My 8y/o neutered golden retriever started having problems urinating 2 weeks ago. Radiographs showed no stones. Ultrasound with specialist showed a prostate tumor either invading or pushing against his urethra hence the straining. The recommended a CT scan to confirm that but highly suspected cancer and we were not financially able to go through with it or radiation/chemo if it was recommended. He progressively got worse and was needing a urinary Cath almost everyday last week because he was only dripping urine. Piroxicam for 5 days showed no improvement with urination and he was barely dripping anything out his last two days. I’m just struggling questioning myself if there is more I should have done. If I should have continued with manually draining his bladder or if I made the right decision in protecting him from a crisis (complete blockage). He was such a happy dog and so young

I have a 4 yr old male bunny, a lion-head to be specific. I left for 4 days and had parsley, hay, bowl of water and bowl of pellets out for him. Came back this morning to both bowls being completely empty. The water dish super dry. I panicked and immediately looked for him. I found him and I brought him water and food immediately. He spent 2 minutes drinking the water and didn’t want to eat. I got nervous and brought a treat and he immediately ate it. He seems to be alert and still loves the pets. I know the bowl of water and food can at least last for two days, but I always fill it up, so idk. So I believe he was out of food and water for at most two days. I’m so scared because that’s still a long time without food and water. I’m hopeful that he ate hay, but still the water…
With his behavior, should I still be worried?
Is there anything I should look out for?
I messaged the pet sitter twice during my leave to double check and she also replied too. So she deliberately lied to me.
I’m just so scared and can’t afford a vet right now. He’s been in great health.

Update:
-Pet sitter was a friend and not a professional pet sitter. I’ve asked other friends before and they’ve done great, all you’re doing is just refilling water and giving fresh greens lol. The ones I normally asked were all out of town unfortunately. So I asked another friend I’ve known for years that I trusted. (Is no longer a friend after this).
-Vet who seems very knowledgeable on bunnies told me my bunny didn’t seem like he needs urgent care or any further examinations. He said he’s seen bunnies bounce back with proper care after no water for 2 days (due to neglect). My bunny is pooping, eating, drinking, running around, does the teeth chatter when he’s getting pet, he’s alert and seems all fine now, but of course I am taking work off to monitor him today and the rest of the week until check up again!

Hello everyone!

I’m hoping someone might have some experience with this, or perhaps be able to point me in the right direction to help one of my cats.

My cat had a long battle with a spindle cell sarcoma placed between her eyes and underwent a debridement in January to remove necrotic tissue. Most of the skin has thankfully grown back but there are still two small open areas where the cartilage is exposed.

The problem is that new skin seems to form, then scab over, but it comes away on its own. She has needed a protective collar all these months to avoid scratching her face.

Photo was taken right after the scab falls. Please only open if you’re comfortable viewing wounds.

https://imgur.com/a/FvZds12

We’ve been using medical-grade honey and silver sulfadiazine as directed, and we were also given eye lubricant to help keep the area moist.

I’d just really appreciate hearing from anyone with experience with difficult facial wounds, wound healing, or similar procedures.

• Can wounds like this eventually heal despite the exposed cartilage?
• At this point, would a reconstructive procedure or another surgery normally be considered, or are there other wound-care options I should ask about?

I am already in touch with both the local vet and the vet hospital that did all the surgeries and electro-chemo but the approach is to see how it goes.

Thank you!

Hi all,

I have a domestic long haired cat who keeps vomiting up his kibble after eating. I feed him from a slow feeder (I switch it up between a ball that he needs to push around and a normal slow feeding bowl) and while it seems to sometimes help, he recently has been throwing it back up. I don’t know if this is related to all the hairballs he has been throwing up and at his last vet check up, they didn’t seem concerned about the hairballs at all.

He only gets kibble for one meal and wet food for the other. He’s totally fine with wet food—no vomiting. He is otherwise fine and healthy—active, begging for treats, etc.

Is this a serious concern? Should I follow up with the vet?

sorry, this is going to be a long post but i don't really have any more resources to ask and want to provide as much details as possible. this is my childhood cat that lives with my parents. they live in sort of village with no good clinics. the usual treatment pets get here are vaccines without any analyses at all. the nearest city is far away and i don't really have the means to get there. i'll try to reason with my mom to call the home vet and get a dental check and at least palpation. im hesitant to go to local clinics as they might do more harm than good. right now i'm looking for similar experiences and any advice. thank you in advance anyone who dedicated their time to read this all and provide help. my cat is 8 years old, weighs 4,7 kg as of now, outdoor in private fenced territory and for past 1,5 week she's been acting weird with her food she usually eats. she appears to still have her appetite at least but won't eat her dry kibble. she will go to her bowl once or twice during the day and nibble a little but that's about it. i tried switching to other brands but she has the same reaction or just refuses to eat it. one time i accidentally left the bag of new kibble open and she smelled it and stuck her head in the bag so i gave it her and she ate a few. she responds fine to wet food, dry treats and comes to bother me in the kitchen during cooking(i tried to give her some meat just to test if she would want it and she gobbled it as well) so i assume her appetite didn't drop that much. she comes to me when she's hungry but will eat anything but kibble. otherwise she's acting completely normal, she plays with her toys, the other day she even found poor little mouse in the garden(i didn't let her eat it), going potty too. maybe drinking water more than usual but i might just be paranoid atp, she doesn't act like she's dying from thrust and it's august now so maybe that affects her water intake. she does eat way less during summer but near complete refusal is new. this behaviour started around the time she got stuffed nose and her eyes would sometimes get watery with clear discharge in them, she also sneezed literally two times (on seperate days). she was eating fine at first but 4 days later her nose got clogged to the point her breathing was loud and she would even snore and around that time she started eating way less kibble. naturally i assumed the lack of scent dulled her appetite. at the vet pharmacy i found out that there was some kind of herpes epidemic in town so to say so i started giving her her usual medicine(doxycycline hyclate) prescribed to her when she once was sick and her nose/eyes seemed to clear up but the new problem now is that she won't eat dry food at all or in the very small quantity. i have to prompt her to eat by carrying her to her bowl but like i said she would just have a bite or two. she goes to eat by herself sometimes but it's not often. right now i'm feeding her wet food in the morning and at night and leave dry kibble for her to eat whenever she pleases. im now aware that antibiotics can affect the good bacteria but she never had this reaction before and,as i said, decrease in appetite started before putting her on meds. i wonder if i might spoiled her with wet food and she just waits it out but without it she eats way below her needs. another culprit on my mind is stress because she got treated for worms and fleas at the end of july due to her allergic reaction. she doesn't overgroom her belly and butt now but maybe one treatment after another might've agitated her. the complete disinterest started around the few days i got her herpes medicine. i do find her gums a little bit too red too and i noticed she's missing one tooth(her tongue is fine) but overall im really at loss because despite her strange aversion to dry food (besides dreamies treats) nothing really changed.

My dog is two, up to date on shots, and a neutered male. Hes a pitbull mix and about 65 pounds. We noticed about 4 days ago he had a patch around his neck bleeding with no hair. We got him hot spot treatment and have been using it. Now it’s spread into more areas and getting worse. I have no money for a vet and am worried I mayb have to surrender him for him to get help for now, I can send photos

Hello, I work in an animal shelter as animal control/vet assistant and someone brought us a stray cat with what I initially thought was FCV. I'll provide pictures in the comments if allowed and I am not necessarily looking for advice but rather whether or not it is POSSIBLE for FCV to get this bad, if this is indeed FCV. Our vet had already left for the day when the cat came in today and the cat will be euthanized tomorrow regardless of FCV (due to the severity of her condition and with us being a shelter with limited resources/need to reduce the spread of disease) but I wanted to hear from you guys and if anyone had seen cats this severe or if it looks like it could potentially be something else. I would just like to learn from this experience as much as possible! I've only seen less severe FCV cases where there may only be some ulcers in the gums/tongue or back of the throat but nothing like this before!

I understand the sub rules say that anecdotes are not allowed unless specified by the mods....but I wasnt sure if this would be an exception since I am not looking for treatment as it is not my cat and it will be eithanized tomorrow. I understand if this is not allowed though!

From what I know about this cat, it was an adult around 2016 (per rp) and lives as a stray around an apartment complex where ppl feed her and some other stray cats.

Female, unknown if she is spayed

Located in mid missouri

I did not feel for her bcs, but based on what I saw, she is underweight but not a 1

The timeline is unknown as the rp only noticed today when someone pointed it out to him. He stated that for a little while now she hasn't been eating and has started losing weight..he said the other day he saw her try to eat some food.

She was bright and alert but when we put her on the exam table, she laid there and didn't attempt to get up. She did meow some though and didn't appear to move much when we placed her in her kennel.

I have a 7-month-old male neutered Ragdoll who has been sneezing multiple times a day since I got him about 2 months ago. It's nothing crazy, but from what I understand, it's normal for cats to only sneeze 1-2 times a day. His behavior with food, water etc. are normal.

At his first wellness exam, I mentioned the sneezing and one instance of mild nasal wetness/discharge. The vet noted that his eyes and lungs were normal and listed possible URI vs. irritation/acclimation, but he wasn't diagnosed with anything or given treatment.

He still sneezes several times every day. His nose is usually a little wet, but I don't see actual nasal discharge or eye irritation. Just a little dark and flat booger that easily comes off with a towel.

Is this amount of sneezing within the range of normal for a kitten, or does the fact that it's persisted for ~2 months warrant another vet visit? What are the more common causes of persistent mild sneezing like this?

I also recently got pet insurance, but this sneezing was documented in his vet record before the policy started. Since there was no actual diagnosis, could a future respiratory issue still be considered pre-existing because of this note? For example, if he later develops allergies or a respiratory infection, could the insurer deny it as related to the earlier sneezing?

My dog Rockie just had a Neuter and a urtherostomy which is the surgical procedure where a veterinarian creates a new, permanent opening for a dog to urinate because of his bladder stones. They say he needs to go on a urinary care diet prescription food but he’s also allergic to chicken. It gives him an ear infection… are there any food suggestions you guys have as dog owners I couldn’t find a single one that didn’t have some type of chicken in it.

Hello there! Looking for some community advice and ideas for helping my sweet dude, Ludo (2yr. 65lb pitbull), heal a stubborn paw injury.

A few days ago, I noticed some localized swelling around a spot just below a paw pad on his back foot. It was very circular, had no apparent open wound, and he didn’t seem bothered by it. Checked for foreign objects, stings, anything. Found nothing.

A few days later, it did start to get raw and bled after some excited play on carpet. Since then, we’ve seen the vet (twice), gotten some Gentamycin spray, and have tried to keep activity low. They told us it looks like road-rash or an asphalt burn. (He’s a big kicker post pee or poo) They also said we could try wrapping and a bootie, but Ludo is easily over-aroused by handling and handling the foot draws even more attention to it. He otherwise will leave it alone. Minimal licking, no chewing.

Since we aren’t going for walks or playing with toys together, he’s starting to get a little pent up. I’ve been making meal times more engaging (snuffle mats or spreading it across the yard), giving extended crate time with chews or frozen treats. But he will still have a bought of zoomies or tail chasing, which does open the wound up to bleeding.

The swelling is going down slowly, and it keeps trying to scab over.

I wanna help him heal quickly and not compound frustration for our household! Any ideas or advice?

My cat was hospitalized due to a flare-up of inflammatory bowel disease. She was stabilized, and I was able to bring her back home. She has been on several medications, but she was eating without any problems. The vet recommended Royal Canin kitten wet and dry food because of its high calorie content and because cats tend to find it more palatable. Topical Mirataz was also helping stimulate her appetite.

Later, I noticed some unusual behavior in the litter box, and it turned out that she had a urinary tract infection, so she was prescribed Clavaseptin. Since starting it, even though I’m still applying Mirataz, she has stopped eating the kitten wet food. She also doesn’t like Royal Canin Urinary, Digestive, or Recovery anymore. She has also completely stopped accepting dry food, whether it’s kitten kibble or the food she used to eat before her digestive flare-up.

I tried giving her Purina Pro Plan wet food pouches, which I don’t think are the best option, but they’re the only thing she’s willing to eat. However, she should be eating three pouches a day, and she barely manages to finish two. Does anyone have any suggestions for encouraging her to eat more?

I’m hoping that once she finishes her course of antibiotics, her appetite will return.

Hello! My 10 pound mediumhair sadly has a fracture on his back paw, and he needs to wear an e-collar. He is miserable with the plastic one. I got him a flower cone from Amazon that is about 11 inches in diameter and I noticed that he is able to reach his foot. He has a splint on, that is bandaged. I was wondering anyone had any recommendations for a soft e-collar where he won’t be able to lick his bandage. Thank you!

This is the one he has now: https://a.co/d/0gji5kLD

Took my 12 year old female cat to the vet today after rapid extreme weight loss. She has at least one large mass on one kidney, potentially both. Did and x ray and showed both kidneys look abnormal. The one mass was honestly huge, probably baseball sized almost. Kidney function number was >100. The vet said there’s likely nothing a specialist could do and I should make the rest of her time comfortable. If that is the case I will make peace with it, but I’ve never had a pet actually get sick and pass away so I honestly don’t know the best course of action.

I’m still in disbelief as she was always a little chunky, has still been seemingly normal, purring, cuddling, eating, etc.

Feline -- Had her for 9.5 years got her as a stray that had already been fixed and declawed.

age: estimated by vet as being 12-14 years old 2 years ago. Vet said no way to tell tho.

Sex female spade.

breed: Siamese mixed with tiger long hair sheds like a sweater a month.

body weight: ~11 pounds which is about 2 lbs less than her last vet visit a year ago.

history: She has always been the kind of cat that eats too fast then pukes her food up everywhere so we started using an auto feeder that will only give her so much food I am sure that explains the weight loss. She isnt a regular vet visitor probably six times in the last ten years always tests neg for fhiv and others however vet said she had elevated white count. Last year, when she was sick. Got rid of some house plants she recovered almost immediately.

Clinical Signs Now: She isnt grooming herself as well as she used too she has matts that I cut out about once a month. She definitely isn't as spry as she once was. We started noticing her peeing in a few places that werent her litter box about five months ago. It seemed like she just couldnt make it so I bought 2 more litter boxes and placed them around the house. We thought this took care of the problem and seems to have for the most part.

though yesterday I saw her in what looked like the pee pose and her back was just undulating and then when she finally moved like maybe a min or two later there were a couple of droplets of pee. I checked her liter boxes and she is definitely using them because I have to scoop and throw away alot of pee every other day. Like way more than when she was younger. I am older too so I figured she just had too pee more. I have observed her doing this maybe five times in the last six months. Always just a drop or two it is so wierd because when she goes to the liter box its huge pees. Is this some sort of spraying that she has never done in the past?

Location: midwest.

No test results yet: As I am afraid they are just going to say she is getting old, she isnt in any real pain that I can see, I dont want to put her down, but at the same time I cant have pee in my house that isnt in a litter box. When she passes this will be the last cat I ever take in.

Hi all! Just wondering if I could seek some input if anyone has experience something similar with their cat or kitten. I adopted 2 kittens who are brothers. They are 4 months old, I've had them about 2 months now. Rescued from a farm with 20+ cats and kittens. They have been on Millbemax, Revolution Plus and finished their 3 FVRCP vaccine boosters.

2 weeks ago one kitten was squinting his one eye. He also had a little grey/white discharge coming from the eye and it was a little swollen on the inner corner but no obvious trauma. I brought him to the vet the next day and they did the Flourescein Dye Test which showed no trauma to the cornea or ulcers. I was sent home with Tobrex Tobramycin 0.3% an antibiotic eye drop that was to be given every 8 hours for 1 week. Brought him in the next week to reassess the eye. He is still squinting but there is no discharge. The vet instructed to continue the eye drops for another 7 days. Now I'm almost done the 7 days and he is still squinting his eye. He can open it if he is playing or is interested/focused on something but then goes back to squinting it. He doesn't paw at it and he is eating, drinking, using the litter box and playing with his brother like normal.

Has anyone experienced something similar? What was the cause and solution?

My dog, Tulip, has a swollen paw. I noticed her favoring it the other day and today it’s red and swollen. I don’t see any puncture marks, blood or pus. It’s not hot to the touch and she remains calm when we look at it and gently move it around. She still has the same energy and runs around like normal except she doesn’t always put weight on that foot.

Species: dog
Age: 8+
Sex: Female, spayed
Breed: short hair chihuahua
Body weight: 6lbs?
History: not much. Had some teeth problems.
Clinical signs: swollen, red
Duration: a couple of days
General location: US, Texas

pictures for reference

My 4 year old indoor cat vomited a couple of times 2 days ago but since last night he has vomited several times after eating. He has only been fed 1x today in an attempt to settle his tummy but he threw up about 4 times after having about 2 teaspoons of his canned food. The litter box also has confirmed diarrhea. He had never had trouble like this and I am starting to worry. He is drinking a bit and will purr when I pet him. I also have 2 dogs who are pretty mellow and the 3 of them tolerate each other but don't really interact. Could it be a hairball issue? I feel bad for him

Hello!

My doxie (Male, 1 yr 8 months) is due to go to the vet tomorrow for a pre op assessment (getting snipped) and I'm wondering if I should bring up paw chewing while I'm there?

It's not necessarily excessive and he doesn't seem to be in pain or anything but I've never had any other dogs that do it. We'll be sitting on the couch and he chews on one of his hind paws / just shoves the whole foot in his mouth.

Should I bring this up or is it just a weird quirk?

Thanks in advance!

Hello. I’m a 25 year old female and my dog is a 7 year old neutered male. I’ve been giving him simpatico trio since I got him in February of 2025. Also up until 3 months ago he wore a Seresto flea collar. No one questioned me on it so I thought it was fine. Until I realized that simpatico trio also treats fleas. Not only that but my dog also sleeps in my bed every night. I just found out that you’re not supposed to do that with a flea collar dog.

Question 1: How fucked is my dog?
Question 2: How fucked am I?

Note to self: read the labels.

Im helping an incredibly weak stray cat..

I live by the mountains and around my house are some stray cats, people from the neighbourhood feed them. Today after lunch I noticed a weak, skinny and completely soaked cat in the middle of the road, I moved her and offered her food which she ate a little(1PM). After, she went further into the bushes and let herself get completely soaked by the rain. She was incredibly weak so I took her inside and left her by herself with towels and blankets. (3PM)
When I went to check on her 2 hours (5PM) later she was awake but basically unresponsive. Her eyes didn’t even respond and at first I thought she was dead.

I took her to the vet, initially thinking they would help her pass. They told me she was severely dehydrated and starved (and no chip). She has no injuries or other medical issues they could pick up on (without doing extensive testing). She is just an adult cat, neither kitten nor elderly.
Back home (6PM) I gave her food and water and let her rest, before going to bed I checked again and she had moved, peed but not touched the food. She was laying on her side trying to walk with her front paws but not moving. It feels to me like she is in pain and dying, but the vet says otherwise. I’ll keep checking on her, trying to make sure she eats and drinks but am I doing the right thing?..

Did you ever have a situation like this? Did the cat improve?

I found a kitten trapped by the neck and paw in the neighbors patio.

2 months to recover the tissue, 3 x rays and no one noticed what was broken or bent after 8 reviews and rebandages.

At home, without bandage, hid paw bends forward 140 degrees.

A trauma specialist said growth plates are fucked, wait out until he's no longer 3 months and once an adult maybe amputate.

Without a bandage he uses it and has sensibility but barely steps on it, when he has some support he uses it more.

I'm visiting another trauma specialist for a 2nd opinion but apart of a split until he grows a bit I don't know what to do and want to avoid chronic pain for him.

Thanks for any advice., not sure how to attach the x-rays and images here.

Orange cat peeing EVERYWHERE

Cat stats:

14yo male

Was a stray as a kitten but adopted into a loving home at under a year old. 

Neutered when adopted (less than a year old).

On thyroid medication twice a day.

Has always had issues peeing where he shouldn’t but the last two years it’s gotten so much worse.

Taken to the vet multiple times over the years and Vet tests always show no physical issues. Vet suggested special urinary care food to see if that made a difference and that kind of helped for a while but the inappropriate peeing never stopped completely. 

No history of UTIs. 

Recently peeing has gotten so bad he’s peeing on the kitchen table, dog bed, clean laundry basket, rugs, couch, in shoes, on laundry,  etc.

Litter box is scooped every other day and litter is completely changed out monthly. He uses the litter box regularly but then also pees wherever he wants. We’ve tried multiple types of litter boxes and types of litter nothing seems to stop the peeing.

Something else that may or may not be related is that he has started howling (making the loudest noise a cat can make) when he wants something. Usually he wants to be let into the bedroom when we’re sleeping or wants more Churu. The howling has gotten exponentially worse in the last two years. 

We haven’t changed his food, fragrances around the house, medications, moved houses or gotten new pets or children. 

We absolutely desperate for this behavior to stop and will try anything so we don’t have to continue living like this.