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Nate | 5 days ago
Needing Help With A Blocked Kitty! My Baby Latte, 8 Months Old, By All Appearances, Seems To …

Needing help with a blocked kitty! My baby Latte, 8 months old, by all appearances, seems to have a blockage. She has been vomiting it’s all just been clear or pale yellow with white foam no blood no worms. We don’t know if what she ate is passable, and it’s been 2 days since she’s eaten anything but a lick of food. She isn’t drinking much water either, and she hasn’t gone #2 since this all started to boot. We have an appointment tomorrow t have her x-rayed but I have no idea how much it will cost. I’m really nervous I won’t be able to avoid surgery if it’s a blockage. What are my chances it’s just really bad constipation, or if they can remove blockage without surgery? Or if surgery is needed how can I get financial help for it?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello
    Until you have a diagnosis it’s hard to speculate the rest of it you are concerned about cost I would recommend seeing a veterinarian who is in a privately owned practice and not a vet practice owned by a corporation. They are often more affordable and might offer payment options.
    You can also ask for multiple treatment plans. If they examine your cat and then only offer one treatment plan option that you cannot afford ask for others. Tell them you are on a budget and ask for treatment options that are affordable. Ask them to provide everything in writing. You can also look into starting a crowd funding campaign like waggle.org.
    If your cat is blocked you can ask for at home conservative options like pain meds antibiotics and sq fluids.
    I have also allowed people to monitor their cat at home with a urinary catheter in place for days to help relieve the obstruction and inflammation.

    Ask lots of questions and remain steadfast on finding help that works for you and your cat.

    It is possible to find affordable help. You just have to not give up.
    Good luck. Keep us updated

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Jennifer | 3 weeks ago
My Dog Nick Is Going Through Heart Worm Treatment And I Have A Few Questions… He …

My dog Nick is going through heart worm treatment and I have a few questions…

he is 12 days post 1st injection as of today. He is on Prednisone once daily, and has Gabapentin 300mg which I give as needed.

he seems to shiver quite a bit – is he cold or feeling uncomfortable? I understand that the worms are dying and disintegrating. Is that painful for him? Does it cause pressure in his lungs? That is where this process takes place – is that correct?

I keep him a small room with me and in a crate when unsupervised. If I am in the kitchen he is leashed and laying on the floor. Only goes upstairs at night. I am giving him enrichment toys however he did eat (literally) half of one and had to go to vet to vomit the toy-my fault, I know he eats things. He is on a short leash for potty breaks. The heart worm society recommends having the dog sit at each stage for going outside, this little man will do anything for a treat and this works great for him. Does this seem like a good approach?

Thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.
Thank you!

2 Responses

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  1. Jennifer Taylor

    I have been in the rescue world for many years and have gone through heartworm treatment with more dogs than I can count at this juncture sadly. I am not familiar with having them sit when outside? I just checked the American Heartworm Society’s website to see if maybe there was an update I wasn’t familiar with but couldn’t find anything. I have always kept my foster confined to a crate or small area (sounds like what you describe in your kitchen). Outside time is for potty purposes only and on a 6′ lead. Yes, enrichment is important and depending on the dog’s personality we do use meds as needed to keep them calm. It’s a long process for them and us and the day they can come off restrictions is cause for celebration! I would relay the shivering/shaking that you describe to your vet so they can determine how to best proceed or if this would be of concern to them. Good luck! And start planning the “pawty” for when life can resume as normal!

    1. Jennifer Post author

      Thanks so much for your ireply! I think the video is on the heart worm society page where the vet talks about taking the dog out for potty breaks and asking the dog to sit at the door, sit when they get outside, let them do their thing, have them sit again, sit before they come in etc. as a way to keep the heart rate down. That was my interpretation of the video. This is my first time going through this and I just want to be sure I am doing the best I can for my boy.

      Oh, you can sure we are planning a ‘pawty’. I’m gonna tell my vet to hold the phone away from her ear when she gives me the good news, or if I am in the clinic there WILL be a happy dance/!

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Josh | 6 months ago
Hello, Firstly Thank You For Making This Site And Sharing Your Message And Trying To Help …

Hello, firstly thank you for making this site and sharing your message and trying to help both Vets and pet owners do better by and for their sake.
The cold weather in Oregon is setting in, I attached some photos I hope help. I’m trying to figure out the best way to identify and treat this issue.
The following are my observations of the marks located at the base of the tail areas side and underside only, surface level circular with some being slightly more crater like. Hair loss and area effects remain the same after what feels like over a month already. Plasma is typical puss in 2 or so spots, no swelling since first observed till present day, skin near effected area looks okay, over grooming of the area likely but not believing this is a source of pain. We live in a farm setting he is a stray I will watch over like my own and treat as such, I’m not against funding anything from big or small for his care but he’s strictly outdoor hunter and sometimes I wont see him for days. Would be most appreciative to any insight in what this might be or how I can help, likewise if there is a wound spray or dewormer I could purchase he is 100% outdoors and I see no signs of worms but he drinks from bird bath dishes. He will allow me to handle him but only so much I’d be much more worried when his patience runs out. I’d say he weighs about 15 pounds and overall health and appearance / dental is amazing. I always offer him a safe clean area and access to the property I will be buying a breakaway collar with a GPS tracker for him, he’s a farm cat my neighbor and me watch after. Would this be something to just give more time to mend? or should I step in and apply or seek help. Thank you! I will 100% be doing a donation, really wish more Vets were like you or highlighted in the community.

EDIT, the donation link via paypal says this is indelible, you can click 1-2 photos below that say Ads to be redirected to those to donate, if you have a place in mind please add it to the response I’d be happy to donate to your place of choice.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    Thank you for taking care of this kitty. It sounds like he really needs to have a friend in his corner.

    I think that a few things are really important to discuss. One, although the skin wounds are concerning I think that too often pet parents are focused on an exterior (often transient and benign things), and forget about all of the immensely important things going on in the inside. Like, is this cat spayed, neutered or vaccinated? These are the absolute foundations for a healthy pet.

    I also think that your vet can help you understand if this is a parasite issue like fleas?
    I wish I could tell you that this is and give you the answer to help it get better, but, medicine isn’t just looking at a picture. It is about helping the pet from the inside and out.
    I think that you need help from a vet. I think this cat needs to be spayed/neutered and vaccinated. I also think they need an antibiotic and a product to help with fleas.

    Good luck.

    1. Josh Post author

      I will search for a Vet office and bring him in for some treatment or an ER clinic for results. Glad I’m he does not have flees presently, as I comb him and check with flea combs. Those things are terrible as for infestations go and I love Food Grade DiatomaceousEarth for getting rid of that mess. My neighbor is a farmer who lives offsite and does not visit, more or less he picked up this cat some years ago and it only gets put in doors when they spray chemicals on the crops. I was worried with cold weather approaching and any injuries present much less bald spots like this. They either seen this on his tail by now or would have got him help. In his words he is just a friendly stray, pretty sure he is fixed but I will bring him in and get everything covered. He will be okay though I will make sure of it just wanted to get some insight on this. Could be days or sometimes a week or two before I see him day or night, but I will always watch for him and over him. Thanks again for your time and care you give in this field. The donation links did not work for me paypal related / sign up email Have a great day, take care.

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Emily | 11 months ago
My Rescue Cat Has Always Been Sort Of Aggressive, Her Rescue Didnt Really Get Her Any …

My rescue cat has always been sort of aggressive, her rescue didnt really get her any type of evaluation to determine if there was any underlying issue causing her to have this aggression. So we kept her because I knew it would be difficult to adopt her out and I didnt want her going to petsmart for boarding, bounce around from home to home or worse be put down for behavior. This was over a year ago, she has since adjusted to our family, our pets and for the most part seems over all happy, Well last night she suddenly began to freak out, kept licking her lips excessively, her back along w her ear and paws were twitching. She would seem to be trying to catch something around her but there was nothing there, almost like hallucinations? She was running back n forth looking at her back, bottom, and she just looks stressed out. Her eating has slowed down as wekk as her water intake, she goes outside and doesnt want to come back in. I just feel her behavior changed almost over night. Ive made an appt w her vet and its scheduled for next week, in the mean time I did some online searching and it looks like all sgns point to hyperesthesia? It says it could be due to fleas , parasites amongst other things however she is on revolution she doesnt have worms, I even bought a flea comb just to see if maybe that was a possibility but theres nothing! Im concerned about her since she looks uncomfortable. Is there anything to do or give her till her appt to keep her calm and less uncomfortable

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I think that the best step you can take is to see a vet and talk to them about your concerns and suspicions. Ask for help in addressing pain and anxiety. I like gabapentin for cats but there are lots of other options to discuss.

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Linzi | 1 year ago
We Have Been Given A Tiny Newborn Kitten (and It’s Littermate) To Let Nurse Off …

We have been given a tiny newborn kitten (and it’s littermate) to let nurse off of our existing mama cat that has other kittens about 3 weeks old. Problem is they are pretty sick. One nursing and seems to be doing better. The other has bloody discharge and maggots (worms) coming out of its bottom. My niece has them but I’m going to take the sickest one and see if there’s anything I can do for it. Not looking good. Has anyone experienced something like this? I feel like at this point it will be me just comforting the kitten until he passes. 🙁

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  1. Laura

    What did the vet say? I would consider this critical, and I would have gotten both babies to the vet immediately.

  2. Linzi Post author

    We didn’t get the kittens until late yesterday. No vets open here and the ones that take emergencies only take those from established patients. Otherwise I would have told the original people to take them to a vet. They both passed away since I wrote this. It appeared they were riddle with worms past the point of saving them. Gut wrenching to watch. 🙁

  3. Krista Magnifico

    For cases like this I tube feed. You have to get nutrition into these kittens. I also make sure there are no fleas. Keep warm and some kittens just don’t have the ability to survive no matter how hard we try. Thank you for helping them.

  4. Shiria

    When there were already blood and maggots at the bottom of one of them it’s possible they already damaged a lot inside… depending on temperature thay can hatch in a few hours and start crawling in every body opening they can find…
    Thanks for doing your best!

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Jessee | 2 years ago
I Found This In My Cat’s Water Bowl.

I have no idea what it is nor have I ever seen anything like it. It’s definitely a live worm because it’s moving. Can somebody please explain to me what the heck this is?!?

1 Response

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    It looks like it might be a tapeworm? You can bring it to your vets office and they can help identify it. Also.
    There is a lot of information about them online. I tell my clients to treat for fleas.

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Heather | 2 years ago
My Question Is About Urinary Crystals And Cat Blockage. I Specifically Want To Know About Jaundice …

My question is about urinary crystals and cat blockage. I specifically want to know about jaundice after surgery, but also to know if we should have done anything differently, we lost our little sweetheart a few days ago to urinary crystals.

Details: 4 weeks ago our little fellow, a 2-year-old neutered male, got worms. We brought him to the vet and, with medicine, successfully treated them. They stressed him, and he didn’t want to eat much, but the vet said this was normal. He seemed to get better, but a week ago started acting stressed again, not eating much, drinking very little, but still eating and drinking. Seeing his pee was not possible due to having 2 other cats (and not knowing what urinary crystals are, much less know what to look for)

We called the vet Friday morning, they told us he would probably need another dose of worm medicine, and scheduled an appointment for the following Monday. Keep in mind we had never heard of urinary crystals before, we thought he had worms again.

On Saturday evening, it became clear it was more than worms. He was lethargic, not going potty at all, and just wanting to lay down and close his eyes. We called the vet clinic which was closed, several other numbers for local cat places (adoption, care, etc) and could not get him seen but got the same phone diagnosis at every step, “probably a stomach tumor”.

It was 5pm Sunday before we got lucky, found an animal hospital 2 hours drive away, got a hold of an actual vet through their emergency number, and she agreed to open the hospital late on a Sunday and see him immediately for $1000. We got there at 7pm and by 7:15 he was in surgery to unblock him. She immediately knew what was wrong. His temp was already low, he was very weak and barely moving but alive.

The next morning, we found out he survived the surgery and was recovering with a catheter and IV fluids. The plan was to keep him in the hospital for 3 days and to let him come home if his pee was clear and his blood work for liver function was acceptable.

We got a phone call early on the second day telling us he was occasionally moving in his cage but wasn’t eating or drinking. She said he seemed depressed, and we could visit at 4pm to see if it perked up his spirits. It was the earliest time they could let us visit so we took it.

On our drive to see him, the hospital called us and said he wasn’t doing well. They asked if we wanted the blood work done immediately instead of on day 3 and told us he had become extremely jaundiced. During our visit he could only manage a couple of steps, so we held him, he was clearly exhausted and under the effect of pain medicine.

The hospital had taken the blood after the call and said his sugars were 3 times normal and other things “5 times normal”, and he was a deep greenish yellow in color around his ears. They brought him warm food but he was not interested. They explained organ failure and said his lungs would fail eventually, but he was breathing well.

In seeing us did perk him up a little, he focused on us, but he quickly faded again, preferring to lay down with his tongue out after 20 minutes. We didn’t want him to suffer and linger with no hope of recovering, and he was heartbreakingly euthanized at that point.

Again, I didn’t know anything about crystals before he went into surgery, and I have questions in case his brother, or any cat, is in that situation.

My questions are….
– Was the jaundice a terrible sign or could it have been from the IV fluid, exhaustion, surgery and lack of eating? IE was it normal after surgery, or recoverable?
– Given what I’ve described, should we have waited another day? Could it have been just needing more time to recover? Or is the jaundice and blood work at that point enough to know he’s fought all he can?

We just want to know more. We’re still in shock and miss him terribly, but we felt alone in making decisions, the hospital clearly didn’t want to influence our decision either way. We’re just not sure now that 24 hrs recovery was enough to make a decision, or how serious jaundice is when he didn’t have it pre-surgery/IV.

Any advice appreciated, we found this site via a YouTube video on urinary crystals. Thanks.
P.S. We aren’t second guessing or wanting to hear we did the right thing, it’s too late to help him, but we want to know more in case it helps another cat.

Also, the hospital took a deposit from us when we agreed to the $1000 fee, and said they would accept payments since there was no way to forsee this type of thing. They did seem caring and knowledgeable, but clinical, and would offer no advice on euthanizing or not. We felt alone with that specific decision…. and in hindsight aren’t even sure it needed to be made yet… or did it?

5 Responses

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    I’m sorry to hear about your cat.

    It sounds like there are multiple issues here and I don’t know how they are related. I don’t expect the crystals caused the jaundice. Most of the time I see the crystals because of poor diet or stress. Stress can be many many things. I suspect this was either a cat with underlying conditions like FeLV fiv or fip. Also I suspect the jaundice was either hepatic lipidosis or parasites.

    You sound like you really love your cat but never had a vet who was invested in your cats care. It is my biggest gripe in vet Med now. We don’t care for people who care about their pets. We need to do more in providing both care and advice.

    I am also very concerned about the vet who took the deposit and didn’t do pre op blood work. Or talk about the possibility of all of rhe things that can happen if there are underlying conditions or post op complications.

    I’m sorry for your loss.
    Dr magnifico

    1. Heather Post author

      Thanks for your time, I’ll try to keep it shorter.

      Yes, we loved him and his brother dearly from the day we found them in our barn, a couple of weeks old at best. His feral mom didn’t return, we watched with remote cameras. After bottle feeding him and weaning him to soft food, we got him dewormed, neutered etc. He seemed happy and normal in every way, clean bill of health.

      – The jaundice first appeared 24 hours after surgery to unblock him, and he’s never had it before.

      – The vet said the surgery was too urgent to wait for tests, and after surgery said testing was pointless until he was ready to leave. She ended up wanting it on day two when he got jaundice, so it did feel a bit irregular.

      That’s why I want to know more about what the jaundice meant. We really thought the jaundice and other signals + a bad test result was what the vet needed to know he was not going to recover.

      Was that normal with meds? Post surgery? After not having eaten much in a few days?… Or was it the terrible sign we thought it was? It’s so emotional to experience.

      We weren’t being told what we SHOULD do, but were asked to make a decision anyway. It’s so hard to do what’s best for him at that moment, especially with how things happened.

      We had to leave either way, the hospital was closing. Leaving him there alone for the night, in that condition, felt wrong. Bringing him home for the night felt like it might just make him suffer more. The IV couldn’t come with us she said, it’s illegal, but she would leave the catheter in if that’s what we choose.

      It was a “decide now” moment… and then he rolled to his side with his tongue hanging out, exhausted. It’s truly heartbreaking.

      We live in a rural community and the only licensed vet is over an hour away. The only local cat care is from a local donation based feral adoption service, run by a woman and a Facebook group of like-minded people, but without a full time vet.

      This happens strictly on donations to have a vet visit regularly. Resources are always stretched. Spending lots on one cat means little is available for others. I get that, but we were willing to pay.

      What we did is what people usually do at that point, she said, but we don’t care about that, we wanted him to live. Did we do the right thing? It’s too late to help him, but an answer may help another cat in the future.

      As you said, premature end of life for avoidable reasons is such a needless loss.

      I did call the hospital to ask about the jaundice afterward, what it meant, and was told it was his organs failing and cells breaking down. Again, not technically wrong, but of no help to a non-vet to decide if it’s time.

      I can answer any specific questions you might have.

      Thanks again.

      1. Heather Post author

        About hepatic lipidosis, he was a fit 2.5-year-old cat that passed away at 12.8 lbs and had been exactly 13 lbs a month earlier when he was given worm medication.

        He was solid, lean and strong in appearance, like most young cats. He was a long-haired male cat often called a Tuxedo, if breed matters.

        I wouldn’t describe him as anorexic, though he had stopped eating as much 3 weeks prior, and stopped eating at all 3 days prior. He didn’t have kidney stones, but it was enlarged at the time of his blockage surgery.

        He also had crystals in his bladder. She showed me a picture of it opened up with pink colored crystals, which seemed to have worried her more than anything else.

        He did pee afterward, and the color was good, but it got dark a day later when jaundice set in.

        I’m not sure what else might give you a clearer image, but I can find out, I feel like he still had hope. Also, she wanted to know what specific food brand we had been giving him because he was the 4th complete blockage that week, which is a lot in her practice.

    2. Heather Post author

      Sorry for the triple response, more information. He was given warm wet food after surgery and didn’t touch it. He hadn’t eaten for 3 days prior, and hadn’t been eating much since he started showing what we thought was worm related behavior, or about 2 weeks before that.

      Would it be normal to see jaundice appear in an already exhausted cat AFTER surgery, if likely hepatic lipidosis was not treated immediately by feeding him nutrients through a tube? It all seems to have progressed so quickly.

      He was never given a feeding tube, and in hindsight, I don’t see how he could have been expected to take a bite and swallow, he was too weak.

      The jaundice though, it was entirely absent pre-surgery and extreme 12 hours later. I can’t help but feel it was not a sign of the end but a sign of hurry up and do…. ??

  2. Heather Post author

    Closure – When he was diagnosed with worms, the vet missed that he also had urinary crystals forming, likely from being stressed. The change in behavior was attributed to the worms, and we didn’t know until it was too late.

    A lot of things went wrong, obviously.

    We’ll never know if a young male cat could have survived through the jaundice, after an unblocking surgery, with bloodwork showing levels 5x too high and not an ounce of energy left in him.

    The grieving has been difficult through the sense of guilt for not having been able to figure things out in time. I don’t believe in ghosts, but regular activities trigger memories of when he’d join in or watch… which is like a ghost, but the memories bring smiles too.

    He touched our lives in such a meaningful way that he’ll never be far from our thoughts, still bringing those smiles.

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Monila | 4 years ago
I Found A Brownish String Like Object Sticking Out Of My Cat’s Anus. There Was …

I found a brownish string like object sticking out of my cat’s anus. There was also a little bit of blood near his anus. Is this a symptom that he has worms? He has been given a tablet of allwormer. He also has fleas but they are not evident anymore as he has also received medication for fleas. He does not have bloody stool or vomits or sneezing. Please help ! ????

3 Responses

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I always diagnose worms by sending a fecal sample submitted to the lab. I do not guess and I do not presume. The dewormers can be especially harsh on animals so I only use them if I know the worms they treat for are present.

    1. Monila Post author

      How about the brownish string like object sticking out of my cat’s anus ? Is that a shedding of a worm or you cannot tell? I will submit a fecal sample but I wanted to know if he is in danger because of the brownish string like object. Thank you !

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Leslie | 5 years ago
Hi! My Dog Has Recently Been Licking Around Is Butt And Has Completely Licked Off The …

Hi! My dog has recently been licking around is butt and has completely licked off the hair on the back of his tail. He’s been doing it for about 2-3 weeks now. I thought it was the new food I tried with him but after seeing him do it for a few days, I stopped and went back to his original food. However, he has not stopped and now I’ve notice my other dog biting around her tail a little. Not nearly as bad as my male dog though. I am concerned something else is going on like worms. I unfortunately still owe a lot of money to my current vet for emergency visits the dogs had early this year and can’t afford to take them in to be checked. Can I try using Safe-Guard with them to see if that corrects the issue? Is something else possibly going on?

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  1. Laura

    This could be anal glands, it could be intestinal parasites, it could be his diet isn’t working for him. We can only guess. I would at least try to get a stool sample checked out.

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Caitlin | 5 years ago
We Got A 3-4 Month Old Puppy In August, And He Has Showed Positive For Hookworms …

We got a 3-4 month old puppy in August, and he has showed positive for hookworms twice, then again for DNA of hookworms. We’re taking another sample this week to see if it’s still showing. The poor thing has been through two rounds of dewormer which made his bowel movements super frequent (in crate while we were at work , etc.). With the DNA, the vet had us give him his second month of heartgaurd, which he was due for. The foster family and his sibling who was with them reportedly do not have worms.

Are hookworms normally this difficult to get rid of? Should I talk to another vet?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    Yes hookworms can be a bugger to eradicate. Ask your vet for help with either someone from the lab services company they use to send diagnostics to, or help from the vet at the manufacturers company you buy your Heartworm prevention from (if it is labeled for hook worms). After rhat a second opinion with an internal medicine person might be helpful just to make sure it isn’t anything else. Or being exacerbated by something else. Often it isn’t just one problem. It can be others too. I hope this helps.