Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
Hi pawbly friends…
It was a snowy, no school day here. Try as I might, I could not get the dogs to stay in while the kids were out playing in the snow, and all that running and horse play took a toll on our 12 year old GSD Butch. He just fell going down the stairs…. not the whole stair case, the stepto get onto the landing. My husband picked him up and rather than having him try to use the stairs tonight, we brought him round the outside way to use the hill instead. He seems fine on his walk just now, but slow going. My question is this: he’s got rimadyl that we give him sparingly for pain from his arthritis. Should I give him some tonight, or wait til morning when he will probably be really stiff, or give tonight and tomorrow? Thanks for anyand all advice!
My 5 year old bob tailed cat has a new Pomeranian roommate that he didn’t quite hit it off with. We tried a very gradual introduction. He’s a big cat and she’s a tiny dog and we’re afraid he thinks she’s a squirrel. He got along with my old roommates’ dogs fine after a time, so I’m hopeful this could be the case.
She’s very energetic and he’s friendly and playful for the most part but gets reserved around her. Any advice?
Hello,
Very gradual sometimes is waaay longer than we think it might be. Be patient. Provide lots of play and stinuli apart from each other and keep your cats nails trimmed and the dog supervised. I bet they will be ok soon. It doesn’t sound like outright aggression it sounds like tentative curiousity. What do you think?
We adopted a 15 month old Akita mix recently. In the past couple of days we’ve noticed a “Hairy water balloon” on the back of her neck. We took her to the vet and the doctor said it was a Seroma nd drained it. It has since returned days later and now he wants to install a drain. I am not comfortable with that I feel that it should be able to go away on its own, after reading an article that agreed with my thought. He is eating, playing and it is not hot to the touch, just squishy. We want to do the right thing but don’t want any unnecessary stress or infection.
Hello,
Can you please confirm that the photo of the crusted nose is your dog? This looks like an older dogs nose?
As far as the fluid filled mass goes is it on the top of the body, like top of the neck? If so why would it have occurred?
Of the mass is the chin area, especially bottom neck, I would ask about a mucocele or sialocele.
The only picture I added was of the back of the neck, you cannot see her nose. We aren’t sure why it happened. We thought possibly it is where her chip is placed. I attached a photo of her face.
Is it okay to let my puppy play outside in the yard while I’m housebreaking him or should I limit his outside time to potty only? He really loves to be outside and run around.
If you want to let him play outside then make sure there are no escape.routes; nothing he can harm himself on….like stones he can eat, dangerous plants that will make him ill etc. Toys outside he can amuse himself with and so on. Leave a door open so he can come inside to you when he wants to. Keep a constant eye out every few minutes to make sure he’s alright. Give it a go and see how it works out. Good to know a dog owner cares about her puppy’s wellbeing and enjoyment. Best of luck.
How much medication at the same time without damaging the bodytoo much?
So, we have a group of 22 kittens (6 months) and 2 mothers. All are treatet for ringworm (Microsporum Canis) and in 3 days are finished (only 8 showed symptoms, but since they all had contact, all had to be treated).
They were treated with Itraconazole (1 week treatment, 1 week break, 1 week treatment, another 1 week break and a last week treatment). Additionally they were bathed 1 once a week in Enilconazole.
Some of them are treated with marbocyl for cat flu right now (most likely Calici).
Additional they were tested positive for giardia and worms (Toxocaridae?) last friday after most of them developed bad diarrhea that smelled incredibly bad.
For the Giardia they get treated with Metronidazole (twice a day).
Fenbendazole is not an option, as it doesn’t help anymore most of the time.
So now I still need deworm them and make a flea treatment (as they have also fleas). I don’t want to do worm and flea medication at the same day – as that would mean that at least the ones with cat flu would get 5 medications at the same time.
Only two more days till the ring worm treatment is finished, so I thought of doing flea treatment the following day and deworming the day after that to spread the treatment a little.
Some of them are clearly not well right now, so while I would normally deflea/deworm at the same time, I’m a bit hesitant here.
What do you think?
What I have to add – one of the kittens died this morning without known reason. It was not extremly thin or dehydrated and acted normal when I saw it the first time this morning. When a collegue wanted to clean their room she called me because it would lie on the floor and couldn’t move. (I was like 20 meters away in another room) She said it made strange noises and lost poo (diarrhea). When I arrived it was already gone. The hair on his tail was poofed up, eyes/pupils wide, but no heart beat and breathing. I tried to bring it back, but without success.
It had no signs of being extremly sick. It was not affected by ringworm itself and hat no catflu. It had diarrhea, but ate well. It played, was active and so on. It showed no signs of liver problems (as Itraconazole could cause that) like yellow skin.
No one has seen what happened. I was thinking that it may has fallen off a wooden layer that are left and right to the door, right beneath the windows. The cats like to sit in it and look out the windows or wait for someone to come inside. But those are only like 1,20m in height.
So I’m even more worried that all those medicaton already was too much for that one :(.
I am assuming all medications were prescribed by a veterinarian and an exam done on all kittens? If so I would check with the prescribing Dr. I have had foster puppies who have been incredibly sick and on many medications at once at the advice of our vet. In the case of my foster pups they were very sick, the risk of not treating outweighed the risk of treating. That is a conversation though that you should have with the vet who examined and prescribed the meds. Best of luck with the kittens and so very sorry for your loss.
Thanks for your answer. Yes, all medication were prescribed by the vet of our shelter. I also planned to ask her this tomorrow when the next visit is scheduled. Just wanted to ask for other peoples experiences for similar situations.
We also had very sick kittens, where the risk of not treating them was bigger than the risk of treating – but they had other problems.
How long should you wait to play with a boxer puppy (almost 8mos old) after they eat? I’ve read about bloat and am trying to nail down our morning routine.
When our Dobe was a pup, we kept her quiet for an hour before and an hour after all meals. I would stick to that…and maybe, instead of playing, use puppy’s meal as a training opportunity, since mental work trumps physical work for wearing out a dog of any age. Use the meal as training treats instead of actual treats. 🙂
Thanks!
Hi, I just noticed yesterday my pet rabbit has two tiny patches of missing fur on the front legs, at the same spot on each leg. However, his behaviour seems completely normal (eating, running, playing,pooping as normal), so wondering what could cause this. Thanks
Overgrooming, which can be caused by stress or allergies or any one of a number of other issues, will cause bare patches. If it gets worse, I’d get him to the vet.
My younger dog is getting very aggressive towards my older dog, including real biting. They’ve always played in the past, with the younger being very submissive. What’s going on?
Hello,
In some cases it is a combination of he puppy getting older and more boisterous and demanding of time and attention and an older dog getting tired and/or unable to keep up. If it appears that the puppy is escalating the play to the point of biting simply because the previous tactics and attempts are not working I would recommend you start playing more with the puppy, find a park where the pup can really let loose, or get a puppy for your puppy so your old dog can be at peace.
Are they the same sex? That can contribute, as well as maturity.
Work on obedience and other training with the younger dog, separate from the older dog. Wear his fuzzy butt out so he pesters the older dog less. I would start crating them when you can’t supervise just to keep both dogs safe, too – this behavior, if left unchecked, can turn into fighting.
On Friday, my husband stepped on our male cat’s paw and he let out a yelp. Our female cat, violently attacked him and we were only able to stop the fight by locking her out of the room. Saturday, the male cat snuck his way into the room she was being held in and she violently attacked again. Today we have been switching them in and out of rooms to keep them apart. She has been sniffing where he has been excessively as if she has never smelled him before. They have been playing ok under the door, but when we cracked it slightly, the minute she saw him she hissed again and lunged trying to get him. They have lived together for over 3 years and this has never happened. What should we do?
This is certainly bizarre behavior. I’d keep them separated for now. Get your male to the vet to get his foot checked, too, in case he’s injured and she’s sensing that.
Hello,
I agree with Laura. I would be concerned that the male is injured and the female attacked because he smelled, or looked, or even acted differently. Cats (dogs too) will often attack another household pet when they act (smell/look) differently (the classic example is the pet having a seizure that the others then attack). In an effort to protect the male you should separate them. But I would have both cats looked at by your vet.
I would also ask about trying Feliway, and even something to help her anxiety like an SSRI (prozac). Please dont wait. best wishes.
please let us know how things go
Hello! My 4 month year old Lab had diarrhea last night and seems to go every 2 to 3 hours. I tried her on some rice and she vomited. She acts ok. She still will play then nap, which is kinda normal. After the rice her pooped looked green?I wonder if anyone has some advice to avoid dehydration? How soon should I take her in?
If your puppy is 4 months old, this is an emergency. Get her to an emergency vet NOW.
I agree with Laura get your pup to a vet.
Just to update:
Butch is stiff this morning, so I did give him his pill. I did not give it to him last night because when I went fir the dogs last tuck in, he was already comfortable. He had a tough time getting up the stairs this morning, and we had to help him… he needs a little help most mornings, but again after all his playing and running yesterday its no surprise he needed more help than usual this morning. If any of you have any other advice on how to help him recover from thinking he was 10 years younger yesterday, please share.
I didn’t see this last night but I wouldn’t give NSAIDs preemptively.
I think I would try to work on leashing him if he’s going to go a little off his rocker on snow days. 😉 That or work on the kids not letting him out.
Oh, and for recovery, crate rest for the day.
Hi Sarah, just wondered if you had considered Acupuncture for Butch? I know it helps a lot of dogs.
You could also ask your Vet about Gabapentin as an alternative to Rimadyl. It gives good pain relief and has no side effects in canines.
Do hope Butch is feeling better soon ?