My 12 years old border collie mix has had a runny eye for a few days. Today we noticed the eye is swollen. Should she see a vet immediately?

I have an intact 4 yr old Great Dane weighing about 160
Has had diarrhea (literally water) for the last 3 days no blood no mucus just water poop
Still eating and drinking normally
Doesn’t eat anything he’s not a chewer
I have other dogs who also was having the same issue however their cleared up
I’m not sure if it’s a virus that can spread between them
Where they picked it up
I am going to try to give him boiled chicken and rice this evening is there anything else to try

Hello, I am looking for advice on Separation anxiety for my 9 week old puppy. Made her crate small, pads for night, heartbeat cuddle down, music to calm her. She screams all night long. I play with her all day and wait til 11 to put her down so I can get some rest. I haven’t sleep in 8 days. Please help

Good Morning Dr. Magnifico,

On June 15 and 16, I watched videos of you identifying and removing a polyp from a black and white cat “Pip”. The list of Pip’s symptoms match up perfectly with my cat and I thought – WOW – here is the vet with the answers I have been looking for! I am located in Thurmont, MD.

Since taking on my stray cat nearly 2 YEARS ago, she has seen 3 different vets and her symptoms have never resolved:

Persistent, loud snoring and snorting
Non-responsive to different antibiotic treatments (also non-responsive to steroids and antihistamines)
Chronically snotty – persistent nasal discharge
Chronic increased respiratory effort / visual abdominal breathing
Chronic sneezing (as well as intermittent fits of sneezing)
Intermittent eye discharge from inner corners
Head shaking / ear rubbing

In December of 2024, I rescued Sally who was posted on Facebook as “stray cat – very sick and needs help”. I have been interested and active with TNR, colony caretaking and fostering, as my time and budget allows, for the last 5 years. My intent was to get her the vet care she needed, foster her temporarily, and get her on the waitlists at the local rescues so she could eventually make it to an adoption center to find her forever indoor home. Sally was underweight and displaying upper respiratory “cold” symptoms. Runny nose, trouble breathing, sneezing. I assumed URI.

Sally had 3 visits at a local vet clinic (Thurmont, MD) in December 2024, January 2025 and March 2025 (two different vets saw her here). She was estimated to be between 10 and 15 years old. Per the vet, “her canines have dropped but her eyes look great.” She tested FIV/FELV/HW negative on two separate occasions. We tried several different antibiotics to treat her. We sent out a PCR culture, which returned positive results only for Calicivirus. We also ran a test on her kidneys which had normal results. I had a follow-up discussion with the vet the week of March 31, 2025 because her noisy breathing had not resolved after 4 months of being in a controlled environment. He said that because we’d tried several different antibiotics at that point, and at that time the vet said he did not see any visible polyps in her mouth or ears, his next recommendation was to refer me to a specialty clinic. I said that I wasn’t able to commit such significant additional funds to diagnostics at a specialty clinic, so as a last-ditch effort he prescribed a steroid to see if that would help clear up her breathing. It did not.

I often take my friendlies / kittens to a low-cost clinic in Frederick, MD for vaccines and snap testing before they go to adoption centers. Earlier this year, I discussed Sally with the vet that runs the clinic and he assured me he likes “puzzles” and would be happy to do an exam on Sally at his regular practice in Frederick, MD to see if he could find the cause of Sally’s symptoms. On April 11, 2026 I took Sally to see this vet and he almost immediately noticed an infected tooth. He advised that she needed the tooth removed and other diagnostics wouldn’t be accurate until the tooth was resolved. On April 17, 2026 Sally had the tooth removed under anesthesia. Unfortunately, her chronic rhinitis and all other symptoms have remained unchanged. This vet has now recommended taking her to a specialty clinic.

Sally has lived in my garage with 1 other cat for over a year and a half. The other cat has never developed any illness or health issues – which adds to the theory that Sally’s symptoms are not due to a virus. I’ve also had dozens of other foster cats in and out of the garage over the past 2 years and again, none have developed illnesses that would indicate she has a contagious virus. I feel that the positive Calicivirus results (and also the infected tooth) have muddied the waters on the path to finding answers.

Adoption centers won’t take her until her symptoms are resolved. I cannot afford to take Sally to a specialty clinic. Project Hope was able to assist with a little bit of financial support on her most recent vet bills, but I’ve spent over several thousand dollars in vet work on her and I simply can’t afford to continue. I feel terrible that Sally isn’t getting the love and attention that she really deserves in her golden years. She does have the other cat with her in my garage space, but she deserves a family.

I am grateful for any guidance and expertise you can share. I would love to bring Sally to see you.

Why is Oliver making this sound, and what can be done to help him?

Oliver is a 13 year old domestic short haired cat. We rescued him as a stray when he was around 5 weeks old and he had a respiratory infection, which we cleared up. Oliver never meowed like normal cat. It is a low soft hoarse meow – like a whisper. It has been this way his entirely but he has been an otherwise healthy, playful cat even through today. Starting around 8 years ago, he developed IBD, and was on numerous dosages of steroids to combat this over the past 7-8 years, always at the direction of our Veterinarian. The steroid treatment stopped about 1 year ago, when we found Science Diet Biome eliminated his IBD symptoms.

For the past two-three years, Oliver made a snoring sound while sleeping, but never while he was awake until December 2025, when he started making a loud snoring sound and wheezing/whining sound. We took him to the vet who said it was likely an ear infection, and he was given prescription ear drops. He continued showing symptoms, and in February 2026 the veterinarian prescribed another antibiotic (Clavamox) because he had dry mucus clogging up his left nostril.

On March 11, 2026 Oliver discharged a LOT of bright red blood from his left nostril. He was lethargic.

On March 12, we took him to the veterinarian who examined him and said that it’s possible that there is a mass. Her recommendation was to go to an animal hospital for further evaluation, but she also prescribed an antibiotic (Clavamox). We took Oliver the same day to Red Bank Animal Hospital and they said it was likely respiratory and prescribed a different antibiotic as a first treatment and a steroid, and to follow up after if no improvements for a CT Scan to confirm if there is a mass. Since this visit, he’s been on a daily transthermal steroid to slow the growth of a possible mass.

At this point in time, no vet has examined behind his soft palate to see if there is a polyp. We asked all the vets that have seen him if they can look in his nose or throat with a camera or scope, but they they don’t have instruments small enough, and only push a CT Scan which is an astronomical sum of money.

On March 28, 2026 I took him to a different vet for another opinion and basically was given the same recommendations for treatment.

Around May 4th, 2026 , for a period of 3 solid weeks he stopped making the snoring noise entirely, but then it returned.

On July 9, 2026, Oliver relapsed with a stuffy right nostril with green-yellow thick mucus).
On July 10th he had blood mixed in with the thick mucus. (see photo attached)
On July 11th the vet prescribed 25mg Zeniquin for 14 days. This has cleared the mucus, but the snoring sound continues to this day.

Throughout this entire period, he has not lost any weight, continues to eat normally, and shows no other symptoms. He is still on the transthermal steroid which receives daily because he does not take pills easily.

We live in central NJ, and I found you on Facebook and see the wonderful things you are doing and I spoke to your office who instructed me detail his symptoms here in advance of our visit to your office. I look forward to your reply and hope that you can help Oliver as we cannot afford a CT Scan and do not know what else we can do here.

thank you,
Katie

I have a 11yr old female Shihtzu who is spayed and had a bladder stone 6 years ago, which had to be surgically removed. She is now showing the same symptoms as then. She strains to pee and seems like she has the constant urge to go, but only pees a tiny amount at times, and at other times a lot of urine comes out. There is also blood in the urine at times. The last time she needed surgery, a friend lent me her care credit card to pay for the $2500 surgery. At this time my circumstances have drastically changed and there is no way to get surgery. She seems to be more uncomfortable lately. I would like to have her euthanized but have no funds to do so; as i am on disability now. Does anyone know of any vet that would be willing to bill me. I just don’t want her to suffer, and am praying for a solution.

Remi is a year old. She is a German shepherd/greyhound rescue. She has had demodectic mange repeatedly for months now. I dont have the money for a vet anymore and dont know what to do.

Hello,

We brought in a stray kitten almost 4 years ago who showed up in your yard.

Unfortunately, he is easily stressed by our active household with other cats, dogs, and kids. As a result he has increasingly frequent stress-induced urinary tract infections and blockages.

Our vet diagnosed him with Feline Idiopathic Cystitis. We have tried every remedy we can think of to heal him. He is on fluoxetine for anxiety, gabapentin, steroids, and cerenia for painful flares or stress. He is on an all wet food diet, has a water fountain and four litter boxes that are always clean for him to use with both pellet and traditional litter.

Despite all of this, he is constantly peeing on our clothing, our bedding, and our furniture. It is incredibly stressful, unsanitary, and a huge financial burden to our family. We love our cat and don’t want to lose him because despite all of this he is very sweet and affectionate.

We are at the point where we are considering the PU surgery, even though we don’t have the financial means to do so. I am fearful that it won’t fix our problem and even after this huge investment, he will still have flares. Is my only other option to rehome him to another household with no other pets or children that might cause him stress?

Thank You.

2yr old Rottweiler developed diarrhea last Sunday night and still unresolved. Separately, he developed the sniffles//started sneezing on Wednesday (now 4 days ago). It is getting worse not better. Discharge has been clear although once it was a little cloudy. His nose is warm and dry. I took him to reg vet on Sat morning and was told 101.7 (normal) and lungs/heart clear. Said URI probably viral let it run it’s course. Didn’t want to give antibiotic bc of diarrhea. Tonight he has been breathing with his mouth open and very wet under jaw (poss drooling?). Should we go to ER as nothing is open on Sunday.

My dalmation had a litter of puppies. 12 of them. They are 10 weeks old tomorrow. One of them was taken to the emergency vet today and ended up getting put down 😭 they said that his intestines came up and suffocated him with his lungs. This could possibly be a birth defect. Is this something I need to worry about with the other 11 in the litter?