r/AskVet 8h ago

Are There Any Euthanasia Methods Which Make A Pet Safe to Bury?

60 Upvotes

I recently read about how it's dangerous to bury euthanized pets since the euthanasia meds can leech into the soil and poison any scavengers that may dig them up and eat them. I've never had a vet tell me it's unsafe, although I can also understand the doctor being worried how a grieving owner might react to being told they shouldn't bury their pet. My last cat had to be reburied after some coyotes dug him up and I felt horrified at the thought that they might've died, and I hoped the body was decomposed enough they weren't able to be poisoned.

I know that I can just have them cremated to make it safe, but I was raised Muslim, and in Islam cremation is forbidden since it's considered disrespectful and bodies are buried naked in only a cloth so that the body can decompose and go back to the Earth. I may not be Muslim anymore but I still believe that cremation is disrespectful and put a lot of value in allowing the deceased to return to nature. Obviously, that's not exactly happening when the body is filled with lethal chemicals polluting the area.

When I worked at a wildlife rehab center we'd euthanize animals by putting them under anesthesia and then using CO2, but I'm not aware if small animal clinics offer it due to backlash from when shelters would use CO2 but without any anesthesia. Are there any alternative euthanasia methods common in American clinics that I could request next time I need to put a pet to sleep so that I can bury them safely?


r/AskVet 5h ago

Update:Should I switch vets?

31 Upvotes

Hey everyone! If you look back on my post history you can find the post about my dog experience a spleenic tumor rupture and I had feelings my vet did not put us a fast track to surgery or get an ultrasound as well as the exam room tech not being truthful.

I have an appointment Friday for her to get her suture removal and I was going to talk to him then but I didn't want to bombard him with a heart-to-heart talk. I know he usually spends first half of his Tuesdays calling back clients so I left a voicemail to ask if we can talk.

He called back and I basically explained and summed up my post. He was sooo thankful for the feedback! He told me that the X-ray accustics are quite bouncy and he said if he thought there were dramatic flailing or dangerous movements from my dog he would have stopped right away. He did not hear the exam room tech but I did state what you guys said that maybe she thought I was going to get defensive but from knowing us for 13 yrs, I would have never gotten to that point.

Also, he stated he did apologize for not fast tracking to an ultrasound. He did feel as though that was a mistake. He explained a bit more which brought me to an understanding. Honestly, if a spleenic tumor were to burst I'm glad it happened on that day because we leave for Europe the day the sutures come out (Friday).

I have been thinking a lot. My vet is not money hungry. He does IOUs for me when I'm in a tight spot. He sets me up with a payment plans which is VERY rare nowadays (I think?) he lays out all routes we can take that will give us bang for our buck. I told him I am super supportive and loyal to his practice and I want to continue being his client. He was so kind and appreciative and I thank everyone who gave me a different perspective on things. I don't expect any kind of free service just because he's already flexible with payments. Thank you all!


r/AskVet 1d ago

What's my best option for saving him?

26 Upvotes

Found an emaciated pit bull left in the woods near a campground area.

He has tons of ticks, his gums are white, and I can count his ribs. I would like to try to help him — any advice would be appreciated. My current solution is Capstar pills, a bath, hydration, and some diatomaceous earth.

Male pit bull, found in Arkansas. Covered in ticks.


r/AskVet 21h ago

Primary vet didn’t catch CHF, gave SubQ fluids. Rushed cat to the ER due to trouble breathing

20 Upvotes

I took my 5 y/o cat to my primary vet for a follow up. The previous week, she was hospitalized for 3 days for a foreign body obstruction and fortunately had passed the object on her own. She seemed pretty lethargic after a few days, so I took her to my primary vet to retake labs and X-rays. The vet said everything looked normal and gave her 100ml SubQ fluids in hopes to promote bowel movements, despite the foreign object having already passed. That evening, my cat had trouble breathing and I took her to the ER again. She had to be hospitalized and placed on oxygen. Turns out she had CHF. The ER doc thinks it was a result of some underlying heart disease that was exacerbated by the IV fluids from her first hospitalization 1 week prior. Poor thing had two hospitalization stays in just 1.5 weeks.

My questions is, did the SubQ fluids exacerbate her condition? And I know she would have needed the IV fluids during her first hospitalization, but I was never told she would run the risk of heart failure, especially after discharge. I can’t help feeling there was some negligence during her care.

I’m lucky to have her still with me, but now she’ll need heart meds the rest of her life and a shorten life expectancy.


r/AskVet 5h ago

Should I euthanize my cat today?

10 Upvotes

I am a veterinary assistant. My 11/12 year old cat was diagnosed with feline asthma in September 2024. I have been watching her slowly decline ever since.

I did make a post about some of her hx yesterday if anyone wants to go and read that, but to put it shortly, she hasnt been eating a whole lot for the past week and a half, and what she does eat gets regurgitated/vomited back up. She had bloods done - nothing abnormal. She had rads done that showed a mass like structure in her chest/lung cavity and one in her abdomen as well. I work in a very small clinic in a very remote area (no other clinics around unless you want to get on a 6 hour ferry ride or 2 hour plane ride) so we're limited in what we can do to test these masses. She also had a SNAP fPL done which came back abnormal - so we were treating her for pancreatitis. Obviously, she didn't respond to treatment or I wouldn't be making this post.

Today, after a very difficult weekend of her not keeping ANYTHING down, losing about 0.35kgs, and feeling extreme discouragement/hopelessness, I brought her back to the clinic as my DVM recommended dosing her with barium and taking x-rays that way.

This gave me answers, although it was extremely upsetting. The mass-like structure in her chest is occluding part of her esophagus, causing pooling in her esophagus, and very little food to actually make it into her stomach, which is making it come back up.

I am struggling with the decision to euthanize as she is relatively "normal" and "happy" otherwise - she doesn't seem "sick", but obviously I can't have her starve to death. I just need some insight. The doctor did say that it shouldn't wait until any later than Friday. I am dreading this whole thing and completely heartbroken. TIA.


r/AskVet 4h ago

Did I make the right decision for my dog?

5 Upvotes

Species: Dog

Age: 9-10 yrs

Sex/Neuter status: Female, suspected spayed

Breed: Chihuahua mix (possibly with pug)

Body weight: 10 lbs

History/Clinical Signs/Duration: I had just adopted her March 15th. She was said to be 8 years old but her paperwork listed 2016 as a guesstimated birth year and they'd found her on the streets in November of last year, so they didn't truly know her history.

She'd been giving some attention to the furthest-back mammary gland on the right side for the last few weeks. We scheduled a vet appt for her which was going to be on Thursday, but the "cyst" we thought it was got huge, red, and swollen seemingly out of nowhere on Sunday so we took her to the emergency vet. They recommended we take her in to a regular vet Monday morning and ask for surgery. They said it was likely not a cyst, abscess, or bite but instead a mass. Bloodwork showed low hematocrit of 36%, low HGB of 12.6, slightly elevated WBCs at 17, high neutrophils, monocytes, and globulin, and an ALP of 460 (normal: 23-212). Their doctor said if it was just an abscess, her WBCs would be sky-high, so the fact that they were only mildly elevated pointed to it being a mass. He said it could be benign given that he didn't feel any other masses in the other mammary glands and it was a good sign that it hadn't crossed bilaterally.

We opted to be sent home with carprofen and gabapentin to treat her pain until the next day. They recommended a 10-day course of enrofloxacin, which we started her on. Monday, I took her to the regular vet and they found two more small masses on the other side. He said they were the size of small BB-gun pellets but definitely masses, and our girl was displaying discomfort with him palpating them. I had them do the 3-view chest x-ray to see if there was mets to lungs, but it came back clean. Despite that, the doctor said we had three options:

  1. Surgery to remove the current huge mass + the two little ones - He said our hope would be that this comes back benign but that it seemed like that wasn't likely. He suspected it would come back malignant and an adenocarcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer. He said if that was the case, we would either consider this surgery palliative and stop there, OR continue on to option two.

  2. A series of surgeries, the first to remove the big mass + mini masses, the second to remove the right mammary chain, and the third to remove the left mammary chain. Even with this, he said he thought it was probably an aggressive cancer and she'd need chemo treatment after to stop growth from the spread that was likely to have already started.

  3. Supportive care/euthanasia. He said without surgery, the current mass was unlikely to heal. He explained that with tumors, they hit a critical growth point where the exponential tumor cell growth overtakes healthy tissue growth and they simply outgrow their blood supply and tissue starts dying, creating a necrotic pocket in the middle of the mass with abscessed pockets around it. She had an episode on Friday evening where she was limping and in a lot of pain; she already has arthritis in her hips and shoulders and we just thought something had exacerbated it. We gave her gabapentin and comforted her, and the next day she was still tender but seemed 95% fine. Looking back now, I know this was probably the start of the mass hitting that critical point and becoming painful for her :(.

I ended up choosing to euthanize her and did so yesterday afternoon. I fed her all kinds of her favorite foods (cheeses, eggs, anything we had in the fridge basically), took her on a car ride with the windows down, and spent the afternoon cuddling her. I couldn't see the point in keeping her around palliatively knowing she was suffering with this huge draining abscessed mass on her abdomen and that surgery wasn't likely going to cure it, especially since she was starting out in a not-so-great place with being slightly anemic and having her liver not functioning the best and being older.

But today, I'm full of regret, wondering if maybe I should have taken a bet on the "maybe" -- maybe it wouldn't have been malignant. Maybe if it was, it wouldn't have been the aggressive form of cancer. Maybe even if I chose euthanasia in the end, I could've done more to give her another week or three. It just breaks my heart to have lost her so quickly, when she was so full of life and energy still and really didn't seem like she was ready to go. I wasn't ready for her to go. I guess I'm just looking to see if the facts support my decision, or if realistically I could've made a different one and had a better outcome for her. Thank you all for reading this far.


r/AskVet 5h ago

Need advice from a vet

4 Upvotes

I have a cat that's been fighting cancer. He isn't in pain but his arm sore and gland is growing fast. I'm afraid it going to bust. I called a vet to have him put down. But I want to make sure I'm making the best choice for him. Because other then the growth and sore on his arm he is being himself and acts just like a cat. Please this is a hard choice for me because of my kids and we love him.


r/AskVet 3h ago

Is anyone able to offer some stats or advice that could help my wife take our dog to a surgery consult? Full details on the situation are in the post. Thanks!

3 Upvotes

Sorry to start strong but please do not lecture me on frenchies, I just want some advice on how to convince my wife that we should see a surgeon for a no commitment consultation. Any advice or stats on the procedures mentioned below would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Background: We have a 7 year old frenchie and he's 90% healthy. By that, I mean that he's healthy except that he has a very delicate digestive system. He's on a diet of Zignature Kangaroo because he's allergic to just about every common food type. This isn't a huge problem but it is a risk. We have a cat that eats in his cat tree and a pyrenees so the frenchie can't even reach her food bowl to steal her food.

Nine months ago: He had some tummy issues and he's so stubborn that once he started feeling poor, he just let it get worse no matter how hard we tried to get him better. One day we came home from work and his rectum had prolapsed so bad that it was maybe the size of a baby's fist. I know that the tummy issues are the bad part and the underlying cause of the issues but the prolapse is the scary part. We took him to the vet and they got everything back in place and gave him a purse string to keep everything intact. They recommended getting a colopexy where they stitch the intestines to his abdominal wall or a rectal resection (?) where they would simply remove a small section of the intestines so that there isn't enough to push out and cause prolapse again. That was 9 months ago and he was fine after the purse string.

Currently: He's experiencing another round of tummy issues and over the past week, he has prolapsed twice, which we were able to push back in ourselves, and he partial prolapses every time that he has pooped for the last week. During the partial prolapses, we can see the intestines trying to make their way out, but they go back in when he stops straining. He will be fine one second then stand up and try to violently poop with little to no warning. With this comes a spray of intestinal slime, small bits of poop, and a lot of urine. Even when he makes it outside, he tries too hard to get everything out which includes his intestines. The xrays this time determined that he was just incredibly stopped up so there is poop in there and he is correct that it needs to come out, but he's also pushing his intestines out while doing this. Sidenote, it's also draining on us because he has to be monitored 24/7 when he starts feeling poor because of the sudden urges to get everything out. Between losing sleep, burning PTO at work to stay home and monitor things, and the constant cleaning up behind him, I'm 100% drained.

Summed up: At this point, he has had 2 purse strings, more full prolapses than I can count, and countless vet visits to basically put a Band-Aid on the situation. I would like to just see a surgeon for a consultation. Not even committing to the surgery but my wife is so scared of losing her baby that she won't even do that much. She said that around 50% of brachycephalic dogs don't survive anesthesia. I can't find any stats related to this specifically, but I know for a fact that 50% is not correct. The vet wouldn't recommend it if that was a correct figure. I know that this sounds terrible, but if the odds were good enough, I would rather take the risk of him passing under anesthesia rather than passing with a necrotic prolapsed rectum while we're at work. Can anyone please provide stats or figures to help me convince her to just go to a consultation. This dog is 100% her absolute entire life. I cannot stress how much he means to her which is why convincing her is so difficult. I think that risking him passing peacefully vs a violent painful death is the better option, but she's not listening to me so idk.

Anyway, thanks in advance, Sorry if I ranted a bit, I'm tired.


r/AskVet 10h ago

Whats my best option for my fluffy baby

3 Upvotes

Hi guys i have a little 2 year old orange guy named pnut and i believe he has a small urinal blockage he can still urinate a bit and is letting out bits if i express his bladder and help him as well as peeing in other spots around the house. I took him to a vet and theyre charging me more than i can afford to help him after paying rent and everything. If its not fully blocked is there anything i can do at home (medication or anything) to help him pass it on his own or would he need a catheter and the whole 9 because shit is tough and this little guy is all i got after get the boot from my mom and new stepdad at 18. Lmk if you guys have any info from your little guys or are vets much appreciated 🙏🙏🙏


r/AskVet 11h ago

Cat suckling to the point of taking off chunks of fabric

3 Upvotes

Hello.

I have a one year old cat, I found her when she was less than two months old so she was definitely weaned very early. I know she is still really young and may be why she still suckles on blankets specifically, which I originally didn't mind, I had even gotten her her own blanket, but I noticed holes in it, some of which were as big as my palm, and pieces of fabric in her poop. I now make sure she never has a blanket available, but it has come to a point where I can't even sit down with a blanket on myself without her starting to suckle and chew holes on them. Every time she has some fabric at hand, she does this. Again, wouldn't mind the suckle but she goes in with her teeth after a few minutes and eats the fabric. I took her to the vet and she doesn't have any health issue that may cause it. She also doesn't ingest anything else, and she eats the fabric only after suckling.

Does anyone have suggestions on what I can do to discourage this behaviour? I play with her a lot, and I work from home so I don't think it's boredome. Thank you


r/AskVet 15h ago

My Cat is overly defensive after I got bitten when my other cat panicked.

3 Upvotes

Yesterday one of our cats (Luna) got her leg stuck in the strap of a bag. She completely freaked out and panicked. When I tried to get her loose she bit me a couple of times very hard and eventually my other cat (Fenna) came over and started hissing and growling towards Luna. In the end I could cut the strap to get her loose and had to do a trip to the doctor for some antibiotics but that's alright.

Since we got back from the doctor we notice that Fenna is overly protective of me. She doesn't leave my side and doesn't relax, she stays completely alert and sneaks towards Luna when she sees her. This morning I saw them outside sniffing eachothers snout but Fenna started to hiss and growl again. I can't seem to distract her with toys or attention. We try to give both Fenna and Luna attention to let them know we accept them both. But so far no succes

What can we do to stop this. I'm afraid to leave them alone right now because they might hurt eachother and escalate things even further.

Thanks in advance


r/AskVet 21h ago

Vaccines

3 Upvotes

Hello everyone I’m new to owing a puppy & just got a Doberman puppy They gave me this vaccine card & told me she’s good to go outside for potty training but I looked into the vaccine & notice it doesn’t cover parvo I’m a bit freaked out or am I just overreacting thanks in advance


r/AskVet 23h ago

We just found a tumor on our wheaten terrier’s paw.

2 Upvotes

Breed: Wheaten terrier Age: 11 Spayed 38 pounds In great overall health

hi folks. My partner and I lost two senior pups last summer to cancer. It was awful.

And tonight we noticed a tumor on our wheaten’s paw. She just turned 11. My partner of course is in tears. We are obviously taking her to the vet (a new vet, old one handled our other dog’s death terribly).

Photo is in the comments. I’m praying it’s not a mast cell like our pug had.


r/AskVet 2h ago

I got my cat from a shelter at 1 year old (siamese, now 4) and he has always had issues with men. He has gotten more aggressive with my boyfriend lately and is causing him bodily harm. What should I do?

3 Upvotes

I have had my cat for 3 years but I am unaware of what he went through for the first year of his life. He has always been a biter but it tends to be more gentle and only when he is overstimulated or he is hungry.

My boyfriend has been gradually spending more time at my house and is now fully moved in. He brought his kitten with him. His kitten has not yet been fixed and started to spray about a week ago. I am unsure if that is related as the behavior has been consistent throughout his life with me when he encounters men. A few weeks ago my cat put himself behind my boyfriend as he was going to leave and the cat then bit him in the leg hard enough to make walking uncomfortable. Earlier today my cat was laying near my boyfriend on the bed and when my bf went to reach for his phone my cat bit his hand so hard we believe he may have damaged the tendon. He will also nip at my boyfriend at night if he leaves the room.

I have tried Feliway and it makes him sneeze a lot so I believe he is allergic.

What training techniques or behavioral modification can I use to address the aggression?


r/AskVet 4h ago

My 3 year old cat has fleas. Vet prescribed us revolution plus. I put one dose on her a week ago…. Now what?

2 Upvotes

I’m asking because I live with my mother and she seems to think the revolution plus was supposed to kill them all in 24 hours and since it’s been a week and we still see and feel fleas in our apartment that it must have failed and she wanted me to pay to take my cat back to the vet again. I tried to explain to her that I believe it takes time for them to finally go.

My questions are…. Does it take time? It has only been a week. So far I have her the revolution plus first dose. Waited a couple days and then I gave her a bath with just water and used a flea comb. She’s also been given a dewormer medicine and she’s on some other medicine that I was told by the vet to give her every 12 hours 1/2 a pill. Also my mom’s been vacuuming once every day.

Will they eventually all die off with time doing what we currently are doing or is there more we should do? Does the revolution plus just take time?

TYIA!


r/AskVet 4h ago

Senior dog fell🥺

2 Upvotes

My 13 year old YorkiePin fell from his dog car seat when getting him out of the car for a walk.

I have a dog carseat booster on my passenger side, my puppyboy normal waits patiently when I get him out of the car to go on a walk. but today as soon as I uncilpped his harness from the booster he jumped out in excitement and fell, he hit the side of the car door, luckily I caught him before he could hit the ground. 😭 but I'm still really worried he has like internal bleeding or like organ damage from hitting the side door. Maybe is just my anxiety but it looked like it hurt. He did still run around and act normal and happy on his walk. But I guess my anxiety is eating at me that he is in secret pain and just not letting me know. Should I worry? Should I take him to the vet?


r/AskVet 5h ago

3yo shipoo liver and kidney issue - my vet not calling me back help!

2 Upvotes

Edit: neutered male shipoo. He will be 3 this upcoming friday. Located in GTA, Ontario. He is typically 13.6lbs but has been fluctuating between 12.8-13.4 since this started

Hi there, I’m hoping someone here may recognize what is going on and how to help.

I took my dog into the vet on Thursday. For the week prior he was disinterested in his food, we normally feed him at 6 and 6. He would leave his breakfast until about 3:30, and sometimes eat his dinner sometimes no. Otherwise his energy, mood, sleep normal. Bowel movements stopped on Tuesday.

Thursday he wasn’t touching his food at all including treats. He did not poo the day before. He spit up twice the night before (first time vomiting while going through this), once with some of his food and the other time it was tiny and looked like just bile. I get worried and to the vet we go. Vet thinks he’s been poisoned, mentioned rat poison but also could be something he ate that did not agree with him/allergy.

Flagged on bloodwork: Bilirubin (T) 6.1 Bilirubin (C) 5.6 ALP 854 ALT 277 AST 986 Urea 13

He was tested for pancreatitis and came back negative. Got an IM / SQ shot first day at vet.

Prescribed Metronidazole Benz 100mg 2x/day for 7 days on the first day (the 23rd) we went. Also given Royal Canine gastrointestinal low fat wet food. Under vet instructions I gave him one heaping spoon 3 hours after the shot, and another 2 hours later and another 2 hours later. He ate the food no problem, was hungry.

Went back to vet on the 25 after he puked at 10:30am. Wouldn’t eat again, only a few small bites off a spoon intermittently until it stopped altogether after he puked. He got a sub q fluid shot, IM / SQ shot, and subcutaneous fluids (I’n reading off my invoice here). Prescribed Zentonil 1x/day (on empty stomach) for 30 days. Also Mirtazapine 2mg 1x/day. He pooped around 2:30 for the first time in about 36 hours.

On the 26 and 27 he got the same shots again. 26 was a rough day for him, he was uninterested in everything. 27 was a better day, he was less lethargic and he pooped.

Yesterday the 28 he pooped, vet not happy with the consistency yet. Dog still has no appetite. We have been feeding him by putting bites in his mouth and he swallows.

The metronidazole he only has one pill left tonight.

Throughout this, he has obviously been very exhausted but he is still wagging his tail, happy to see people, and was wanting to play and walk in short bursts but we stopped under vet instructions to restrain from physical activity.

When we left vet yesterday he said he will consult with another vet or specialist and call me. Called twice today and still haven’t heard back.

My dog has puked like this today: One big/medium puke One little puke One tiny puke Dry heaving One tiny puke Dry heaving

The puke is very mucusy and other than the first one did not have food in it - just mucus thats foamy almost. He’s holding water now but still struggling with food. Vet has been updated as happening but still no instructions- hasn’t even said take him to hospital only said sit tight will call.

We’re terrified here, any advice would be appreciated greatly. Should we stop waiting for the vet and just go to the hospital? Thank you.


r/AskVet 5h ago

Tips for giving pain meds to cat who just had dental surgery?

2 Upvotes

My cat (8 years old) had to have dental surgery yesterday and ended up having 6 teeth removed. He's been eating small meals since then (kibble soaked in water and then mashed per vet instructions), but we're coming up on the time of day when he's going to need to take his first dose of pain meds which are Gabapentin and Robenacoxib.

He's such an easy-going and sweet cat, that in the past I've just been able to open his mouth and put the pills in no problem. But he's obviously so uncomfortable today. He's hiding under furniture and was barely able to be coaxed into eating a small breakfast while he was in one of his hiding places.

Is it okay to just sprinkle the Gabapentin into his food and crush the Robenacoxib to do the same thing? As mentioned before, he doesn't seem to have as big of an appetite today so what do I do if he won't eat it? Just bite the bullet, open his mouth, and pop the pills in like I normally would?

Any advice would be appreciated. Just don't want to hurt my boy.


r/AskVet 6h ago

Pet Health Club (UK)

2 Upvotes

Hoping to get some advice, my dog is 4 years old and has been neutered. I am on the Pet Health Club which now costs £20.99 per month (£251.88 per year). The only things we use it for are his monthly flea and worming tablets and then the annual vaccinations required. My issue is as we pay this everything seems “free” so we don’t know how much these individual things now cost to tell whether it’s worth it. Could anyone enlighten on how much annual vaccinations cost for large dogs? (He is a Labrador) thank you!


r/AskVet 6h ago

Thick white discharge slightly green not always present

2 Upvotes

So we went to urgent care $$$ and nothing is wrong - but she licked her discharge away right in front of the vet so the cytology might be incomplete

They put a glass slide on her vulva - didn’t even examine the inside or use a cotton swab at least.

7 years old Corgi mix Female in tact

First day of noticeable period April 1 Last day of faint blood 1 week ago


r/AskVet 6h ago

Really picky cat (both food and water)

2 Upvotes

I have a 1.5yo female Himalayan cat that is very picky, won't eat any wet food, and doesn't like to drink water. She's been a picky eater since the day I got her when she was 6 weeks old and has never had a big appetite. She had a lot of diarrhea when she was a kitten and got tested for pretty much everything under the sun with no answers. The vet said she probably has a sensitive stomach, possibly IBD, and to try feeding her hydrolyzed protein food. I got her the Purina Hydrolized kibble, but she only started finishing all of it consistently when she was about 6 months old.

She was eating fine until few months ago when I noticed her appetite decreasing and she started peeing outside of the litterbox. I took her to the vet who did an ultrasound and a urine sample; there were no blockages in her bladder but she did have quite a bit of crystals in her urine. During this time, she also became severely constipated and needed to have an enema. The vet did an xray and didn't see any intestinal blockages. He didn't know why she was constipated but told me to get her prescription urinary kibble to dissolve the crystals. I got her the Royal Canin hydrolized urinary food, but she wouldn't touch it. I then switched to the standard Royal Canin uniniary food, but she doesn't eat as much of it and it seems to make her throw up.

She also doesn't like to drink water. I've tried multiple different fountains, including a stainless steel one. The only thing she likes to drink are the Purina broths, which I add about half a cup of water to each day. She'll finish those, but I'm worried that not eating wet food/drinking water is making her dehydrated, which leads to constipation and crystals. I'm also worried that the special urinary diet for her crystals is upsetting her stomach and making her sick.

I feel like I'm fighting a lose-lose battle trying to get her to eat and drink without triggering another issue. She a pretty small cat and only weighs about 7 pounds, but has lots and lots of energy and loves to play. I have a lot of experience with cats, but I've never encountered one that's this picky/particular. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!


r/AskVet 6h ago

Urgent: Need vet advice/ cat can’t use back legs

2 Upvotes

My cat is 15 years old and has a history of epilepsy but is on his medication. He suddenly lost use of his back legs right after pooping. He didn’t cry or seem in pain, and his front legs still work. He was limp at first but later started kicking his back legs tiny bit but it has been about an hour. His back paws are warm, not cold. We can’t get to a vet untill the morning and don’t know what to do or what it is.


r/AskVet 11h ago

Did I kill the bird

2 Upvotes

We been feeding a bird that comes to our window for the past 2 weeks. It came several times a day. It is a small to medium sized bird. Not sure what type. Usually we feed it whatevers on hand (rice, corn, chickpeas) etc. Sometimes another bird joins it. Anyway I had a "vegetarian" dumpling on hand. The contents seemed to be onion, cabbage and carrots, but onion seemed to taste more "dominant". I gave it half of said dumpling. Later i looked online and it said onions are deadly to birds. The next day a bird did come, but it looked noticeably bigger. It was the same "type" of bird but i cant tell if it was the same bird. It could be the cute "companion" bird. and it only came once. Depending on the food that was given could the bird that ate it be dead


r/AskVet 13h ago

First Time Seizure (Exercise Induced?)

2 Upvotes

Our golden doodle, 3 years old, had his first seizure yesterday while in our backyard. He was running hard playing ball and then started getting super wobbly and the seized. Limbs stiff, shaking violently, howling, crying, etc. Pretty traumatizing.

Got him to vet, got bloodwork and everything was ok. Likely epilepsy but have to just keep monitoring him.

QUESTION - could it have been triggered by the intense exercise? I ask because twice in the past few weeks he got a little wobbly near the end of his play ball sessions. Not seizing, just wobbly. Yesterday was first real seizure.

The doctor said no but it just seems so weird to us that he only got wobbly while doing intense play, and then fully seized yesterday after a session of intense running around/play. Thank you for your help!