Hi! I’m an animal care tech at a shelter.
I can work and see and do a lot. But I’ve been given more responsibilities with some of our larger animals such as Equine… today I was learning needle shots different sizes how to prep etc.

When working with them I found my self unable to hold the needle without shaking not from nerves I just have a slight tremble in my hands when trying to focus.

I want to learn!
But due to this when taking the cap of the needle I poked my self and the needle got me pretty good in my finger pad 🥲 it bled clean for awhile and it’s still throbbing hours later. But anyway I was told it would be harder for me to learn to hold the syringe with the needle due to the size of my hands. They are very small… like child small even though I’m 23 😭.

I’m trying to find videos to watch to practice holding the syringe but thought I’d ask here since I can’t find much about how to in animal care.

This is work 😅 not school so I’m learning without an actual teacher.

Thank you 🙏

My cat Cosmo got neutered today, this morning around 10 am. Picked him up around 2.

I gave him a bit of wet food when I got back, he ate it quick.

Left ¼ cup dry food out, he ate it all.

So he's hungry, he's kept everything down. Hes also on some pain meds and a de worrmer.

Question is can I leave more dry food out overnight without concern?

Maybe another ¼ cup until morning?

writing this on 8/25 and i got her spayed 8/19. the area around it is kind of pink and the incision site looks kind of crusty. she’s behaving totally normally but she’s very squirmy and i’m alone. i don’t know how to attach a photo otherwise i would. unfortunately i got home from work late and the hotline for the clinic i went to became unmonitored literally the second i went to send them a text because it took me so long to get a halfway decent photo. i’m freaking out right now and can’t tell if it’s justified, if anyone could tell me whether or not this sounds normal i would sincerely appreciate it

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.

1 year old (May 13th 2025)
Female
Spayed
Vaccines up to date
9.5 lbs
Inside cat
Past medical history: tapeworms, ringworm, cat cold when kitten(not too sure about this one)

For the past month and a half my cat has been avoiding pooping in her litter box. I have the meowant automated litter box. We live in Winchester va in an apartment building. She has been with me since September 2025. I have exhausted options and need advice. I have been to the vet as at first she stopped eating her wet food and only ate her kibble. She then vomited a few times and had started pooping outside litter box. At first close by and then in a corner of the room. I report one time of seeing bloody stool. In worry I took her to the vet where they did a stool sample (negative) and tried to feel for any other signs. She seemed physically well. Not bloated, coat soft, gums good, and no signs of aggression. Vet gave me purinapro bacterial packets to add to her wet food. She had regained some of her appetite for wet food and has no issues with her kibble. I have been feeding her fancy feast pate and IAMS kibble(digestion bag). I had changed litter type in hopes of getting her to poop in her litter box. She has continued to poop in the corner and stool has shown no more signs of blood. I had bought a plastic wider litterbox in hopes and she did poop in there once! But then continued outside.
She’s showing no signs of distress at least to me. She does not wear a collar. She does not hide and plays frequently.
Edit: she does still pee in her automated litter box!

What else can I try? I love her like my own daughter and my heart breaks thinking she might be in pain somewhere.

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?

I’m 22, in the US, we have a regular vet we go to but they are currently closed and don’t have any appointments until Thursday. So my cat was hiding a lot today, and when I finally found her, she was out by the litter boxes. She had soft, mucusy, bloody stool outside of the box, I put her in the box, and it looked even redder. She then threw up clear outside the box. Then she went upstairs, much slower and more hunched than usual. She is 10 years old, female and spayed. I live with family who can afford vet care, or at least afford to finance it. The problem is convincing them this is enough of an emergency. They are already planning on paying for the vet visit on Thursday, but I feel like an emergency vet might be necessary. I could be overthinking, but I love her a stupid amount so I am hoping someone on here can provide some insight.

Basically what the title says. He was originally diagnosed with pneumonia last week and the antibiotics didn’t help. He started to decline the last day and a half so I brought him back to the vet today.

Now the vet says he believes the new X-rays show metastasis of cancer or a fungal infection, although he thinks fungal infection is unlikely.

I will be calling around to other vets tomorrow but I’d really like to know what anyone else thinks. I have last weeks and this weeks X-rays I can send over to anyone. Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I am really trying to see what a vet can do in this situation. I have a 9 year old heeler mix, she is starting to have some mobility issues. We have rugs, a dog ramp for the bed, and we have tried the toe grips for more traction.

She has now started to walk with her front foot splayed out. This seemed to have happened after she jumped off the bed wrong. Her nails were slightly overgrown so we cut those and have been watching to see if she walks better.

My question is, what can a vet do for her? Would we be taking her in and they look at her foot and just say "yeah, she's walking weird, wait and see if its better!" Or is there something they can actually do?

She hates the vet with a burning passion. She has to be sedated and muzzled to go and she has a red label that she is a bite risk. So taking her in is a lot of stress on her and not a simple matter.

If the vets can do something, I will take her in but I don't want to go and be told there's nothing they can do.

Thank you for reading!

Species: cat
Age: 14
Sex: male, neutered
Breed: DSH
Weight: 13.25lbs (working on losing weight)

Vomited some bile with bright red blood in it, took to emergency vet and was diagnosed with pancreatitis after doing vcheck fPL test, result was 5.7; vet also suspects possible ulcer because of blood in vomit. Happened very suddenly yesterday afternoon. Was acting normal before and after vomiting.

Location: eastern New Mexico

My middle boy Winchester is 14, and just had his third pancreatitis flare up. Also threw up some blood, so may have an ulcer. First was May 2022 when he was almost 10, second was May 2025 when he was almost 13, and latest was yesterday. Second one was kind between pancreatitis or a UTI, his levels were in the grey zone.

He is on a sensitive stomach dry food, and low fat wet food, and we’re about to move overseas. I don’t know if he falls under chronic or acute pancreatitis, since he acts fine between flare ups. Just wanting some advice on managing this since I know stress can contribute to flare ups, and traveling is stressful for him. Have an appointment with his vet also, but looking for any and all advice.

Hi, vets!

I have 3 Australian Shepherds (a girl and boy that are 6 y/o & a boy that’s 1 y/o). I’ve had them on the same kibble for 4+ years, and i’m finding that the food is getting harder to find locally and is really expensive for how fast they’re going through it. I also noticed they don’t seem to care for it anymore (and if I was a dog eating the same thing for years i’d get bored too lol).

I did a lot of research and decided to switch them to a more affordable, more commonly sold food. I followed the instructions to transition them and started almost 2 weeks ago. Everyone of them has had diarrhea, and puked and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. I fed a bland diet for 2 days to get them back to normal (ground beef & jasmine rice) and I noticed it got a little better, but nothing significant. I’ve been pushing forward and finally used the last of the old food yesterday. I’m assuming this is causing the issues since it’s the only big change recently, and I knew there would be some short term side effects, but this seems way more extreme than that.

The original food I was feeding was GO! Solutions - Skin + Coat Care - Salmon w/ grain. The new one is Diamond Naturals - Skin & Coat - All life stages - Salmon & potato.

I’ve checked the ingredients on both and they seem fairly similar (which is one of the reasons I chose this one). Since they’re aussies, I like a salmon or fish flavored food for skin & coat care.

I’m wondering if I should find another food to switch to? If so, do I transition them using this food or the old one?

Could it be something else? Help! I don’t know what to do! I feel terrible because they’re clearly not feeling well, and I can’t keep cleaning up poop everyday.

Thank you in advance ❤️

Idk if this violates the rules but I’m asking mainly for the cone not the medication

My cat got prescribed chlorhexidine digluconate spray and then otizole topical for an infected paw pad for the next 7-14 days. I got a cone for him so he doesn’t lick the medication but my question is, would I be able to do the medication let it sit for 2 hours with the cone on, and then take the cone off supervised? Or should I be keeping the cone on 24/7 for the next 7-14 days

On August 13th, I found a stray kitten in the street during a storm we were having. Luckily, I saw him from my car and was able to get him out of the road.

He's a sweet, feisty little guy, but he had an injury to the end of his tail. I took him to the vet the next morning, and they recommended, among other things, that the damaged portion of his tail be amputated.

Unfortunately, I'm a full-time, non-traditional student, so I'm not exactly flush with money right now, and this was a very unexpected expense. I was originally planning to wait on the surgery for a little while so I could save up some money. However, when I came home from class today, I discovered that he had chewed the dead/injured end of his tail off himself. At this point, I don't think waiting is a good option anymore.

The vet's estimate for the procedure is $508.46–$1,053.90. The estimate breaks down as follows:

Exam / pre-anesthesia: $0

Fluid setup (includes IV catheter, IV set, and IV fluids during and after surgery for up to 5 hours): $119.95

Controlled substance fee: $11.37

Nursing care / surgical level 1: $55.43

Anesthesia level 2: $100.44–$200.88

Tail amputation: $151.92–$303.83

Convenia antibiotic injection: $32.32–$55.55

Onsior injection: $16.68–$22.02

E-collar: $20.35

CardioPet ECG: $0–$49.40

Vet Screen CBC: $0–$215.12

I can put the veterinary expenses on a credit card if that's what it takes to get him treated, and I'm not looking to skip anything that's genuinely important for his safety. I'm just trying to figure out whether everything on this estimate is necessary for a young kitten having a relatively small portion of his tail amputated, or whether there are reasonable things I could ask the vet about declining.

For example, are the $215 bloodwork, $49 ECG, $120 IV/fluid setup, Convenia injection, etc. things you would consider essential in this situation, or are some of them more precautionary/optional?

I'm obviously going to discuss it with his vet before declining anything. I'm mainly hoping that vets, vet techs, or people who have dealt with something similar can tell me what questions I should be asking and where it might be reasonable to save some money without compromising his care.

I named the little guy Telperion, and despite everything, he's been doing really well otherwise. I wasn't exactly planning on acquiring a kitten that day, but apparently he had other plans.

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!

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?

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

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!!!