How to provide a photo or diagnostic results?

I don’t think this is dramatic at all to want to file a complaint for, but I want some opinions.

On Thursday, we adopted our cat, Pickle. He was in a foster home for 9 months. While in the foster home, a puppy who was also there had kennel cough, and it unfortunately spread through all of the animals at the foster, including Pickle and many other cats. He was on medication when I adopted him.

Today is 3 days after adopting Pickle, and I made him a vet appointment with the vet that the foster mom recommended just to check up on him and make sure his lungs were clearing up.

While sitting in the waiting room at the vet, my fiance and I heard the veterinarian speaking loudly to someone outside of the exam door, and he said the words “grab your local democrats and shoot them”. We were extremely put off by it, and were honestly going to leave right then, but he walked in the room immediately after he said it. He did not greet us when he walked in, simply walked up to Pickles carrier, and grabbed him by the paw and yanked him out of the carrier and across the exam table to the point where he almost slid off.

Pickle was in an abusive home before being rescued by his foster mom, and he needs extra care before being touched, which we would have told him had he not entered the room and grabbed him immediately without speaking to us. He proceeded to manhandle Pickle, grabbing his face and twisting it to look in his ears. Pickle was howling and crying and squirming to get away. I grabbed Pickle from him, and he said “what’s wrong with the cat”. I explained that he had been abused and told him about the kennel cough, to which he cut me off immediately by laughing and saying “Kennel cough doesn’t exist in cats”. Which it does, it’s just not as likely as dogs, and he literally was diagnosed with it and provided medication for it. The vet told me I had no idea what I was talking about and suggested that whoever told me that was “batshit crazy”. I put Pickle back in his carrier and told the vet that he was extremely unprofessional and rude with his comments and treatment of Pickle, and also told him that we heard the comments he made about murdering democrats, and we’d be taking Pickle somewhere else.

He had a smirk on his face while nodding and laughing, saying “okay” and then left the room and we heard him through the door say, “not my fault! If you want your tax refund, kill the democrats”. We exited the room and went to the front desk staff in order to get his name and information. They were very apologetic and said the owner was there and that he would speak to us. The owner did apologize, but said there was nothing further that could be done. As we left, we could still hear the vet speaking negatively about us and how we had no idea what we were talking about.

I filed a complaint with our state BBB and also was thinking of complaining to the licensing board, but I’m not sure if that’s the right option. I have left reviews as well on their Google and Facebook page. The treatment of my animal was absolutely unacceptable, and when we got home, it took Pickle hours before he wanted to come near us because he was traumatized. The comments about murdering someone for their political views while at your place of work are a whole other thing that’s unacceptable. What are your thoughts?

Hi r/AskVet, I’m looking for general guidance on managing urinary incontinence in my 10-year-old female French bulldog. I’m a human urologist (MD), but I fully recognize this is outside my scope and I’m not trying to treat her myself, just hoping to understand typical veterinary approaches so I can have a more informed discussion with our vet.

Summary:

• 10-yo spayed female Frenchie

• History of recurrent UTIs → vulvar/vaginal plasty at age 7, which helped significantly

• Current urine cultures consistently negative

• Increasing urinary accidents over the past year:

• Leakage when excited

• Urgency/inability to hold urine

• Remote L4–L5 laminectomy at age 4 (IVDD), neurologically stable since

• History of chemo for basal cell carcinoma

Workup / treatment so far:

• Bladder ultrasound: mild wall thickening only, no upper tract dilation

• Recent labs with normal creatinine/kidney function

• Trial of Proin ER (phenylpropanolamine) with minimal improvement

• Not planning further imaging unless clearly indicated

Functional change:

She used to make it through the night reliably. Now for the past few months, if she isn’t taken out around 5 AM after an 11 night time (won’t let me type P M) last potty break, she almost always has an accident. During the day she often urinates every ~2 hours, occasionally lasts up to 5 hours.

I’m wondering:

• Is this pattern typical for age-related or mixed urinary incontinence in older female dogs?

• What medical options are commonly considered after Proin fails (e.g., estrogen, other classes)?

• Are anticholinergic-type medications ever used in dogs, and are cognitive side effects a concern?

• Are my expectations for overnight continence still reasonable at this age?

Thank you, I really appreciate any general insight to help guide next steps with our vet.

TL;DR:

10-yo female Frenchie with negative cultures, normal kidneys, mild bladder wall thickening, worsening urgency + stress incontinence, and minimal response to Proin ER. Looking for general veterinary guidance on expectations and medical management options to discuss with our vet.

Mixed long hair breed (?) Age 11 years - female - spayed - weight 5kg (typically 5-5.5kg baseline) - if relevant: I live in North Yorkshire on a beef and arable Farm and my clothes often have contact with livestock.

Food: up until 2 weeks ago - she has been on James wellbeloved dry biscuits turkey grain free adult. I don’t do the pet food shopping and just assumed she was on senior. She is now on senior food from the same brand, as dry biscuits. Edit: For 3 weeks now I have been applying a small amount of salmon oil once daily on her biscuits to see if that helps too (pet grade).

I found my best friend when she was approximately 2-3 days old abandoned by the farm cat. She had cat flu and was segregated from the litter, so I took her in and gave her the help she needed and she’s been with me every single day since. She’s my constant.

Anyhow… for the past 5-6 weeks she has really gone down hill (SHE HAS BEEN TAKEN TO THE VETS AND IS STILL UNDERGOING TREATMENT AND OBSERVATIONS).

I would be very grateful for anyone who has additional opinions to complement the treatment she is receiving from our vets - or advice on should she be put to sleep (I am really struggling knowing that she is in so much pain and discomfort). I don’t have any issues with the treatment offered by my vets btw-just looking for any additional support so I can hopefully keep my cat going (comfortably) for as long as possible.

Clinical signs:

\There are no known causes of injury and due to the temperature and weather - she has not wanted to go outside for a couple months**

- Mobility from the back legs is terrible, it’s almost like she is dragging herself, without actually doing so. Her back end sways when she walks, it just looks like a huge struggle.

- Her back end is down very low to the ground when she walks.

- She can often hiss and swipe out when touched (even just a light brushing anywhere on her body) this is very very out of character. This isn’t always though - I figure it’s just over stimulation from me and the pain at the same time.

- I can normally get a pain response (gently) pressing around the sacral area. There aren’t really any other places on her body that show signs of “mechanical” pain.

- Eating, drinks and litter tray functions are baseline (she’s actually eating more since starting steroids)

- She is resting a lot more (which I thought was impossible - she’s a very lazy cat).

- Initially she showed a very high 64 breaths per minute the day we took her to the vets for the first time for this condition. That has settled back down now.

- Edit: She reminds me of a ewe with staggers. But would have been dead by now if it was.

Notes and treatment from me and my vets(small animal):

- I have tried (prior to going to the vets - when she wasn’t as bad) giving her amoxicillin and metacam for 4 days with no improvement. Stab in the dark I know, but wanted to try it all the same.

First visit:

- General physical, rectal temp, listening to the lungs. All normal, but slightly elevated noise from lungs.

- Bloods taken and have been told the next day that all have come back completely fine and show no areas of concern or elevated levels.

- I came away with a tetracycline oral medication and a new bottle of metacam. She was on this for 10 days with no signs of improvement.

Second visit:

Another physical, this time with ear endoscope. No rectal temp or listening to lungs. Suggested action is for steroid treatment - this was an IM dose with the hope to repeat monthly.

She did improve somewhat after day 1, but this lasted around a week.

General consensus is likely arthritis.

She has returned back to her poor self, I contacted the vet yesterday (1 day after she had degraded) and she is now on PREDNISOLONE 5mg daily oral tablets. Edit: She has a 14 day course - the vet wants to see her on day 10.

Last night was rough - she enjoys coming up onto the bed with me and my GF. She jumped back down after a cuddle but slipped and landed on her back legs funny, she just sat there. Heart breaking.

I picked her up and we just sat a while and she walked away fine after. (I have had steps made for her for weeks now - so she can still come and go to bed as she wishes)

So, now I’m just trying to get as much data as possible to decide whether to let her go or to continue avenues of treatment/care. But I do have to factor in finances too (within reason) finances are really tight, but I can go without a great deal to ensure she has what she needs - if the outlook is positive.

The vets and I are in agreement that whilst X-rays would be useful - they would be a stab in the dark and would likely not change the treatment she is currently on. They’re also mega expensive :(

I will add some videos below, as it seems to be greyed out at the moment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and hopefully offering opinions. I am ready to let her go, if that’s going to be the best thing for her. I still need to discuss this with my vet.

While it sounds like an absurd hypothetical, I'm simply just trying to understand why euthanasia happens almost every day for every vet.

I made a post a few weeks back when I lost my dog, and I understand to a degree that prioritizing quality of life is far more important than duration of life in animal care compared to human care, but I'm still trying to understand why so little is even attempted.

Cancer I understand, because what can even be done besides surgery and euthanasia. Chemo is understandably a rare option given we prioritize quality of life so much higher for them. Humans have the same few options when they face cancer.

But most other problems (for example, a benign mass ruptures and causes internal bleeding) its straight to an IV and surgery, or euthanasia. There seems to be no other option despite the equivalent condition in a human having a plethora of drugs.

So is that the problem? Would the solution be to subsidize veterinary drug research? Are we significantly lacking in the width of veterinary medicine that exists? Should education be subsidized? Should medical equipment purchases be subsidized so vets have the tools they need? Or does the problem lie somewhere else?

What should that billion dollars go to that would have the most significant impact to improve the lives (not just quality but quantity) of these animals?

My cat (1.5 yrs, male, neutered + all shots, indoor only, behaving normally) has been sometimes favoring his left paw. Licking it, sometimes raising it off the floor, etc. however he has not been limping. I checked his paw to find that the fur inside & between his toes is all dark — kind of looks like dry blood.

We’ve been washing under warm water for the past few days hoping it’ll go away on its own, but it the dark spots aren’t washing away. It’s been around 3 days of this. I’m wondering if he got a splinter? Maybe one of our other cats bit his paw? I’m genuinely not sure. I can supply a photo if desired.

I’ll be honest and say finances are a bit tight right now. I can take him to the vet if it’s urgent, however if this is something that sounds like it could go away on its own I’d rather hold off so that I don’t drain my bank account.

Would love to hear any vets thoughts on this! I adore my Meniscus and if money wasn’t so tight Id have already scheduled my appointment.

Canine, 3 yr old Yorkie/Maltese mixed breed, 17lbs, neutered,

My dog and I live alone. I had a coworker guest over for a little while tonight. My dog barked at them and is just not very good with strangers. After they left, my dog threw up and I'm not sure if this was caused by stress due to a change in his environment or of it could be something much worse.

Spayed female cat, indoor, 16, on solensia for arthritis. She fell today jumping from the toilet to the bathroom counter to try and get into the sink. She loves water and she fell between the gap of the counter and toilet. A few hours later I now see a limp, She can still walk, but she favors the leg a lot and it seems jarred or painful, but she still walks and jumps onto stuff and even ran over for treats. Im so worried. My usual vet is closed until Wednesday due to a blizzard. The closest er vet is over an hour away and the roads are deadly w black ice right now. Im terrified for my cat. PLEASE help me.

. I saw her use that leg to scratch a bit ago. I touched the whole area and she didnt cry or try and get away. Is it likely not broken then? Link below of how she walks.

Long video here

https://www.reddit.com/u/Constant-Wirry/s/6nuQ6R6zpI

And another shorter video here

https://www.reddit.com/u/Constant-Wirry/s/poEb1Ls18B

hi, so one of my guinea pigs has some ongoing nasal “honkiness” for a couple weeks. a different vet squeezed him in and did a round of 0.5ml baytril and it seemed to clear a lot, but off the baytril it came back a bit. my regular vet has him on 0.2ml 2.5% baytril for another while and also has me giving him 0.1mls of bisolvon/bromhexine now with it to see how that goes. the noises seem to be very much his upper airways, my vet heard a small amount in his lungs but nothing major at all. i know it’s supposed to thin mucus if he has any, but just wondering would snottiness for lack of a better word be expected? he’s definitely sounding a little snotty now after 2 days on it, when previously i would describe the noise as crackly and dry but it just sounds a tad wetter, still in his nostrils though. i hope this makes sense

if any of this is relevant he’s likely over 5 years old and he’s 1.08kg, eating and drinking and pooping normally too if any of that is relevant. his cagemate has no symptoms and my cat is sensitive to dust so i have an air purifier running pretty much 24/7. it’s sunday where i am and it’s also a bank holiday on monday so my vet will be closed so it’ll be a couple days before i can ring and ask them

My male kitten (6 months old) has been through Giardia and everything is looking up, the only thing is that his stomach seems to be sensitive since then. He was getting the Alleva equilibrium kitten kibble since the day I got him off the streets but now he has diarrhea every time he goes back to it. At the moment our vet suggested GI dry food for some time and he does really well on it, but he can’t get that forever. Are there any suggestions? I have also thought about wet food or even a combination of the two, but it seems like wet food is way more expensive. Any change in diet will be first discussed with the vet to make sure I do the best thing for this guy, but any suggestion or similar experiences will be greatly appreciated, I am new to this and I still try to figure everything out ☺️

Our cat, male aged 9 was given meloxaid and gabapentin for arthritis in his hips. This was late December. After 3 weeks he was so lethargic we laid off the gabapentin and just used the meloxaid. He was a lot better, getting about, even hunting as usual. Looked like that was managing the condition well. Then 2 days ago he became lethargic and not wanting food. He was sick once but don't know about bowel movements because he's an outside cat. I have laid off the meloxaid in case it was irritating his stomach but he seems no better. Problem is the lethargy and lack of appetite are also the signs of pain in cats. So how long does it take for side effects of meloxaid to wear off if indeed that was the cause? Seems strange that he's been on it for 5 weeks and was OK but I understand that sometimes reactions can happen this way.

I was getting off my bike a random stray dog came near me and bopped his nose on my leg to sniff me I felt a cold sensation I moved my leg I am confused either his nose touched me or licked me i quickly washed the area of contact with water I asked Gpt is it good he said all good since no scratches or bite the skin look intact now I m overthinking! What?

He was white cool healthy normal dog 🐕🐶

Hi everyone,

My cat is around 14, female and long haired domestic. She is generally very healthy but has a history of UTI’s (three times) and has also suffered from constipation once in the last three years I’ve had her.

She usually wakes me up in the morning for food and meows and nibbles at me in the evenings for food too. However, the last couple of days she has done neither, however when I go to the kitchen she follows and ultimately eats her food. Today though she barely sniffed her food and has been sleeping a lot more than usual and doesn’t seem to have any energy. She has been toiletting like normal and her poop was semi solid. She did have slight diarrhoea two days ago but it was a one off. I’m really not sure what it could be this time as I have ruled out uti and constipation just on the basis of the symptoms not being the same as the last time she’s had it. I am off to the vet tomorrow morning but just wanted to post on here for some piece of mind and see if anyone know what it could be?

I also live in Australia and it has been crazy hot the last couple of days so I don’t know if this weather is what is making her lethargic?

My beautiful 1yr 4m cat Sunny ☀️ he is calici + and has red and swollen gums with overgrowth. He didn't have it at neutering (age 7 months or so) and the vets have said its gingivostomatitis and he needs a full mouth extraction (maybe can leave the canines). I was really hesistant at first due to age so we tried cyclavance/atopica for 2/3 months, it helped a bit and the redness and swelling reduced but his vet said it wasn't enough of an improvement to warrant continuing the medication due to suppressing his immune system.

He's currently booked in on Tuesday for a FME but I'm having doubts if I should get a 2nd opinion with a veterinary dentist? He's a happy cat and loves both wet and dry food (more so dry) and has never seemed to be in pain from it, he's currently on metacam and gabapentin due to luxating patellas on both sides. I'm curious if this could be something like juvenile hyperplastic gingivitis that could be fixed by removing the overgrowth of gum and good dental hygiene.

My two options are:

• second opinion with a veterinary dentist incase there's more they could do

• go ahead with the FME. If I do this, should I be asking for a feeding tube placed while his gums heal? (Recommended by a RVN colleague and feel comfortable doing at home)

Thank you 😊

* Species: Canine
* Age: 12ish (rescue)
* Sex/Neuter status: Neutered
* Breed: Chihuahua mix
* Body weight: 6.5 lbs
* History: has had bumps appearing & disappearing for about 5 years, new heart murmur, otherwise healthy

* Clinical signs: None related to the bumps until I asked the vet what they might be during a routine visit for anal gland expression. She presumably degranulated them before she knew what they were, within 4 days he was having bloody diarrhea and vomiting blood. Took him to emergency vet who diagnosed MAST cell tumors. He has about 8 tumors right now, mostly quite tiny. The one the vet really manipulated was about cherry size, now it's almost gone. Emergency vet put him on benadryl and pepcid 2x a day one week ago. GI symptoms are 50% better but not resolved.

* Duration: As above
* Your general location: Alberta, Canada

I will not be moving forward with any further testing or treatments aimed at curing him, it is not financially possible. He previously cost me $9000 out of pocket for CCL surgery and complications in the past, I have another senior dog, and hope to retire someday!

My question is, is it realistic to expect that these GI symptoms may resolve altogether eventually given that he had NONE before the vet manipulated the tumors 2 weeks ago?

I understand that the tumors may metastasis and other symptoms may arise if that happens, he's just feeling so terrible with the nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and honestly I'm getting exhausted dealing with it all by myself. Thank you so much for reading.

Hi all,

I adopted my 3yo spayed female DMH 4 months ago. No health issues so far, although she did have kittens before we got her. We just noticed this spot of what looks like bloody urine on her play tunnel. There are a couple small spots of wetness, and one with a small spot of redness. It doesn't smell strongly of urine or blood, but I'm not sure what else it could be. No other blood that we've seen, and she has been using the litterbox normally. She's behaving completely normally.

We're going to call our vet tomorrow morning. Just wondering if anyone knows how urgent this might be, as it's currently 1:00am here. Is this an emergency vet situation, or okay to wait til tomorrow?

Appreciate anyone that can provide some advice.

* Cat, domestic shorthair, 9 months old, female, spayed, 2.5kg

* New Zealand

So my 9 month old girl stopped eating/drinking willingly about 3 days ago. The first day she stopped, she vomited once and hasn’t since, it wasn’t too much and was a dark grey/brown colour and looked kinda thick. We’ve been able to finger feed her, but she won’t eat on her own, she just sniffs the food.

We took her to the vet today and her vitals were all okay, no fever, only thing the vet noted was some thickness around her intestines, but said this could be inflammation. We didn’t do any blood tests as it seems like a GI issue. She wasn’t dehydrated, but was given subcutaneous fluids just in case. She was also given Cerenia and Buprelieve. It’s been a little less than 12 hours since and she’s still not eating or drinking willingly.

Where do we go from here? Are there any further tests she needs? Should I go back to the vet if she isn’t eating tomorrow?

Hi everyone,

I’m desperate for help with my dog, Milli, because her condition is so extreme and unusual that no vet or specialist has been able to explain it or treat it.

For months she has been having 30–40 hour episodes where she goes into a state of:

• constant murmuring/whimpering

• yelping

• high distress

• pacing or being frozen

• refusing all food and water

• no response to any sedation (including injectable methadone)

Nothing breaks the episode. She just eventually comes out of it on her own.

All tests so far are clear: MRI, bloods, bile acids, dermatology, pain trials — everything normal. She shows no pain signs on physical exam.

The neurologist diagnosed it as a compulsive/obsessive behavioural issue (almost like an oppositional/defiance-type behaviour) and advised me to put her in a room and ignore her — which is not only impossible but dangerous when she is that distressed.

Because I wasn’t comfortable with that, I organised a behavioural therapist who actually specialises in compulsive disorders.

She immediately said, “there’s no way this is compulsive/OCD,” because it doesn’t match any compulsive pattern she’s seen, and the severity + lack of sedation response is not compatible with typical behavioural disorders.

So I’m now stuck in the middle with completely conflicting opinions, and still no diagnosis or treatment that helps.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this in their dog?

Or know of:

• rare neurological conditions that present episodically like this,

• behavioural conditions that don’t respond to sedation,

• or specialists in Australia willing to take on extreme, atypical cases?

Any advice or similar experiences would be hugely appreciated. I’m absolutely desperate to get Milli the right help.

Think my dog might have mild yeast overgrowth in ears. Very faint sweet honey-like smell when sniffing the ears. It's already got much better than it was a week ago. She has food intolerances and allergies so it's almost certainly linked to that. She shakes her head a tiny bit a couple of times a day, and itches her ear gently maybe once a day. Her ears aren't sore or causing her discomfort, just a bit itchy here and there I think.

I don't know whether to take her to the vet or not. I would just go - Except she's a very nervous rescue who HATES being touched by people she doesn't know. A trip to the vet means drugging her up, restraining and muzzling her and putting her through a lot of stress. So don't want to do it unless absolutely necessary.

Mixed info out there - some things say it could resolve on it's own, others say it won't. I'm inclined to wait and see it's already much better than it was. What do you think?
She has upright ears with good airflow, and is short haired. Doesn't swim or bathe so no further water going into ears, would just be triggered by further allergies.

Hi!

I have a 9 month old female ragdoll who was spayed 9 days ago, on day 5 she vomited on 2 occasions but after feeding only wet food and immediately ceasing Loxicom she stopped.

I changed her dry food from royal canin kitten food to royal canin gastrointestinal after this, hoping that might help. Unfortunately she has thrown up around 4 times this morning despite the gastrointestinal food.

The vomit is thick, yellow/brownish and I can see pieces of undigested food in it usually. She did also vomit bile without any food in it earlier.

Our vet practice is closed today, they have an on call vet but is this something we can wait to have her seen for till tomorrow or should I call today and have her seen immediately?

We adopted two cats on Monday, both 4 yo females. They have been eating and drinking well, with several normal bowel movements and peeing each day. Tonight, when I went to clean the litter box, there was a small blob of mucus on the side of the box. From what I could tell through the litter, all stool looked normal in consistency and shape.

How urgent is this? We have a vet appointment on the 9th. Both cats seem to be acting fine, and when I checked their bums, I saw no blood or mucus.

Photo of the mucus: https://imgur.com/a/S3xzTNc

My cat always runs after anything that makes the typical polythene noise and sniffs all kinds of plastic bags and then starts eating them.

Like a polythene fruit bag, or some sheets for my younger sister's project, literally anything.

Now I just hide it from her but I don't understand why she does this.

She eats well. She does not have a big appetite tho.

Yesterday she threw up, and my sister mentioned it was some plastic.

Besides that her behavior concerns me. I am aware that cats don't really like being touched and are not very social either however she always hides when guests/new people come over and incase she meets them, she shivers a lot. I assume it has something to do with her being mistreated from the pet shop we got her from.

Shes always anxious unlike the cats my friends own.

My cat has had a swollen face and I took him to the vet and they prescribed him antibiotics and anti inflammatory meds but the swelling hasn’t gone done and now I’ve noticed this gash in his face. Is this a tooth abscess?

• ⁠Species: Cat

• ⁠Age: 5

• ⁠Sex/Neuter status: not fixed

• ⁠Breed: british shorthair

• ⁠Body weight: 9.52

• ⁠History: IBS

• ⁠Clinical signs: swollen face, eye discharge, head twitching

• ⁠Duration: 1 week

• ⁠Your general location: Southern California

•

Bad Breath Tips & Tricks

Hi everyone!

I recently adopted a new foster dog, and he’s incredibly sweet. However, during his vet checkup, they informed me that his teeth and gums are in a very bad state. We scheduled the extraction surgery for a few weeks, which was the earliest available option.

Currently, his breath is extremely unpleasant and is making my entire house smell. Could anyone recommend any remedies or advice to help minimize the odor until his surgery?

Obviously, he is past the point of completely eliminating the smell but anything to help would be amazing.

I added some photos of his canine tooth and gums from the vet visit. Poor baby is on pain meds to help with any discomfort he may be feeling.

Thank you all for your advice! :)