been able to move it more than when we first brought her home. She is totally comfortable with us at home now and I think she is healing but I’m not sure if what I am doing is causing more harm. I’m doing my best to keep her confined in a cage, but I do take her out to bond with her and play and massage her leg. So today, I saw your video putting a splint on Penelope and I think that is what I should do also. I believe the symptom you mention is possibly what Lola is experiencing. Should I take her to another vet specialist who can give hopeful advise? Can you please give me advise on: What to do and What Not to do? I’m doing the best I can but finding it difficult because I have saved two other cats (Mango is 3 years now and MaeLa is 8 months – they were both feral kittens when I saved them. It has been two weeks now and I know time is of the essence to help Lola with her leg. Please help me with advice from your experiences.
Hello
Thank you for helping this kitten. It sounds like you are doing everything you can to help her. Kittens this young can have miraculous recoveries from the most extreme trauma. As long as she is eating, drinking and urinating and popping and playing I would just let her heal and grow. There is honestly not much more that you can do. I never rush to amputation unless the leg is causing a problem. As long as she stays inside where she is safe having a non functional leg won’t hurt her. Massage and allowing her to play in a cage is fine. I just wouldn’t want her running and jumping in a room, or off a bed or couch as it might worsen the injury. I also have to say that I worry about rabies. I have seen a few young kittens be injured by a rabid animal and this puts humans in danger. I don’t know if this is a problem in your area.
Keep doing what you are doing. Lots of cats do great and live long happy lives with one or more imperfect legs.
Thank you so much for contacting me – I appreciate it. Do you think it will be helpful to put the splint on her leg to straighten it out, so it heals that way? Or should I just continue doing what we are doing to help her without putting on a splint. We are doing our best to keep Lola from jumping up on sofa or tree I just bought her. Lola, I believe is now feeling safe and comfortable around us. So that makes me happy to see her feel safe and gaining weight. So, I have two other cats (3-year male and 8-month female) both are fully vaccinated, and Lola has already had her 1st set of shots. I’ve done lots of reading on how to integrate a new kitty, but I can’t find anything about a hurt kitten. Can you give some insight to this and perhaps some guidance. I am super greatly for your help/advise.
-Juan
Hello.
The picture helps. For these cases I apply a soft splint made from wrapped tongue depressors. I have a video on my YouTube channel. In general these cases need some rigid support that doesn’t go in so tight that it causes limb damage. Over a few weeks the leg might be able to be supported enough yo straighten out.
Hi again, I saw the video and it looks easy but I know it will not be. All the moving from kitty. I purchased this xtra small splint. Maybe use it for 8-10 hours during day and remove for massage and resting. The vet gave gabapentin but not sure I should give…maybe at night?
Is this considered a soft splint? Im also looking into physical therapy for kitty. What do you think ?
I’m trying to add picture of splint but not able to.
Hi, I am using a soft splint I purchased on Lola’s front right limb. Do I enclose her in a cage or small play-pin so she does not move around that much for a certain amount of time (two weeks)? I can’t afford feline physical therapy or to get them to look at her. I believe it is what “Wink” one of your videos had. I have tried to search and search for guidance and I can’t find anything. Lola is around 14 weeks now and has filled in. She is doing all that a little kitten would be doing except she only uses the 3 limbs. Please give some guidance on Splint Therapy (soft splint) such as:
* how long to wear the splint per day and overall duration (2 weeks, 3 weeks, etc).
* Do I limit movement? Do I close her in her cage, with food, water, toys and litter box?
* Do I give her any medication for pain or inflammation?
Please help me with your guidance or links I can read or view. Thank you so much
Got this 3-4 week kitten who needed a home and appears to have a twisted/angular wrist. He was most likely born with this deformity since I don’t believe his legs cause him any pain. He is starting to walk and it is becoming a bit of a struggle.
Can someone recommend me any options? I don’t want to go to the Vet just now because i know it will end being costly with X-rays and such. Right now i’m considering splinting, but I also want to know other options like maybe messages, etc. He is doing pretty well, but since he does sometimes walk, supporting his leg on the leg twisted (the bone, rather than his paw), i’m afraid it’ll become a future problem when he’s older.
Hello.
If you follow my blog at kmdvm.blogspot.com I have a few articles on this. I would use a soft splint and rest. These kittens grow and the legs strengthen and they can have normal lives. If you are anywhere near me in northern Maryland I will help.
Hi. I have an almost 6 year old lab who keeps vomiting when she eats or drinks. She is otherwise happy and doesn’t appear to be in any pain but does appear to be losing weight (she’s a heavier build). She wants to keep eating and drinking though and not having any other problems. Is there something I can give her to resolve the stomach issue or could it be something more serious?
This sounds like it could be a partial obstruction in her gut. That’s something I’d consider emergent. Please get her to the vet.
I agree with Laura. I also worry about pancreatitis and Addisons. Although there are other possibilities. Please see a vet.
This is a lot to digest. We have a 15-year-old dog that has been on meds for congestive heart failure. He was doing fine until…the other day he apparently got into the trash and ingested a paper towel with meat gravy. For the past 24 hours he has been vomiting up food he ate after the ingestion so we obviously have not fed him further. He has been drinking water regularly throughout the day and night but vomiting it up at times as well. I have discontinued giving him water so the vomiting doesn’t dehydrate him. He did vomit up part of the paper towel but now we believe there may be a piece in his digestive tract too. He is resting now but has been very lethargic as one might expect. Not interested in eating, vomit is a combination of yellow and clear. One earlier vomit was very brown and “pudding” consistency. Since then mostly watery. Our vet is in surgery and is unavailable for the entire day, The main question is how dangerous is the paper towel if in fact it is lodged in the digestive tract? Will it degrade fast enough to allow water first and then food to pass. Our vet said the dog’s age and heart condition preclude any surgery. We are at a loss as to what, if any steps are available to us. He is not in immediate distress but is clearly in need of something.
Hello,
I think that you need to get in contact with your vet asap. Otherwise the ER is your next best option.
I suspect that this is related to allergies and therefore the answer lies in helping the body from the inside out versus trying to get topical products work for the outside in.
Please talk to your vet about the many options we have for treating atopy in dogs.
You may also need an oral antibiotic or medication for over abundant yeast.