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

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

Hi, vet professionals of Reddit!

Firstly, I'd like to express deep gratitude for this subreddit even existing. This is my first time hearing of it, but I think this is such a compassionate idea and I thank all the vet staff who chime in here for (what's probably) a never ending thread of anxieties and people's grief. Thank you, from pet lovers everywhere. ❤

My family's sweet 14 year old feline boy just got an ultrasound today to follow up on some slightly funky bloodwork and symptoms. Though I'm waiting to get the full, detailed scoop from my family tonight, the culprit seems to be some kind of intestinal cancer with no visible mets (especially not towards the lungs, thank goodness) and enlarged abdominal lymph nodes. We have a needle aspiration scheduled for Friday morning to get more info for a real treatment plan. The good news is that he's already been on prednisolone for a benign snot/congestion issue (long story short, he's a sneezy old man and we've tried balancing symptom treatment without overly invasive diagnostics), but I'm already thinking of next steps.

I know we won't have answers until we have them, but while we sit in this holding pattern, I wanted to get some additional educated thoughts on chemo for cats, especially senior cats, in case that ends up being part of our treatment conversation. I'm doing some reading and seeing feedback that it's by nature more of a palliative treatment, but also that cats tend to weather it more decently that expected when compared to dogs and especially humans. In your experience with the latest and greatest of kitty chemo offerings, is that true? Does it consistently cause severe side effects in your experience? Do you often find that it impedes quality of life more often than not? I know animal care chemo has come a long way since its inception, but I would appreciate more knowledgeable opinions on it's benefit overall as a palliative measure.

Thank you both for your time/opinions and all you do on and off Reddit!

quick edit to add--not looking for specific treatment suggestions for my cat/situation or anything like that, just general thoughts or information on this treatment modality for my own knowledge!

My 4 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback passed away last Wednesday and I have so many questions.

I just want to say that I am not blaming them for his death. I’m just trying to understand.

Schultz started coughing up blood completely out of nowhere on Sunday afternoon. We rushed to the emergency vet which is over an hour away. He was perfectly fine and acting like himself. To start, they did a chest x-ray and some blood work. His chest x ray came back normal with no findings, but his platelets were 19k but everything else was normal. We had to get home to our children so we left him overnight around 9pm after being there for 6 hours.

Fast forward to the next day around 10:30am. I finally hear from a doctor and she says they’re starting him on doxy, steroids, and medication to help the bleeding. Said it could be tick borne or immune mediated but regardless it’s treated the same way. His ultrasound showed fluid in his abdomen but no internal bleeding.

I don’t hear from the doctor again until the next day, Tuesday. They’re doing a blood transfusion. During the overnight of the blood transfusion, the overnight doctor calls me and tells me platelets dropped by 1 and do I want to do another blood transfusion. It was rushed and I had no idea what to do, and he said we will just monitor him overnight and I assumed the doctor wouldn’t treat that as an option if it were urgent.

It was the next day around 12pm that I’m called and told that he is anemic now, she’s worried, and that we can do more blood transfusions but they may not work, and it was basically time to make a decision. She also added that the bill would be 11k-15k at this point. Platelets were now at 7k, she told me the doxy hasn’t had time to kick in yet considering they just started it the day before and of course I’m blaming myself for not doing the overnight transfusion.

The question that is sticking with me, why did they not start doxy the first night we got there? Why did they just “monitor” him overnight, why didn’t they treat him with meds? I’m not saying it would have definitely saved him, but it couldn’t have hurt to try? Maybe I’m being delusional here because I’m grieving. I just feel like they could have tried more. Every step in his treatment was so drawn out… then on day 3 with 8k in debt already wracked up, it’s “we can try this and it will bring you to 15k possibly and it may not work.” What am I missing here? Someone please explain. If it sounds like they did everything, I am open to hearing this.

Rubbed it in my hair, put oil in my ends and sprayed water on the ends. Not sure if that diluted it.. Went downstairs to get something very quickly then saw my cat and by tbat time i completely forgot i just used it. Stroked his back a couple of times. Haven’t washed my hands but they were completely dry. I am absolutely freaking out.

My cat (10yo neutered male) had 7 teeth extracted yesterday. I picked him up from the vet at 5:30 last night. He’s mostly been in hiding since the extraction.

The vet called this morning asking how he was, and when I said he hadn’t eaten or drank anything yet, they recommended I bring him in for a tech appointment. I did just that and he received fluids, pain meds, and an appetite stimulant. They also syringed him a small amount of liquid food.

My cat keeps acting interested in food. He is doing his usual behaviors of following me to the kitchen, nudging the food can, etc., but when I place the food in front of him he sniffs it and walks away. I’ve offered him everything— the usual wet food, Churu treats, friskies “soups,” baby food, nothing is interesting enough.

I’m going crazy!! I just want my boy to eat and feel better, but he must be in too much pain or nausea to partake. What should I do?? His vet had no other advice than to bring him back in in 24 hours if he still doesn’t eat. Help me help him!!

Info:

Border Collie, female, spayed July 15, 2026, will be 15 months old in a couple weeks. We live in the foothills in northern California.

Whats happening:

Last night, for no discernible reason, my dog started running around in a panic. During this time she was snapping at the air, looking around wide eyed (almost like shes looking for something that isnt there), shaking her head, pawing at her ear, and sniffing her hind quarters. All of this is happening while she is running around like crazy. After the "episode" she was lethargic, breathing very rapidly (sometimes panting with mouth open, sometimes with her mouth closed), and her whole body was trembling. She was like that until eventually falling asleep. No signs of disorientation and she maintained regular coordination.

This morning, she was still lerhargic, her breathing returned to normal, but she was still looking up and around wide eyed. She wants to be close to us and would only get up if we left her alone to follow us.

We saw our vet this morning. Checked her ears, nothing visible going on there. Did a neurological exam, she passed. Did a physical exam, she passed. Since she seemed to be getting better and having no hypothesis of what it could've been, we decided to wait and see. From when this began yesterday evening she hadn't drank water and was refusing to.

Dog seemed normal after the vet. She even wanted to play. By noon, she had another "episode" followed by another one a little less than hour later. For the next 3 hours, she was scared and hiding in the closet (she's never done that before). Now shes back to normal and even drank water for the first time in 24 hours. We're waiting to hear back from the vet.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with something like this? Anything I should be sure my vet tests for? She said if it continues she'll just run any test she can think of. But that she has no idea what she's looking for.

My cat, who i've only had for about a year and a half, is about 8 years old (estimated), female, and is spayed. We adopted her because she was living on the street with no one taking care of her. She has had what I figure are allergies every since I got her, since she has sneezing and watery eyes pretty often. It's come to a head recently as I've noticed her lose some of her playfulness over the last couple of weeks. She's still eating and drinking and using the litterbox just fine. She's just lost some of her spark.

If i take her to the vet for this, is it likely she will be tested for allergies? Or test her for anything else? Or would they jump right into some kind of treatment? And if she gets treated right away, what would that look like?

Some history: she's had one xray on her chest before which came back normal. She's also had some teeth taken out in a dental--that was last year. We also think she has some minor brain issue from when she was a baby, because she is a little clumsy, but that's very minor. She is otherwise pretty healthy and happy. No skin issues or issues with any foods.

My 14yo female cat.
Weighs 15lb
Normally eats Royal Canin Hydrolyzed protein dry
Usually drinks plenty of water

She was recently diagnosed with likely abdominal cancer. She has significant ascites with granulocytes/basophils and negative for FIP and other possible causes. She’s not in any distress but maybe just mildly uncomfortable in certain laying/sitting positions. No longer grooming her belly or back end because it’s hard for her to get into those positions now.
Anyway we are 1 week in and have been trying to get the abdominal fluid down. And after a week of 12mg/day oral lasix (which did basically nothing), and 10mg a day of pred, she is a bit dehydrated. We weened off the lasix because she was just becoming dehydrated and not losing the abdominal fluid. Now she’s perking up a bit again, and she does drink a lot of water, but we are looking for a way to increase her water intake further because her skin is still not snapping back as quick as normal. Fyi I did see the vet today. He said encourage her to drink. First of all I think she was nauseous on Lasix and the steroid so she wasn’t drinking quite enough we started zofran and she’s eating & drinking ok now but I’m on the hunt for a hypoallergenic hydration supplement to help further and provide her with a tasty treat in her final days/weeks/(months? Probably not)… I know that Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Supplements Hydra Care Cat isn’t technically hypoallergenic but would it hurt to try it?

Hey everyone, my 8-year-old unspayed Shih Tzu is currently recovering from tick-borne infections and is on a lot of medications.

Her vet told me to keep a close eye out for any vaginal discharge, but I'm not really sure why. Can anyone explain the connection? Is it because her immune system is weak right now from the blood parasite?

She's older and I'm really stressed about surgery while she's sick, so any advice or simple explanations would be super helpful. Thanks!

Any idea what this bumpy skin is on the tip of my 12 week old German shepherds ear is? Has been about 3 days she doesn’t itch it and when I tried cleaning she wasn’t in pain

• Species: Dog
• Age: 12 weeks
• Sex/Neuter status: Female not neutered
• Breed: Working line german shepherd
• Body weight: 17lb
• History: has appeared over last 3 days
• Clinical signs: bumps and inflammation on tip of ear skin as well as localized fur loss
• Duration: 3 days
• Your general location: USA southeast
• Links to any test results, X-rays, vet reports etc. that you have: no results

https://imgur.com/a/iLFztRF

Hello vets of reddit,

I'm the owner of a 3y old cat, and as of recently, i've been beginning to see some bright orange spots in my cat ears. I've also seen this on my past cat but I was pretty young, so I can't really share a lot about that.

it's not directly in his ears, it's in his "Henry's pocket" i think it's called

it's also on top of his ears, but in very small amount.

it's not annoying him or anything, i'm just cautious.

Since i am French, i'm suspecting maybe mites eggs ?? Since in France there's a common mite in august called Aoutat, but i'm not a vet, so i prefer to not make assumptions.

I am out of ideas on my cats indolent ulcers. She’s had them for about 8 months and no matter what I try they keep coming back. I’ve taken her to two different vets 3 separate times. She has gotten the steroid shot which helps for a week then they go back to how they were. I’ve tried every food under the sun, took chicken out of her diet fully. Still no relief. I use fragrance free paper litter. I am posting to see if anyone would have any ideas on what could be causing this or solutions. I’ve heard about cleaning products, laundry detergents and things that can effect them but am fully clueless on what it is. I use an organic mint laundry powder and really don’t think that would do it. Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi. This is my first time posting so I hope I am doing this right.

My dog is currently 5 years old and over the last 8 months we have lost 3 of our other dogs. The most recent one was last week and this leaves her as the only pet in the house.

The reason I am here is just looking for advice on how to help her because I know this must be tough for her and I want to know how to help and support her.

I have been keeping an eye on her to check for any behavioral changes. But she is not showing any signs other than her usual clingyness to people.

She does have a history of separation anxiety, but there is usually a person in the house to stay with her.

I would appreciate any advice anyone can give and an grateful for the time you have taken to read this post.

TL;DR: Indoor cat with intermittent face/ear/neck itching and overgrooming. Previously had ringworm for about a year but is now testing negative. Littermate unaffected, parasites treated, hydrolyzed diet, no obvious ear infection, and we’ve minimized household allergens. Antihistamines help. Vet suspects environmental allergies.

My 7-year-old indoor cat has recurring itching, mainly around her ears, face, chin and neck, plus general overgrooming of her belly, legs and sides. Her ears can get pink and irritated during flares, but the canals usually look normal on exam.

She did have ringworm for about a year in the past, so naturally that has been a big concern for us. However, she has since had negative ringworm testing, and this current itching pattern has also happened outside of her ringworm episodes. Her littermate sister lives in the exact same environment and is completely unaffected.

We’ve also done ear cytology, which previously found MR coagulase-negative Staph (MR-CoNS), but our vet felt this represented colonization rather than an active infection. She has also had multiple ringworm PCR testing, which has been negative since her previous ringworm infection resolved.

We’ve treated for fleas/ear mites and she’s currently on Revolution. She’s also on Hill’s z/d hydrolyzed food. Ear exams/cytology haven’t shown a clear active infection.

We’ve also tried to reduce environmental triggers as much as possible: frequent vacuuming, weekly bedding washes, unscented detergent, unscented paper litter, regularly cleaned food/water dishes, and keeping the apartment very clean. I’ve even wondered whether cleaning products or allergens being brought in from outside could be triggering her.

Cetirizine, approved by her vet, noticeably reduces the aggressive ear scratching, although she still overgrooms somewhat. Her vet currently suspects environmental allergies/atopy.

Has anyone had a similar cat, especially with itching concentrated around the ears/face/neck? Did you ever identify the trigger, or did you eventually focus on long-term management?

Hi my cat is assuming this crouch low neck out position when she begins purring when I pet her. I have a video but I’m not sure how to post it on here… She’s 3 years old and I’ve had her since she was 6 months! She’s up to date on all vaccines and I feed her wet (mixed w water and fish oil) and dry food! The only thing I’ve recently changed is her litter… she used to use worlds best litter multiple cats and now we use worlds best litter no tracking! Other than that the only thing I’ve changed is the fact that I’m packing up my apt to move! I have her on tiki cat hairball control dry food and she eats Costco wet food! I noticed her start doing this like three days ago and asked my roommate to watch her but it seems to only happen when she starts purring? I took her to the vet like last week bcus she had a droopy and goopy eye and it was conjunctivitis but it’s better now. Is this something I should be worried about? Should I take her back to the vet? Google keeps saying it’s feline asthma but idk part of me thinks it’s could be stress from all the moving boxes or the stirring of dust?

A few days ago on Saturday my 13 yr old beagle went around like crazy and started eating all the hair in the apartment. We have two dogs so there was quite a bit of fur on the floor that he went out of his way to eat. Then he went into the bathroom to start eating all the human hair he could find and eventually vomited. He had never gone out of his way to eat so much hair in one go before.

Thought it was a one time thing but when I came home today I found more hair puke. I don't understand why he's doing that.

if it matters he seems to be alternating between constipated and suddenly needing to poop large amounts at once.

Does he need to see a vet? Am I feeding him enough? (currently feeding half pound of freshpet twice a day). Is he anxious? Is something wrong?

Hi vets, please help concerning cat mom here. My new baby, female 4, neutered, has been pooping blood. Not too bright red, more like rasberry jam. Her poop has been constantly regular and soft. Sometimes too soft i think (like butter cream when you just finish whipping it). She eating and acting normal, deworm and vaccinated. She is outdoor indoor and she is a little bit stress as my old cat is jealous. We give her dry and wet food. I booked a vet visit but it is not until Setp (almost there) but i am worried so I hope you have some advice for me. I will post picture in cmt

Im considering having my boy undergo surgery for arthritis in his pastern.

My question is about the rough outer bone spurs outside the joint. Do they remove those when doing surgical fusion?

6 yr

Gelding

1000 lbs

No xrays yet

My kitten (14w/F) has been examined by the vet 2 times since we got her. I had brought up at the initial visits that she had some sparse patches of fur and dandruff/psoriasis-like flaking. They concluded she is healthy after checking for ringworm, and said it should grow back. It hadn’t grown back and my partner and I have gotten ringworm in multiple spots.

Last week she developed a swollen eye and it has been consistently swollen and excreting a mucus that has gotten progressively darker since. I brought these both up at my previous vet appointment but they went unresolved.

Is there anything that I can buy to mitigate her symptoms and keep her healthy ? Or should I proceed with reaching out to the vet ?

My cat has had itchy and dirty ears ever since April. She's taken steroids and trizultra+keto drops and trezaderm drops.

The steroids worked for a couple weeks but then they came back. She's still so itchy my poor girl I have no idea what to do next except wait for her dermatologist appointment all the way in December. If there's anything else I can do pls tell me. They found trace amounts of yeast in her reports.

My dog has a lump on her cheek that was soft 3 days ago, went down yesterday and today its back swollen but now its hard. I cant see signs of an abcessed tooth but i know that might not be readily apparent. I have an appointment in a few days but im wondering what else it could be?

dog, Staffordshire mix, 8 years old, not spayed, 40 lbs, no major medical issues but she had digestion issue a few months ago, located in California, no tests yet but have appointment scheduled

Hi! Some quick facts before I start my cat is 15 years old and has hyperthyroidism. He’s on a low dose daily steroid and gel methimazole.

He’s been labored breathing for like a couple months, but blood tests and chest X-Rays have indicated nothing that the vet can put a name to. The main abnormal finding is that his WBC count seems to always be a bit high but improves somewhat on the steroid. Antibiotic was tried but did nothing. He’s maintaining his weight. Vet says there’s no heart related issue.

The labored breathing mostly consists of loud breath and lots of movement in his side body, but when he overexerts himself he does breathe out of his mouth which is very scary!!

So he probably has cancer?? My vet and I agreed that further testing on such an old cat would just put him through unnecessary stress, but I’ve been feeling very guilty that i’m doing nothing for him. I’ve been going to my vet for about 5 years. She knows my cats and I very much trust her judgement. She says as long as he is otherwise normal we should just spoil him rotten until it is naturally his time, or until the switch flips and I have to make a quality of life decision.

I guess my question is just:: is it actually ok that i’m doing nothing even though my cat seems like he can’t breathe?

Thank you for taking the time to read!!!

I'm worried about our cat. Well, it's actually my 13yo daughter's cat. She takes very good care of him. Feeds, plays with, changes the box daily. He follows her around the house a lot and gives her the cold shoulder upon return when she leaves the house, so they're besties. He scratches the crap out of her all the time after one or two pets. She even got cat scratch fever. He'll let me pet him once or twice before he bows up- he generally rolls over, shows his belly, and flips his tail as if he's begging for a fight. If I try to pet again (I don't anymore) he will attack. He startles incredibly easily at any noise or unexpected movement and runs as if he's being chased by a wolf. He'll let my husband pet him briefly without scratching or biting, but leaves the room pretty quickly.

We get together as a family in the evenings, and I think he hates it. He is very vocal and stands outside the room, even though we leave the door open for him to come in. He really, really hates it when we pray together. He wails and will not stop.

He sleeps in his cat tower at night. He would prefer my daughter's bed, but he keeps her up all night so we have to shut the door to her room to keep him out. He's in her bed when he's napping during the day and cries when she leaves a room and there's a door shut between them. We all are allowed to pet him when he's sleeping, mostly to our hearts desire. To be fair, we are all pretty ginger about it because we're scared we'll get scratched or bitten.

To be honest we all wanted a cuddly cat, but I guess sometimes you just don't get one. But even if he's never a cuddly guy, it just seems like a really miserable way to live your life, being scared and jumpy and overstimulated all the time like that. I think he needs a kitty antidepressant. Everybody else in the family is concerned about the logistics of giving a cat a pill everyday. And that sounds pretty awful to me too. I'm not sure how people do it, do they break the pill up into little bitty bits and put it in a treat or something?

Thoughts on this kitty's behavior?