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.

I rushed my 1 year 1 month male cat to the vet last March 16 and he was on catheter until the 21st. Reason for the catheterization is a urinary blockage due to stones. He is currently urinating well everytime he goes to his litter box but my only concern is, he only pooped last March 17. Until today he wasn’t still pooping. We had xray and ultrasound done. Everything is normal as per the vet, he has a gassy stomach. Considering this, he hasn’t pooped now for nearly 5 days, including this 2 days catheter removal. He is also dehydrated despite drinking a lot of water. He is looking at me whenever I eat, he is meowing, he swallows the food (wet/dry royal canin urinary SO) as advised by vet. But he sniffs a little amount of food such as fish and chicken and then taste small portion and will not eat afterwards. He is not vocalizing pain as well and straining on the box, he is also not vomiting. He can jump up our sink to drink water and also walks and is purring. Can you recommend me anything I can give him for him to eat voluntarily and be able to poop?

Hello!
I came across your youtube video about ivdd. I have a 6 years old mixed breed dog (around 20-22lbs, not overweight and actually pretty active) that suddenly showed limping and abdominal pain. I went to the vet and at the beginning there was just a suspect of pancreatites + muscle strain and started a 5 days treatment with gabapentin and metacam. The fifth day seemed almost back to normal, but the week after she got worse than before. The vet than suspected a ivdd, blood test was perfect, and suggested cage rest and new medications (gabapentin, robaxin and metacam). Now, it’s the nineth day but don’t see much improvement. She doesn’t limp as before, actually she walks pretty ok, she is just very stiff and walks super slowly, no wobbling. She doesn’t like to be manipulated so it’s extremely difficult to lift her up to bring her outside to go to bathroom or turn her. Once she lies down she keeps that position for hours. I just wondering if you have any advice or technique for dogs that growls if approached. I’m pretty sure it’s just a fear response cause she doesnt bite but i don’t want to hurt her and once she screams, even out of fear, i dont know if I’m doing something wrong. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

My 8 yr English Bulldog started dragging his front foot a few weeks ago.(what I now know was knuckling) It started after we dremeled his nails and thought maybe we just did one too short. A few days later, he was running in the yard and face planted repeatedly. We took him in and the vet said she thought it was neurological. They did X-rays and showed us that he has no space between some of the discs. She said they could refer us to a neurologist and we could do an MRI and surgery but that would cost ballpark $15k which is not feasible for us. She also said that considering he is 8, he has lived a long life for a bulldog. We were given a steroid, muscle relaxer and something for pain. She said if he showed no improvement in a week, that we need to look at quality of life and consider euthanasia. I have since done my own research and believe it’s IVDD. It seems to be affecting his left side so he can’t balance himself. I immediately set up a large crate and he has been in it for a week now. He is eating and drinking. He is urinating and defecating. He has feeling in the limbs because he responds to me tickling his feet. I’ve also seen him use both limbs to push himself around in the crate. He seems to be his normal self except his ability to stand/walk. He’s getting annoyed now being in the crate and barking a lot to get out. At what point do I try to get him to stand & walk? I know this could take weeks/months of crate rest. I found a vet 1.5hrs from me that does acupuncture for IVDD and am considering that also. Appreciate any advice. Maybe naive, but I refuse to believe this is an automatic death sentence for an otherwise healthy but chunky happy dog.
Thanks so much.

My seven year old, 27lb beagle Olivia had her first run in with IVDD in December of 2024. It was very mild and was mostly pain with little mobility issues. An X-ray at that time showed some possible compression in the rear third of her back but nothing significant. She was treated very conservatively with Rimadyl and the pain resolved within two weeks without crate rest. She led a fairly normal life since then.

Last Monday evening here in Northeast Ohio, it was about -8 degrees outside. I let her out to urinate and she was walking normally. She crouched down, used the bathroom, and came back in dragging her legs behind her with an arched back. She had trouble urinating and defacating due to the pain in her legs and back. She could put some weight on them but would lose footing very quickly.

Her doctor has placed her on strict crate rest (which she hates! She has worn a sore into her snout from barking and running her nose across the top of the crate when I am not home). This is even on 200mg of Gabapentin 3x/day and Prednisone 2x/day. The doctor has advised he wants a full week of Prednisone in her before we refer to a neurologist. I pick her up to potty and only let her stand as long as necessary to relieve herself. Within two doses of Prednisone she was able to squat almost normally (with jelly legs) to relieve herself. Now that her pain is seemingly better, she has been moving quite a bit around her crate despite my efforts to restrict her.

I don’t know what I should do…Should I insist on a visit to a neurologist? It hurts me so very much to see her like this and I feel absolutely hopeless thinking that I’ll have to crate rest her for months on end. Your videos helped ease my mind a little bit, but the doubt and worry are consuming me about my poor girl. I have a second beagle, Rex (he is five), and now I’m afraid to let him use the stairs in my split level house, or act like a beagle in general!

I never thought my life could be so overturned by such a horrible canine disease. My dogs are my family. Anything that one could offer so far as assistance would be so very much appreciated.

My 14 year old dachshund is post op day 7 from cervical spine surgery. He has a very similar presentation to Hank, and I’m seeing some signs of progress (peeing and pooping, grooming, sitting sternal, pain seems more controlled), but he really has very little use of his right front and back leg. I saw that you encouraged a lot of movement with Hank in the second week and he made a quick recovery; however the paperwork from our vet says strict rest and only ambulation to eliminate. What is your take on this?

I have a pitbull puppy (10 week) that I am trying to get to the root of some behavior issues with. The biggest issue is that she is resistant to any tension on the leash. I don’t expect her to heel or tap-dance, but any time she feels any tension on the leash she braces her legs and body and resists going anywhere. She is becoming more and more resistant. I don’t want to train her to train me to pick her up every time she braces up and refuses to move, but so far we would never get done with going to the bathroom outside if that happened; she does it every time I take up the slack on the leash. I have found a lot of suggestions on the internet: get her checked for pain/issues by a vet (vet gave her the all clear), use a harness over a collar (only ever used a harness), positive reinforcement before she freezes (doesn’t work, still freezes), get her used to the leash (she’ll drage that thing around, nap and sleep with it on), try luring her with a treat (has become minimally responsive to treats, won’t respond to toys outside on the leash, even ones she previously enjoyed). Any suggestions on what else I can try to get her to come with a leash?

We have a stray cat we have been feeding for a year or so. He recently showed up in our backyard with a huge lump on his face. The left side of his face (cheek area) is completely swollen but he does not seem.to be in pain. He ate, rolled and ran around the yard like nothing was wrong but looks like he went 10 rounds.with Mike Tyson. Today I noticed a wound just below the lump that was not noticeable before. I am not sure what to do since he is a stray and vet visit is out of my budget right now. I’m afraid to take him to shelter as he has been living out here for a few years with no issue. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it and rubs his head against everything like he usually does like nothing is wrong. I’m afraid it’s an abcess and will eventually cause an infection. Since it seems to have “popped,” will it resolve on its own? Is there something I can do.to help him? Home remedy?

Hello my name is Angelica I am from NJ I have 8 years old maltippo the cutestes ever he has ivdd this is 4th time he is having flare up this time he is paralyzed on the left side back and front side I am doing steroids pain killers trazadone gabapentin and muscle relaxer unfortunately its not getting better in terms of pain he screams out of pain amd when I try to take to the bathroom he is in the cage he is on his 10 day today and he is so painful that every time I come near the cage he growls at me he eats and drinks water not as much as usuall but he does. Please give me advise should I keep going ? Would the pain go away? How many days it does for the pain to go away and regain pain free mobility you are my last resort my husband cant take it any longer. Thank you even if you consultation I would pay my email is angelica456@aol.com and cell phone 908 309 9788. Thank you sooo much Angelica Bornhoeft

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.