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.

Hi,

We have an almost 13 year old chocolate lab named Koko. About 5 weeks ago, she had a seizure. We took her into the vet and they prescribed Phenobarbital to help control the seizures. Since then, she has been incontinent in the house, and has to go outside very frequently (which is a side effect to this medication). This is a problem when my husband and i both work Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. She has accidents in the house almost every day. Thankfully we put her in our laundry room which has wood floors so clean up is a little easier, but it still is stressful being that she usually pees, and then walks through it all day long tracking it everywhere in that room and gets urine all over herself. Especially when she has seizures, she paces for hours afterwards until finally calming down. We have tried NUMEROUS different types of diapers, doggy diapers (vets best from Petco, womens depends, XXL childrens diapers) and even tried buying suspenders and attaching those onto the diapers and around her to try to keep it on, but NOTHING stays on throughout the whole day. I just bought the “Dog Diaper Keeper” off Amazon today so I am crossing my fingers that it’ll work, if not i dont know what to do.

Besides that, my husband and I also have noticed that she has become increasingly anxious during the day and night time. She has always been on the more anxious side but lately it’s been getting worse, fast.

Since starting the Phenobarbital, she has had 3 more bigger seizures that we are aware of and since then have been to the vet and they have also prescribed Potassium Bromide which she is taking alongside the Phenobarb. We also noticed she started having facial seizures which the vet said could either mean the Phenobarb/Potassium Bromide are working and controlling the bigger seizures, or if the facial seizures continue along with big seizures it could be time for a CT scan.

In the last couple weeks, she has begun to wake up very early in the morning (3am) barking. We thought that maybe she was scared to be alone since having seizures, or is starting to get Alzheimer’s. Her kennel is in our living room so we thought that moving her into our room would help knowing that we were there, but it hasn’t. We also take her outside to go to the bathroom and that doesn’t seen to solve anything either. We are afraid to feed her too early because we don’t want her to get in the habit of eating that early in the morning. We have tried everything we can think of and she still continues to bark at all hours in the morning. The vet also prescribed her Diazapam to calm her down after seizures, but we are reluctant to use that to calm her down just because she is barking at night and hasn’t had a seizure.

We fully understand that it’s not her fault, and that she is getting old and is needing some extra TLC. But we feel so bad because we can’t figure out what she needs/wants. We desperately want to help her and keep her comfortable throughout the night.

Do you or anyone else have any advice for us? For the early morning barking or the diaper issue? Anything is greatly appreciated!

-Ashley

She is a 5 month Pomeranian. We have taken her to the vet and was prescribed some tonics. But still there is no change. She also loves to eat paper and anything else she can get her paws on. She still hasn’t understood commands like SIT, STAY, etc. I am 15 and she is my first pet.

my dog snoopy has recently had a hacking cough which i believe is kennel cough. I looked up dogs with kennel cough and he is making that exact same noise. My parents can not afford a vet so, i cant take him. He is also now vomiting little portions of white stuff, and he bites his paws a lot, no particular one but both vigorously. Can someone please help im scared he might die he is kinda acting tired,and staying under my bed all day, he used to be really energetic jumping everywhere

I have 3 cats, 2 dogs and a small house with no mud room, basement, hallways, separating doors, or dog or cat proof room. Yes, I know it wasn’t very good planning on my part. I am married and my husband goes to work, while I stay home.
I am a novice dog owner and even more novice at keeping cats as well. My bull breed mix is 80-100 pounds and is almost 2, and my rat terrier chihuahua mix is 9 months. Two of the cats are almost 2, and the senior one is 12.
I need help because it is icy and snowing with snow on the ground, and my dogs can no longer stay outside and wait for me to get to them. They’re unhappy inside their crates, and my eventual goal is to have them roam around the house with no issues with peeing or pooping, no issues of running around everywhere, and no issues of them bothering the cats because my husband doesn’t like it.
I can successfully keep them reasonably calm in the living room while I’m there, and I can get a glass of water or something from the kitchen if I tell them to stay. But issues of them just loose without me looking at both of them is that they will get into things and chew or eat them (stuffed pillows or other stuffed things, garbage, etc), eat cat poop, pee, or jump on the mattresses, which my husband doesn’t like.
The winter is much worse than last year, and keeping track of 5 pets is just so much. If they dogs and cats would get along somehow, I think that would help a lot. I just don’t know what to do concerning the litterbox, because my bull breed mix is very adamant about eating stuff from there unless I change it constantly. So when I let him out of his crate, I do change it, but I can’t trust him to roam around while I’m busy with something, or away. The little dog has issues with escaping her crate and peeing, and bothering the cats.

For example, after coming in from a walk, their feet are wet and dirty. So I put them in their crates a bit to dry off. And after a little while, I take them to the bathroom and wipe them with moistened towels with baby wash and also dry towels, but that isn’t perfect because I have to walk them from the living room to the kitchen to the bathroom. And the cat litterbox is by the bathroom doorway, so they feet track the litter too.
I know that washing couch blankets, dog bedding, vaccuming and sweeping a lot and general home maintenance is good, but I’m looking for ideas to make it easier, and quicker, and would allow my dogs to be happier.
(I have 3 cats, 2 dogs and a small house with no mud room, basement, hallways, seperating doors, or dog or cat proof room. Yes, I know it wasn’t very good planning on my part. I am married and my husband goes to work, while I stay home.)

We adopted our puppy at 4 months (according to the SPCA). He’s had a tough start to life so far medically, but he’s getting stronger and growing and being as much as a puppy as he can be (aggressive puppy strangles, still on medications). He is about 5 and a half months now and has yet to bark (sometimes he makes what sounds like small soft barks when in a deep sleep and dreaming).

Does full blown barking start at any age? I’ve read that other dogs can “teach” a dog to bark but our puppy can’t go outside yet and has not been around other dogs outside of the SPCA and vet hospital stays. I’m just curious what your experiences are, and in no rush to have a barking machine.

Grizz is currently undergoing his first relapse of puppy strangles and is back to 10 mg of Pred a day in addition to 3 antibiotics. Although he did not have the common symptoms he was diagnosed with puppy strangles on Nov 31 and began aggressive steroid treatment two days later. During his initial onset of the strangles he did have swollen joints while in the hospital (although I’m not sure how many on which specifically were swollen). On the morning of Thursday 17, we woke up to find Grizz favoring his front left paw, no swelling at the time. Took him to the vet and they felt he was undergoing his first relapse (he also had a fever). Later that day he began to put pressure on the paw and continued to do so, now he is even running on it. The swelling began on Friday the 18 and has not gotten bigger or smaller than the initial onset. He does not seem to be in pain, no shivering, favoring, fever or reaction when I touch or try to bend the joint.

Any ideas what this could be or is it just related to the strangles and it needs more time for the Pred to reach this joint. He has an appointment on Monday if the swelling does not go down. We are already financially stretched out because of his week stay in the hospital (only four days after rescuing him from the SPCA) so I’m hoping and praying he won’t need an MRI, CAT scan, or X ray. if anyone has any idea what this could be, I would so appreciate it. I’m currently icing the joint for ten minutes every few hours. Poor guy has gone through so much in his short time here.

Grizz is currently undergoing his first relapse of puppy strangles and is back to 10 mg of Pred a day in addition to 3 antibiotics. Although he did not have the common symptoms he was diagnosed with puppy strangles on Nov 31 and began aggressive steroid treatment two days later. During his initial onset of the strangles he did have swollen joints while in the hospital (although I’m not sure how many on which specifically were swollen). On the morning of Thursday 17, we woke up to find Grizz favoring his front left paw, no swelling at the time. Took him to the vet and they felt he was undergoing his first relapse (he also had a fever). Later that day he began to put pressure on the paw and continued to do so, now he is even running on it. The swelling began on Friday the 18 and has not gotten bigger or smaller than the initial onset. He does not seem to be in pain, no shivering, favoring, fever or reaction when I touch or try to bend the joint.

Any ideas what this could be or is it just related to the strangles and it needs more time for the Pred to reach this joint. He has an appointment on Monday if the swelling does not go down. We are already financially stretched out because of his week stay in the hospital (only four days after rescuing him from the SPCA) so I’m hoping and praying he won’t need an MRI, CAT scan, or X ray. if you, or anyone, has any idea what this could be, I would so appreciate it. I’m currently icing the joint for ten minutes every few hours. Poor guy has gone through so much in his short time here.

Just a couple hours ago I came home and my dog was normal, or so he seemed, a couple minutes later he went to hide under a chair in my room and wouldnt come out, I offered him a treat and he wouldnt take it, he always does. I then took him for a walk which he was excited for but not as excited as normal. The entire walk he would slow down and speed up and did not pee or poop once. Then when I brought him back he went back to hiding and stayed down there, when I was in the shower he peed in the kitchen and the other bathroom but a small amount both times. He layed under there for another two hours and when I saw him in the hallway he stopped and I thought he was fine because he was walking around normally then suddenly he stopped curled up his tail and peed as if it was unintentional and when he walked back to his hiding spot he was leaking the entire way back to just lay down.