I have a 8 year old American Shorthair. Her name is Puma. We recently experienced a very traumatizing and costly visit to the emergency room. They recommended euthanizing her since we couldn’t afford their costly treatment plan. They explained that she had severe narrowing of her trachea due to a growth. Possible nasal polyps. Her more overt symptoms include an obvious blockage, snoring/snorting sounds while breathing, and head shaking. I recently watched Dr. Magnifico’s video on Stripes and his Nasopharyngeal Polyp removal and was surprised to see that sedation and a visual exam/removal could be done within such a short time with great results. Giving my husband and I restored hope. We love our little girl so much and don’t know what we do without her. Are there any vets within this network that anyone would recommend that would charge a more reasonable pricing for a similar procedure in California?

I have a 1 year old American pit bull, very loving. She’s so miserably infested with fleas and nothing seems to be working. I’ve tried flea collars, flea shampoos, flea pills, flea spray and even coconut oil. And no luck whatsoever, they just seem to be getting worse. Please, any home remedies that will work almost instantly or even just work at all?

I have a American Staffordshire Terrier. She has had anxiety since we got her at a very young age of 6 weeks from a kill shelter in WV. She is now 7. I think all the vets at Jarrettsville Vet have seen Lucy at one time or another. We just moved 2 weeks ago. From the beginning of May when we started packing up the old house and continuing after we moved, she is having anxiety about going outside to use the potty. She has a covered crate, which she loves, that she stays in while I’m at work. But she has terrible anxiety about going outside, even if Lilly comes with us. I might get her to pee then she runs back into the house and poops. I don’t get it. I’ve never had an issue with her messing in the house before this. Does a calming medication help in this type of situation? I don’t want to drug her but we somehow have to work thru this so she feels comfortable about going outside and doing her business. She is on a leash so i’m always with her. I just don’t know what else to do. Any suggestions? Thank you for any help you can provide!

My dogs legs have been really sore after exercising. This started happening randomly a few months ago. She is a 4 year old American pit bull terrier. Her legs are sore for a day or two (sometimes longer depending on how intense the exercise was) and then the soreness goes away. I am wondering how I could help her with this problem.

Having difficulty with our new pup and cat.
About two months ago I introduced a new puppy to our family. We have an 8 month old kitten, and a 2 year old German Shepherd, and the new guy, 6 month old Chance, an American Bully.
We rescued Chance from an abusive situation, and he is just a sweet and snuggly boy with us and our German Shepherd. The problem we face now is that we’re worried about our cat. They have been separated by a baby gate. He doesn’t bark or growl at her, but rather whines and stares at her. He does chase her, but we’ve always nabbed him. When she is on the other side of a regular door, she’ll put her paw under as any cat would to play. He hasn’t attacked it at this point. He just gets very still and quiet and just stares at her paw and begins to tremble/shake. He has broken a bar on the baby gate to be near her.
She is unenthused to meet him, after he’s chased her, which makes her run, which makes him chase. We aren’t really sure what to make of all of this behavior or what to do. I feel over saturated in information.
Our german Shepherd was happy to be with her within a week or two. He chases her once in awhile, but all in all they co-exist and like each other. I don’t know if I need to find a new home for bully puppy.
Please help

Hi- I just read your blog about Minnie. I am an American cat owner living in Thailand, so communicating with the vets is difficult. I’m on the verge on having my cat euthanized (tomorrow), and i just can’t make a decision. I hoping you will provide information to help me make a decision. Sammy is a ten year old male. Here is his history:
Dec 7-28- hiding under bed with dilated pupils but eating normally (history of spraying and hiding- not a happy cat so I wasn’t overly concerned, I palpated him and he didn’t seem to have any pain and I figured he got spooked)
Dec 29- I noticed he was a little lame so I brought him to local vet who couldn’t find anything wrong but spinal bone spurs and prescribed him Tramadol. It tasted bitter, he foamed at the mouth and started eating much less. I believe his feeding aversion started here.
Dec 31- I found a neurologist who gave him an MRI and he had surgery for a herniated disc Jan 2, 2019 and was diagnosed with a spinal infarction. He had a hard time clearing the anesthesia drugs bc of his kidney function but it is now normal.
Month of January- Slowly improving in ability to walk but losing interest in food more and more, (doctor says attributable to drowsiness caused by Pregabalin for neuropathic pain) losing weight. (Also, had ataxia from reaction to anti depressant used as appetite stimulant.) He had to be hand fed strips of ham, I believe he developed a further food aversion from me trying to syringe feed him pureed roasted chicken at around Jan 31.
Feb 1- I asked the vet to put an E tube in him because of his refusal to eat on his own. He was doing ok and walking better until his tube fell out and he had to have a new surgery mid-February to replace it. Surgery and clearing anesthesia drugs is really hard on him. Since then, his walking was getting better but then it suddenly got worse and the doctor found that his potassium was low – it got better once he changed to renal diet and Renavast. He has also been on Pregabalin for neuropathic pain, Apolet and Kasavan.

March- His walking got worse again, and I saw him endure one small stroke but the vet was not too concerned. Vet said he has reduced blood flow to his back left leg. He had replaced Kasavan with Apolet, but then added Kasavan back into his medication regimen. He is not improving in the last two weeks with the addition of the Kasavan, he drags himself to the litterbox to poop but pees in his bed. He still grooms himself and responds to me but he has a low growl when I touch him- probably bc he is so sick of all the poking and prodding. He has NO INTEREST in eating. I withheld food for 18 hours this week and withheld Pregabalin (bc the doctor said it makes him sleepy and not eat) and still NO INTEREST.

About 4 times along this journey I’ve decided it’s time to euthanize him but then he perks up and I decide not to. He is normal other than not eating, lying in bed all day (bc he can barely walk) and peeing on himself. He grooms himself and poops in litter box. I don’t think he is in acute pain but his pupils are often dilated, which just may be from stress of being incapacitated. I have varied amount of PG I give him to test his pain, and he doesn’t to be in pain but I’m not sure. I haven’t been able to get him to purr for a week or so, usually he will purr at night if I bring him into bed with me.

The vet says 90% of the time cats recover from spinal infarction. He told me start physical therapy with him but I tried and he hates it and it just upsets him more. I can’t figure out if there is any hope of him getting better. Like I said, he has always been a grumpy, hiding cat and often would growl if you approach him to pet him so that is not new. I was hoping to give him a few last years of his life. I think he is depressed and I don’t know of any way to get him out of his funk, and I still don’t know if he will ever recover use of his legs or will just get worse.

ANY INSIGHT??????????????? THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!