Hey there, I am 17 years old and I adore animals. I live with just myself and my mother and I currently have 4 cats (soon to be more probably) 2 gerbils, and 2 goldfish. I look after my pets very well and make sure they are happy and healthy.

I have always loved birds and have always pictured myself having a parrot (such as a macaw) I have owned finches, budgies, and other small pasts in the distant past, but I haven’t had any for a while thus I will not get a large bird like a macaw. One that has really caught my eye is a Sun Conure. I think they are beautiful birds and would love to have one as a pet to commit my time to.

I will mention in a list-styled fashion what my concerns are:

-I am 17, very young and my life is just beginning. I don’t travel much but will likely travel every so often. Not to mention I may be starting university soon.

-I have 4 cats, obviously cats and birds don’t mix. My plan would mainly be to just make sure they are seperated at all times in the house but I am still concerned, should I be?

-Gerbils natural predators are birds, as far as I know, Sun Conures do not eat rodents, however they would still terrify my gerbils. Gerbils only live until around 4 years old so maybe once they are gone I will get my bird.

Besides what I listed, I cannot think of any reasons as to why I would not be ready. I will always commit my free time to looking after it and spending time with it, I will be sure it’s healthy, regular check ups, and so forth. Would like to hear some feed back. Am I ready?

Hi Dr. Magnifico. You are our vet to our indoor cats. Last week, we brought in a feral cat that was roaming our neighborhood. Turns out, he is pretty friendly, allows petting and belly rubs. On Monday June 19th, I took him to Animal Rescue, Inc., to be neutered, a rabies shot, and flea control. They also checked for a microchip (none), and I paid to have blood work done to have him tested for feline leukemia. Unfortunately, he tested positive for FIV. I would like to find him a home. I have two questions. Do you know anyone willing to give a home to a big orange friendly male tabby cat, or is there anything you can do to help? Maybe doing a courtesy post on your facebook page? I asked Animal Rescue and was told to put him back outside since he is now neutered. I was shocked they said that, as he could infect other ferals. We are currently keeping him in our basement and I just noticed a tapeworm coming out of his anus. My second question is, can you prescribe a tapeworm medication, without me having to bring him in, since he is FIV feral, and just went thru so much at Animal Rescue? My husband can pick it up after work. If not, can you recommend an over the counter medication to treat tapeworms? I am hoping whatever it is, that it will be something easy to give, maybe something I can put in his food that is tasteless. Thank you. Terri

My 11 years old cat died yesterday after 12 hours in pain. She has been lethargic for about 1 month now, but I really thought that was a result of her aging. She was occasionally puking, mostly unprocessed food. Yesterday she started puking but just liquids, greenish and with some foam. She was really in pain and she started breathing with her mouth open and tongue out. We took her to the vet which told us that was probably a kidney failure and run some blood test on her. Then he sent us home with the cat telling us to come back the other day, he didn’t realize it was an emergency. We took her back home but the situation got worse. She puked more, the pain got worse she didn’t have any energy at all. So we rushed to the clinic again at 1 am. The vet did some x rays on her, and told us she had something near her stomach but he couldn’t tell what it was. It could have been anything from a tumor to a hairball. He thought it was best for her to stay overnight. She was in very bad conditions, he just injected some pain killers to her. She died three hours later. I feel so bad for letting her there. I just can’t believe she is gone like this. Another vet that saw the blood test and the x rays thinks it neither kidney failure nor tumor or hairball. I’m devastated. What could it possibly be that killed my cat?

my dog ( 1 1/2 year old small mix terrier) is a sweet guy when it comes to humans and dogs he is familiar with. sadly, he has picked up aggressive behaviors from my brothers large dogs. He will growl at people he is not familiar with on the street and when they enter the home. he will growl at outside noises and also at other unfamiliar dogs. he doesn’t bite people he just growls and when they try to pet him he runs away and gets shy. minutes will pass and he will warm up to people. he does fine at the dog park, when a dog approaches he smells the dog and runs away( which makes sense, he is a small dog) i’m more concerned when we go on walks. i’m looking for advice and tips i can do to help me and my dog work on his excessive growling. i would love to be able to go on a walk with him and be able to pass people without him growling and he can just keep walking.

Fancy Mouse and Tetracycline Antibiotics?

So I had a ca. 9 month old fancy mouse who started with an irriteted eye around 2 weeks ago. She was otherwise fine and healthy and had a weight of 32gram. She got eye drops twice a day for 10 days, but that didn’t help much.
So last Thursday (two days ago) I visited the vet again and she got tetracycline s.c. and I got some of it home, to inject it to her every two days additional to her eye drops.
So when I wanted to give it to her today, I found her outside of her hiding places cold and apathic. She rarely made trembling, seemingly non controlled movements with her head and paws, but couldn’t walk or rob. She didn’t really react when I took her in my hands. I rushed to the vet where she got fluids and vitamins (B12). Her weight was still fine and she was only a little dehydrated. I kept her warm and should keep her hydrated and try to feed her. She still died around 2 hours later, but she was her hiding spot, together with the other mice she lived with.
Is it possible that it was an reaction to the Tetracycline, that she maybe couldn’t metabolize it or something? It just came so suddenly without warning. Thanks for reading.

Our dog has been having seizure episodes, is there anything we can do to help her?

She is a two year old border collie mix. They have been recurring late at night since mid October about every other month. When they happen she loses her balance and can’t walk, she has heavy drool, and she vomits and loses control of her bowels.

These symptoms last around twenty minutes. She has the shakes for about an hour after she regains her balance and the other symptoms pass. After about two hours she is back to acting like herself.

She’s very scared while these are happening, we’ve been comforting her until they pass. Is there anything we can do? What could be causing these?

I’M DESPERATE! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!! I have a 3 1/2 year old purebred Coonhound who we adopted from our local shelter. He is an awesome dog, however, he won’t stop using the bathroom in my house! Since day 1 he has done this. At first we thought maybe not housebroken, then we realized he only does it when we leave. We’ve tried everything- a trainer, working on the anxiety, crate training (that’s a no go), I’ve read so much stuff, watched so many videos, gave him treats, kept him busy when we leave, asked the vet (who is very old school mind you so not really helpful), benadryl, calming aides, asked for suggestions on here, different washes on the floor, punishing whe caught in the act, blocking off the area he goes too, EVERYTHING. Nothing is working. We’re at our witz end with him and it breaks my heart. However, now he has my other little dog doing it and she has never done it- she even knows she did something bad when we get home. I would hate to see him go back to the shelter where he probably will end up staying because of this but I don’t know what else to do. I NEED A MIRACLE. ANYBODY. PLEASE HELP!!! (Tyia).

Hello all,
My German shepherd is getting older and has a lot of trouble jumping into the back of the car now. Friends of ours have been lovely enough to loan us a ramp for him. While I have been able to train this dog to do tons of things, I am having a hard time teaching him to use the ramp, and I can’t figure a way to make this work. So far I have used treat rewards for each time he puts his front paws onto the ramp, I have had our other dog Dierks go up and down it to show him, I myself have also gone up and down the ramp to show Butch. I have also tried lining the treats up the ramp in an effort to get him to follow his nose. Lastly, I have laid thenramp flat on the ground and tried to get him to walk on it… all of this to no avail. We have been working at it for about a week now. I never go more than 10 minutes at a time and I always end our little ramp session with something I know he can already do so that it ends on a happy note. Any and all suggestions on how to help him understand the concept of the ramp would be greatly appreciated!!?

I have a 3 1/2 year old Coonhound that I just can’t seem to completely housebreak. He knows that if he goes outside he gets praised and a treat. As long as we are home, as a general rule (he has a few times), he won’t go in the house. However, if we leave, he always craps and pees in our basement. We had him go stay with a trainer and he was really good there. He was great the first week we had him home, now he’s back at it. I’ve cleaned the area he goes in with an enzyme cleaner, ammonia, vinegar, and even put cayenne pepper down as I read it was supposed to keep him from going there. I’m not sure if it’s just really bad separation anxiety or what the deal is. I try keeping him distracted with something when I leave but that doesn’t seem to be working any more. Now, he even has my other dog, a 3 1/2 year old Chorkie, reverting and she’s been going in the house even though she has been housebroke for years. I really hate to have to take him back to the shelter because of this, but it has been 3 months and I can’t seem to break him. ANY SUGGESTIONS OR HELP AT ALL?!? (We have to be able to leave him alone for 8 hours because sometimes our work schedules over lap) Also kenneling is not an option with him as he severely hurts himself and even the vet and trainer said he will never be able to be kenneled.

Sunday, After groomed in a petshop, my cat can’t stand right, tremble when he walks and his head turn to left and can’t turn back. His appetite still good, doesn’t have trouble in peeing or pooping. Eyes roll well. I have gone to clinic performed x-ray and see 3 different vets. But no vets has the same answers. One said axis and atlas bone dyslocation, other said fracture and muscle neck inflammation and the last said otitis interna. what happened to my cat actually? Can he fully recovered?