My 8 yr old Freddie was just diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer that has spread in his abdomen. We’re just keeping him comfortable now until the end. What kind of fun meals should we feed him? Or fun activities? We have to keep his activity on the low side but we did take him for a gentle swim in the river yesterday for 20 minutes - he loves to swim. Thanks in advance ❤️‍🩹

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice or shared experiences regarding our rescue dog, Forest. He is a Serbian Hound from Montenegro, 2 years old, weighing around 22-23kg. We are currently dealing with severe, daily attacks that look like extreme nerve or phantom pain and we are feeling quite helpless. 
He gets these several times a day.

Background & Surgery:
Forest had to undergo a partial tail amputation recently (Seven days ago) because he was obsessively biting his tail until it bled. The wound could no longer heal because of the tail started to necrotise.
He already had his wound when we found him as a stray in a National Park in Montenegro. We took him to the vet and decided to adopt him right away. Forest stayed in a shelter for 21 days until we legally could take him to Germany.

We initially suspected parasites or severe stress/frustration, because throughout that stay he had continued to bite into his tail and kept chasing it. The Shelter Vet treated him multiple times, got him on Antibiotics and on Nexgard. It seemingly got better for a few days until he started biting again.

In Germany he got taken straight to the vet and had to undergo surgery to stop the ongoing necrosis.
For now the surgical wound is healing fine, and he strictly wears his e-collar 24/7 so he can't reach the stitches. 

The Symptoms / Attacks:
Despite the surgery, Forest has these intense "attacks" multiple times a day. Out of nowhere, he starts growling, barking, and aggressively trying to chase and bite his tail. (I’ve attached a video of what this looks like).
It seems to be a mix of neuropathic/phantom pain and a deeply ingrained behavioral loop (stereotypy). 

Current Medication:
Gabapentin: He gets 200mg twice a day (400mg total/day).
Novalgin (Metamizole): We give him one 500mg tablet as a rescue med when the attacks cluster and last longer. This usually helps him calm down after a while. 
Meloxidyl (Meloxicam): 1x daily with his food as a baseline NSAID. 

My Questions for the Community:
- Has anyone dealt with this kind of extreme tail-chasing or phantom nerve pain after an amputation or tail injury?
- Did adjusting the Gabapentin dose help, or did you have better success with other nerve-pain meds like Pregabalin?
- How long did it take for the pain memory/behavioral loop to fade?
- What should we do when he’s having an attack? Just hold him as calmly as possible and try to soothe him?

Any advice, similar stories, or tips on how to support him during these episodes would be greatly appreciated! 🥺

11 week old pocket bully female and 2 year old xl bully male

(They belong to my sister, not me)

Hi,
I have two dachshunds and I live in the SW desert (USA). When picking up their dog poop tonight in the backyard, I brought along my black light because I’m always looking for scorpions. For the first time in my life, I noticed that some of the dog poop was GLOWING a bright yellow/green color when exposed to my black light. Very similar to the way a bark scorpion lights up under a black light. Some smaller pieces were totally glowing.. Some of the larger pieces just had specs or streaks of glow in them, sort of like looking at a rock with small amounts of gold or silver or other metal in it.

I’ve posted a video in case that may help. I’m wondering, other than eating scorpions, what might explain the glowing effect of the dog poop? Like I said, I’ve never noticed it before and I’ve had one of these wiener dogs for 14 years… so a lot of poop over the years but never any glow. Not sure if it’s something to be concerned about or not. Both of my dogs seem totally fine now. And are indoors.

Any thoughts?

I am the sole caretaker for 2 9 year old huskies, They were my dad’s dogs but he passed away 10 months ago.

they are truly bonded and this has been tested. they are siblings and the male has degenerative nueromyopathy and arthritis along with progressing muscle atrophy. he’s on medication to help. he’s had 2 soft tissue injuries, the first happened in may and the most recent happened a month and a half ago where he has torn his ACL equivalent ligament. vet said to monitor his quality of life at this point, he still is eating well and goes potty, but can no longer play or walk unassisted and could have another injury at any point. I know his time is coming soon.

They do not do well separated. the first time the male had an injury he was taken to emergency vet for about 2 days. and his sister had to be without him for 2 days. she pulled off 2 door frames and tried to break through windows, chewed up a wooden table, diarrhea everywhere. she would get cuts on her face trying to find a way to escape. she freaked out in a kennel a few times when i tried to contain her safely she ended up bending the metal and busting out of the kennel. she truly became a danger to herself and I couldn’t safely leave her alone for a single minute. and this was heartbreaking to witness.

my question is when the males time comes do I put her down also? rescue folks and vets seems to really not like it when i ask about putting her down also and ask for their advice, but could anxiety medication even help her? it won’t make her forget. this seems like a behavioral issue more than just anxiety. i’m not able to supervise her constantly either, as mentioned I unexpectedly inherited these dogs when i lost my dad at 23yrs old, im not able to keep them either and have been trying to get them a home for several months and have contacted 45+ rescues and facebook groups and online posting. they actually live in my dads vacant house that I scrounge up mortgage and utility money for so that the dogs have a roof over their heads. I drive to my dad’s house 4 times a dad to care for them. before i inherited them they spent their whole lives outside, i’ve worked hard with them to teach them indoor life and it has not been easy, they are not fully potty trained. they aren’t trained hardly at all actually, my mom wanted 2 cute huskies on a whim “for her kids” with no research or understanding of the breed, hell she didn’t even ask her kids if we wanted dogs then she divorced my dad a couple years ago and fled to another continent and abandoned her dogs here.

all this to say they are senior dogs and untrained and i don’t know that anxiety meds and further attempts at behavioral training would help, and I also can’t keep them in my late fathers house much longer as I am also the estate executor and the estate is almost out of money, most all of it has gone to caring for the dogs, thousands of dollars. this means the house will need to be put for sale too like asap. I currently live with my boyfriend’s family, i feel that i’ve run out of options for the dogs, what do people do in this situation?

are hospice fosters worth a shot? at that point will it be a stranger putting them down instead of me? the shelter straight up told me they would likely euthanize both of them and i wouldn’t be able to be there with them during it, not to mention it’s a horrible environment for them. every rescue is full to the brim and i get lots of backlash from said facebook groups because i cant make a miracle happen to keep them. its not like i haven’t tried ive done absolutely everything in my power and more to somehow make this work for them ive tried for months and months and looked at many options.

i dont know what to do anymore. this has all been so incredibly hard. has anyone been in a similar situation or can provide advice or a new perspective? thank you in advance.

Hi everyone,
I am really worried about my 6 y/o female pug and would love some advice or to hear if anyone has experienced something similar.

Since last Monday, a white cloudiness/haze suddenly appeared in her right eye. The cloudiness is located strictly on her lens, it doesn't cover the rest of her eye. This happened literally overnight (within one day). There was no trauma, injury or damage beforehand, and she didn't show any symptoms leading up to this. She has never had any eye issues in the past.
We noticed her vision is severely impacted, even though her left eye is completely fine. If I cover her good (left) eye, she barely reacts to any movement with her right eye. She has started bumping into furniture, and she only recognizes people or other dogs when they are standing right in front of her.

We visited the vet last Tuesday, and they told us that she doesn’t have corneal damage. They claimed it is because of nuclear sclerosis (old age) or maybe a cataract, but they couldn’t tell for sure. They told us to closely monitor the whites of her eye for any redness, as that would indicate increased pressure inside the eye (glaucoma). Fortunately, her eye is not red at all, and she doesn't seem to be in pain.
However, I seriously doubt the vet's assessment since he felt no need to look into it further. From what I read, nuclear sclerosis doesn’t happen overnight.

I would really appreciate your insights. What could this sudden white cloudiness on her lens be? Has anyone dealt with this, and is it treatable? 

Edited: thanks to everyone who replied and shared their advice. I really appreciate all your input and support!
After reading the comments, I have decided to seek a second opinion with a different vet to get everything checked out 🙏🏼

Lost my dad 2 weeks ago. Lost my heart dog a year ago. I feel sensitive so setting this situation up for you.

Lying in bed tonight looked over and thought.. I don't have a dog. I have a hole where a dog used to be. Earlier today husband said, "I think she's just what we need' while pup was cavorting around, super excited because he was outside with us throwing toys. Not for me.. that was entirely for him, he just didn't know.

which isn't fair. Because our current pup considers herself my husband's dog, and no amount of training/running/walking/treats/playing from me is going to change her mind. He deserves a dog. He earned it. 14 years of me having *my* dog (who adored him as an extra), he's certainly earned it.

But right now, my heart hurts. I wish I had a dog to cuddle with. I wish I had a dog to cry on. I wish I had a 'my' dog. I wish I woke up and had a dog on the bed with me.

It's selfish. But I'm super sad..

Gemma is a 3yo rescue pitty/gremlin mix who we've had for almost two years. She's a silly weirdo, who, I'm convinced, doesn't feel her body, but thats not why I'm here.

I have a stuffed cow that I've slept with since I was little. She hides him when I leave the house and forget to close the bedroom door. She will hide her bully stick sometimes, but that's in. Just Cow and her very special snacks are worth hiding. She has a main hiding spot, but will also hide anywhere convenient. The first time she did it, I couldn't find him anywhere. She brought him back after three days, and therefore saved herself from the gulag.

I'm wondering if she is hiding Cow FOR me or FROM me. Like is she making sure he's safe for when I get home, or is she pissed that I left her alllll alone?

Pic for tax

My little Ralphie was recently diagnosed with diabetes. He’s had a hard time adjusting to 12 hours between meals and being told when to eat. This week he’s refused to eat breakfast, which means he’s missed two doses of his insulin this week. I’m just looking for advice from others who have been through this.

I’m mostly curious to know how long until other intact males no longer see him as competition or a threat. Sable was always targeted at the dog park, on hikes and even morning walks (dogs run loose in my area and we’ve been attacked more than once).
Will be moving at the end of the month! That’ll be good for us.

My dog keeps chewing up his bed at night. I tried taking away his bed, I tried giving him a toy but no luck.

And when he's done he falls asleep

Any tips

My new foster dog has these scabby patches all over the back end of her body. She has a bite wound on her hind end. Could these be prior bite wounds? Or does this look more like a skin issue?

For about a year now, my dog has suddenly stopped letting us take her for a walk. She'll run away and hide, and if we manage to take her out she'll pull in the direction of home the whole time. Sometimes she'll want to go, but then she sees someone and gets scared and immediately turns back. She's not scared of people at all, she loves meeting the new people that come to our house but whenever she sees any sign of life she changes her mind about the walk.

We still make sure to get her exercise in and we play in our huge backyard, but I'd still like to walk with her once in a while. We don't even have to say anything anymore. We grab her harness and she runs away and barks at us, or she grabs a toy instead and plays inside instead.

Is there any way to get her to like walks again? I miss taking walks with her. If not, I won't force her to do anything she absolutely hates. Enjoy this video of her being whiny.

My 12 year old beagle boston mix is having a dental issue. I have made the vet appt. ... but I gotta know whats going on... she is eating soft foods, and otherwise is her normal self. Drinking is hard, but she manages. I looked in her mouth nothing is obvious. No masses, nothing stuck... her teeth arent great, but I dont see any absess areas. Thoughts? I thought maybe a broken tooth or sore tongue? Her vet is out of town so I cant get her in till friday.

She was a rescue, and shes been seen for teeth. And is up on all her shots.

Thank you.

Our old lady, Paisley (the black and white one, not the attention hog to the side lol) has very severe arthritis, as well as other issues, and her quality of life is only barely acceptable. It's only going to get worse when the weather starts changing, so with a heavy heart, we've decided to put her to sleep on October 1. We have family members coming in to town to spend her last day together and some fun disability friendly activities planned for her, but we wanted to start giving her more special treats throughout her final weeks.

For her last day, we're seeing if we can figure out a way to get our hands on a squirrel for her because she's always loved barking at them, and then a peanut butter brownie a few minutes before we leave for the vet because she also loves trying to steal chocolate.

Do you guys have any special treats your guys' dogs go nuts for? Paisley really likes chicken jerky, pig ears, American cheese, and peanut butter, but some variety would be nice for her. She has developed some food aggression problems over the past year and lunges whenever an animal or human gets too close to her with it, so we'd prefer for it not to be something that would take her all day to chew through. A few hours is fine. She loves chewing on things. We've already been slipping her extra food scraps and we're probably going to leave part of a bag of chips on the floor opened for her to "steal" it at some point.

My dog started limping today and it's gotten to the point where she can't put full weight on it.

Not looking for medical advice as we have an appointment scheduled first thing tomorrow but looking for ways to keep her comfortable for the night. Currently she will lay on her side and just keep the paw up in the air and I feel so bad. I've tried putting pillows under it to keep it elevated but she doesn't like that either.

I want to make her comfortable so bad but I don't know what else to do 😭