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Keturah | 4 months ago
My 6 Month Old Kitten Has Been Having Breathing Issues. I Took Her To They Diagnosed Her …

My 6 month old kitten has been having breathing issues.
I took her to they diagnosed her with an ear infection but then she got worse.

I did some research and watched a lot of videos and it seems like she had a Nasal Polyp.

I am sure my kitten is not sick with anything that can be spread because my other cat is perfectly fine.
She typically sounds like she is snoring all of the time.

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Brianna | 4 months ago
I Just Moved Over 3 States, Which Was A Financial Blow. I Expected To Adjust To My …

I just moved over 3 states, which was a financial blow. I expected to adjust to my new life, but my kitty baby (Female 2 yr old Calico Cat) at the end of July – beginning of August 2025 suddenly had major weight loss and impacted anal glands. Being experienced I relieved them successfully externally, but took her to the vet to get antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and to get to the bottom of what caused it in the first place. I had to struggle finding a vet since I moved here, and no one wants to take payments anymore… the doctor that I talked to was horribly mean to me, made sure to let me know that I was un-welcome, but that they would work with me this one time and to never expect this grace again. From the small town in Arkansas that I grew up in, we have always been able to do payments or a tab, the animal always came first… I have literal receipts and statements from other vets showing that I never miss my payments with the vet, regardless of my credit. I did not realize it then, but their goal was to give me the anti-biotics and anti-inflammatory and send me on my way. But not before they tried to express her anal glands internally in an un-necessary manner. They were not gentle about it either, as she is an extremely quiet animal whose cries and screams when upset or in pain are almost inaudible. But when they took her back there, I could hear her all the way from the other room. I noticed that stuff did not look 100% correct when we got home, but everyone kept gaslighting me and saying it was just the inflammation and it would heal and go away eventually and that I just needed to let the drugs do what they were supposed to do. She started eating again and things were looking up, until this past weekend. She suddenly quit eating and I had to encourage her to eat. I changed her diet to the science diet so she has been on that since the visit. She was losing weight so I got her some vetri-cal while I logged her BM’s and everything until I could figure out what is going on to tell someone. Her butthole did look fine, until it didn’t. I don’t have money, so I was working to try and get to where I can take her, because I know they are going to want payment for EVERYTHING up front. But tonight, when I got home from working late, she was anxious to be going to the bathroom. So, I tried my best to encourage her, but noticed that when she was trying to have a BM she was straining and the inner lining of her butthole was trying to protrude with the BM. She pooped successfully crying the entire time, and there is no protrusion at this time. everything looks normal and dark pink to light red. She has an issue with it gaping off & on. But I am shocked and taken aback and sick to my stomach because I need help and I don’t know where to take her. I can pay, but I just can’t pay all at once in this economy, what can I do? Just took these photos a few seconds ago so you could have a reference to see what it looks like right now.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I’m sorry to hear about your cat.
    I have been a veterinarian for over 20 years. In that time I have very (very) rarely seen anal glands be a chronic issue, or cause chronic problems in cats if they can be emptied. I doubt that this is your primary issue. I do think that they should be checked at every examination however.
    I also feel that very few veterinarians run payment plans anymore. Unless you are a long standing good client you are very unlikely to see this available.
    If your cat is not doing well I can only recommend that you find a local, kind, compassionate vet to help you. It is ok to tell them that you are on a budget and it is common practice for us to offer a list of options that can be provided over time as you can afford them.
    I also think that it is important to keep up to date on vaccines, blood work and a fecal check.
    Good luck.

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Shannon | 5 months ago
I I Have A 2 Year Old Male Neutered Cat That Has Had Ongoing Respiratory Issues. My …

i I have a 2 year old male neutered cat that has had ongoing respiratory issues. My vet suspects he may have a polyp in the back of his airway and referred me to a specialist. The specialist wanted to rule out any other diseases so treated him for heart worm, upper respiratory infection and asthma. His symptoms only mildly improved with the asthma pump but has recently been getting worst. He seems to only has breathing issues when he purrs. I saw Dr. Krista Magnifico on YouTube doing polyp removals and I am interested in her opinion. I am willing to travel and book an appointment as soon as possible. I called the Doctors office but was told this was the only method of consultation for Dr. Krista.

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Roxanne | 5 months ago
Hi Krista, I Hope You’re Doing Well! I Came Across Some Of Your Videos On …

Hi Krista,

I hope you’re doing well! I came across some of your videos on social media and noticed that you’ve handled a similar situation to what I’m currently facing with my cat. My cat has been experiencing some breathing issues, and her vet mentioned the possibility of a polyp in her sinus area.

I saw that you’ve dealt with similar cases before, and I was wondering if you could provide me with a general quote based on your experience. I should mention that I don’t live in Maryland, but I’m definitely willing to travel if it means getting the best care for her. Vet prices are pretty high where I am, and I’ve been dealing with a lot of unexpected expenses for my other pets, so any help or insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for your time and help!

Best regards,
Roxanne

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    A polyp can occur in any part of the ear, nose or throat area. I have only seen them in young cats. Most cats over 5-6 years old are more likely to either have chronic rhinitis or a tumor. That’s why it is recommended to see a specialist who can use a camera/scope or take a CT scan.
    I am only able to help those cats who have a polyp in the ear or back of the mouth and we only remove them by traction/avulsion. In some cases I cannot adequately reach them and in others we cannot get the whole mass.

    I cannot give an estimate for your cat but for the cases I have helped the estimate has been between $300-800.

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Nikki | 5 months ago
I Posted Seeking Advice About My 4 Yo Hound Mix On Sunday Night And Dr. Magnifico Responded. …

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.

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Nikki | 5 months ago
I Apologize In Advance For The Long Post… I Have A 4 Year Old Hound Mix “Roscoe” …

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. 😭💔

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I’m sorry to hear about the situation with your dog. It also sounds like you did everything right in seeking care. I cannot interpret blood work findings as these always need to be done with an examination to make sense. But my suspicion is that the episode triggered a massive adrenaline response and he also suffered the consequences of this and pulling hard on a leash. Hopefully this will be a singular episode but I do think it’s time to seek a positive reinforcement trainer and learn some basic obedience skills. And try a gentle leader or even some mild anxiety medication for the training period.

    I hope he continues to improve
    Keep us posted

    1. Nikki Post author

      Hi Dr. Magnifico,

      I have an update (and more questions) about Roscoe – we followed up with our regular vet 2 days after my last post (so on 10/14) for repeat bloodwork and additional testing and were hoping for some answers but unfortunately we left with more questions. While his ALT levels had come down some (it was 786 on 10/12, 660 on 10/14 and he started on Denamarin on the night of 10/12) his platelets also dropped more (they were 114 on 10/12, 93 on 10/14) which is obviously very concerning.

      Our regular vet tested him for Heartworm, Erlichia, Lyme & Anaplasma on 10/12 – all were negative. He is vaccinated for Leptosporosis, which is why I’m assuming they didn’t test for that? The vet did say that tick born infections can sometimes take awhile to show up, so he proactively prescribed doxycycline which we started the same day.

      Physical examination was normal at both the ER on on 10/12 and our regular vet on 10/14. Gums are normal color, he is eating and drinking, he has had no more vomiting episodes since that evening on 10/12. Our regular vet suggested that he needed an abdominal ultrasound to look at his liver and spleen; we had that done on 10/16 and and the vet told me that everything looked fine, nothing too abnormal (he had a little liver inflammation present but he said that was to be expected with his high liver levels) but otherwise no real concerns. At that point Roscoe had been on the Denamarin for 5 days, and the Doxycyline for 3 days. Since the ultrasound was clear, the vet said that he was still thinking that he likely had an undetected tickbourne illness and that unless something were to change, he recommended that we finish both medications and then recheck his levels in 4 weeks in hopes that everything had come back to within normal limits. Thankfully nothing changed and Roscoe has remained his normal self.

      He finished his medications and I took him back on 11/20 to have his bloodwork rechecked; I was relieved to learn that his ALT was back within normal limits at 79 (it was previously 786 on 10/12 and 660 on 10/14) and his platelets, while still low at 124, were higher than they had been (they were 114 in the ER on 10/12 and dropped to 93 in their office on 10/14) so there was some improvement there as well. However there were some notable changes in some other levels that were already concerning…

      Red Blood Cells were 8.99 on 10/12, 9.46 on 10/14, and 9.62 on 11/20.

      Hematocrit was 63.6 on 10/12, 66.0 on 10/12, and 68.3 on 11/20.

      Hemoglobin was 22.2 on 10/12, 23.1 on 10/14, and 23.4 on 11/20.

      Reticulocytes were 44.1 on 10/12, 127.7 on 10/14, and 152.0 on 11/20.

      MPV was 14.9 on 10/12, 14.8 on 10/14, and 14.1 on 11/20.

      White blood cell count was 9.34 on 10/12, 6.46 on 10/14, and 4.59 on 11/20.

      I’m curious to know your thoughts are about what is or could be going on and what you think our next steps should be?

      I know that a high red blood cell count, hemoglobin & hematocrit are certainly not ideal, especially since they seem to be getting progressively higher, but I’m trying not to freak out too much because my own mother’s red blood cell count, hemoglobin & hematocrit have all been flagged as being high for the last decade (literally every single blood draw she’s ever had in the last 10 years has come back flagged) and none of her doctors have ever been concerned… I even proactively took her to a hematologist who just brushed it off and said yes, they’re high, but I have patients with much higher levels so I’m not concerned… with that said, how worried should I be about Roscoe? (because I am a worrier!)

      I would really appreciate any advice or insight you may be able to provide. Roscoe is still eating, drinking and playing normally and is behaving like his usual self before any of this ever started.

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Kelly | 7 months ago
My 15 Year Old Cat Was Diagnosed With Cryptosporidium Delis. He’s Only Indoors With No Other …

My 15 year old cat was diagnosed with Cryptosporidium delis. He’s only indoors with no other animal coming in. Can’t understand how he got it. Flies? His treatment is Tyrosine 3x’s a day for 21 days. I have tried pills, liquid, tyrosine treats and I can’t get anything down him. He’s tough! I tried to hide in tuna… Any other option? Help
Thank you

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    If the vet gave you the medication then I would ask them for help with administration. Cats are really difficult. It has taken me years of practice, which just goes to say I never stop practicing. If you need some help with this there are a lot of YouTube tutorials. You can also ask the vet to help teach you. In general I advise that you be really calm, slow and gentle. I hope this helps.

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Kristin | 8 months ago
Hi, We Have A Unofficial Cat Rescue. One Of Our Younger Cats Broke Her Back Right …

Hi, We have a unofficial cat rescue. One of our younger cats broke her back right femur bone. Amputation is an option but more than we can afford. She is on pain medication but not showing signs of pain just precautionary, as well as antibiotics. She is being kept in a small area with no climbing or likewise. It’s a clean break. Straight and slightly parallels right next to each other. Here is my question. There is no possibility for her to live a good life unless I do surgery or Amputation? There is no way it could slowly calcify and heal and her to enjoy her life?? We just simply can’t afford the surgery but have so much love for her and her well-being.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    For all cat with fractures I recommend very (VERY!!!) strict cage rest for 4-8 weeks. I know it sounds harsh but a cage where they can rest and all of mine have healed. Good luck.

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Susan | 8 months ago
Gigi Is 17 Y/o Indoor Kitty. Her Stomach Is Larger Than It Used To Be And …

Gigi is 17 y/o indoor kitty. Her stomach is larger than it used to be and very firm. This is a change in the last few months. She eats and urinates and poops normally. She occasionally gets constipated, and we use pumpkin and palpitation successfully.
In addition, her breathing is sometimes heavy, and she has noises in her nasal area especially after she eating. Sometimes her breathing is totally quiet. She is not overweight, 10 pounds as she has always been as an adult kitty. It is nearly impossible for me to take her to the vet for examination, she was a bottle fed rescue and does not tolerate other people well. I wonder what can cause the breathing issue and also this firm belly. Thank you for your kindness and all that you do for our beautiful animals.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    Gigi needs to see the vet. There is no way for anyone outside of an in person, hands on examination, to tell you what’s going on with her. The abdominal distension can be from fluid, a mass (maybe a tumor or enlarged organ) or muscle wasting from a disease (even a treatable disease like hyperthyroidism, low protein, or FIP). , or heart disease. It could also be something as simple as a parasite. I know a trip to the vet can be stressful but it is overdue and the only key to figuring out what is going on. I also warn about providing treatments without knowing about her current medical status. Therefore please don’t assume constipation without understanding why it’s happening. My guess is that she has something causing all of this. I would start with an explanation and bloodwork. Look for hyperthyroidism or kidney disease too.
    She needs an exam, and maybe bloodwork and an Xray or ultrasound.
    I hope this helps and I hope Gigi gets some answers for her current condition.

  2. Susan Post author

    Thank you so much, Doctor Magnifico. I took Gigi to a new vet today and he did a thorough physical exam. Gigi is in great health; her heart and lungs sound perfect. Her abdomen is normal. Her eyes show slight signs of cataracts, but otherwise she is normal. He said he’d think she is 12 if he hadn’t seen her eyes. 🙂
    The raspy breathing is not in her lungs, could be allergies. I will keep an eye out for sneezing, discharge or increased breathing rate. I just want to thank you again so much for being there for pet parents. You are wonderful and so appreciated!
    Susan

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Summer | 9 months ago
1 Year Old Dalmation Last Evening She Was Laying Down And Just Shaking , I Covered Her With …

1 year old dalmation
Last evening she was laying down and just shaking , I covered her with a blanket and just layed with her and the shaking stopped. Fast forward to this morning, she won’t get out of bed to go to the bathroom and then when my other dog walked near her she growled which she has never done. I’m not sure what can be wrong but she seems like she doesn’t feel well. She also usually wakes me up at night to go out and she didn’t do that either last night.

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    It sounds like alike your pup needs to we the vet. Immediately. I’m sorry there is not enough information for me to give any other advice