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I am nearly certain this warrants a vet visit, but wanted to ask here in case anyone had ideas. We had asked at the last vet visit and they didn't have much to say other than give it time and report back. Our newly adopted husky has a discrepancy in the musculature and thickness of her legs; both front and back on the left side are slightly smaller than her right legs. Not just muscles, even the tendons seem thinner. She was very malnourished and in poor shape when we adopted her 7 weeks ago. She is possibly a year old and no older than 2 years. She gets up to 3 hours a day of hiking (slowly increasing as her health improves) so it shouldn't be atrophy from a lack of recent exercise. She was very unstable at first (legs would shake when standing still) but that has improved a lot. She will occasionally limp for a few steps and then return to normal gait. Asking here because the vets in our town have been very understaffed due to experiences vets retiring. COOKIE DELIGHT fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Nov 13, 2023 |
# ? Nov 13, 2023 18:07 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 15:19 |
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spacetoaster posted:Hello, question about a hen. I would clean the wound really well with Hibicleanse, vetericyn, or saline if that’s what you have on hand. Then put a bunch of Neosporin (without pain relief) on it. If she will leave it alone it may be ok to go without a covering but if she scratches at it or tries to dust bathe you’ll need to fashion a bandage. I use a square of gauze and some vet wrap. Getting the right tightness will be difficult so hopefully she won’t need one for long. My pullet got partially scalped and only had to wear a bonnet for a couple days.
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# ? Nov 14, 2023 00:17 |
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COOKIE DELIGHT posted:I am nearly certain this warrants a vet visit, but wanted to ask here in case anyone had ideas. We had asked at the last vet visit and they didn't have much to say other than give it time and report back.
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# ? Nov 14, 2023 14:49 |
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Crooked Booty posted:A 1-2 year old dog should not be routinely limping after getting up, so I would investigate this with your vet. She could have old orthopedic injuries or hereditary joint issues like hip/elbow dysplasia. Any source of pain can cause a dog to bear less weight on the affected limb(s), even imperceptibly, resulting in persistent atrophy. Thanks for the insight and the helpful response. I'm definitely down to get a vet visit scheduled and see if they are able to look into it. We are currently using a 2hounds no-pull freedom harness. Her pulling on walks is all but gone except for prey-driven scenarios. I have wondered if we should switch her harness now to something that doesn't front clip, or one that isn't positioned around the front shoulders. If nothing else, it might be helpful to confirm that wasn't part of the issue. Thanks again!
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# ? Nov 14, 2023 23:50 |
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Me and the wife got a shelter kitty on the 7th of this month. All black domestic long hair. He's a cutie and was super talkative at the shelter, thus why we got him. Anyway, the shelter had a cat flu going around, and wouldn't you know it our guy got it. He was pretty active the first couple days he got home, but as the flu virus took full effect, he kinda just became a lethargic guy. Snot bubbles, nose whistles, cat sneezes the works! Refuses to eat or drink. We took him to the vet saturday, and yup, he had a viral infection. Fever of 105. So we get some antibiotics for the guy. The vet showed us a way to hand feed him and got some wet food to go. The vet requested a stool sample so they can send it off to the lab to determine if he has any worms or what-not. Flash forward to now; he doesn't eat still. He doesn't drunk. We hand feed him wets and have to syringe water into his mouth. He fights us (non-violent, just very squirmy) and sometimes spits the food out his mouth. He pissed once after the vet and he hasn't used the litter box since! He laid a fat stinker the day we got him home on Tuesday and he literally has not dooked since. Idk what to do here. I called the vet for some information to make sure this isn't like a Serious issue but as a dumb dumb on the internet I feel like not making GBS threads for 5 days is kinda really bad. His tum doesn't feel hard or anything and I massage his gutz daily to try and stimulate a bowel movement. When I hear back from the vet I'm making a new appointment for sure. Tldr; my 1 year old shelter kitty don't poo poo no gooder. And I need that poo poo to put in a toob
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# ? Nov 16, 2023 19:04 |
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Hi, I'm a bit concerned about Freja. She's panting, almost all the time. She's recently had surgery for Entropian on her other eye.. she's on painkillers, getting the correct dose. She has access to water almost all the time. (not over night as she's created for about 6-7 hours but always drinks before bed). Her eating is fine, she's going to the toilet normally, she's drinking more, I don't think she's sleeping very well in the evening as I can hear her panting in her crate, but she is sleeping a lot more during the day. She's still her normally excited self, plays regularly etc and showing no sign of pain or discomfort but as I said she's just sleeping a bit more, drinking more and panting lots. She's an 8 month old Old English Bulldog. The house is set to a comfortable temp of 21c. I've not walked her since we noticed the panting and she had her surgery on Friday... I'm not 100% sure but think she was panting a bit much for a day or two before her surgery too so I'm not thinking it's connected. Sorry if the post is a bit disjointed but it's 2.30am and I can still hear the dog being really unsettled. I'm tempted to open the windows and cool the flat down but it's quite a bit colder outside and if she has some kind of virus etc I'm worried it would make it worse.. We are at the vets on thursday for a follow up RE her surgery and this will be mentioned..do you think it's worth trying to bring the appointment forward or am I over reacting?
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# ? Dec 5, 2023 03:24 |
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Possibly relevent is that's she's also in season/heat for the first time and recently stopped bleeding.
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# ? Dec 5, 2023 04:13 |
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I just absentmindedly and sleepily just took a half tab of zeniquin(antibiotic for my cat, 12.5mg) that i was going to give to her when she came back in just thought I'd ask if any goons think if or if not that's probably not gonna gently caress me up or give me some horrible effect?
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# ? Jan 11, 2024 07:37 |
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Seems unlikely considering dosage is usually by weight and you probably weigh a lot more than your cat.
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# ? Jan 11, 2024 16:08 |
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Stoca Zola posted:Seems unlikely considering dosage is usually by weight and you probably weigh a lot more than your cat. That being said, probably a better question for a human health thread - vets are wary of giving advice for human health.
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# ? Jan 11, 2024 19:08 |
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I’m reminded that I posted here about my cats foul bowel so here is an update, I switched him to Royal Canin Digestive wet food since I had a couple of boxes left from my elderly cat who passed last year, and that pretty much immediately improved the smell and texture of his stool. Took it a bit further with some z/d hypoallergenic dry food and that got him to the point of producing normal stools. Once he got through that bag I’ve tried him on only Royal Canin digestive wet and dry since that is more readily available but that has resulted in going back to 75/25 solid/loose stools although I have not seen blood or mucus since removing fish from his diet and the smell has stayed more normal smelling (for a cat turd at least). At some point in this process I came across some patches of pinpoint scabs on his skin while grooming so that also points to food sensitivity to me. I’ve got another bag of z/d coming and hopefully that will get his guts settled down again. Not sure if there is anything different I can do in the long term but he seems perfectly happy with the new food.
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# ? Jan 12, 2024 01:55 |
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edit: removed because i got some background info elsewhere!
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# ? Jan 28, 2024 04:55 |
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My (1 yr 10 month) all-indoor cat somehow has both hookworms and roundworms diagnosed by a fecal at the e-vet last night (salmon-colored pure liquid diarrhea is ALARMING). We’re assuming her brother does too, so she had first dewormer treatment last night (first of 5) and he’s getting his first treatment tonight when she’s getting her second. The vet instructions were to disinfect absolutely everything to kill off eggs so that she doesn’t reinfect herself by stepping in and tracking/licking paws. We have a Litter Robot so disinfecting this whole thing is going to be A Chore, but I am wondering what the timing should be to start scorched-earthing everything. Like, litter box probably has lotsa worm eggs in it right now, but since the cats are early in treatment they’re probably both still pooping more eggs out? so it’d just add more eggs into this little litter ecosystem I’d think? Also cats are very, very dumb and always decide to get e-vet sick at dumb times for example the night before I was scheduled for abdominal surgery, so I’m typing this from bed and will be instructing my husband and friend to do all this for me. Oy. Honestly I’m just happy she has a diagnosis, because she’s had poopy problems since we got them a year ago and fecals came up clean. Apparently it could have been the wrong part of the life cycles. If she produces a proper consistency turd for the first time ever by the end of this I’ll be so happy.
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# ? Mar 5, 2024 23:20 |
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drat Bananas posted:hookworms and roundworms And I'd definitely check fecals on both cats in a month or two to be sure they're clear.
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# ? Mar 6, 2024 21:49 |
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Our 18-year-old supersenior kitty has been sneezing and less active than normal for a while now. In the last 6 months she's had 2 'turns' where she's been very sick, but thankfully has bounced back twice now. The first time back in October she became super lethargic and just stayed in her little hidey cube all day for a day. On the rare occasions that she came out she was wobbling to the point where she would fall over occasionally. We took her to the vet, she got better after a few days, and the vet basically said that she either had a very transient infection, or else maybe actually had a little mini-stroke which is apparently not uncommon in cats and which can generally heal. She slowly got better and better, although it took a while for her to get as snuggly as she used to be (she practically lived on my partner's lap). They discovered that she has the beginnings of kidney disease, but other results from the bloods came back fine. The second time she was off her food for a couple of days and then one day she spent most of the day trying to drink water and immediately throwing up. She did it like five times in very brief succession, and one trip to the emergency vet later she needed intravenous hydration. It turns out that her weight dropped from 4.3 to 3.3 kilos since we last weighed her (a month or so before this happened), and her kidneys are slightly worse. As of weighing her today she's 3.75kg - still less than I'd like but goin gin the right direction. Since then she's better and she's more snuggly/active/acting a bit more like she normally does. However it's a real struggle to get her to eat, and while she's sneezing less she is still snotty. Both times she went to the vet they were only able to partially examine her. Even when she's really sick, and even when sedated beforehand, she will not peacefully let a vet examine her. They were only barely able to get enough blood for a sample the first time after we had given her an oral sedative that morning, and the second time they needed 3 people to burrito her and draw the blood even though she was almost completely out of it. I guess I'm wondering what we can do given how bad of a patient she is. Will a vet be able to prescribe antibiotics without the opportunity to thoroughly examine her? Can we collect a mucus sample and use that as the basis for working out if there's anything we can give her? The first time we took her in the vet basically said that it could be an infection, or it could be something like latent FIV coming out late in life, or it could even be something physically stuck in her sinuses that are causing the issue - but being able to examine her for that would probably necessitate general anaesthetic, the impact of which could potentially be worse for her than whatever is ailing her given her age. Also does anyone have any advice regarding of to get an already fussy cat with a increasing reluctance to eating to actually put on weight? We've gone from feeding her nutritionally-complete Kangaroo mince to trying her with Hills Kidney diet mousse (which she ate with gusto initially right after the second vet visit and then increasingly less) to a jag where she would only eat Temptations cat treats, to where we are now where we're doing a 50/50 mix of the kidney mousse and Whiskas Beef cat food that we've put through a food processor (as she would always very enthusiastically lick the gravy off the Whiskas but leave the meat chunks, so by pureeing it we've removed her ability to do so and then we can stir in the kidney food so she'll at least eat a 50/50 mix. But frankly we're running out of things to actually try feeding her. She's eating about 100g of the 50/50 mix a day plus a little bit of dry Kidney food (like, 5-10 grams a day) but from my calculations she's getting about 60% of the recommended caloric intake of a cat of her ideal weight (4.5kg) and while I'm guessing that's based on an active adult cat rather than a snoozy old indoor lapcat, I'm still panicking about her condition. Even mixing Churu (that kitty crack paste treat) into her food does not appear to encourage her. So we're out of the suggestions our vet gave us as well. I'm trying to be realistic - I know that 18 years is very much in the 'she's had a good run' territory and this might just be her edging towards end of life. And she's still a very happy kitty - she's snuggly and purry and still a funny little thing. I'm just wracking my brain as to whether there's anything else we can do for her because 2 different vets really haven't been able to discern what's wrong due to her being such a poor patient.
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# ? Apr 2, 2024 08:33 |
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Not a vet, but I have a 17 year old food averse kidney failure cat who is on a vet prescribed renal diet and his appetite improved a lot once he was put on “fortekor flavour” (I am not sure what that drug actually does). My vets theory was that it would take pressure off his kidneys, help him feel less nausea which would get him to start eating again. As well as that, the additive that they use to make the pill palatable seems to be extremely attractive to my fussy cat so I use it as an appetiser before his main meal. He now hoes into his food with a lot more enthusiasm. I don’t know if you will be able to get anything like that prescribed without blood work being done. Also I think if your cat is gaining weight you’re doing a good job with getting her to eat and it is not beneficial to anyone if you become traumatised around weighing and feeding food. It’s hard but I think you’re already doing your best!
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# ? Apr 2, 2024 09:47 |
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My old dog got scratched by my cat (pretty sure, heard a cat noise, and then my dog cry) and he's been limping with his back leg and not placing as much weight on it. After a week he's starting to put more weight on it when he scampers or gets excited but still clearly doesn't use it entirely. No noises of pain when moving and whenever I try to locate a wound or the source of his pain, there's no dice, he doesn't react to me touching anywhere on his leg. He's shown some progress but very very slowly so I'm still worried. Not sure if this is like a fracture situation he'll just heal from or an abscess from the demon claws of cats (tho surely there would be some sign of infection by now). I guess this is going to be another "go to the vet" thing ?? and I guess I will if I have to but lord will it be expensive.
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# ? Apr 11, 2024 16:46 |
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If it's been a week and there's no obvious wound or swelling or discharge, I think this is very unlikely to be related to a cat scratch or bite. But regardless of what the cause is, if your dog has been limping for over a week then yes, you should take your dog to the vet.
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# ? Apr 11, 2024 21:03 |
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Breetai posted:Also does anyone have any advice regarding of to get an already fussy cat with a increasing reluctance to eating to actually put on weight? We've gone from feeding her nutritionally-complete Kangaroo mince to trying her with Hills Kidney diet mousse (which she ate with gusto initially right after the second vet visit and then increasingly less) to a jag where she would only eat Temptations cat treats, to where we are now where we're doing a 50/50 mix of the kidney mousse and Whiskas Beef cat food that we've put through a food processor (as she would always very enthusiastically lick the gravy off the Whiskas but leave the meat chunks, so by pureeing it we've removed her ability to do so and then we can stir in the kidney food so she'll at least eat a 50/50 mix. But frankly we're running out of things to actually try feeding her. She's eating about 100g of the 50/50 mix a day plus a little bit of dry Kidney food (like, 5-10 grams a day) but from my calculations she's getting about 60% of the recommended caloric intake of a cat of her ideal weight (4.5kg) and while I'm guessing that's based on an active adult cat rather than a snoozy old indoor lapcat, I'm still panicking about her condition. Even mixing Churu (that kitty crack paste treat) into her food does not appear to encourage her. So we're out of the suggestions our vet gave us as well. We had very good success with mirtazapine, even at lower than typical doses, for our CKD cat. Other drugs were as or more effective at treating his nausea but mirtazapine was the only thing that seemed to significantly move the needle on his willingness to eat. If she isn't losing weight, and there is no underlying health reason to get her to eat more, it may not be warranted, but if there is a medical need to get her to eat more and you've tried everything else, it may be worth a shot.
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# ? May 7, 2024 02:45 |
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Thanks to everyone who replied. Thankfully we've hit upon a combination of food that is seeing her weight slowly creep up, but it's good to know that there are some medicinal avenues that we can pursue in future. She's a happy snoozy gremlin.
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# ? May 7, 2024 03:11 |
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I'm having a rough time judging our 17-year-old chihuahua's quality of life and determining whether the end is nigh for ol' buddy... He's been deaf and partially blind for 4 years, and finally went fully blind after an eye removal last week. In many ways he's adapting to blindness; the house and yard have been made safe, he eats plenty of food, he nails his pee pad dead center, and his behaviors are similar to when he could see. He's extremely healthy apart from being blind & deaf. Vets marvel when they see him. In other ways, though, he seems distressed. A few times a day I find him in the middle of the room crying. I know it must be hard to suddenly go blind, but I also know he needs to re-learn his entire way of living, and it has only been a week since he lost the eye. Right now I feel the best thing to do is wait and see how he adapts, and give him lots of physical contact and treats. My wife's criteria on QOL is whether or not he's eating, and he's got no problem eating. Is there another factor we should think about when deciding if he's living a decent life?
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# ? May 8, 2024 16:45 |
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smoobles posted:I'm having a rough time judging our 17-year-old chihuahua's quality of life and determining whether the end is nigh for ol' buddy... I still swear by this: https://www.lapoflove.com/how-will-i-know-it-is-time/lap-of-love-quality-of-life-scale.pdf It helped me immensely with the last months of my elderly cat's life, so I was confident to know when the right time came. I have another elderly cat who is experiencing different issues but at the moment I know where we stand with his quality of life too. It takes the guessing out of it, and for me at least it helped me with feelings of guilt, ie guilty for holding on too long, or guilty for maybe ending things too early. It's not something you fill in once and it gives you an answer, it's more to help you objectively track changes over time because in the end the final decision is still up to you and your wife. My cat is 17 too, it's amazing to look at these little gremlins and think about how long they've been part of our lives. I hope your little guy settles into his new situation soon and his distress doesn't last.
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# ? May 8, 2024 17:50 |
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What do you think if your cat starts to, first time ever, lie around and pass out anywhere? Pulse and mood seem fine, stomach upset when given a bit of turkey instead of dry food. She's youngish nonkitten. No allergies or problems with warm weather before. It's worrying because it seems like she must not know where she is. She's indoor and fixed. Drinking normal (plenty) amount of water. Maybe it's a kitty common cold or flu? Hope it'll pass. With her, any unusual behavior is very unusual.
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# ? May 13, 2024 00:53 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 15:19 |
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Mescal posted:What do you think if your cat starts to, first time ever, lie around and pass out anywhere? Pulse and mood seem fine, stomach upset when given a bit of turkey instead of dry food. She's youngish nonkitten. No allergies or problems with warm weather before. It's worrying because it seems like she must not know where she is. She's indoor and fixed. Drinking normal (plenty) amount of water. Maybe it's a kitty common cold or flu? Hope it'll pass. With her, any unusual behavior is very unusual. She moved around enough for me to see what's up, it looks like -- It reminded me of my relative who had a mild palsy. Looked like crooked motion and asymmetrical slackness in the body due to muscular weakness, without pain. The lethargy seems to be less, she seems more aware of her surroundings than yesterday. not eating much.
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# ? May 14, 2024 18:42 |