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Hey guys, could use some advice. To preface this, we’ve been to the vet twice over the issue and the next escalation point is a $3,000-4,000 dollar brain scan (I forget if it was an MRI or ultrasound) so I figured I’d check with the goon hivemind first. Dog info: 10 year old chihuahua, eats Hills prescription diet i/d digestive care, takes clomicalm 5 mg per day, weight-appropriate native pet omega oil and Dasuquin. Symptoms/behavior: Erratic movements, sudden jerks to either side. Haven’t noticed it’s always to one side but may be. Sensitive to movement close to her head, in front of her eyes. Sensitive (jerks away) to head touch. When laying down, bursts upright and away from laying down every 20-30 seconds. Sways slightly from side to side when standing. Cuddling seems to help slightly. Typically lasts 30 minutes to 1 hour. First time this occurred was Oct 2022 and has happened 4 times since. Vets have seen her multiple times (although always AFTER the episode) and theorize potential seizures, have advised she does not appear to be at risk of hurting herself like a usual seizure (flopping over, muscle spasms) so they said to monitor and consider a brain scan (ultrasound I think) if it persists. If anyone wants a video PM me your number and I can send one, would probably work best with an iPhone so the quality doesn’t get all hosed up. Any ideas? I’m looking for suggestions I could bring to the vet as the three we’ve discussed it with have been flummoxed. I’m wondering if it’s a panic attack or intense joint pain or something. I’d love to take her to the vet yet again for it but I expect the same outcome which is a $500 bill and no suggestions except “maybe get an expensive brain scan that doesn’t show anything.”
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May 9, 2023 16:24
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Have you been referred to a specialist? It would be good to get an examine with a neurologist, orthopaedic surgeon, and physical therapist altogether to figure out what's going on.
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May 10, 2023 12:34
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Hello thread, I recently lost a kitten to pneumonia and wanted your opinion if I did anything wrong or could have done something different. One of the stray cats of the neighborhood brought 2 kittens a couple of weeks ago. Fairly feral, the kittens and the mom run away every time I got close to them. I noticed they had signs of upper respiratory infection, runny noses and eyes, but otherwise they seemed healthy and playful. The next day I found one of the kittens dead, so I managed to catch the other one and brought him to the vet. She prescribed some antibiotics and drops to put in the nose and eyes. I kept the kitten in a confined space in the basement along with its mother. The kitten seemed to get better with the treatment. In the first couple of days he had a bouts of cough that seemed to last up to minute but they gradually disappeared. The kitten was healthy and playful and by now he had gotten used to me. As he was about 8 weeks old on the vets advice I started him on wet kitten food. After 6 days of treatment I brought him back to the vet for reevaluation. She gave the all clear and we even scheduled an appointment for the vaccinations. The kitten was fine the next day but after 2 days I noticed that the cough came back and now he also had trouble breathing (short and fast breaths). As it was a Sunday I brought him to the emergency vet clinic, where a different vet there diagnosed him with pneumonia. He gave him an antibiotic injection and a different kind of antibiotic to give him at home. We scheduled a reevaluation after 2 days. For the next day the kitten seemed about the same, not better or worse, drinking water but not eating much. When I brought him back to the vet this time he told me that his pneumonia had gotten worse and will need to stay in the clinic. He was put on oxygen, antibiotics, bronchodilators and antiparasitics as the vet thought his pneumonia was probably caused by lungworms. Unfortunately the kitten died during the night. I know that kittens can get ill very fast, but it still seemed strange to me that he developed pneumonia after being on antibiotics for almost a week, and then crashed so fast. Anything I should keep in mind in case something similar happens in the future?
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May 10, 2023 14:55
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It's hard to answer fully without knowing all of the diagnostics performed so some/all of what I say here may be invalid. For me, any patient with difficulty breathing should be hospitalised and on oxygen, until we have a grasp on a) their diagnosis and b) their oxygen saturation levels. There could have been congenital disease (diaphragmatic hernia, heart defects), infectious disease (FIP, various cat infectious respiratory things), or trauma/bleeding (unlikely). If there's fluid in the chest then antibiotics aren't going to help. If they have pneumonia then bronchodilators could actually make them decompensate rather than help them. Younger patients are also especially vulnerable. Ins short, I don't think you could have done anything differently on your end. I think your kitty needed more intensive care, but the end result may sadly have been the same. Sorry for your loss 8(
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May 11, 2023 14:49
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Ugh. my 14 year old basset-border mix was diagnosed Cushing's, started on trilostane, to which she proved SUPER SENSITIVE (although the initial results were great), stopped, cut dose in half, stopped, tried dose cut over half again...ADDISON'S! Many such cases. Now I'm waiting for the script for Florinef and pred to get filled. Hopefully we can get her eating again. What an expensive pain in the rear end. I think the most difficult part was talking with 4 different vets through the process, the two practice partners and two locums, so getting a consistent story and treatment plan was difficult. That said, asking the clinicians around work led to just as wide of a variation of reactions, from "not my area thank god" to "its really hard to diagnose Cushings because it looks like everything!" Just a rant. Here's the cutie in question. 
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May 11, 2023 15:27
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Hello goon vets, my poor little puppy has been sick recently and we are working through it, she's firmly on the mend and looking far better than she was a couple of days ago when we had to rush her to the vets at 3am... However I just have a quick question and looking for a little advice, we just came home from her follow up appointment and they said they can't treat her current UTI due to the recent vomiting etc she's been doing and I have no wish to question that or anything, but I was wondering if there's anything I can do at home over the next few days to help my pup urinate or ease her discomfort without going down the medication route, she will be going back to the vets in a few days per their request if she doesn't improve, but I'd rather we can improve the situation so she doesn't even need the vet if possible. She's going to have lots of fresh, clean water down all the time obviously but I wondered if there was more I could get doing to help her.
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May 30, 2023 12:57
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Do you have a clear understanding of her diagnosis? Did they think the UTI and the vomiting were related? How was the UTI diagnosed - urine sample, etc? Is she taking any medications now? Some pain relief might be nice for her - if she's vomiting then she can't have any anti-inflammatories but could have some acetaminophen/paracetamol to take the edge off of her discomfort.
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May 30, 2023 13:20
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So they didn't run a urine test yet, they will next time if it doesn't clear up, but it seems fairly obvious as she's constantly peeing, often in small amounts in unusual spots, sometimes having difficult peeing as you can hear her in pain and she sometimes gives up, she also often has a string of mucus after she pees from her labia which we keep cleaning up for her in the hopes is makes things more comfortable for her. She's literally on no medication right now, she just had a 24 hour anti sickness shot 48+ hours ago. The diagnosis for the vomiting was just down to stress/change of diet (we only picked her up Thursday) as the breeder said they would give us a little of the same puppy food and then didn't, among other things. She was absolutely full of gas apparently and that's what was causing the vomiting they think. I just don't like seeing her in discomfort and obviously want to take care of her as best we can and now she's settling down with her tummy I just want her to be able to pee normally or at least be comfortable for the next few days before we take her back per the vets suggestion.
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May 30, 2023 17:42
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If she's a puppy it could be vaginitis. If she's uncomfortable I don't buy into the whole "we can't do anything because she's been vomiting" story you've been given. I would see if you can get a re-check at your vets sooner rather than later and get some answers and treatment.
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May 30, 2023 17:44
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Cheers I appreciate it.
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May 30, 2023 23:12
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Cretin90 posted:Hey guys, could use some advice. To preface this, we’ve been to the vet twice over the issue and the next escalation point is a $3,000-4,000 dollar brain scan (I forget if it was an MRI or ultrasound) so I figured I’d check with the goon hivemind first. Hello - from the perspective of a vet neurologist, weird “episodes” can be really frustrating and hard to figure out and will probably require several different tiers of diagnostics (general bloodwork, imaging (x-rays/ultrasound) heart/lungs and abdomen, possible specialized bloodwork, and brain/cervical spinal cord MRI), that may or may not yield a good answer. That’s unfortunately the way that those things are if they aren’t classic generalized tonic-clonic seizures or obviously another type of well described episode. Videos CAN help but really the best way they would help is to localize where the problem may be coming from, not what it is actually is. A consultation with a neurologist would potentially help but be ready to possibly not walk out with an actual answer. The benefit would be ruling out things that could be treated if caught early or could be life-altering or life-threatening. But again you need to go into it with the knowledge that you could come up empty on an actual answer.
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Jun 1, 2023 16:32
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My 14-year-old dog had a urine test that came back for bladder cancer (a month or two ago), after further tests the oncologist said it wasn't as bad as they first suspected and just prescribed him an anti-inflammatory. After a day or two on the meds, he started having diarrhea, which over the course of a day turned into bloody diarrhea like every hour or two. We stopped giving him the meds as soon as the diarrhea started, but that was Sunday and he's still having hourly bloody diarrhea. My ex wants to put him down, unless I want to take over his care. Googling around hasn't given me much hope in terms of long term prognosis, like it sounds like a bunch of testing and possibly surgery could help but no real easy solution. I guess after typing this out I'm not even sure what my question is. Is there any good chance it's just temporary diarrhea? If it could clear up his QoL seemed fine before this weekend. 
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Jun 1, 2023 18:37
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Diarrhoea occurs semi-frequently after anti-inflammatory use, so it should hopefully clear up now that the medication has been stopped. He'll need re-checking if it continues, gets worst, stops eating, or starts vomiting.
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Jun 1, 2023 22:14
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YourCreation posted:Diarrhoea occurs semi-frequently after anti-inflammatory use, so it should hopefully clear up now that the medication has been stopped. He'll need re-checking if it continues, gets worst, stops eating, or starts vomiting. Thank you
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Jun 1, 2023 23:11
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We have had Georgie for about a month now (he’s six months old.). Two nights ago he woke up around 4am and puked up what looks like partially digested mulch or something and then he dry heaved again around 6am. He was fine/happy all day yesterday…but he puked up bile 2 hours ago - same time as yesterday. Given that we are new dog people, my wife is freaking out and and wants to go go the vet but he seems fine…
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Jun 2, 2023 11:01
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Pillowpants posted:We have had Georgie for about a month now (he’s six months old.). Two nights ago he woke up around 4am and puked up what looks like partially digested mulch or something and then he dry heaved again around 6am.
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Jun 3, 2023 15:03
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Slugworth posted:It's been 24 hours, so I'm not sure if you need advice anymore at this point, but fwiw, mulch can definitely cause obstructions, and the type of puppy that eats mulch probably eats other stuff he shouldn't, so again, obstructions should be a concern on some level. That being said, vomiting in the absence of other symptoms isn't necessarily an emergency situation. If he's eating and generally holding his food down, acting normal, and passing normal stools, there's no harm (usually) in just monitoring him at home. If any of those signs change, I'd bring him in. He’s ok now - I caught him eating a plastic toy he had hidden under his bed (lol) and then he pooped out some green plastic pieces
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Jun 3, 2023 18:24
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Sekhmet posted:Hello - from the perspective of a vet neurologist, weird “episodes” can be really frustrating and hard to figure out and will probably require several different tiers of diagnostics (general bloodwork, imaging (x-rays/ultrasound) heart/lungs and abdomen, possible specialized bloodwork, and brain/cervical spinal cord MRI), that may or may not yield a good answer. This is so timely. Sherlock was having weird episodes and we were referred to a veterinary neurologist. Our first appointment was absolutely normal - the neurologist described him as "clinically unremarkable". She said exactly what you said and we decided to wait and see for two weeks before doing an MRI to try to catch an episode on camera to avoid unnecessary anesthesia. I set up a camera to see if we could catch something. That night, he got up went to stand directly in front of the camera and had an episode. I am epileptic and thought I saw him have a focal seizure (a bit of projection) and panic-booked the MRI the next day. As it turns out, he has a huge intracranial mass (meningioma, to be specific). I have the MRI and all the reports but haven't looked. Every time I speak to someone who has seen the masses they're shocked that he's still going and that he is perfectly well. We were offered multiple treatment plans (surgery, radiation, palliative, and combinations thereof). We booked a surgery but then cancelled it after learning about the risks of rapid decompression. He's receiving radiation therapy right now, which means no surgery. Overall, he's doing well despite everything. I am so grateful for specialists that we have access to and for the advancements in veterinary oncology. The veterinary college in Ontario uses the same accelerator that human cancer centres do. I wish I didn't know this stuff and didn't have to be grateful for it but here we are.
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Jun 9, 2023 20:41
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Holy crap that's awful. I'm really sorry to hear about that for all involved. It sounds silly but it really bothers me more hearing about animals having this crap than people. It must be so much harder for them. 
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Jun 10, 2023 00:03
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gently caress cancer so much
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Jun 10, 2023 15:08
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My cat Magnus is about to die, and it's all my fault. I never post here. I don't even lurk here, really. This is just... coping, I guess. He's in the hospital now for stage 4 kidney failure and he has a week at most. We're going to bring him home and make him as comfortable as we can before starting a euthanasia procedure. I've had him since he was a kitten. 15 years. He was with me for many major milestones in my life. He has never, ever, shown me a bit of spite or cruelty. He is the sweetest animal I have ever known. It's my fault because I ignored obvious signs in the past few weeks. Weight loss. Peeing on the floor. Excess vomiting. My "reasoning" is... plainly pathetic. My dad has had many cats, outdoor cats he never ever took to the vet, that lived for over 20 years. I deep cleaned his water dish and started giving him wet food to try and raise his weight. The vomiting went down but the weight loss continued. My other bit of idiot logic is that taking him to the vet is stressful and exposes him to other sick animals. "It may do more harm than good!" I say, moronically, as I continue to bury my head in the sand. I was just afraid. Afraid of what they would say. Finally I took him in but it was too late. I neglected my best friend and now he's going to die, and it's all my fault. I'll never fully forgive myself, although my partner believes I should try. We plan to do better in the future. Whatever that means. I love him as much as any human and will always cherish my time with him. I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of him in order to spread a little of the love and joy he made me feel around to this here community.               Thank you for reading.
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Jun 21, 2023 19:16
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The odds are very good that taking him in promptly wouldn't have given you any different an outcome. Short of something like toxin exposure, kidney disease is a slow process, and irreversible. He hid his early symptoms because that's just what cats do, and then it got so bad that he couldn't hide it anymore. The damage was already done. Truly, your actions weren't out of line with a lot of pet owners. It can take time to notice things like weight loss, and God knows cats vomit sometimes (although in the industry we try to stress it's not "normal" for them, we also know, well, it kind of is). An older cat peeing on the floor? A million possible causes, many pretty benign. I'm not saying don't try to be more proactive in the future, but nothing you posted there is outlandish. For the future, consider yearly exams, and as your next friend gets a bit older, consider routine blood work to try to catch stuff like kidney disease before it progresses too far. My condolences, but you gave him 15 years of love, and you're going to give him a dignified, peaceful end. It's a lot more than a lot of animals get.
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Jun 21, 2023 19:32
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Thank you for those words they mean a lot.
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Jun 21, 2023 19:33
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Kidney failure is pretty common, and one that most people dont recognize as an issue until complete failure is in effect. It's very easy to make this mistake because cats are cats, and will pee outside of the litter box in protest, or go off of their diet because they decided to be picky, or various other things. I think you are being overly harsh on yourself. There are many people I have met who simply think it is a waste of funds to take a cat to a vet, or that a cat at 12 is elderly and won't change their ways with any amount of evidence nor convincing. In the future: catching this early you can prolong their life with dietary changes and other treatment. A good vet will talk to you about your options and what's best for your companion. 15 is a good run. 20+ is spectacular. Just focus on now and being with your bud. Do your best to make sure your friend is as comfortable as possible and enjoy what moments you have.
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Jun 21, 2023 19:48
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Hello, me again. Freja was playing this evening with 3 other dogs we are pretty familiar with, one we are very very familiar with and have known for a couple of years, but it seems the 2 poodles she was playing with this evening (off lead, they've done it before for small periods for training etc and just general zoomies) are a little reactive/badly trained and obviously she's still very excitable but they've all had plenty of time together and seen each other most days. It only occurred to me this evening, after the incident that we've never seen the 2 poodles on a lead before which should have been a red flag for me in the first place. This morning I saw one of them be a little reactive with a cat so I was obviously paying a little extra attention to him this evening just to be safe, non the less, the other dog but Freja over a stick. Seems he is a little possessive and still considered it his after putting it down and going away... She yelped and at the time it looked like nothing, she came over to me, I checked her out, couldn't see any bleeding etc and she carried on happily playing with all of the dogs Including the one that bit her... So I honestly just chalked it up to being a learning experience for her and for us to avoid playing with them again in the future. In the elevator on the way up I noticed she had a little blood above her eye and on deeper inspection, 2 wounds. One small puncture wound and one with more of a slash to it. We have cleaned it using soap and water, then flushed it with saline and put a pet friendly 3M barrier cream on it over night till I can call the vet in the morning. Is there anything else we can do this evening? Her breaking is very fast, a lot more than normal, but I'm putting that down the high temps right now and she is on her cooling mat with a fan on her at full speed which has kept her comfortable the last few nights of this heatwave we have. She has plenty of access to water with ice cubes in it too etc but im still worried about the breathing though. 
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Jun 25, 2023 23:11
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Ragnar Gunvald posted:Hello, me again. You've taken all the right steps in regards to the wound, but I would just ensure that whatever cream you're using is specifically safe for use around eyes. Better to have nothing on the wound than something that can irritate the eye. For wounds near the eye, we just use opthalmic ointments.
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Jun 25, 2023 23:30
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Thank you, my partner is a nurse and she checked all that stuff out awhile ago and made the decision to use it, I know obviously nurse isn't vet but I trust her judgment and she originally got it specifically for the doggo. If there's nothing else we can do that fine, but it's a bit unsettling and she's not settling down at all this evening bless her. She keeps waking up panting..
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Jun 25, 2023 23:33
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Maybe this isn’t the right thread for this question and if so, I apologize, but are there any charities perhaps that are recommended to help pay vet bills for cats? I had to take my sweet cat Chewy in for an exam today and the bill ended up being close to $1000 for all the tests. Thank god he’s okay other than minor intestinal issues, that’ll clear up with antibiotics and weight loss, but this kinda hurts me a lot. I’m on SSI at the moment and I’m still paying off bills for my 21 year old cat Puppets that died last month.
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Jun 28, 2023 00:12
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Google around and you might find some local ones but I've been in the same boat and found nothing large or national.
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Jun 28, 2023 01:32
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SeANMcBAY posted:Maybe this isn’t the right thread for this question and if so, I apologize, but are there any charities perhaps that are recommended to help pay vet bills for cats?
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Jun 28, 2023 01:32
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Good idea, thank you both. Edit: If I ever somehow get very wealthy, I know what I’ll establish first. SeANMcBAY fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Jun 30, 2023 |
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Jun 28, 2023 01:57
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I'm curious what the "official" veterinary stance is on walking young dogs. I don't think we are over walking etc but there's a lot of conflicting information out there, including our own vet telling us that the internet's 5 mins per month of age is also a common myth and has no scientific basis. I know knowing your dog is important so as not to push obviously, but just wondered if there was any real actual guidelines other than that. 2 x 30-45 minute walks on average seems perfect for our Old English Bulldog, she's quite muscular by default and sometimes we skip the morning walk if she seems tired from the night before and sometimes if she's full of life from a previous walk being more about sniffing etc we will go longer, she has supplements daily to help her growing joints etc too as she loves climbing and jumping so we have to monitor how high she's climbing/jumping from things all the time. I swear she's a monkey sometimes.
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Jul 15, 2023 08:58
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I’ve got a 20lb senior dog who is in Stage 2 congestive heart failure right now, being managed with medication (pimobendin 3x day, furosemide 2x, spironolactone and enalapril 1x). As expected his water intake has increased and so has his need to pee. He’s drinking about 4-4.5 cups of water a day which is the equivalent of me drinking almost 3 gallons of water. I pee clear at a gallon. He isn’t pissing clear, ever. I assume it’s a sign of kidney failure (vet warned us) and he’s got an appointment on the 24th to check his kidney levels, but I wanted to ask before then. Edit: pee isn’t brown or red, so not a blood thing. He’s just pissing yellow/dark yellow all day long. secular woods sex fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Jul 17, 2023 |
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Jul 17, 2023 03:10
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Haven't earnestly posted in years, and I saw "do not try to use this forum to replace your vet" rule, but I also saw a handful of quick-help questions in here, so I'm hoping I'm not out of line for asking this. We've got an outdoor/neighborhood cat that I've been feeding daily for a few months now. Total sweetie, very receptive to touch. Seems to be a CNR neuter from his ear snip, we're pretty sure he's right around a year old, since he was smaller when we started feeding him but he hasn't seemed to grow much in the last month or so.  Today when I went out to feed him I found a huge bare spot on his fur:  I saw him around this time last night, so whatever happened to him happened in the last 24 hours. He didn't have any negative reaction when I touched it, so I would guess he's not in any pain? It felt slightly sticky when I touched it, so I wet a paper towel to rinse it off. Didn't notice any real change in the texture, so that tackiness might just be me feeling his skin. Again, didn't seem to be in any pain when I was wiping it down, just a couple of "knock it off" play bites that didn't even make it to my hand. When I first saw him I worried he'd been burned, but like I said I didn't see any damage to the skin, he let me touch it without any incident and he was more than happy to lie down in the dirt for belly rubs. No scratches, so I don't think he got in a fight with something that pulled it out. Maybe he somehow got in some glue? I wouldn't think it was mange or anything like that, this happened literally overnight. We can't bring him inside right now, we already have a 16-year-old cat and we don't want any physical interaction between them until he gets tested for everything. If this is something worth running him to the vet over I'm open to that, but since this will be his first visit that's hundreds of dollars guaranteed just for testing, shots, etc., nevermind the fact that I'll have to figure out where to get a trap for him just to get him there. I guess I'm mostly just posting this to have my gut double-checked. Does anyone know something I don't? Here's some too-big-to-post pictures of the bare spot, if that helps at all: X | X | X Like I said, I'm an out-of-practice poster so feel free to yell at me if I'm doing something wrong. Bonus belly rub content: 
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Jul 20, 2023 00:30
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CVT here. His skin looks okay, my concern level here is pretty low. I'd continue to monitor if vet expenses would be a financial burden right now.
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Jul 23, 2023 23:38
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To preface this I was a vet tech for five years (surgery tech) until I left the field last year, so I know that things can and do just happen fast sometimes... but of course I also have that vet med thing of wanting to know all the details ever and second guessing everything with my own pets 🙃 I lost my 'heart dog' back in March. It was incredibly sudden and I guess I'm just looking for an outside set of eyes for peace of mind. He was a 13 year-old NM Vlcak and aside from mild arthritis he was doing fantastic for an old shepherdy-type breed. He'd still have zoomies and was overall spry and happy. Gaba and Novox twice a day longterm, I think for a couple of years at this point. Regular senior bloodwork on February 15th was great. On a Thursday night (March 30th) I came back from a quick 20 minute trip out to find him laying on the tile not wanting to move. My immediate thought was that he'd slipped and hurt his back with how sudden it was. Colour was ok, maybe a *tiny* bit pale, not painful anywhere on palpation of neck, back, abdomen and legs/feet. Eventually he stood up by himself and seemed to perk back up a bit, later went outside when offered and urinated normally, but was definitely a bit 'off' refused a treat which was a huge red flag. (Normally this dog would sacrifice me for a french fry.) Friday morning he seemed normal; ate breakfast just fine and seemed back to his regular self. By evening though he seemed off again and was suddenly getting worse fast. Called my vet for a QOL emergency exam and knew deep down that it was probably going to end with him not coming home. (Thankfully the clinic I used to work at is open late and he's familiar with everyone there.) By the time we got there he had to be lifted into the clinic, he was alert but had no energy to even stand. Doc ran bw and threw a quick ultrasound on his abdomen which showed some free fluid. His bloodwork was an absolute mess. Based on everything combined doc thinks it was a mass which ruptured. Not that there wasn't much of a decision left to make anyway but we made the choice to euthanize. February annual send-out bw  vs March in-house bw  I guess my question is... is it just lovely luck of the draw and it just developed that fast? From what I can see there's no trace of anything wrong on his February bloodwork but just 1 month later it was off the charts. (Based on the numbers looks like maybe it was a kidney mass? Or is it more likely to be a good ol splenic mass? idk) Would a mass like that simply be something not detectable on bloodwork and only findable if you happened to do weird routine rads and ultrasounds? (Which I know isn't reasonable lol) Nothing on that bloodwork says toxin ingestion, right? We'd been having issues with a neighbor but that paranoid thought only occurred to me after body care had already been done, and it's probably highly unlikely anyway.My vet would be totally willing to have this conversation in depth but we're close and it will end up making me cry so a faceless forum is easier 
Sock Weasel fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Aug 1, 2023 |
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Aug 1, 2023 19:15
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Nate Breakman posted:Today when I went out to feed him I found a huge bare spot on his fur: Weird things can happen. When I was a kid my indoor/outdoor cat got a bald spot like that from being in the truck engine area when it started up. It was amazing that she didn’t get seriously injured.
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Aug 2, 2023 18:47
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Sock Weasel posted:To preface this I was a vet tech for five years (surgery tech) until I left the field last year, so I know that things can and do just happen fast sometimes... but of course I also have that vet med thing of wanting to know all the details ever and second guessing everything with my own pets 🙃 Hematocrit is surprisingly high (relatively of course) for a ruptured mass, but maybe you caught it earlyish or he was just compensating well. I feel like it's always in the 20s or lower by the time we see them in clinic. Kidney numbers wouldn't necessarily scream to me as being the site of the mass though, so much as maybe a side effect of anemia/shock/beginnings of organ failure. I'd think if it was toxicity, kidney and liver numbers would be much worse than they are. Ultimately though, yeah, unfortunately probably just something that was never gonna show up on blood work until it did its thing, especially if it was splenic. You took good care of him, no reasonable course of action would have changed things at any point. My condolences.
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Aug 3, 2023 00:42
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Trigger warning: my dog passed away this morning. I'm looking for a little advice. My dog died suddenly this morning. She's always been a very picky eater, I typically make their food and mix it with kibble. Sometimes when I don't make the food I feed them straight kibble. 3 days ago she skipped three meals in a row (I feed morning and night) because it was all kibble and I was a little bit worried about it and I was going to take her to the vet, but yesterday morning since I had made food she ate it all. I noticed at this time that she seemed a little wobbly and I kind of marked it off to her having skipped meals. She ate last night again with no issues and this morning she slid off of her bed and onto the floor lost control of her bowels and by the time I took her to the vet she was passing away. The vet said that there was blood in her stomach and postulated it could be a cancer that went undetected. I'm actually a little worried now that somebody may have poisoned her and I'm just looking to see because the necropsy is $800. Everything I'm reading about poisoning mentions vomiting, and it was early this morning she didn't have a chance to go outside and eat anything... I'm wondering if anybody knows about any sudden onset poisoning or possibly maybe some longer form poisoning. I have three other dogs and I'm terrified. My baby was a 9 year old White German Shepard, no issues besides being a picky eater most of her life. I'm wondering now if she's had tumors in her belly for a long time or if somebody hurt her.
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Aug 3, 2023 21:33
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Taking my little fella Bowie here to the vet on monday but I figured I'd post here in case someone can assuage my fears in the meantime He seems completely fine but I've noticed some discoloration the white hair on his nose/hair loss near his left eye (you can see both in this picture)  any thoughts on what this could be/should I expedite the vet trip?
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Aug 5, 2023 00:55
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