Hi, I follow on fb even though I’m in Cecil county. My son’s dog has been having anal gland infection for about 6 or 7 weeks she’s been treated with a number of different antibiotics they feel a mass up there they’ve done two different kinds of cultures and don’t see any cancer. I told them no more medicine we want to to go to a specialist and they sent us to Blue Pearl they looked at her records and noticed that she has MRSA they came back and one of those cultures and none of the medicines that she had been treated with covers MRSA. So they cultured it again today and we hope to have her on a stronger medicine that will cover that within a week. They at first had recommended that we go forth with the bilateral anal resection which we were going to do until they found that in her record and then we decided to try the medicine first between the other vet prescribing the medicines that did not cover MRSA even though a test that they had done showed it and all the different rechecks and more medicines my son is almost $3,000 in after today the surgery was going to be another 8000. We’re hopeful that the proper medicine for MRSA will work but if it doesn’t and we have to go forth with surgery can we get it at a better price than 8000. That with the almost three just astronomical. Any other advice you can offer would also be welcome. Thank you for all you do .

My 16 (maybe 17) year old tortie cat Rose is constipated maybe has megacolon? This happened to her about a year ago. Had to take her to emergency where she had an enema. We changed some things around and were doing well.
The past Friday started out normal, when I got home from work she was hiding and had vomited, mostly food, around the house. She then postured like she was going to defecate and nothing happened. From my experience with her last time i figured she had a piece of poo stuck. Started her on lactulose and was going to call the vet in the morning. Being a holiday weekend her vet, and other vets were not open. I was forced to go to emergency. Because this was familiar to me, I opted not to do an x-ray (due to cost) and had an enema done with subcutaneous fluids and anti nausea with continuing lactulose and adding MiraLAX. She didn’t poop that night and the next morning she hadn’t peed either. She was also acting a little funny. Back to the ER we went. This time we did x-rays and bloodwork. She was full of poop. Vet said option 1 would be keeping her hospitalized with an enema every 6 hours with tube down her throat with a flow of miraLAX then re xray. Cost was well over $4,000, not to mention the stress. Option 2 we could do another enema but she didn’t think that she would pass the stool and basically suggested that I consider putting her down. Due to her age and the chronic nature of megacolon. After lots of tears and thought I asked if we could try the enema again more fluid, drain her bladder and keep up with the laxative routine. I wanted to give her a chance. So we proceeded. Vet was able to pull a lot of poop out and on the way home she passed two more pieces of stool, then later that night pooped again. She’s still a little off, but she went thru a lot the last couple days. I have a follow up appointment with my vet.
With what I have read about megacolon, I realize that at some point the mobility will be lost and surgery is the only option, with her age I don’t think that would be in her best interest
.
But I also refuse to accept that I should be seeking euthanasia at this point. Is that wrong? Am I putting her thru way too much?

I would like to adjust her diet to a low residue and add cisapride to her regiment.
I know that was a long story to get to such a short question, but I am sure I am not alone in this. I just want to give her a fighting chance within reason. I uploaded her x ray, I’m not the most computer savvy so sorry for the roughness
Thank you to whomever takes the time to read this.

What to do: Chronic [minor] rectal prolapse in my 8 month old kitten. Since the day I got her she’s had a swollen rectum and we have gone through every non-intrusive mitigation. An important note: I found her deep in the backcountry of Idaho as a kitten, likely dumped by her original owner. She has tested negative for all abdominal worm parasites through multiple fecal exams. We despite that did two rounds of de wormer. She is on a specialized sensitive stomach diet, we did topical steroids, probiotics and lactulose which she still takes to help control softer stools. Her prolapse as not gotten any better and in earnest seems to be the most swollen its ever been. Dr suggested Coloplexy surgery but stated the risks as we don’t know what the root cause is. I worry she is dealing with sphincter issues and may come out of the coloplexy with incontinence. + that surgery is no joke and invasive. I wonder if there are any other parasite cleanses that would be suggested that are not worms- or if letting her live with it as she has could also be a choice. She does not struggle to poop and doesn’t show signs of stress of pain. Any advice ( and words of encouragement ) would be so helpful.

My almost 8 year old Golden/Lab mix has the worst breath I have ever smelt. We have looked in his mouth and do not see evidence of any tooth infections or abscessed teeth. Our Current vet told us that “some dogs stink.” It is to the point that we cannot invite people over our home with the fear that he will touch them and make them smell. It is nauseating. We were told they could put him under and evaluate further for $3k + but that is not in the budget. Are there any other solutions? Can you help @Jarrettsvillevet? @jarretsvillevet@gmail.com

Hi Dr. Magnifico,
I have an 18 yr old male cat (Eddie) that has been having trouble breathing because of an obstruction in his nasal cavity. Eddie’s primary Vet Dr. Klutz at Abby Animal hospital preformed an x-ray and determined he would probaly need a CAT scan and rhinoscopy for a better diagnosis. I was referred to AVIMO in Hunt Valley and went for a consultation. That visit cost over $800 with some blood work. I was given an estimate for the CAT scan procedure of $4426.00 to $5258.00. This is a lot for me to pay out at one time since I have 5 other cats that are in their senior years with some health issues of their own. If your practice or if you know of another facility that can provide a cheaper price I would appreciate your input.

I have a 9 year old female spayed cat. I took her to our normal vet because she was not acting herself. She had recently had a checkup with no issues, however, I had noticed she was spraying in different placed in the house which again is not like her. We have 2 doxies in the house as well. They did x-rays and said she had bladder stones and a couple in her urethra and they called so we could go over to their other emergent location to see if they could possibly flush those out. So I then took her to the emergent location and they took her back and were able to get a catheter into her and push the stones back but said when they did that, they came right back into the urethra. They then suggested that I start her on the special diet right away and hopefully that would help in time to shrink the bladder stones and maybe she could pass them. They said I should bring her back in about 6-8 weeks which will be towards the end of this month to do repeat x-rays. If she still has the bladder stones, they suggested her getting a cystotomy and said it would be over $3000. They also told me to closely monitor her to make sure she doesn’t get blocked and if she does to take her to the ER right away which I know would be even more expensive. I was hoping you could offer some insight on how much your practice would charge for a cystotomy and should I just go ahead and get that done? I have been monitoring her but I am so afraid she will end up blocked and I don’t want that. I have seen many of your videos helping the cats that have been blocked and I am so thankful you have been able to help them. I hope you can help me navigate the best direction for my kitty.

Good morning!
First and foremost, thank you for doing the work that you do!
I have a 7-year-old orange tabby named Milo. He started having seizures a couple of years ago. It became frequent enough that the vet decided to put him on the antiseizure medicine Phenobarbital. That was working okay, but then I started to notice that he was losing weight. Now, just to be clear, Milo enjoys his food, so he could benefit from losing some weight. However, he lost a considerable amount of weight in a short period. He also became lethargic.
I took him back to the vet, and after bloodwork, it was determined that it was affecting his liver, and he was anemic. The vet wanted to put him on Zonisamide instead. It was expensive, but we didn’t mind. We were told that the options were limited as to what he could be put on, and this was the only other suggestion that she had, so we took it.
Fast-forward a couple of months. It became nearly impossible to give him this medication. Milo would hide all day, and when we dragged him out of hiding to give him this medication twice a day, he would foam at the mouth and run back to his hiding spot. He was traumatized (I think!) from taking this medication.
My husband and I sat down to talk about this. We decided that we were going to take him off the medication because we wanted a better quality of life for him. At this point, he is back to being healthy overall (except for the few extra pounds he still carries).
He still has seizures, and on average, I would say that he has two a month. They are always at night. I’ve read that nighttime is a trigger because of increased brain activity. When he has them, they typically last under a minute (I’ve been woken up by him when he has them because he sleeps with us). He loses control of his bladder and will pee. He will foam at the mouth. Once he “comes out” of his seizure, he will then circle and meow for five (ish) minutes after. He is typically back to normal within 30 minutes.
Here are my questions:
(1) Would you recommend that he go back on antiseizure medication?
(2) Are the seizures affecting his brain? Or are seizures typically harmless?
(3) If medication is recommended, are there any other options besides the two that we have already tried?
Thank you for any insight you can give! I just want what is best for our Milo Man, and if that is medication, then we are fine going back down that route. But, at the same time, I do not want him to live in fear of taking the medication.

Our female German Shepherd dog is 5 years old and has had chronic liquid diarrhea for 5 months. Other symptoms are weight loss, sporadic inappetence and vomiting. Her energy is normal and bright. History of Pika, but no obvious ingestion of foreign objects during this interval. Three fecal studies mostly negative, two blood panels not conclusive (some levels low-normal). Two courses of Metronidazole (no effect), Three courses Amoxi/Clav (effective until finished), Panacur, probiotics, Cobalequin, special diets. Now on Hills GI Biome diet. Negative for EPI. Low B12. Vet has advised that this is antibiotic responsive diarrhea.

Went to an internal medicine specialist today upon referral. Ultrasound shows a tumour and intestinal thickening, lymph node activity. We are being steered toward open surgery to resect the intestine for possible, but unknown, malignancy and removal. Vet cannot explain why the diarrhea is antibiotic responsive, if malignant tumour. We are doing yet another expanded fecal study and Pancreatitis test to determine if coincident. We are already $3,800 into diagnostics with no real answers or help as to the root cause. Dog improves significantly with normal stools while on the Amoxi/Clav, but regresses immediately to liquid diarrhea when treatment stops.

Surgery recommended that may or may not be curative ($6,500). Of course, we hate to put our dog through this if futile, but understand that cancer cannot be diagnosed through imaging. Can anyone offer insights to either affirm our path or offer alternative ideas? Why the improved response to the antibiotics if a tumour is the cause? Thank you kindly.

My four year old male Doberman (Oskar) seen at emergency vet Sunday 1/4 for excessive vomiting (10 times right after breakfast) . X-rays /labs/fluids. Suspected hiatal hernia. Vomiting has stopped. They felt he was critical. They transferred us to a larger ER as they were not equipped to handle this. Ultrasound and another xray performed. Dog is stable. First two vets at this location felt wait and watch. Third vet says we need to repair with surgery. Sending us to internal med for barium swallow. We are at about $ 6000 so far. Thank god we have insurance.
History of intermittent regurgitation while eating. No other symptoms. No reflux. No drooling. No weight loss. Only happens in the mornings after breakfast every few months. Nothing as severe as Sunday. Only once or twice then done. Happy energetic dog. History of allergies. Testing done. Tried immunotherapy Itchy skin , runny eyes. Managing on raw diet last three years. Cleared his skin for the most part. Avoided apoquel and cytopoint. Used Zyrtec. Previously tried hydrolyzed protein foods at around a year old. This is when regurgitation started ( coincidence? )he would also refuse to eat it. Bottom line do you think we should we consider surgery ? We do yearly echos and own our own holter monitor. We pinch penny’s to give them good care as these dogs mean so much to us. Feel we are being pushed into a very expensive and possibly risky surgery and I HATE putting my dogs under anesthesia. My own vet left the practice and I’m trying to find another that might be a good fit. I’m in NH and it’s not easy. Thank you !

Four year old mn Doberman seen at emergency vet for excessive vomiting (10 times right after breakfast) . X-rays /labs/fluids. Suspected hiatal hernia. Vomiting has stopped. They felt he was critical. They transferred us to a larger ER as they were not equipped to handle this. Ultrasound and another xray performed. Dog is stable. First two vets at this location felt wait and watch. Third vet says we need to repair with surgery. Sending us to internal med for barium swallow. We are at about $ 6000 so far. Thank god we have insurance.
History of intermittent regurgitation while eating. No other symptoms. No reflux. No drooling. No weight loss. Only happens in the mornings after breakfast every few months. Nothing as severe as Sunday. Only once or twice then done. Happy energetic dog. History of allergies. Testing done. Tried immunotherapy Itchy skin , runny eyes. Managing on raw diet last three years. Previously tried hydrolyzed protein foods at around a year old. This is when regurgitation started ( coincidence? ). Bottom line should we consider surgery ? We do yearly echos and own our own holter monitor. We pinch penny’s to give them good care as these dogs mean so much to us. Feel we are being pushed into a very expensive and possibly risky surgery and I HATE putting my dogs under anesthesia.