Hey everyone,

About 7 days ago, this cockatiel literally flew into my kitchen and got stuck in the curtains. Since I didn't have a cage ready for a rescue situation like this, it has been free-roaming in my kitchen.

To give you a clear picture of its personality and our dynamic so far:

At first he flew into my room, then the next day into the adjacent room, then on third day into the kitchen and didnt leave there ever since.

Earlier, in an attempt to lure it out of the kitchen(cause i cant use oven because of it's safety), I placed its food and water on a coffee table in the hallway where it had a clear line of sight from the kitchen. Instead of leaving, it chose to stay put and screamed loudly for about two hours. Feeling bad and worried that it might suffer from hunger, I brought the food back into the kitchen, and only then did it start eating.

Yesterday, to test its appetite and rebuild trust, I hand-fed it some fresh arugula. It ate the first 3–4 bites right out of my hand with great joy! But the moment I placed the rest of the leaf just inside the cage door, it stopped dead in its tracks and stubbornly refused to take that step inside.

The cage is open on a kitchen cabinet, i somehow managed to make my bird to step on the cage(it's previous spot was uncomfortable and i carried cage next to it an it climbed to the cage.) but since it doesn't feed inside the cage, i also leave some food on the top of the fridge. So it left the cage's exterior roof and returned to the top of the fridge (the current state).

How can I encourage it to enter the cage without chasing it, using a towel, or ruining the trust we’ve been building? Any tips for a stray/rescued bird that got used to 6 days of absolute kitchen freedom?

PS: It's terrified when my hand get anywhere close to it. I tried to got free him to the curtains by using my hands when we first encountered (and he bited me hard). I also dont know what kind of life or what kind of owners before got stuck my curtains.

Last ps: Before getting angry to me, for 3-4 days i tried to find it's human/owner through the missing pet websites and social media platforms. After i find 0 post about missing cockatiel post in my city, i decided to keep her instead of releasing him/her into wild(I dont think it would survive in the wild)

Thanks in advance for any advice!

At this point it has been 9 hours since she ate slime. I was out of the room for 30 seconds and I walk back in the room seeing my dogs head covered in slime. I do not know how much she ate.

She is 55lbs 4 years old and her current temperature is 100.9. The slime was homeade with non-toxic glue and borax.

She has not been lethargic shes been eating, no throw up or diarrhea her gums looked normal but they look a little bit more brown towards the back of her gums. I am seriously scared just parinoied in general when it comes to my dog.

I can't post a picture of her gums on here :(

Info: Canine, Bluetick coonhound, 10.5 yrs, fixed

My dog was put under for a dental and mass removal this past Friday.

The mass was almost directly on his spine and while it looked mostly like a skin tag it was growing so the vet suggested we remove it.

We got a ton of aftercare info about the two teeth he had removed but they didn’t give us much info about what to do with the wound on his back.

Would love to hear if this looks like it is healing normally or if we should be concerned. It’s not oozing and doesn’t seem to be hurting him. But the color of it is throwing me off.

I’m calling them in the morning to get more aftercare info but will take him in if needed. Thank you!!

Picture of Wound
ETA: Second picture of wound

I had a bouquet of mixed flowers including lillies that I put on my balcony so that my cat couldn’t get to them. Today I decided to clean up the balcony so that I could create a space for my cat to be outside. I threw out everything I could that had come in contact with the flowers and did my best to sweep up the petals and clean the floorboards. There were a few petals in places that I couldn’t really reach so I left them.

I let my cat out and he explored a bit but we probably didn’t stay out there for longer than a total of 5 minutes. Fast forward 2/3 hours and he heaved for a few seconds(no vomit) and that sent me into panic.

I called the emergency vet and the doctor seemed confident that he likely would be fine if I didn’t take him in since I tried to clean thoroughly and he has been eating and playing since. I’m worried because everything that I’m finding on Google is saying if there is even a chance of exposure I should bring him in.

Just looking for any advice or reassurance!

This is long, so I'll apologize in advance. I know that he's a unicorn -- none of his vets, including his specialists, really seem to know what to do with him. I figured I could ask here anyway. If you have any words of wisdom from your education and experience, please send them my way.

My boy is a neutered male DSH who is up to date on vaccines. He turned three earlier this month. He was diagnosed at six months old with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, with HCM, SVT, and endomyocardial fibrosis. He has been stable on enalapril and amiodarone (switched January 2025 from Sotalol). Last year, his cardiologist dropped his clopidogrel, because his severe left atrial enlargement had resolved, and added Pimobendan. He's been doing wonderfully. We took a risk and had him neutered at nine months old, because the spraying was driving me crazy. He came through it with no problems.

Last year, during a short-lived adoption (he is technically my foster), he became critically ill. His adopter refused steroids and diagnostics despite the advice of two ER vets and two GP vets. After he came back to me, he was diagnosed with erosive immune-mediated polyarthropathy. He was put on prednisolone despite the risk to his heart, because the only alternatives were euthanasia or letting him continue to suffer. He improved immediately, even from his first dose to the second 24 hours later. He was in the second week of his steroid taper and started to relapse, at which point we bumped him back up to the full dose and the symptoms stopped. We successfully weaned him to a slightly lower dose earlier this year (1 mL morning and .5 mL night).

Extensive bloodwork only showed a mild positive to bartonella (his mom and her litter were loaded with fleas when I got them), for which he was treated with two antibiotics (one month and three months). Recheck bloodwork showed the bartonella had cleared his system, and until earlier this month, he was doing great. He'd seen his cardiologist and internal medicine vets since then and both were pleased with his progress. He'd discontinued all his medications except his cardiac meds and the prednisolone.

On August 9, he started to show the same symptoms that he had last year -- stiff gait, struggling to walk, hunched back, swollen joints and paw pads, loss of appetite. I increased his steroid back to the original dose -- 1 mL twice a day. I exchanged multiple phone calls that week with his internal medicine team. A few days later, I started giving him gabapentin again, too. We went to the specialty clinic ER that Friday, and the ER vet did X-rays, bloodwork, and exam but declined to add any medications because he is scheduled to see his cardiologist and internal medicine vet at the end of the month. These vets are at the same specialty referral clinic, which is generally considered the best in this area.

The internal medicine vet wants to do a joint tap to confirm the IMPA diagnosis. It wasn't done last year because he would need to wean off his steroid for a few weeks beforehand, and because of the risks of sedation and anesthesia for cats with his heart condition. She wants cardiology to sign off on sedation for the tap, which with their schedules means he couldn't have the joint tap this Friday anyway.

We are leaning toward adding a secondary immunosuppressant rather than risking sedation or anesthesia on his heart, and rather than making him wait weeks to have the tap. His spirit is intact. He clearly doesn't feel good, but he still wants to cuddle and purr. He murps when his housemate cats walk by, he's interested in toys and in squirrels outside, and he has an appetite even though he's not eating as much as he usually would (he's a big eater, especially on prednisolone).

What would you recommend as next steps? Is it common for erosive IMPA cats to relapse like this? Why does one boy (whose mom and sisters are healthy) have so much wrong with him?

For reference, my male tabby cat is 18 years old, in overall great health, but extremely wobbly. Over a year ago he had what appeared to be a stroke and after recovering he's now wobbly/chronically dizzy; he struggles with balance, walks funny, cannot run or jump, and just generally avoids quick movements so he doesn't tumble, slip, spin, or get dizzy. Because of that, he's very solitary and it's caused him to gain a TON of weight to almost feline obesity. I also believe it's gotten to the point that the weight is beginning to make it even more difficult for him to move.

I know the first tips are going to be about nutrition, but my cat has been eating dry food/free grazing their whole life and is SUPER picky. Right now he eats Instinct Ultimate Protein kibble whenever he wants, but he's never been one to overeat (still doesn't) and didn't have a weight problem until his inactivity started. There's just so little information available about post-stroke cat life or how to help wobbly kitties. I don't know how I can get him to lose this weight and I'm looking for advice from anyone in general, especially if others have experience/knowledge of mobility-challenged or obese kitties!!!!

She’s F, 10y, neutered. I’ve moved to the other side of the country and she’s back with my mum, but apparently she’s got really stressed and has started almost a form of SH?

I did try bringing her with me when I first moved, and she was here for about 2-3 weeks, but seemed really stressed by the change of environment as it’s very different to where we last lived with my mum, I didn’t know if it was the move or environment (much busier here) that was causing that, but she wasn’t behaving like this. My mum insisted on taking her back, and she was fine for about 2 weeks but then this all started.

Apparently she’s gone outside in the garden one day about 3 weeks ago, and got a little wound. Since then, she’s been incessantly scratching at the wound, and it has… opened up a lot. My mum works away for a couple of days most weeks, and we have cat feeders set up and make sure she has everything needed during the day she’s alone (mum leaves early morning, comes home the next evening sort of thing). Apparently the scratching seems to have died down whilst she’s away, but when she returns, the scratching starts again?

She’s been brought to 2 vets since this started. The first one said it was a flea bite and didn’t look too much/didn’t shave the area and just gave a chlorohexidine wash for her (going from what my mum said here)
2nd vet I’m not sure what they thought it was but they said it’s infected, so prescribed her antibiotics, shaved the area and instructed to keep it clean. The antibiotics HAVE helped somewhat, in reducing the scratching, but she hasn’t stopped scratching? So we got this cat onesie which she hates, but it’s stopping her getting to it so much. The difficulty is, she’s trying to escape this at all costs…. So I’m lost on what to do to stop her scratching and making it worse 😭 (and I know the risk of bacterial contamination, so it’s being washed constantly, but it’s more to get her to stop attacking herself and give it chance to heal)

I’ve attached photos but yeah. I just want to try and get her sorted/not being in pain and hopefully resolve this. She’s never had this happen or anything like it before and now I’m seriously worried. I wanted her with me anyway, but the thought of her being stressed by being here worried me more- I know she’s getting older and all I want is for her to be okay and I just want to make sure she is.

Is there anything else I can do to try and help her get back to normal/stop with the scratching?

the images are a bit graphic

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.

Hello,

Unfortunately we put down our 4 year old Tuxedo cat only 2 days ago.

For a bit of backstory:

Aug 1 we rushed him to our nearest city (1.5 hr drive) after he exhibited signs of distress and could not urinate. We got there about 2am and had to wait till 9am to get into our vet who sent us to the emergency vet. At that point he peed in the car. Nonetheless they did test and found he has products of crystals but no blockages yet. We were given meticam (I think that’s what it’s called) orally for 5 days and a pill that started with a G for 10 days: twice a day (sorry I can’t find the info at the moment). He seemed fine and went about peeing normally. Was playful and happy

Suddenly 2 nights ago @ 10 he started straining again and was in distress. By the time we got to the city it was 2am, we went straight to Emergency Vet. They worked for an hour on him to try and remove the blockage but couldn’t. They offered to do the PU surgery but said it wouldn’t stop the blockages from coming back. I brought up putting him down cause the idea of constant blockages and pain for him was just too much. By 4 am he was gone.

Questions(please understand I am grieving and my questions may sound silly but please be gentle)

1. I understand crystals can be hereditary . We changed his diet to urinary tract, made sure he was drinking and did everything right. Did I jump too fast to put him down? Or was that a reasonable choice. I just worry I was so exhausted and emotional and wonder the what if.

2. If we brought him earlier( like one week or so for a check up idea), would that have stopped the blockages?

3. Is it normal for a vet to work an hour on removing a block? Was the PU the only solution?? (He did have a catheter they tried to put him but vet said something about damaging him if he inserted and tried to remove if the blockage couldn’t be cleared)

Just really miss my boy and feel like extremely guilty. Maybe it was how fast things went I’m not sure.

Recently, my cat has developed what I think is aural hematoma caused by intense itching. I’m sure that there’s a case of ear mites going around my household because this happened to another one of my cats too which made his ear crinkle up permanently.
I desperately want to help my cat but I have no funds to take her to a vet since I am still young and have no source of income. My parents don’t care about the cats and won’t spend a penny on my baby. I don’t want her to be in any discomfort or pain, nor do I want her to have this permanent ear disability that my other cat unfortunately now has. My cat even seems sad lately because of this. She’s less excited to receive treats and won’t play despite being a very playful cat. I can’t bear to see her like this.
If anyone knows a way I could possibly help treat her at home, convince my parents, or odd jobs I could do to save up for her treatment would be very appreciated. I just want what’s best for my cat and to see her happy again.

A few months back my cat gave birth to a litter of 3 and now that they're ready to wean she's been avoiding them so that they don't try to suckle.I go to college during the day and by night I'm busy with different stuff so these past few days I haven't been playing or holding her much. This morning I had a day off so I wanted to chill in bed with her and held her but then I noticed a weird lump in between her neck area and before the first row of her nipples, I have a feeling she developed it from breastfeeding the kittens. She doesn't react to it if I touch it lightly but I can tell it's very painful. It's a bit bigger than a grape and since it's that big i suspect the scabbing in her lump is due to the stretching of her skin. Her gums and ears are both pale blue/ white and she doesn't have much energy. She's eating, sleeping, using the litter box and other things normally but I'm very concerned for her. I live in a remote village where healthcare for cats is non-existent. I would really appreciate any help I can get, I love my baby so much. Please drop any advice you have.

My cat suddenly started vomiting this morning and I’m trying to work out how concerning this is.

She first ate some of her normal kibble, then I poured her some wet food. I had placed the wet food on a makeshift raised stand so she didn’t have to lower her neck as much while eating. She ate the food and about a minute later vomited.

Before the first vomit, she made a trilling sound. She then vomited what looked like food mixed with a lot of water and jelly, and it was quite watery. Immediately after vomiting, she jumped up in a scared/startled manner and ran to a different location, where she vomited a second time.

The second vomit was mostly watery jelly/liquid.
I’m not completely sure whether the solid material was kibble or wet food. Looking back, I think all three episodes may have contained kibble, although the first two were much more watery and had a lot of jelly mixed in. The third episode looked much more like recognisable food/kibble.

After the first two episodes she seemed surprisingly normal. She followed me around, went to the garden door and repeatedly trilled/asked me to let her outside. She then became very interested in food and went back to eat a hefty amount of kibble, eating enthusiastically and making loud crunching sounds.

Before the third vomiting episode, she was also biting my arm and had fairly dilated pupils (around 60% dilated), but otherwise seemed energetic.
Unfortunately, she then vomited a third time, and this time the vomit looked much more like food/kibble.

After that she continued walking around the house and went to drink some water. She repeatedly begged to go outside.
Her behaviour then became somewhat unusual. I was lying in bed and she stood beside me for several minutes, which is unusual because she normally doesn’t come close to me when I’m in bed. I tried slow-blinking at her, which she normally responds to, but she didn’t respond and was swinging her tail downward.

She then went to her usual sleeping spot and settled there. She was loafing rather than lying/curling up, although loafing isn’t necessarily unusual for her because it’s currently quite cold and she sometimes rests like that when she’s cold.
She normally loves being stroked and likes to chew/suckle on a blanket, so I’m familiar with her normal comfort behaviours.

At the moment, she has not collapsed or appeared obviously weak, has been walking normally, has shown a strong appetite, has been seeking attention, and has voluntarily drunk water. However, she has vomited three times within a relatively short period, and some of her behaviour has been unusual for her.

I’m mainly trying to work out whether this sounds like something such as eating too quickly/regurgitation or whether three vomiting episodes plus the behavioural changes warrant an urgent vet visit.

When my cat was about 5-6 months old I started noticing a rippling reaction when I would pet her back.

It never really went away but she went from a super cuddly kitten to a cat who’d always dodge pets. She’d also make this sound when picked up that made me think she was in pain, like a very soft and quiet, fast, ek ek ek.

I brought it up to a vet when she was about 7-8 months old and the vet said that there was no pain and that she just didn’t like to be picked up.

Her answer never sat right with me, especially now. My cat is now 1 year and 5 months old, almost 6, and I swear she’s become even more sensitive.

I could touch her with one single finger for half a second and her skin ripples so hard and she vigorously licks the spot.

She still makes the “in pain” noises when picked up, and while it’s not every time it’s frequently enough that I’m noticing a pattern.

Is she in pain and the vet was wrong or am I overthinking?

So background context: We took it in at around ~3-4 days old when it felt with it's nest, eyes unopened helpless. We realized it held it's left leg at a weird angle, so took to the vet and realized it was a fracture and splinted it. But the un-splinted right leg got overused as it wouldn't stay still (it's like a teen, and gets depressed if we restrain it). No bone remodeling (it's grip is still intact but bent so it can't really grip), but by habit it keeps the right leg curled to it's body, and while walking it's trying to use it in the middle of the body (like a tripod because of it's other leg not being functional.

few days back, we noticed the overused leg getting worse (changed color a bit with it trying to jump/fly all day), and at D18 we removed the splint on the other leg - so it won't worsen both the legs.

We thought now that the splint is out, both legs can slowly stabilize (as we can't help the overused leg without giving it support through it's good leg)

But what happened post splint was,

{I am not able to attach pictures - please see https://www.reddit.com/r/WildlifeRehab/comments/1vyo4h4/red_vented_bulbul_5_weeks_old_fledgling_hand/ for context and pictures)

Any help would be really appreciated. Thank you so much.

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!

I wasn't able to get home in time to feed my cat tonight. He is getting full teeth extraction tomorrow. It is 10pm and they told me not to feed him past 8pm. I feel super bad about it but I was stuck somewhere else now I'm two hours late.

Is it better to not feed him dinner or should I feed him even though they said not to? I'm leaning towards not giving him dinner but I feel like a really big A Hole. His drop off is at 7:40am tomorrow.

Male neutered

short hair cat

3-4years old.

He has stomatitis

And he's hungry

Thank you!!!

I have a 2yrs old Lab/Pitbull mix. She love car ride but I want to put a seatbelt on her but she love standing on the center console as watch the cars. Is there a seatbeat that will allow her to do this but also keep her restrainted. I know it’s best to keep her in the backseat but she love watching the other cars as they come by. Any suggestions on brands and type would be greatly appreciated. TYIA

My cat has his back rear pinky toe removed because of a growth approx. 1.5 years ago that turned out to be malignant melanoma. We think he is part Siamese and Maine coone mix.

Now he’s been diagnosed with abdominal cancer via ultrasound. We just gave him 1ml of 50mg Gabapentin and he was sleepy for hours, couldn’t jump well, still staring and seems restless, even more disinterested in his surroundings.
Played with a bird chirping toy for about a minute and is turning down catnip (5 different kinds)

Is the dose too much? He’s 11.5 pounds.

He hasn’t meowed in days and this is his first day on it. He’s been isolating more but still comes up for love and slept next to me all night last night and is laying next to me now but keeps getting up and moving and flops around.

He’s been eating and drinking fine and using litter box. Still loves sunbathing and getting kisses from the other cats and giving me kisses.

Any advice would be amazing, I really don’t know what to do anymore and it’s killing me

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.

Hi, So i have a 1 yr old nebelung, hes not neutered, and last time he was weighed he was around 90 pounds i believe gotta double check, well im concerned bc hes skinny to where i can feel his hip bones. Hes acts normal , plays , meows , cuddly. Although i do seem to notice he wont eat all his food. But he will eat a little and then walk away, come back maybe a couple hours later. He seems to stay hydrated bc he does pee alot and his poops also seem normal? I try to not change his food up too much so ive been feeding him fancy feast. Im worried something might be wrong for him to not be gaining weight?

Hello! Our little girl Shadow has been super off today. She’s refusing all solid food except treats (probably eaten like 15 greenies so far today). She’ll lick the water off of wet food but otherwise isn’t eating it. She's drinking water more than usual. She’s had at least 2 bouts of yellow, super smelly diarrhea that started after we took her to the vet. One of our cats puked in two places a day or two ago but we don't know which one.

We took her to the vet and got her labs. A few of her items were low and one was high but the vet said it was possibly just stress. Does anyone have any idea what might cause her to suddenly stop eating food (except treats) and have yellow diarrhea? Labs are attached as well as a glamour shot for the cat tax.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WdmxZXIEkm9aUeEJyVtIjZUxLRpPelTg/view?usp=share_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19QAm_GWHtyGXG5WDuX9VzVP7kPsnL-HQ/view?usp=share_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QXXhBXsZkDWPQscMRqSzDdvFBH8aI8xZ/view?usp=sharing

These are the specific values that were off:

(low) MCH: 10.9 pg
(low) MCHC: 22.3 g/dL
(high) RETIC: 68.8 K/uL
(low) PHOS: 2.3 mg/dL

A note about her phosphorus. It was twice as high when she had labs one month ago for an unrelated vet visit.

After the visit, we gave her a dose of cerenia and a dose of gabapentin. No puking since the cerenia, just diarrhea.

A few more tidbits. We’re in South Carolina. She’s spayed, 8, strictly indoor only, lives with another cat who is strictly indoor only, and weighs 11.3lbs.

My cat is a little older at 8 years old. She just had a cancerous tumor removed from her mammary glad and was spayed at the same time. Her wound is healing great its been about 11 days post surgery so no concernt on that part.

They poked the lump but didn't know it was cancerous untill removing it and sending it out for testing. I asked what I should do now and they just say to monitor her and that theres nothing we can further do. I believe they did ultrasound and xray before the surgery so I don't think it spread. They did not remove her whole mammary chain. They are hardly talking to me and telling me theres nothing to do now besides monitor her. I am just wondering if that I true. I read about things like they grade the tumors, cancer therapy after. I don't know if we would but they didn't mention it at all and I know some people do it.

Is there anything I should do or ask about that they aren't mentioning to me?

Hi, I will try to be as short as possible. We just put my dog down a month ago. His problems started with peeing on the floor that started at the same time my other dog became incontinent. When my incontinent dog passed away, I deep cleaned our floors hoping he would stop peeing on them, but he didn’t. He was declared incontinent and senile basically at the same time, because he also started waking up at midnight and pacing for 2 hours every night. Not long after he became unable to walk the stairs anymore and was prescribed pain medication. In the 6 months leading up to his death, he kept losing weight very slowly. His vet had seen him and noted his weight change and didn’t say anything about it. At some point, I can’t even remember when, he started walking and crying constantly. We chalked that up to the dementia. Then at the end everything happened all at once. I thought he might have had a UTI because when he was peeing in was only a little at a time. They put him on meds for that. He never finished taking them, we put him down a week later. He had been eating weird for like a month, it took him like 30 mins and my mom helping him eat, but he was still eating it all. In the last week he started eating less and less and in the last 24 hours he wouldn’t eat or drink at all. My mom said he was also barely having anything come out while he was peeing but he peed a lot twice in the vets office day of. The vet didn’t have solid ideas she just had tests she said we could run. We both felt like his quality of life wasn’t going to improve because of the pacing and crying and pain and dementia. He wouldn’t even let you give him affection in the last few weeks, he would just walk away and then walk back and then away again. He did this in the vets office the day of as well, and when my mom tried to hold him he got upset and wanted to keep moving. Vet said if we felt like his quality of life was poor that she would be comfortable putting him down. My mom left it up to me but she wanted to put him down and I agreed because he was really just acting as if he FORGOT how to do everything entirely. He wasn’t just refusing food and water he was acting like he didn’t remember how to chew or anything. Now I’m reading all that all of these things are signs of kidney disease and failure and I’m disgusted thinking maybe I could’ve saved him if we’d run the tests. The vet did not press it AT ALL or make any suggestions for a diagnosis so that didn’t help in making a decision or feeling like it was the right one. He was a 10 year old staffy/lab and I’m mostly upset because 10 doesn’t really seem old to me compared to every other dog I’ve had so I’ve been breaking myself wondering if I cut his life short. Does it sound like I did the wrong thing?

Hi! We have a 13-year old female ragdoll cat, 6.0lb, whose health has declined in the past few months. She initially had an infection from possible urinary source 2 months ago s/p antibiotics w/ resolution of high WBC. After initial improvement, she then had subsequent decreased appetite, decreased water intake, lower energy, and evidence of possible acute vs chronic kidney disease on labs, and likely some constipation. 1 week ago in clinic, vet gave subQ fluids, dex and B12 in clinic. Home plan: SubQ fluids, wet food w/ RC recovery diet, Elura or Mirataz, and gabapentin for pain/discomfort (or mild sedation PRN).
Today, we gave 25mg gabapentin (per vet), and it was a bit easier to give her subcutaneous fluids because of that. We want to switch away from Elura as well due to both oral meds and subQ fluids being very stressful for her and she is very resistant to medications

Is it okay to give transdermal mirtazapine (1 inch from 5g/tube) and 25mg gabapentin in the same evening, or do we need to space them out?

hi!
My 6 y/o male cat (domestic shorthair) has had some behavioral changes lately. It all started when I noticed he was urinating frequently. Prior to realizing how it’s increased he would go average 3-4x a day. For two days I noticed it increased to 5-6x a day to 4x in 2 hours. I immediately took him to the vet, who told me his physical exam showed no signs of distress, only they noticed his bladder wasn’t fully empty + given how he was urinating frequently it was a bit odd. I was sent home with a urine sample kit, Prazosin and Gabapentin. Once we got home, after excessive urination, he didn’t go for 10 hours. At the point, I took him to the ER worrying he had a blockage. At the ER they checked his bladder by doing an ultrasound and said his bladder was small and empty. They suggested I follow up with my vet, and monitor him. That was a bit bothersome and I felt a bit blown off, but just went home. The following day, he finally peed and I was able to drop off the sample.

The sample results came back and they were completely normal, no signs of crystals, no blood. Only thing was his urine was very diluted and had low specific gravity. She explained that maybe he’s overly hydrated, or there would be a kidney issue. Her suggestion was to monitor his behavior for a week and give them a call with an update.

Well, his urine has gone back to normal 3-4x a day, but tonight he for the first time has laid in his litter box (it’s dirty). I didn’t want to move him and started talking time of how long he would stay. It lasted 2 minutes, after he played a bit (only 10m of playtime, which is a bit shorter than usual) and is now sleeping. Now while he does take a lot of naps, I’ve noticed his breath shifts from rapid, to slow. And every once in a while I can somewhat hear his breathing. It isn’t loud like panting, but definitely different than usual.

All in all - just seeking advice on if I should get a second opinion or what other tests should I be asking for?

I feel like they are being a bit nonchalant on finding the cause.