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I just rescued a kitten, I believe he will be 12 weeks next week. He has not been to a vet yet. He has a weird patch on his neck under his mouth that is raised, hard and almost scabby. It is getting larger by the day; it is about an inch long now. It seems to be spreading and itches him. I have been watching it and putting Neosporin on it. I am trying to figure out how to come up with the $1k to have him seen, vaccinated and tests run. I did not plan on rescuing a kitten and had NO idea the cost to care for him. Is there anything I can do to help him with this skin issue while I try to figure out how I’m going to afford the vet visits? He should be less than 2lbs. Please help
My 17 y old female Australian silky,( who is a rescue from a puppy mill that abused her by breeding her over and over again for several years) has had a serosanguinous-looking lump the size of a plum hanging from her abdominal area for approximately 6 years. Within the past week the lump grew in size a bit and started to leak dark brown fluid. The lump also feels hot to the touch. My dog has also grown more lethargic and unsteady on her feet over the past two days. I made a vet appointment but I have to wait 5 days as he has no other openings. Question 1) is it safe for my dog to wait that long? 2) if so, what should I be doing to help her until we get to see the vet?
Hello,
It sounds like this should be seen as soon as able. If it is open and leaking you can try a soft belly bandage to keep it from being traumatized and protected from licking and infection. You will likely have to have it surgically removed to resolve this. If cost is an issue ask if the local shelter or rescues might be able to assist.
Thank you so much for your comments and advice; much appreciated! We have a ‘male dog-type ‘ sling velcro’ed around her with a maxi pad inside. This morning we went to change it while we had her standing on a large pee pad and the entire sac had burst open. It now resembles a popped balloon. We tried to clean her up a bit and put a new sling with a fresh maxi pad around her abdomen. We are trying not to make the sling too tight but snug enough to support the leaking sac. She feels very warm in her underbelly near and around the sac. We are very worried about infxn. Thank you for the idea of asking a shelter for help. Funds are an issue for us now as we are both on fixed incomes. (We have always paid our vet bills; however, and we are not understanding why our vet can’t get us an appointment sooner😢). Thank you everyone, Marilyn
My 11 year old Cat has slowly developed noisy breathing. For a long time it was bearly noticeable, then over time I noticed she was getting worse, a snoring/snorting sound when sleeping and occasionally after playing or running. A short time after that I noticed she was having trouble eating, specifically swallowing. That was when I knew somthing was definitly wrong. I callled my vet and explained everything, they got us in, the vet checked her over and said everything seems fine.. not an emergency. Told me it was potentially a polyp in her throat, but said they cant do “scoping” at that location and said I would need a referral to another clinic. This annoyed me because I explained the symptoms on the phone while booking and they didnt mention their limitations. So they charged me ($200) to basically tell me they cant help. Luckily my cats symptoms subsided a bit while we waited for the referral. Some days are worse than others. This is when I found Krista Magnifico’s video removing a cats polyp!! It made me feel so much better know it might just be that simple, hopefully. I finally got the call back from the referral, they said they need to do a consultation first before anything else ($330) then after that they would need to sedate my cat, do a CT scan ($3000) and if my cat needs surgery I would need to come back, sedate the cat again and surgery would be roughy ($4-5000) This was devastating to hear…. now I completely understand vet bills arent always cheap and working people need to be paid, but this seems excessive… Any advice is greatly appreciated. I dont know what do to at this point…
Hello,
In my experience polyps are unlikely in a cat this age. I would ask for a few rounds of either an antibiotic or anti inflammatory to see if these help. In cases where clients struggle with the cost of diagnostics we often try various treatments to see if we get a favorable response. You can also ask for a sedated exam to look for a polyp behind the soft palate. Like I do in the video.
I hope this helps.
Misha finally caught a bug. According to my son it was a stinging kind. His words. She seemed ok from when it happened at 11, with no effects. She has vomited everything she had to eat today starting around 8 pm. Last time it was barely anything. Misha 75-80 pound German shepherd
I was planning on plain rice, and water tomorrow. Would you do anything else?
Hello,
We cannot offer treatment options here. It just isn’t prudent without an examination in person. And I feel that it too often leads to false pretenses about degree of illness and injury.
So the best advice I can give is to call your vet and discuss your concerns. If the vomiting persists, or your dog isn’t better in a few hours, or worsens at anytime it’s time to go see the vet.
A sting can cause local swelling and the mouth is a really important part to not be swollen (breathing issues), so I don’t want to offer advice about the vomiting without an exam.
Thank you, I totally understand. Luckily today she seems back to her usual throwing balls at me and body slamming me. I had asked because to Misha, vet tech, are appetizers, and vets are entrees 🙁 -id have been good with any swelling, I have all the human meds lol
I have a cat who seems to be having tooth pain. The gums are slightly red around the tooth and it’s discolored. Could we try antibiotics or maybe a simple extraction? Looking for options or the best way to help her. She is a rescue and we have a lot of cats. We already have 2 with liver problems that have costed us a lot of money. Any ideas or options are greatly appreciated!
How old is she? It is possible that the gums are simply inflamed. But in my experience, even if not much is visible above the gums the roots may already be severely affected (FORL). Antibiotics don’t really help with this, the tooth has to be removed. But only a vet can see that with an x ray.
I hope you find a good solution. I wish the best to all your cats!
Thanks! She is about 8. It’s definitely more than just inflamed. There is also some weird build up on the tooth. It’s definitely going to need to be removed unfortunately. Just hoping to find an affordable way to get it removed
Dr Magnifico
I have a 10 month old English Bulldog, he has a prolapsed urethra, we were told by Warm & Fuzzy Vet a few weeks ago. I was referred to Jarrettsville by my cousin Tina Martin. I need to know if you perform the procedure to correct this issue.
We have had a few patients that resolved this with a neuter. Have you talked about that? We have a bartered surgeon who can perform this if neutering doesn’t resolve it.
We have discussed it, I wasn’t aware that neutering alone would resolve the issue. Is that the case or is there a procedure that is done as well as neuterering? My only concern is his age, I have been told that he’s to young to neuter him. We did not intend on breeding him so that is absolutely something we are open to
Dr. Magnifico – My captain (5 month old GSD) started vomiting this afternoon. Threw up all the food he had in his stomach at the time and has since thrown up 8 other times. Mostly foamy mucus and liquid. Had diarrhea once so far that was very gassy and liquidy. He can’t hold any water down. He is now just laying down. I can hear his stomach gurgle every once in a while. I’m held up in the kitchen with him. This started around 6pm, it’s now almost 11pm. I don’t know if I should wait through the night or go to ER now. Help please.
Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about Captain. In puppies we worry about parvovirus, intestinal parasites, foreign bodies and eating something that doesn’t agree with them. With your pup I am not as concerned about the first two.
I am at the clinic first thing. We will fit you in.
Dr Magnifico
Thank you for following up. He is back to his normal self this morning. He has eaten fine as well. I guess something did not agree with him.
Hi, this inquiry is for Dr. Graf or Dr. Magnifico, both have seen my Blink for this mystery issue. Blink has had random nose bleeds on and off for about 6 months now and not really sure the cause. They are extremely intermittent and bleed from different parts of his nose (it’s never a lot of blood but enough to notice) He has no other symptoms and is behaving like his normal self although he does have sneezing fits sporadically. Him and his brother both have always had runny eyes etc. On 4/3, Dr. Graf recommended we start a steroid which we totally agreed to but truthfully we did not pick up because we were worried about the side effects and since the nose bleeds are so intermittent we thought we would watch and see. Today 4/21 was the first time we saw a nose bleed happen again (the last time was 3/27). I have included a picture. We just want to make sure we are doing the correct thing, is it still recommended for him to take the steroid?
One thing I realized that I didn’t mention before is that our neighbor is a heavy smoker (cigarettes) and not sure if this is contributing… we like to keep the windows open when it’s nice out so sometimes you can definitely smell it. Just wanted to add that detail as well.
Thanks!
Hello,
There are numerous things that can cause a nose bleed. Some of them may respond to a steroid. But until you have a good idea of what’s causing it (blood work and X-rays along with a good dental exam), it is just a guess that a steroid might help.
I can call you tomorrow to discuss possible options for this.
Dr Magnifico
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it and will wait your call
We had a cat in our shelter with similar symtoms. Turned out, she had a blade of grass stuck up her nose that wasn’t visible. It took a while but after one of her sneezing fits a bit of it poked out in the front and could be removed. Seems it caused a lot of iritation in her nose, but she had no problems after it was removed.
We found blood in my dogs urine. We took her to the vet and they did an x-ray and blood work and saw kidney stones. They said she requires surgery to remove them. I am looking for a second opinion as the price quote for surgery is extremely high.
Hello,
There are some bladder stones that will dissolve with a prescription diet. You can ask about this to try. I also put these dogs on an antibiotic. The down side to waiting is that you will have to take another Xray later to see if there are less stones or smaller stones. You also have to stay on the diet life long. The other concern is that a stone can lodge in the base of the bladder and act as a plug and make it difficult or impossible to urinate. This becomes an emergency and this can also be very costly. You can also seek this surgery elsewhere. Another clinic might be less expensive. The stones can also be sent for free to the Minnesota uriolith lab. Ask your vet about this.
Dr Magnifico,
Ivy started the Quattro preventative on Sunday. She started having diarrhea on Tuesday and it’s still an issue today. She is playing fine and eating normal. Should I be concerned? How long should I wait til I bring her in?
Hello,
Well, that’s not a preferred response to a new treatment. If you think she is acting normally then I don’t think she needs to be seen right away. I am at the clinic Sunday. And we are here Saturday too. You can call the clinic anytime and ask to speak to the charge tech. The hey can help right away. Please also leave me a message so I can follow up next week. If you need me in between email me at krista@pawbly.com.
Hello,
Thank you for rescuing this kitten.
I think it is really important to see a veterinarian for your kitten to be vaccinated, dewormed., and have the skin looked at. I also don’t think that is going to cost as much as you propose.
As far as the skin goes I would guess that the skin lesion might be ringworm which won’t respond to what you are using. Please be very careful what you put on a kitten. It might not be safe to be ingested or absorbed.