I have a question about our 13 yo dog who likely has a bulging disc. He is a mutt (probably part Border Collie, part Shepherd). Soon after a small slip on our stairs, he had lameness in his one back leg; this went away after one day, he limped for a few days after, and he quickly recovered from those things.  Though he was walking fine fairly quickly, he showed stiffness, showed hesitation going up stairs unless we gave him a treat (we have only stairs to the outside), and his tail was down and only wagged from the tip of it. We had him quickly on an anti-inflammatory (Novox) and a pain med (started on Gabapentin but had to discontinue). He was fine on a walk; we went on short walks and he always craved for much more than we allowed. We prevented jumping, aerobic exercise, stopped him from using stairs by having a ramp to the outside, etc. We continued the Novox. His symptoms continued, then got better, and then seemed to regress when he started showing signs of pain (panting even when lying down and even when it was cool outside and some anxiety); the pain thing was probably because of taking him off Gabapentin. We took him to the Neurology Dept at a local, large vet hospital and a physical exam indicated that he “likely” has a bulging disc. When they inspected his back, he showed signs of pain and anxiety and his back legs bent and his rear went down. We don’t think we want to do surgery due to his age. He has not had an MRI as the regular vet and my husband and I thought that the treatment would be the same if we did not do surgery — treatment being restricting movement, continuing anti-inflammatory and pain meds, and looking into possible physical rehab. A switch to the pain med Amantidine helps a lot and the panting and anxiety are gone. He now continues to crave longer walks and, at the rare times we forget to block off the couch, he will try to jump up on it. We have been continuing to restricting movement but we just don’t know what to do about activity restrictions and have not had a lot of advice from neurology. He has always craved movement and exercise and when we take him around the block his stiffness seems to go away a bit and he seems energized and maybe even more comfortable. He has always craved a lot of exercise and movement. His spirits are lowered a lot if we keep in him in a small space — it almost seems like he wants to move around. He is eating and drinking, can do #2 (though he struggles some if doing it a long time). If allowed to do some movement, he is mostly happy and getting around with walking. Questions are: Should we restrict his movement altogether despite all this? Should he we do no walks at all? Is it bad if he is free to walk around the first floor or should he stay only in a very small area? I feel we are so confused as to what to do and how to know how to prevent regression. We’d love the input of any veterinarians or other owners with the same experience!

My dog was recently given the prognosis of intervertebral disc disease or herniated disc. His hind legs currently are not working and are possibly paralyzed but he still has feeling in them. The surgery for him to get better is something that we can not afford and our not sure what to do. Is there any way for him to walk again without the surgery? Is there any other treatments we can try?

My 11 year old cat has a lump on her hind leg which I believe was caused by a knock to the area after being chased by a neighbours dog that entered my garden, causing my cat to run under the house, I heard the scuffle & not long after she developed this lump, which my vet diagnosed as a seroma, they took a biopsy which was inconclusive. The assesment states Distal left hindlimb mass 1.5 cm tumour (bening or neoplastic) with enlargement due to seroma. She shows no signs of pain in area only when touched, walks fine and is acting perfectly normal. Vet recommended surgical removal costing $1800 .Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I include an image of actual lump

My groomer told me Holly has a fungal infection on her pads and to use Apple Cider Vinegar which I did. Poor Holly nearly went crazy, I believe it stung her. Any suggestions please? Also Holly has lots of lumps everywhere which my vet says are harmless. however she has licked those on her toes and they are now raw and bleeding, suggestions please for a treatment.

My dog ran out of my house and got bitten by dogs and returned back . The right front leg has some bite marks and that’s all. It’s day two and he is yelling in pain. In day 1 , he used to walk with 3 legs. But in day 2, he is struggling to walk at all. He got pain in the other 3 legs too. I think rabies is not the issue as it shows symptoms only after a week.

Has anyone noticed that orange cats are more “itchy” or is it just me? We have one now who itches an awful lot–way more than his brothers who are darker colors (black and tabby). They are all treated with Revolution every month.

Previous to these cats, I had a different orange cat who itched so much the vet ended up giving him steroid shots, which helped some. Since redhead and blond people seem to have more hay fever etc., I wonder if it’s similar for redhead cats.

PLEASE NO RUDE COMMENTS… I SERIOUSLY NEED HELP N ADVICE… Backstory…… ive been out of work since 12/26/20 bc of unforeseen medical issues. and still haven’t received any ssi or unemployment. so with that please be a little understanding. my cat had a really bad eye cold n respiratory thing going on… it kept getting worse. I was told trevor supply sells cat and dog safe penicillin. so i got some bc i literally can’t afford a vet right now. i came home and looked up dosing via injection penicillin. apparently it should have been less the 1 ml (i realized today). i didn’t do the math correctly (didn’t carry decimal over right) and ended up giving him 10ml. now i I’m freaking out about his kidneys and liver. He’s currently acting fine. Playing and eating but i am still very very worried. Please please any advice?? ????????????????????????

HELP I put sentry flea medicine on my cat’s last night I woke up this morning and my my smaller cat not a kitten she’s just small is like drooling really bad and panting I called Jarrettsville vet but they can’t get me in because I’m not a patient and I don’t have the money for the pet ER it’s too expensive even to walk in I’m desperate can I give her Benadryl what can I do to try to help her any answers will be greatly appreciate it thank you very much…

16 month old female husky (40 pounds) had a double patellar luxation surgery on 6/30. Grade 4 in both knees, severe muscle wasting and arthritis. The surgery was more complex than anticipated and involved the addition of rod placement. First couple of days fairly uncomplicated except that she would urinate in her kennel while asleep despite attempts at potty breaks.
She has now developed two huge seromas, one on each knee. She’s walking well, eating and drinking well. If anything she’s so close to her normal self. She’s still on gabapentin, trazodone and rimadyl.
The seroma on the left “burst” between sutures on Sunday despite the meds and confinement. It has continued to “burst” and release a LOT of serous fluid EVERY day since (today is day 4 of this).
She’s been back to the vet twice for this.
They said to:
Keep the meds
Stop passive ROM
Confine and keep down as much as possible
Warm compresses 3 times a day

They want to push back suture removal and have assured me that this will eventually stop. And if it continues for the next few days then we may consider other options.

She is walking around, standing up and turning around in her kennel despite the meds and obviously needs short walks to go pee/poop. These things cause the ruptures.

I am beyond frustrated and worried.
Does this care plan seem reasonable?
Does heat actually help? She’s so squirmy when I come near her kennel that it hardly seems worth it.

Any advice? Thank you!

My six year old male mini pin was crying out in pain four nights ago. He sticks his neck foward in a downward gaze, arches his back and lifts one leg. I timed each cry and they were 10 minutes apart. We decided to take him to the emergency vet, which was located 25 miles away. During the car ride, my baby did not cry out loud once. After completing blood work, the vet. did not mention anything concerning other than she thought he hurt his back. She prescribed two medications. Fast forward to today, and the pain continues, although it’s not every ten minutes, but almost every single time he moves his body. He can walk on all four legs, eats and drinks as he normally did, but he is not the same. You can tell he is in extreme pain- the medication does not seem to be helping. Why did the emergency vet not screen for IVDD? Do you think these are the early signs of the condition? If so, how should I go about mitigating the pain?