Ask The Vet (460)

I know that cats like to eat grass and other greens - my cat has a particular fondness for Arugula (or Rocket). I just want to make sure that there's not anything harmful in its chemical makeup that might be harmful to cats.\r\nThank you!

Vinny is a 5yr old Frenchie. about 3 months ago he was napping and suddenly woke up startled, scared, yelping, couldn't figure out where to run first and emitting the oil gland smell. He has done this several times a day since, only 1 other time with the smell and not always as severe with the crying. but he is definitely scared and wants to get up close to my husband or me for comfort. we've checked him over for bone pain and he seems to be fine. his vet check ups are great last one was last week. vinny was stolen from the litter at 6 wks when we got him back his ears had been cropped like a pit bulls or dobies, short and pointy. is it possible he's having nightmares of those times. its so sad especially when he cries. its so distressing. hope you can help and thank you for your wonderful program and commitment to mans best friend.

Our dog Rachel is exhibiting symptoms of fecal incontinence, while this has not been officially diagnosed an initial consultation with our vet and recommendations of low residue dog food has helped but is not a long-term solution especially with 2 other dogs.

Hello dr. I'm having issues with bad allergies in my female English bulldog. She is three years old and 70 pounds. Trying to find a good allergy medication to give her. I used Benadryl for awhile and that's no longer working. Her ears and around her eyes look brown all the time and her eyes water nonstop. I'm currently using best vest but it's not helping. Thank you

He has heart murmurs and it's a category 3 so he's taking Pimobendan and I want to give him CBD oil but I'm not sure if they will work against eachother.

Do you think that CBD oil can help a kitten with FIP ( non wet) type? If so, how many MLG of what strength.

He keeps getting red spots and scratches to bleedhis ears smell really bad ive taken him to vet but he charges me alot and only stays well for max a week what do I do about his ear smell

I saw that you have given hemp oil to cats. My cat was just diagnosed with fibrosarcoma and had his entire leg amputated. The histology indicates that doc was not able to get all of the cancer cells. My "son" is 12 years old and weighs about 16lbs. (My 15yo dd's cat, actually, I just pay the bills.) I have not yet met with the oncologist at the vet's office (next week), so I don't know that they're opposed to alternative treatments, but I know I can't afford chemo and I hate its side effects. I've been trying to research, but coming up with a lot of contradictory information with regard to fibrosarc, as well as treatment options and alternative therapies. I'm all about quality of life over quantity, so I don't want to do more harm than good. Are any of these products going to help? Would it be a waste of money? Is it better to administer them topically to the affected muscles, internally (dosage?) or both? Is any better than others? Given competing resources, what should I focus on? I have so many questions that I don't really even know what to ask, but any info or advice you can offer will be so very appreciated. Thank you, in advance, for taking the time and sharing your knowledge.

She was throwing up about 3 weeks ago I thought the dry dog food I had just bought her may have set in a warehouse to long before it got to the store to be sold. So I stop feeding it to her. She was 9yr and 7 mos old.She weight 125. I cooked her rice,chicken,hamburger,gave her mixed veg. carrots,peas,green beans,she was doing so good. I took her out to go to the bathroom every two hrs and she did good. She ate wieners and frys with me for lunch and at 3:30pm she ate 2 slices of bread and a treat. At 6:00pm I got up to take her out side and she had pooped in my livingroom and she in all the years I've had her never went inside the house. I called her and she could hardly get out of her bed went to take her out side and she was a little shaky, when I got her back in the house she just laid down right by the door and was panting I thought she just need to rest for a minute. But every time I started to walk off she would make a sound like she didn't want me to leave. That went on for 30 minutes. Then she went to get in her bed again but she turned backward. I went into the kitchen and all of a sudden I heard the worse cry out and I ran in there and blood was coming from her mouth and her butt. Then I ran to the kitchen to get something to wrap up the blood and when I got back she was turn around front was. Every time I started to leave she would make a sound again like she didn't want me too and I petted her and I new she was going to die and I told her to go on I loved her and withnin 10 minutes she was gone. I just want to understand what happen. She was a couple of months ago had real problems with her Kidney's. Vet had her on Antibiotics and Predisone. But that seem to clear up.The only other thing she had about 6 months ago Hookworms and allergy's. But she was given meds for that also. Please help me under what this could be. Was there anything I could have done. I love and miss her so much. I just want to understand.

I'm have a 7 month old kitty diagnosed with wet FIP. He has been on Predisinolone 1ml daily and Virbagen Omega for 2 days. Will adding cannabis oil help or will it complicate the situation?

I am afraid to give nexquard or frontline. I dont want anything to interfere with the prednisone he is on. Right now the lymph nodes have all shrunk and I think putting a topical of frontline on could cause problems. Would I be better off using the seresto collar and put on when we walk and take off when he is at home? We have never used the collar before.

We are a family run restaurant in Florida--Recently one of our very good customers passed away, and we asked if we could make a donation to her favorite charity--We were told that DELTA was one of her favorites. We would like to know how to make a donation in her name.

My 9 1/2 year old Jack Russell's albumin level has been dropping slightly for a few years but last month it dropped to 2.1 per blood test. I had a bile function done last December and it was good. The vet recommended an ultrasound a few weeks ago, which showed a smaller liver light gray in color. The bile test was also given again and this time it showed a decreased function but no active liver damage. She had IBS issues years ago but was doing well on ZD dry food and 1/8 teaspoon tylan powder given once a day. She eats well, runs around, and doesn't look sick but I am worried because the vet said they thought it could be cirrhosis of the liver. He mentioned I could try giving her Denmarin or have a laparoscopic biopsy done of the liver and intestines. I want to try to help her but I don't know if making her go through the biopsy is a good idea. He also said if it is cirrhosis that nothing can be done to help her. What do you think? Do you think it would be worth trying Denamarin.

I have a 3 month old calico/tiger cat and i took her to the vet on friday and the vet said she was anemic due to too many fleas so he gave me flea treatment that worked great and a bottle of Lixotinic 3/4cc once a day i was wondering if there are any side effects that i should be aware of.

Hi, doctor, got an 11 year old mix, medium sized dog who recently has become restless and drinking a lot of water at night. We've gone through some recent changes in our household with the loss of one of our cats, my husband, who generally takes the dog with him to work, being gone for 3 weeks on business, and myself being diagnosed and treated for depression. Our vet has placed the dog on diazapam for 2 weeks, which seems to help sporatically. Obviously he is considering that the dog may be dealing with anxiety. Is there something else that we should be considering?\ Overall the dog has always been in good health.

I have frontline plus I was wrong on the weight of 1 of my dogs can I use the same weight on him even if he is under the weight limit for the package till I can get more in a month or 2?

I have a 10 year old cat who has tested negative for bartonella, guardia, feline leukemia, you name it. He has severe diarrhea. His appetite is excellent, but seems to have a fast track and I can't keep any weight on him. I know he has some bad teeth. He is so emaciated that I do not want to put him under anesthesia for possible teeth extractions. Is it his teeth/gums that are causing severe/explosive diarrhea?

One of my renter's cats, Blossom, tested positive for FeLV on a SNAP test at our Humane Society. She has 12 cats with exposure and I have 14. I had my vet send out the IFA test on Blossom and that came back negative. I also had 3 of my cats tested with the ELISA SNAP test and they were all negative. So here are my questions:

1. I know Blossom needs to be rechecked with both ELISA and IFA tests, but how many weeks from the first tests? Some articles say 1 month, some say 6 weeks, and another says 2 months. And the IFA test was done a week after the ELISA test. Is the retesting done the number of weeks after the ELISA or the IFA test date?

2. If I purchase the IDEXX SNAP tests online, will that negate any FeLV vaccine manufacturer's warranty, since I am not a licensed veterinarian purchasing the test kits? I am now wanting to follow the manufacturer's protocol of performing the test and giving the vaccines 3 weeks apart to receive their warranty in case any of my cats do still get FeLV even with the vaccine since the vaccines for FeLV are only perhaps 75% effective, so the manufacturer will pay the vet bills. I also want to get their warranty that if their vaccine causes FISS in the FeLV leg, they will pay any vet bills (I did have one cat get FISS in the rabies leg but didn't use the Purevax for life since the cat was older so had the old shots earlier in life which negated the warranty and that surgery cost me big bucks at UPenn but it has been a year without reoccurrence).

3. Do you know which manufacturer's FeLV vaccine has the highest percentage of cats which don't get infected after receiving the vaccine? I did read about one Zoetis one called Versifel, used in Europe, which was in the 90% range, but can't find that one used in the US.

Thank you.

Jean in NJ

My 3 year old neutered male Jack Russell has just urinated in the garden and I noticed there appeared to be a little blood in it. He is behaving normally and doesn't appear to be ill what do you recommend?

Do you ever adopt these pets out that you save. Is there a way to adopt one?

Hello, as I indicated my nearly 14 years old Chow Chow had a seizure for the first time ever on Monday,9/18/2017. My 30 years old son took her to "MedVet Emergency Center". She had another seizure in route to Vet and a third one at Vet. I was out of town and the Vet "would not begin treatment without payment for services rendered". So, my son called me back and I provided my credit card for payment of $337.62, for them to "put my dog on IV fluids and a load dose of phenobartital(?sp)".However, when I arrived back in town at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, I noticed no IV bag attached to the IV cathater and asked ,how long off? To my shock and dismayed, Dr. informed me she "had not been on IV fluids...had a fever of 104,...that's why on metal floor of kennel...no mat..." I insisted and requested IV fluid and pain medication Within less than 2 hours fever reduced to 102, my dog's breathing was visible and she blinked her eyes when I petted her. That Vet was clearly not caring and my plan was for stablization (fluids for severe dehydration, anti seizure medication so that I could transport my puppy to her regular doctor who cared about her. So, contacted her doctor and she made it through the night(blood work from noncaring Vet revealed blood cell counts "all normal, only way outside of normal range was indication of level of dehydration". Is there anything other than comfort care (continued IV fluids, anti-seizure medication and pain mefication, oh and "her glucose reading indicating very low", so that Rx)that can or should be done to reduce her discomfort? All that the non-caring Vet had her on before my arrival was "valium to calm her after third seizure when she arrived Monday". I am not asking about euthnasia like those individuals at non-caring Vet suggested. Something to reduce the torture and trauma from 18 hours of no fluids, 3 seizures. Regular Doctor is caring her now and she is not as comatose appearing as she was when I arrived yesterday at 6:00 pm.

I have donated for years and and very glad to see your website and the size.

Here is my question: I got a 11 yr old corgy from the animal shelter. His owner had died and relatives did not want him. My problem is his nails are very long. I take him to my vet as needed for shots and such. I asked them if they trimmed nails and they went and got the clippers and started at them. One of the nails bleed and it took quite a while to get it stopped. They only clipped 3 nails and did not do the rest. I am now worried about asking them to clip them. What is the best thing to do so he can have regular nails? His dew claws are in a circle now, and the other are very long and you can see the underneath is grow farther that it should be. Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks for you time.

My son's Boston Terrier was fine during the winter, but the moment the grass started growing (might be Bermuda grass) the dog is red on his paws, muzzle and belly. What do you recommend for this? I know replanting the yard would be great, but not sure if he can afford to do that at this time.

Hi. Thank you in advance. I have a 56 pound Australian Shepherd mix, who rarely needs to go on Prednisone for itching. I have 20 mg. pills, and lost the instructions. Can you tell me how many milligrams I give to her and how many to bring her off? I think it's 20 mg. per day for a few days until the itching stops. Then 10 mg. for 2-3 days, then 5 mg. every other day...or something like that. Appreciate the fact that I can ask you this question.

Hello, we have a new kitten and he has very bad gas and very stinky bowel movements at least 3 a day. Is this normal? Are we overfeeding him? Should we switch kitten food? Also is it safe to bath our kitten?

it was popped then i cut skin and it was deep with clear things that moved inside

I have a 6 year old Yorkie with problems with snoring , sneezing and at times gasping for breath. the vet says it is a soft pallet problem and is reluctant to investigate as she is small. I still feel very anxious about this as the problem seems to be getting worse and it is not only when she is sleeping . My vet says he will take a look if I insist but I feel in a quandery as to what is best to do as I do not want to put har through that if it is not necessary

How does one become a veterinarian at an animal sanctuary? Is there a certain path to follow? I'm a first year veterinary student and I'm interested in pursing a career in this area of veterinary medicine. Thanks!

Dear Leo, I just read your story about Audrea. I have 4 rescue cats. The last 2 came from a close friend who died last year. Unfortunately, RolyPoly, who I suspect is quite old, was just diagnosed with severe kidney failure. I'm feeding him various forms of kidney diet and injecting him with fluids. You mentioned medication. Is there anything you did that would help RolyPoly? Or is his age a defining factor?

Incidentally, please add me to the 21st century club. You're one of two major beneficiaries in my trust. Thanks for all you do. I hope to hear from you if there's anything you can do to help my RolyPoly sweetheart.

I try to provide a home for feline leukemia positive cats and currently have 4 males. I would like to enhance their immune function. Two are weak and being hand fed. Both had fevers of 104 brought down by antibiotics. One of them has anemia. They are currently taking lixotinic, DMG, echinacea, astragalus and lactated ringers orally. Do you have any recommendations?

I have a six year old rescue beagle just diagnosed with an elongated soft pallet. What are the risks associated for surgery and how successful is it. Her only problem is she's an extremely loud snorer. Appetite is very good.