I posted seeking advice about my 4 yo hound mix on Sunday night and Dr. Magnifico responded. She asked that I keep her posted and with that, I’m hoping for some more advice. Roscoe had his follow up with our regular vet this afternoon and while his ALT levels have come down some (it was 786 on Sunday, 660 today and he started on Denamarin on Sunday night) his platelets have also dropped more (they were 114 on Sunday, 93 today) which is obviously concerning.

Some additional bloodwork levels to note –

RBC Sunday 8.99, today 9.46

Hematocrit Sunday 63.6, today 66.0

Hemoglobin Sunday 22.2, today 23.1

MPV Sunday 14.9, today 14.8

Reticulocytes on Sunday were 44.1 (within normal range) today they are high 127.7

Lymphocytes on Sunday were 1.20 (within normal range) today they are low 0.96

At our regular vet today, they tested him for Heartworm, Erlichia, Lyme & Anaplasma – all were negative. He is vaccinated for Leptosporosis, which is why I’m assuming they didn’t test for it today? The vet did say today that tick born infections can take awhile to show up, so he is proactively prescribing doxycycline which we are starting today.

Physical examination was normal at both the ER on Sunday night and our regular vet today. Regular vet suggested that he needs an abdominal ultrasound to look at his liver and spleen; they have someone that comes to the office every 2 weeks to provide this service, they will be in office on Thursday and are going to try to fit us in. I did call Jarrettsville Vet as well as Airpark Animal Hospital (we live in Northern Carroll County) to see about the possibility of getting an ultrasound sooner than Thursday (assuming that our regular vet is even able to get him in then) – neither had any availability sooner.

I’m just trying to wrap my head around this and prepare myself for what to expect next. Roscoe has been completely healthy up until this point. Other than a little more tired than usual, he is still behaving normally right now. Is there anything I should be asking for, or doing?

This boy is so incredibly special to us and has always been so full of life and love, I’m really struggling right now.

I apologize in advance for the long post… I have a 4 year old hound mix “Roscoe” who has been seemingly healthy since we adopted him at 14 weeks old. He is neutered, receives regular vet care, is up to date on all vaccines, and is on a monthly oral heartworm and flea/tick preventative. He is a grazer and eats Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula dog food, and he takes Vet-IQ brand Hip & Joint and Pet Honesty “Super Pooper” probiotic supplements daily. He gets dog treats and basically no table food unless something small is dropped. We do not have a fenced yard and he does not listen well (hound dog… follows his nose) so he is leash-walked twice daily and is never outside off-leash. This evening my husband was walking him and on their walk they encountered two dogs that we were unfamiliar with; Roscoe became upset and was acting like a lunatic and pulling very badly on his slip knot leash. After the dogs passed, Roscoe laid down in a neighbor’s yard and vomited. After a few minutes, they crossed the street and he vomited again in the middle of the street. Once they got to the other side, he vomited again (all vomit appeared to be undigested food) and laid down, refusing to move any further. My husband called me to come pick them up because Roscoe would not get up and walk any further. I arrived with the car (Roscoe is an anxious dog and hates cars and car rides) my husband had to pick him up to put him in the backseat and he sort of collapsed. His gums were pale, his breathing was weird (shallow and alternating between rapid and very slow) ordinarily I would’ve called it panting but his mouth was closed the whole time and the breaths were coming out of his nose. He had a very distant stare and I honestly thought he was dying right in front of my eyes.

We rushed him to the emergency vet and once inside he was wagging his tail and perked up quite a bit from what he had been, but was still not himself. He was able to walk from the lobby into the back, and from the back into a room. We spent about 3 hrs just waiting to be seen, they checked his vitals and everything looked normal but he did vomit 4 different times, which was partially digested food mixed with foamy bile. Abdominal X-rays were normal (3 different views) no masses or foreign bodies were observed (someone is always home with him and we did not believe he could’ve gotten ahold of anything anyway) – we did bloodwork and this resulted in several concerning levels:

His red blood cells, hemoglobin & hematocrit, bilirubin & ALT are all elevated. The ALT is what they consider severely elevated, normal is 10-125, his is 786. Bilirubin normal is 0.0-0.9, his is 2.2.

Red blood cell normal is 5.65-8.87, his is 8.99.

Hematocrit normal is 37.3-61.7, his is 63.6.

Hemoglobin normal is 13.1-20.5, his is 22.2.

His platelets are also a little low, normal is 148-484, his are 114. They visualized them under the microscope and said he does have some large cells present, whatever that means?

The emergency vet gave him sub-Q fluids, an anti-nausea medicine and sent us home with a liver support medication (Denamarin) that we started tonight. We are to follow up with our regular vet on Tuesday for repeat bloodwork to make sure his platelets haven’t dropped any lower but I’m just curious as to what your thoughts are? He was completely fine all day before this happened this evening, he was his usual self. We are worried sick. 😭💔

My 13 year old lab/husky mix licks his paws. It started a few months ago with just a little, now it is almost all the time. I have added a daily probiotic. He has experienced negative reactions to antihistamines. His adoption folder said “No Antihistamines”. Three months ago, the vet gave him a shot which only made his sluggish for about three weeks. Suggestions? preferably with out injections or medications.

My girl is a 16 years old Cheweenie (chihuahua and dachshund mix). Last month the vet found a small mass on her spleen. She has some arthritis and get’s monthly Librela injections, also have some heart issues, but they said is minor and no need of medication, just have to monitor it. Her sight is starting to fade, but overall she’s in a good shape, enjoys little slow walkies and have tremendous appetite. We have an appointment next week to discuss the option of a surgery. I’m just worried if she’s going to survive the surgery and heal. What can I expect if we don’t get the spleen removed? Should I insist to get the surgery or not? Please share some insights.

Dr.Magnifico/Pawbly forum

My sister has a 3.5 year old husky mix that has has started experiencing skin issues over the last few months. She’s tried cytopoint injections and more frequent bathing but is now looking into starting him on probiotics because she read it could be a gut issue. Recently, his ear became inflamed and there was some yeast but Zymox has seemed to really improve it, which is what lead her to think this could be a gut thing. He otherwise is a very happy and comfortable and playful dog but does have several instances a day where he is itching behind his ears or licking his paws.

Are there any recommendations of food or probiotics that you recommend?

He is currently on the Purina ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach food. He has regular stools twice/day, no changes in appetite and no other symptoms other than this itchiness. He is up to date on vet visits and vaccines.

Picture uploaded of his cuteness!!

Hi Krista,

I discovered your YouTube videos yesterday and found your advice on cat care incredibly helpful. My wife and I are caring for our 18-year-old Birman cat, who is in stage 4 kidney disease with significant muscle loss. She’s also struggling with constipation and has other health issues, including high blood pressure and a heart murmur.

Currently, we’re feeding her a mix of wet food (chicken broth, chicken, pumpkin, and egg yolk), and providing SubCut fluids (50ml/day), along with the following supplements:

– Epakitin (0.5g/day)
– Pet-Tinic (2ml/day)
– Lactulose (3ml/day)
– Phos-Bind (0.2g/day)
– Potassium chloride (0.19g/day mixed in the broth – though we’re concerned she’s not getting the full amount since she’s unable to finish the broth).
– In addition, she’s on Amlodipine (0.25ml/day) to manage her high blood pressure.

Despite this, her weight has decreased significantly over the past year. She was once 3.3kg, but a year ago dropped to 2.5kg, and three weeks ago, it dropped again to 1.8kg, despite our best efforts to feed her.

A week ago, we had an enema done at the vet, which relieved some diarrhea, but there was still hardened stool near her anus. We’ve been massaging her abdomen and anus daily to stimulate defecation, and were able to help her pass a large, hard stool last Wednesday. Since then, she’s only passed small amounts of stool – mostly liquid or dark – and has had a lot of difficulty.

Today, we used a Pedia-Lax suppository (1ml), and after about 30 minutes, she passed a larger stool with dark liquid diarrhea. The stool was slightly hard, dark, and very smelly. She’s now very exhausted and resting, but did purr a bit before falling asleep.

For hydration, I gave her 10ml of SubCut fluids before the suppository to prevent dehydration. We’ve seen three different vets, but none have been able to provide lasting relief.

We’re reaching out for advice on whether we’re on the right track and if there’s anything else we can do to help her feel better and poop more easily. Any suggestions, given the circumstances, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for your time and any guidance you can offer.

Warm regards,

Joel and Sonia

I was wondering if the Tibial plateau leveling osteotomy is a good treatment for a very active female Akita-husky mix, approximately 2.5 years old? Tater has been spayed, and didn’t react to that procedure well. She “guarded” her abdomen and haunches for over a year. We have moved, so have access to a different vet. Her primary vet office is Price’s Creek (Ohio), who referred her to Medvet for the surgery. I can’t remember the vet who we had Tater’s consultation with at Medvet.

I have a very special and painful case I need help with, I have tried several different veterinarians with no diagnosis or prognosis so far. It may be a long shot, but I was hoping you could help me shine a light on this.

In April I found an extremely skinny stray cat and took him in. I first thought he was malnourished from lack of food for being in the streets, but 4 months in his case keeps unfolding.

He is likely older than 15 years old, but he’s a happy cat with a lot of energy and mobility. He weighs 3kg but he’s a big cat, you can feel every single bone in his spine, although you can’t see them that easily because he has long hair. He’s completely affectionate, loves to be pet, and asks very politely for attention and food all the time.

All we know about his past is he is neutered, he had some teeth surgically removed and he tested negative for FIV and FeLV.

He had a huge appetite when I first took him in, he would eat 100g of food in one meal and ask for more right after. He would sometimes ‘cough’, it sounded like he was choking on some kind of fluid, it doesn’t happen in sequences, but it happens almost every day until today.

He always drank LOTS of water and produced a lot of urine as well. His feces at the beginning were really solid with some mucus.

After a month, he continued to eat plenty and hadn’t gained any weight, that’s when he started to throw up. It started happening a few days a week, usually after spending several hours without eating he would throw up a clear frothy fluid with no content, and then it progressed to twice every day regardless of when he had eaten.

We suspected it could be diabetes or hyperthyroidism, but the labwork didn’t confirm either, it showed regular kidney function with small liver function alterations.

We then introduced prednisolone (2,5mg/day) and changed his diet from a mix of natural home-cooked protein, hypercaloric wet food, protein supplements, and dry food to exclusively Royal Canin Hypoallergenic while waiting for Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Hydrolyzed Protein to arrive in Brazil, keeping Omega 3 (fish oil) 500mg/a day in his diet.

Vomits went away for a while. He kept drinking lots of water and peeing a lot, but his feces got softer (not liquid).

He had periods where he lost his appetite, which we treated with mirtazapine, he reacted after 6 days.

We performed an ultrasound and discovered that basically all his internal organs were compromised. He has severe alterations everywhere. Still, the best specialists I could find couldn’t tell me what was causing it and offer a course of treatment that didn’t involve opening him up to collect tissues for a biopsy.

I personally think it is absurd that a doctor could look at this frail elderly cat who obviously can’t resist anesthesia without serious risks and say that surgery is the only way to go, all to find out for sure if we’re dealing with a lymphoma or an infection. I’m looking for someone to advise me on the most effective course of action. Of course, I aim to reverse his condition, but I understand that given his age and how advanced it is, it might not be an option.

He is currently at 3kg, eating exclusively Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Hydrolyzed Protein with fish oil, and taking prednisolone every day for a month now. His appetite is healthy, he still drinks a lot, pees a lot, and poops regularly but softer. He eats an average of 5 small meals.
Vomits are back down to a few times a week, usually early in the morning before his first meal, and always a clear liquid. He goes and eats right after throwing up so I get the impression he is not nauseous.
He doesn’t seem to be in pain overall.
He’s not gaining any weight regardless of all my efforts.

That is why I’m giving this a shot and trying to get your attention. I hope you have more resources and knowledge that could help me figure out appropriate next steps to give this little guy the best fighting chances I can.

On this link you’ll find a translation of his bloodwork and ultrasound. I had chat GPT translate it for me so forgive me if there are errors.
Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yqcen-TYzyvfBYU-J4t1tCHola1E2otDGDa1H7V032Y

I appreciate any support you can lend me, his name is Valentim which means brave and strong, and I want him to win this fight.

I have a 6 year old, female Doberman mix (we rescued her and not sure her exact breed-she is smaller than most Doberman-she is around 44 lbs. About a month ago, she started having accidents in the house, constant urination, and dribbling stream when she actually pees. I thought she probably had a UTI and took her to the vet. They assumed as well she probably had a UTI and gave me a prescription. After ten days on prescription, no change. I went back to vet and told her there had been no change. They started her on Proin. She has been taking this for about 2.5 weeks and there has been no change. When I take her out , she pees about 4 times in a dribble.

They have done blood tests, urinalysis, and x ray. Even after using bathroom twice, her bladder still had urine in it. They are going to send it to a specialist, but we are already about $800 in and no answers. I feel so bad for my girl, because she is embarrassed when she has an accident inside. Any help would be great!

My dog is predisposed to have reactions to ingredients in every heartworm medication. I have received no definitive answer from my vet as to what to do except to basically play Russian Roulette which I’m not really willing to do. I would like to know if you have any advice on how to herbally treat heartworm without using conventional treatment. He is a husky, German Shepherd, wolf mix he has been DNA tested and he is 20 months old. Any information that you could provide would be helpful. My name is James Dalton and if you need to contact me my number is 864-906-4305. Thank you