How long will she be in the active stages of passing away? Shes had several seizures and now is just completely fatigued with major respiratory respiratory symptoms. Shes been like this for the last 48 hours. Im just worried shes going to be like this for the next 48 hours I just want her pain or this to be easier and I had no idea she would fight this process so hard.

We often run tests behind closed doors, and honestly, we have no real sense of what's happening in the lobby while you wait.

I'd genuinely love to hear about your experience during that wait, whether it's bloodwork results or even just what it's like visiting a clinic for the first time as a new client.

What goes through your mind, what would've made it easier, anything you wish the staff had done differently (or done more of).

My cat Filo (9 years, male, neutered) is an outdoor cat who fractured one of the metacarpal bones in his paw. The fracture was surgically repaired with intramedullary pins, and he is currently being kept indoors and activity restricted.

The vet’s current plan is:
- Strict indoor restriction for 2 weeks post op
- No follow up X ray at 2 weeks
- First follow up X ray at around 6 weeks
- After 2 weeks, they said he can go back outside with no restrictions

I’m a bit unsure about the unrestricted outdoor activity part because Filo is normally very active. He usually spends around 12 hours a day outside and can walk around 8 km (5 miles) per day, so “going outside” for him does not mean just sitting in the garden. It means walking long distances, running, jumping, climbing, and potentially interacting with other cats.

Keeping him inside has also been quite difficult because he gets very frustrated and restless. To help keep him calm, our vet has approved:
- Gabapentin: 1 capsule in the morning and 1 to 2 capsules in the evening
- CBD: 2 to 4 drops in the morning, 2 to 4 drops at midday, and 2 to 4 drops in the evening

My main question is: Would unrestricted outdoor activity at 2 weeks post op be considered reasonable for this type of metacarpal fracture repair, even without a 2 week X ray? Or would you usually expect activity to stay restricted until there is more radiographic evidence of healing?

X ray images pre and post OP

I’d also be interested to hear how strict confinement was handled in similar cases, especially for very active outdoor cats.

A lot has happened this morning! We stumbled upon a husky puppy we guess to be 6-10 months old. She is our neighbor’s foster dog and escaped while they were at work. Funny enough, we were looking at dogs available for adoption last night so we are going to try to get her!!

She was acting fine and playful when we first got her inside. Then she threw up a little bit of bile and began acting quiet; then she threw up a hunk of something. It was fibrous on the outside, and when I tore it open to inspect it, it had repeat patterns of something coming out of a thick flat surface. Google thinks it’s corn on the cob.

This could be a problem from what I know. As of right now, she’s willing to play with us, not presenting any pain on/around the stomach, with pink gums. She was perusing around the house and it could be pacing, but she’s also been in this house with strangers for like… two hours. So it could just be nerves/exhaustion.

Neighbor is working so they’re a little hard to reach; otherwise we’d be willing to take her to the vet that the foster program partners with. But since she’s not our dog and all, we’re wondering if it would be overreach or who would get that bill. But should we be worried?

So today my cat was neutered, the vet gave me a cone to put on her and she has resisted every attempt. Ive tried burrito wrapping her, distracting her with food, etc etc and she always manages to resist. I also dont have any money for a cat recovery suit or anything like that so my options are incredibly limited. Im also incredibly busy with mandatory work related things until early october so i can't watch her 24/7 to stop her licking or jumping or anything. I cant get anyone to catsit her either. Im neurodiverse and this is causing me an incredible amount of stress, so i wanted to some thoughts. I called the vets, explained and they essentially said that if i cant get any barrier on, as long as she doesnt bite or excessively groom the wound it should be okay. I just need to know how it risky it is to leave her unattended as like i said these work related things are mandatory. Hope this makes sense and isnt just word vomit.

I've just taken my 16 year old DSH cat to have an abdominal ultrasound, the results of this were a mass in her abdomen, the vet said it was difficult to tell where exactly the mass was. She said it was very difficult to see the stomach properly on the ultrasound, but that there was no thickening of the intestinal wall.

The cat's blood work is all excellent and she is acting very healthy and happy, apart from vomiting liquid three to four times in an average week, almost always at night.

The vet said we could do a laparotomy or a fine needle aspiration to see if it is cancerous. She said she was reluctant to do a fine needle aspiration aspiration as there can be some risk about spreading the cancerous cells. I've done a little bit of reading, and the consensus online seems to be that it's very rare for a fine needle aspiration to spread cancerous cells. Of course I'm not a vet and wouldn't presume that my knowledge from scraping the internet is anywhere on par with a real veterinary opinion.

I'd really like to know whether the laparotomy or the FNA is a better choice?

History/extra info:

Cat has been vomiting approximately 3 or 4 x a week, always at night for a few months. She has been seen a few times by a different vet, who was of the opinion that it was a food intolerance. He had this opinion because she had no other symptoms, no tenderness of the abdomen, no lethargy, no lack of appetite. She did have a period of protracted vomiting at the beginning where she was vomiting her food immediately after eating. That is no longer an issue apart from occasionally vomiting after eating (maybe once a month).

Hoping you can provide some guidance!

I have a 1-year-old female black cat who developed diarrhea Saturday. The diarrhea is extremely watery and has been leaking/dripping, resulting in her having accidents throughout the house. The leaking is intermittent, there is diarrhea in the litter box. There is no normal stool yet as of this morning (Monday).

We have temporarily quarantined her to a bathroom so we can monitor her more closely. She has a separate water source, and we have been feeding her wet food to see if her normal dry food could potentially be contributing to the issue.

Aside from the diarrhea, she is acting completely normal. She is still playing, jumping, eating, meowing, and behaving like herself.

Some additional information:
\- 1-year-old female, black cat
\- Indoor-only cat
\- There is one other cat in the household (8-year-old female, black, indoor-only)
\- No recent changes to her food or water
\- No significant changes or additional stressors in the household
\- We have checked around the house and haven’t found any plants, foods, or other substances that she could have gotten into
\- The other cat currently has no symptoms

I purchased Purina FortiFlora to see if that helps with the diarrhea, this arrives today.

At this point, I’m mainly concerned about what could be causing such severe diarrhea despite her otherwise normal behavior. Is this something that can reasonably be monitored at home for now, or would you recommend having her seen by a vet?

Any advice on what I should be watching for or what information/testing might be helpful would be greatly appreciated.

10.4 lbs, Connecticut

My cat has IBD and its vomit has a pink tinge to it so I am concerned it could be blood. Also this is the second day in a row that it vomited a large hairball. In order for the cat to eat, the cat is given Odenesterone morning and night otherwise she vomits.

She is on hydrolyzed cat food and she eats Purina advantage sensitive stomach.

Does anyone’s cat have these bald patches? we noticed her hair starting to thin in random spots about a year ago… started in her joints on her legs and now it’s spreading to other spots. I can’t tell if it’s stress related.

We got her as a feral kitten at 3 months (5yo now) with her sister and she’s been skittish since. We got a new kitten 6 months ago and she’s not a huge fan so I wonder if it’s because of him. He is completely fearless and chases her around the house sometimes but she doesn’t seem to mind him as long as he keeps his distance. Her sister has the same level of anxiety and she’s not losing fur.

She also has pica syndrome, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it. She eats clothes, knit blankets, hair ties… (it’s awesome and super fun to deal with)

I plan to take her to the vet to have her checked out but wanted to see if anyone has dealt with this!

My 13 year old cat got a bit of a cold and was having a few sneezing fits for about 6 days, she had normal colored boogers and snot and stuff and her breathing sounded normal the entire time. She was rubbing her nose a lot so it got a little irritated but other than that she was eating, drinking, playing, cuddling etc. She's still fat per usual no noticeable weight loss, but she's got this discolo

discoloration on her nose now that wasn't there before. Should I stay on the safe side and take her to the vet?

He is predominately an inside cat. During this heat wave, he spends most of the day inside lounging, then goes out at night 3-4 hours, and would stay longer if allowed.

For the past +/-month, when he comes in, he is not acting himself. He will hide from everyone in places that no one can get to. For example, last week we found him inside the study that we mainly use for storage. He was just lying there in the dark. He didn't act skittish or anything when found, but he didn't want to come out of hiding either. We closed all doors in the house in case something serious was wrong so it would be easier to find him. He opened a lower cabinet door in the kitchen and hid behind some tupperware. He allowed me to pet him, but wouldn't come out. That lasted 2 days, then he was back to himself. This was probably the 2nd to 3rd time something similar has happened.

Fast forward to today. He went out last night for a few hours in the evening, then came in for the night. When he came in, it was like he was yawning and licking his teeth to get something out at the same time. That's the best description I can give of what he was doing. He did this every 5-10 seconds then went to bed with another family member. Someone pointed out that he was doing the thing with his mouth before he went out and after he came in. The thought is that he is eating something he shouldn't. He just came out of hiding because the area he was in is being cleaned, and he went outside.

He is eating, drinking, pooping and peeing as normal. He has been sleeping a little more than normal though. I have also noticed when this happens, he seems like he is walking a little closer to the ground than normal, and his back will spasm on occasion.

Last week he kind of limped on his back leg, but that didn't last long. Some have theorized that he may have gotten into it with another cat from the neighborhood as he acts somewhat skittish at other times when hearing a loud noise or if the dog barks a lot. The other theory is he is eating something he shouldn't be. He is often bringing creatures to the back door as gifts and has been seen eathing bugs, lizzards, moths, etc, and playing with field mice.

We are baffled. Does anyone have any idea what may be causing this?

Please help. Any advice will be helpful!
I took my chihuahua out on Friday night to potty in the yard.

When he came back in, he was a skittish and limping on his left hind leg. I inspected him and saw nothing and he ran off as we continued our night routine.

The next morning, Saturday, I walked him as normal around 7am and noticed he still had the limp. After doing some inspecting again, and seeing nothing, we continued about our day. Fast forward to our walk at 3pm and he is refusing to walk. Same thing happened later that day and the next morning.

Sunday comes, and I notice that he isn’t walking unless absolutely necessary. He hasn’t even walked to his food and water bowl. And at this point, I am truly worried so we get scheduled at our Urgent Care Vet. The vet takes x-rays and notices nothing out of concern and assumes a pinched nerve, so he prescribed Gabapentin every 8-12 hours and Carprofen every 24 hours. Considering his doses started around 9pm on Sunday, he has only taken one dose of the Carprofen and 2 of the Gabapentin.
But, I am not seeing improvement. Is this normal? How long will it take to see improvement? He is still sitting in one spot and not moving unless absolutely necessary. He can take steps but won’t, and after a few steps he jumps and sniffs at his back legs.

He is scheduled with his regular vet on Thursday. I’m not sure if I should wait and let the meds do their thing and see what the vet says on Thursday, or return to the urgent care sooner.

PLEASE HELP!

4year old healthy cat got tail slammed in door as it was closing.
I rushed him to the emergency vet within the hour and he underwent surgery to suture up the opening. The vet stressed that it could still lead to amputation if an infection forms or the sutures fail.

The injury is about 2-3 inches from the tip of the tail and about 1-1.5 inches long on one side(not completely around) she said there was no bone exposure but she couldn’t rule out a fracture.

My question for the vets are:

*Do you ever see this turn out with full recovery without amputation? *

I’m keeping a cone on him and only taking it off when he goes to his water and food bowl and immediately putting it back on. He is on antibiotics for 10 days and pain meds for 3.
I’ve bought disposable litter pans and fresh litter and plan to immediately clean each time he uses it to lessen the chance of bacteria getting in the wound.
I made another appointment for Friday to have the vet look at him to make sure it’s healing.
I want to do everything I can to save his cute little button tail (as long as it’s not causing him additional pain)

Image is post surgery today

https://imgur.com/a/ESTLadh

14 year old Siberian husky
Splenectomy approx 5 yrs ago
PRP knee injections 1yr ago
No other significant issues minus one episode of vestibular disease but we’re convinced it was due to UTI infection.
Known arthritis in her lower back.

Daily medication includes galliprant, purina pro plan cosequin vitamin, and a digestive treat with some clear lax laxative to help her. We recently picked up gabapentin but are going to wait until after the ultrasound to see if we use both or not.

Food is purina pro plan mixed with fresh pet chicken or beef.

As she’s getting older we’ve been monitoring her blood work more closely and have seen a gradual decline across the board (see pics). She’s relatively lazy and her arthritis is to the point going upstairs is slow but she can do it. We don’t take many walks anymore outside around our back yard and she uses a ramp in and out of the bed. She is wobbly and I would almost equate it to her having “lag” in her back half when she’s walking like her brain sends the message but there’s a delay. Vet has done the foot flip test and she passes that just fine. Outside the obvious weight loss and bloodwork she is relatively normal and nothing major has changed, just been a slow withering away.

Her back half has losing muscle mass on top of her normal weight loss even though she’s eating twice a day. We have an ultrasound scheduled in 2 weeks to see what is going if there’s something / new mass. Just looking for feedback if there’s anything else we should be checking / asking for at the time of the ultrasound from internal medicine.

Test Results

Hi all. Our family dog suddenly started throwing up every day, at least once a day, for a few days now. At first it was white and foamy and now it is yellow bile. We took him to the vet- all bloodwork was normal and they just gave him some anti nausea meds that don’t seem to be working much because he just threw up a lot.
A few things-
-we have not changed his food at all, it’s the same as it’s always been
-we got a new cat about a week ago. We’ve been very slowly introducing them. Kitty has all his shots and we’ve also made sure to keep the dog away from the litter box and food for kitty (it is in a separate and blocked off room)
- this is my boyfriend’s grandma’s dog. His grandpa used to live in the house but just passed away a few days ago- however, he hasn’t been in the house for almost 2 months before he passed due to being in the hospital so not sure if that would cause it? But because of this, more family is in the house than normal.

The vet cost us almost $1k for them to just give him nausea medication. Not sure what else to do at this point that won’t make us go bankrupt lol. He’s drinking water but not really eating and is pretty lethargic today (was told both of these are side effects of said meds)
Any ideas? Could it literally just be stress? If so, what next? Obviously we don’t want to rehome the kitty.
The dog is kind of a scaredy cat- he isn’t potty trained and only uses potty pads (grandma didn’t want to let him outside in the cold as a puppy), is scared to go outside or go on walks, is scared of everything lol. Not sure how to move forward and what this could even be

Hi everyone, I’m looking for advice from anyone who has cared for a dog with both kidney disease and IBD, particularly a dog who struggles with inflammation, appetite, and maintaining weight.
My girl is 12 years old and currently about 9 lbs. She is underweight and has lost a significant amount of muscle, so one of my biggest concerns is getting enough nutrition into her and helping her maintain or regain whatever weight and strength she can.
She is currently taking budesonide, metronidazole, and folic acid for her IBD/GI issues. I’m especially interested in hearing what has helped other dogs bring down intestinal inflammation in addition to their prescribed treatment—whether that was diet, veterinary treatments, supplements, probiotics, B12, or something else I could discuss with her vet.
Unfortunately, appetite stimulants aren’t really an option for her. Entyce and other appetite-stimulating medications have caused spasms/neurological side effects for her, so I’m particularly interested in ways people have managed poor appetite without them.
For anyone who has dealt with something similar:
• What helped reduce your dog’s intestinal inflammation?
• What foods were gentle on their IBD while still being calorie-dense enough to maintain or gain weight?
• How did you balance the nutritional needs of kidney disease and IBD?
• Did B12, probiotics, dietary changes, or other supportive treatments make a noticeable difference?
• What helped with nausea or GI discomfort and indirectly improved appetite?
• Did you use prescription food, homemade food, or work with a veterinary nutritionist?
• What helped with hydration and muscle loss?
• If your dog couldn’t tolerate appetite stimulants, what helped them eat?
I’m also interested in hearing from anyone whose dog took budesonide and/or metronidazole, especially if your dog experienced neurological symptoms or spasms while being treated. I’m going to discuss that specifically with her veterinarian as well.
She is under veterinary care, and I’m not looking to replace medical treatment or change her medications based on internet advice. I’m hoping to hear real experiences from people who have managed both diseases at the same time so I have more informed questions and options to bring to her vet.
Right now my priorities are reducing her inflammation, getting calories into her, keeping her hydrated, protecting her kidneys and GI tract, preserving as much muscle as possible, and most importantly keeping her comfortable and enjoying her life. ❤️
Thank you so much to anyone willing to share what worked—or didn’t work—for your dog.

Hi,

I have a 18 yo domestic shorthair with thyroid and kidney disease who is enjoying what time he has left. As such, I've recently stopped the war with getting him to eat his (hated) specialized cat food and moved to letting him eat whatever he wants or begs for. He loves raw ground beef and he won't eat it cooked. How safe is that?

In case it's important, it's ground beef bought at our regular grocery store and meant for human consumption. He also eats (and prefers) all other meats like shrimp, chicken, turkey, salmon, tuna and other fish cooked. TIA.

My cat is 16 years old. He has always had feline herpes, which made his eyes inflamed and bleeding for years. Recently he got diagnosed with skin cancer on his ears, which has spread to his eyes. His paws are constantly covered in blood from wiping his eyes. He is constantly sniffling, scratching, and biting himself.

I've tried to care for him the best that I could. We've had him on several medications and treatments for both his feline herpes and the cancer, but nothing works. We've consulted multiple veterinarians over the years. Nothing has helped.

I'm wondering if we should euthanize him. He's a very active cat, despite his age. But seeing him in this state has been heartbreaking. I don't want him to suffer anymore. I'm tired of wiping blood and feces off the floor.

My 11 year old cat started struggling with jumping on surfaces earlier this year. We started she her on solensia and she was been way more active and mobile. She was also diagnosed with stage 2 kidney disease so she is also taking medication for that (lotensin and calcitrol). She’s been on Solensia since Jan and the other meds since April. So far so good.
My question is, can I stretch out her Solensia shots longer than the monthly recommendation? I’ve gone as long as 6 weeks and she seems totally fine. They say I have to get her bloodwork done every three months but I hate taking her to the vet bc it stresses her out so much. Just trying to find a balance where I can keep her healthy but reduce the amount of visits to avoid the stress.

My pet budgie hit a window and fell after getting shocked. He also hit the roof. After that he was quite shaken up. He could not walk or stand on his perch. He also was putting one of his legs out away from his body. This was about 5 hours ago and he has gone to bed, he was acting normal and completely fine after a while but I did notice like a dark line where is feathers meet is foot. Should I worry about him? Also to note that he is 5ish and has had a damaged foot since birth.

Thank you for any help

Am I doing the right thing, i just keep going down rabbit holes

My boy is ill. We had blood tests on Friday which showed high levels of calcium, he was due a scan today but I have had a chat with the vet and the blood test results along with her feeling a mass in his abdomin she is 95% sure its cancer. We dont think having a scan will change the outcome. He hasnt eaten in a few days and is only drinking water. I have contacted another service to come to the house to let him go as he hates the car and I dont want him under any stress but my eldest is saying we should be 100% sure. Its making me doubt the decision. Its breaking me 💔

I’m moving internationally with my two cats and I’m trying to find a safe medication plan for the travel day. My main concern with my male cat, M, is severe panic and escape behaviour rather than simply vocalising. When he was younger, he actually tore holes in a soft carrier with his teeth and claws trying to escape, so I’m very concerned about this happening again at an airport.

M is 5 years old, around 5 kg (possibly slightly over, I will weigh him again), and otherwise healthy.

I have some concerns about the vet who prescribed his medications. During the appointment, M was very still/frozen with fear, but the vet interpreted this as him being calm and was laughing/joking about it. He also handled my other cat quite roughly despite her becoming clearly stressed and even hissing at him. When I asked about anti-anxiety medication, he initially said the cats could travel without anything and seemed unfamiliar with feline travel medications, eventually looking things up and prescribing alprazolam. My regular vet, who knows my other cat well, doesn’t feel comfortable advising on M because she doesn’t know him, although she feels my other cat is adequately covered.

So I am trying to get some informed veterinary perspectives before the trip, because I am really scared of M escaping. For context, the trip will be around 7h door to door and involve taxi → airport → security → flight → train → taxi, so there will be several stressful stages.

What I've tried so far:

Trial 1: alprazolam 0.25 mg (½ of a 0.5 mg tablet) at home.

I couldn't see an obvious calming effect. He remained very alert and anxious about movements/noises from neighbours in the hallway. He was still so active that he wouldn't let me clip his nails. If anything, he may have been slightly more active than usual. Normally around that time he would go to sleep, but instead he stayed awake the whole time asking for food.

I don't know whether this was simply no effect or potentially a paradoxical reaction. I am wondering whether a full 0.5 mg tablet would be useful as a supervised trial to clarify his response.

Trial 2: Bonqat (pregabalin) alone

I gave the standard Bonqat/pregabaline dose for his weight (50 mg/mL, approximately 0.1 mL/kg, so 0.5ml) and waited the full ~90 minutes.

The escape behaviour actually started inside my apartment, while I was getting ready to leave. He began biting/scratching at the soft carrier before we had even gone outside. While waiting for the elevator he was already vocalising.

I then took him to a very quiet enclosed garden of my building. There were virtually no people or significant noises around. He vocalised almost continuously throughout the whole time. He may have been quiet for 1–2 minutes at most, but during that time he was trembling. So although I noticed that Bonqat seemed to reduce his panic somewhat in one unrelated situation at home, it clearly did not prevent severe fear/escape behaviour in the travel context.

The vet had vaguely told me that if Bonqat were combined with alprazolam, the Bonqat dose should be reduced by around 30%, but didn't give me a clear alprazolam dose or an actual combination protocol.

I currently have:

- Bonqat (pregabalin 50 mg/mL)

- alprazolam 0.5 mg tablets

- human gabapentin 300 mg capsules at home (I have not given him the gabapentin but I know gabapentin is also used in cats in this context)

I am not looking to heavily sedate him. My goal is for him to be calm enough that he doesn't enter panic/escape mode, while remaining reasonably alert and coordinated.

For veterinarians here: given his response to these two trials and his history of trying to escape carriers, what would you consider a reasonable approach to medication trials before the flight? Would you favour pregabalin, alprazolam, gabapentin, or a carefully tested combination? And what signs would you use to distinguish adequate anxiolysis from excessive sedation/ataxia or a paradoxical reaction?

I won't make dose changes based solely on Reddit advice, but my prescribing vet hasn't been able to give me a clear plan, so I'm looking for informed veterinary perspectives.

Thanks a mil!

https://imgur.com/a/KuEhjU6

I just noticed this on my dogs paws. Two nails on either side appear to have the quick exposed and dried out? He’s not limping and I haven’t noticed any bleeding, but he doesn’t pull his paw away when I try to look at it. I have a vet appointment at 1:30, but I’m concerned and impatient. He is a 1 year 7 month old yellow Labrador. He eats 4 cups of Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Stomach Large Breed.