Hello,
I have a 12 week old kitten who was spayed 11 days ago. I noticed after the 4th day that she had some swelling under her incision. I took her to the ER vet who did an US and said the internal stitches were still intact and there was no hernia. She aspirated some sanguious fluild and looked at it under the microscope and said she was infection free. The kitten had been confined to the bathroom since the spaying but I found out on the third day she was jumping in and out of the bathtub. Hard to keep a 12 week old kitten still and quiet! So after the vet visit we confined even more so- in a free standing shower for 5 days. I then noticed it was firmer- maybe 10% smaller- but definitely firmer looking- more defined. So back to the Er vet who did a second US and said all looked good- no hernia. She then said to let her out of the shower and resume normal activity- the serima should resolve. I was like what! That’s the opposite of what the other vet said. The kitten has been eating and acting normal all through this recovery period. I check the serima daily and it’s the same size. Do I let her tossel with her sibling? How long will it take for the body to reabsorb it? And why did it get firmer after she drained it? I’m so conflicted what to do. Some sites says it takes weeks- I might be impatient. The incision has almost completely healed and looks good. I’m so confused as to how I should be treating this!
Thanks so much!!

Good morning pawbly friends. Our newest addition to our family, Rontu, has started “clicking” in his hips. He’s another GSD, almost a year old. All of our other GSDs have always been older rescues- so I’m wondering if this is something he could possibly outgrow? He just recently started this. It usually, but not always, occurs when he goes to a sitting position. It’s irregular- as in it doesn’t happen every time. It sometimes happens when he is walking but again, sporadically. Any advice or thoughts would be helpful. Thank you!! Happy Thanksgiving?

I rescued a young Golden Retriever in May. She had spent the start of her life abandoned in a small cage, she was emaciated, covered in fleas and ticks and of course living in her own waste. She is a wonderful dog, everything is new and she has very much been a blank slate. She is well exercised, is very social with our other dogs and has successfully completed a basic obedience class and will be moving on to 2nd level training and beyond. Thankfully she does not hold her rough start in life against humans in the least. Her only downfall is that she eats stool from our other dogs in the yard. We keep the yard clean, however we have 5 dogs. Even cleaning the yard daily is likely to leave a pile. She will even wait for our smaller dog to go to eliminate so she can eat it as fresh as possible. I imagine that she probably ate her own feces when she was starving, I am quite sure that this is a learned behavior. Over the course of 5 years my family has fostered 80+ dogs. I know that this is a very hard habit to break, however “poop kisses” are rather disgusting so I would love some input on what has worked for others! Thank you in advance.

I adopted a 4 year old rescue small lab mix about 2 weeks ago. She is already deeply attached to me, and is starting to show some separation anxiety. Keeping her contained and safe while I’m at work has become a challenge. My Boston Terrier is content gated in the kitchen, but my rescue Duchess simply climbs over the gate. So I put her in a crate and I have attached a pic of the result (it’s sideways). She had bloodied her mouth and scraped her muzzle. The last couple of days I’ve left her loose in the house and hoped for the best. I saw evidence of her trying to push the gate through to get into the kitchen – to be with my other dog? I don’t know. Any advice is welcome.

I have 2 Pit mixes that itch and chew their paws like crazy. Penny was on Apoquel and can no longer take it because she developed a non cancerous growth on her leg. Sampson was also on it but the only difference it made was his paws weren’t red but still chewed just as much. I was reading and found that his may have something to do with yeast since he has that musty, Frito Corn Chips smell. Penny does not smell. My current Vet put him on a prescription diet (Royal Canin moderate calorie potato and white fish). He has been on it awhile now with no other foods or treats. I also switched Penny more recently. It has not helped them at all. I read that carbohydrates feed yeast but I can not find any foods that don’t have some type of starch. I also clean their paws often with a mix of iodine, apple cider vinegar and water. Nothing helps and I feel horrible for how uncomfortable they must be. I am currently giving them Zyrtec also. I was thinking of having them tested at a veterinarian dermatologist but wanted that as a last resort. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I just want to give my pups some relief!

6-month old Golden Retriever/Labrador mix bites me most of the time. She’s usually nice when it’s playtime or feeding time (if she’s overstimulated accidents may or may not happen). But in downtimes she just comes at me. I could be sitting quietly not bothering her and she could be lying down 1 second and the next she’s suddenly biting my arm. It doesn’t often happen to other family members. Is it because she wasn’t taught bite inhibition properly because family members don’t want to leave the room or do it nicely? Is it because they react aggressively when she bites them (i.e. they used to pinch her and step on her paw. now it’s mostly just pinning her down to the floor)?

I’m honestly tired. They think they’re doing it right, but I don’t think it’s working. But since she’s not biting them as much they think of it as working.

I’m literally the only one playing and exercising her and I think that factors in a lot. They just leave her and aside from feeding her in the morning, they really don’t do anything else.

I got a response from another site a few months back and they said I had a people problem, not a puppy problem. Is there anything I can do though? Is it something that’s wrong with me?? I don’t know anymore please help :(((((((((((

Hello, a couple months ago my home became a multi-dog household, with the newest addition being a now 10 month old GS/lab mix, and our resident dog, a 3 year old beagle/rottie mix, both males. They are both very well behaved and have never fought. However, they were not socialized properly as puppies—or at least we did not adequately socialize our beagle mix when he was a puppy, and GS mix was already 6 months old when we got him and we don’t know if or how his previous owners socialized him.

The results of their poor socialization: resident dog does not seem to recognize playful behavior from new dog and thus becomes uncomfortable, clearly cares for new dog (acts to protect new dog if anyone is playing rough with him) but won’t play with new dog, and seems to sometimes even avoid new dog.

New dog is a little better with socialization, but his main fault is that it seems he doesn’t know how to recognize resident dog’s “corrections” to him and to back off (even if most of the time he simply wants to play with resident dog), and he also has some bullying tendencies, some intentional and others not (wants to play with whoever resident dog is playing with, sometimes bugs resident dog to move if new dog wants to lay down in that spot, etc; though never has shown any physical aggression).

Resident dog is, personally, my dog, and I love him dearly, though I love new dog too, and would love to see them bond and play together, only I don’t know the best course of action to achieve that.

I would greatly appreciate any help with ideas on how to adjust these behaviors of theirs, as well as weigh in on the idea of setting up a doggie-play-date with a friend (with a stable and model dog, of course) so that maybe visitor dog can teach them how they should behave.

Looking for a healthy dry food brand to feed 2 one year old cats. We we’re using Rachel Ray Chicken and Brown rice then their Indoor complete – Chicken with Lentils & Salmon. 1 likes it and the other tolerates it. I also feed 1 small can of Fancy Feast Medleys per cat in the evening as a treat. Thanks

There are are small (smaller than the size of pea) bumps on my dogs head, that were not there yesterday. She’s a 5 year old beagle. They seem to be underneath the skin with no redness or any other noticeable protrusion above the skin. They don’t seem to be bothering her. She’s up to date on all vaccines and flea/tick treatment. I wiped the top of her head off with a wash cloth with dawn dish soap on it and they gown down significantly. I’m not sure what it might be and what caused it

Hi pawbly friends? Our new love-Riva- is fitting in so seemlessly. It’s fantastic. A few hiccups but nothing catastrophic. My question is, preventatives. Hers are due and our other GSD doesn’t get his until the 1st. For my own sanity, I’d like to have them on the same day. What’s the protocol for changing the schedule? Is there a way to space them out so that I can still have them protected but get them dosed on the same day?