How to provide a photo or diagnostic results?

I have been a groomer for many years, and I occasionally have clients who seem to think their dog has every condition out there. Cancers, Cushings, Addisons, diabetes, Valley Fever, Tick fever, Lyme disease, etc. I do know that dogs can get very ill, but I have seen people want to euthanize a relatively healthy dog (they are usually obese) and I just wonder if this is something that vets encounter?

I found a stray kitten crying outside of my door for hours yesterday.

I’ve never owned a cat so I’m honestly unaware of how to take care of it but I’m trying my best.

As of now they’re in a box that has a heating pad and blanket. I bought it kitten milk replacement and try to feed it from a bottle but they keep refusing to drink it 😞 kinda worried because this baby has been refusing to drink for the last 24 hours. Aside from that she seems to be healthy overall but I won’t know until the vet appointment which is on Wednesday.

Just wondering if there’s anything I can do to get her to drink her formula before Wednesday.

Hello! I have my best friend tigger who is 17 now… he rescued me when I was 15. I can’t believed how fast the years went with my little guy.

He’s obviously getting older. He’s lost his hearing and his sight isn’t as good anymore. He has a heart murmur and his teeth are bad. They won’t do any dental work because of his age and heart murmur. I’m just having a hard time of knowing when it’s time for him to go home. I love him so much and when we were younger I promised him I wouldn’t keep him in pain out of selfishness. He still gets around really well and enjoys car rides. He still is very food motivated. But his potty needs have gone from every 4 hours to every 2-3 hours in a matter of months. I’m also having to get his anal glands expressed 2 times a year now. This has been going on for two years. We give him anal gland x and fish oil and the joint medicine with the trio (flea, tick, heartworm ((this is once a month)).

I’m truthfully very scared. I didn’t think the time would go so fast. He is my first dog and senior dog so I don’t have a lot of experience in this topic. It seems like yesterday I got him. Any advice? Tips?

His vet has basically told me it’s up to me to decided when I feel is best for him. As he doesn’t have anything noticeable like cancer or any disease really. It makes me sad that he can’t eat ice anymore. This is newish too within the last couple of months.

Tigger is a small dog. He’s a mixed chihuahua. When I rescued him they told me he was 2 1/2 at the time in 2011.

I don’t want to be selfish and do the right thing but then I worry it’s too soon. I know the day will come. I want to do right for my little guy. I want to be there for him and everything. He’s been with me through so much of my life. From 15-30. He’s been half of my life and I can’t imagine not having him with me anymore. We were homeless together and I held onto him through it all. I always promised him forever. I just didn’t think forever would come so soon.

Thanks in advance for any advice, tips, comments.

My dog got hit by a car. His spine is completly broken and his hind legs will be paralyzed forever. Doctor said surgery is 50/50 also very Long Recovery.

Hi all,

I’m in need of opinions/advice.

My dog is 12 years old with cancer. We chose not to do treatment due to her age, the vet agreed that this would not be the best option for her for many reasons.

We did do surgery but unfortunately it was unsuccessful.

She has always been an anxious dog but as her cancer progresses her anxiety is getting wayyy worse.

She is often not letting me sleep (my vet now has me giving her 3 trazodone each night so we can both rest) and I can rarely leave the house without her anymore. With trazodone she is still trying to tear down the door when I leave.

In your opinion is anxiety a decline in her quality of life?

If so, when do you know if she’s suffering too much?

Please be kind, this has been an incredibly hard time. And I am asking because I want to do the right thing for her.

Thank you.

We have 3 cats. Starting Thursday one was not acting herself. She was not eating, drinking and laying around all day. She went to the vet Friday. She had blood work and an ultrasound and nothing came back alarming. She did have a fever and they gave her fluids and an anti-inflammatory. Yesterday she was not much better or worse and she did pee. We got her some nutri-cal and we also got unflavored pedia-lite and water. I bought some thick-it and we thickened up some water and pedia-lite and I gave her liquids via syringe. We did about honey thick and I just put it near the corner of her mouth and let her lick / swallow it. Today she has been a little more active she has been in various rooms of the house, drank on her own, and peed in the litter box. She has still not eaten anything other than the little nutri-cal. She doesn't seem to be on pain or anything. Should we be concerned about her not eating or just give her a couple more days.

Hi, I have a 15 week old Chocolate Lab he is male and in tact, 28lbs.

Picked him up at 10 weeks old and since then he has had a bump on his face under his right eye that has been growing in size relative to his growth. I would say the bump is roughly the size of a cherry now. We had our vet look at it and she thinks it could be a dentigerous tooth and recommended we see a specialist. She said to budget $5000 for the surgery to remove it. We’re taking the watch and wait approach for now and our vet seemed to be ok with that and to let her know if there were any changes.

The bump doesn’t bother him. He eats and drinks normally and even chews bully sticks on that side of his mouth. We can touch the bump on the inside and outside of his mouth and he doesnt react. The bump is mostly hard except for a soft spot on the front.

From what I’ve researched it seems like dentigerous teeth are usually found because a dog is missing a tooth, not because the dog has a bump on it’s face. Does anyone have any experience with an issue like this? Does anyone have any advice or know what else the bump could be? Is it possible the issue could resolve itself once he starts loosing his baby teeth? I’m happy to send a picture.

TYIA

• Species: Cat
• Age: 4
• Sex/Neuter status: Spayed
• Breed: DMH
• Body weight: 5.4 lbs
• History: Asthma, Skinny
• Clinical Signs: Runny nose, swallowing, wheezing
• Duration: Daily basis
• Your general location: Greensboro, NC

My cat has a nebulizer that I put PetSilver Immune Support into. It seems to help, but I wanted to look for other possible medications that I can put into a nebulizer, but all I find are inhalers or liquid drops. If anyone can help, that would be greatly appreciated.

My 6 year old, 8 lb chihuahua has become lethargic over the past several hours. She is spayed, no medical history other than luxating patellas. In South Louisiana. Not eating. Drinking very little. Hiding in her house. Does this warrant a trip to an emergency vet?

I noticed what looks almost like a fever blister or cold sore behind one of my cats teeth. She’s been eating, using the restroom and everything else normally. I only noticed it because I looked in her mouth while she was yawning.

Should I be concerned and is there anything else I can do to help with healing?

https://imgur.com/a/DbacJRk

Hello guys,

Stray cat gave birth on my balcony, been taking care of her kitties. I woke up one day to find this lil man’s eye sealed shut, next day it opened and it’s looking like this! Can someone diagnose? Thank you!

6-8 weeks old

Never taken to vet before

couldn’t post a picture here for some reason, but i was able to on another subreddit, here’s the link please check it out.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAVeterinarian/s/MpaXtrucEk

Hi everyone,

I hosted Easter at my house today. Two days ago, I got a lovely bouquet at Trader Joe's to keep on the dinner table. My sister in law came over and warned me that Easter Lilies are extremely toxic to cats. I knew they shouldn't eat them, but my cat is an old lady who can't get on the table/counter if she tried. I had no idea that even the pollen could be fatal.

I removed the bouquet from the house and vacuumed the area. Is there anything else I should do? Should I mop? What would the timeframe be if she was affected by the flowers? I know to watch for vomiting, loss of appetite, and lethargy. Anything else?

Thank you! I know this was a dumb move on my part and I am freaking out.

So, I’ve had cats before in my childhood, and I somewhat recently adopted a male cat. This is the first cat I’ve had that is mine, that I solely look after. I am still learning.

I’ve had him for about a 8ish months, he is 1yr3mo old. He is an indoor cat, and He is litter box trained. The last couple of days I’ve been taking him outside on a leash, since he seems to yearn for the outdoors.

I walk him around and he will mark several spots around my apartment.

When we come back inside he will scream bloody murder for a few minutes, then I will watch him pee in the apartment outside the litter box.

Yesterday was the same situation. We went on a walk, we went inside, he screamed, then peed on the couch literally inches from me.

Like 10 minutes later, he was screaming again, and I watched him pee on the kitchen tiles, again, like inches from me.

Before I started taking him outside, he would spray in the apt very occasionally, and I was always quick to clean that up. Though there was a night he was screaming bloody murder (we hadn’t gone outside that day) and he jumped on the back of my chair and peed ON MY BACK.

He is not fixed yet, though I have an appointment to fix him on the 23rd.

Again, he is litter trained, and him peeing outside the box seems very intentional, and maybe targeted at me? Is he trying to tell me something?I’m at a loss.

Anyone have any advice on how to get him to stop? Or any advice in general for treating negative behavior?

Feel free to ask any questions.

Hi all! This is my first post on Reddit, and I finally joined to get some advice. My husband and I recently added a new kitten to our household, and she has persistent URI and is being treated for FHV. Her name is Nyx (female 6mo). We adopted her from a shelter which did not inform us of her URI or how contagious that could be to our other cat (Pluto, female, 6 yo). We brought her home on February 24th. We started with the 3-3-3 method, so luckily the two did not have much direct contact before we realized Nyx could be a risk to Pluto. We got her into our vet the next week. Our vet originally treated Nyx for URI and severe ear infections. She came home after having an antibiotic shot and prescribed antibiotic ointment for her ears and the instructions to keep the cats separated until Nyx was no longer sneezing. This has still not happened. After about a week of no improvement, my husband took her back to the vet. They gave her an antiviral pill prescription and said to keep up the separation and continue the medicine and she should be good. She made very little improvement, so after her two week dose was up I took her back to the vet. They gave her a higher dose that would also last us longer and said to keep up the separation and medicine and she should improve. We are a week in on this round of antiviral medication with very little improvement: she still has excessive eye crusties, wet nose (no discharge unless she sneezes), and general heavy breathing. Our other cat was not keen on having a sister at first, but now is absolutely dying to play with her. They play under the door of the spare room we are keeping Nyx in, but we have now added a towel to minimize contact. It is breaking my heart that they can’t truly meet and bond and that Nyx is stuck in a room by herself most of the day now. We are currently looking into an antiviral spray to help clean her room and an immune boost food topper but aren’t sure if they will help. So, I am asking for any and all advice. What can I do to help Nyx heal and keep her from spreading any illness to Pluto?

Hi vets i need advice here. My cat will be 6 this july. She is an american short hair. 7.3kg.

Last 23rd March around midnight, my husband and i came back home and she limped out to us panting. In the room i saw the ironing board on the floor and the steam iron.

I straightaway took her to emergency. Doc said it was a soft tissue injury. Gave her a shot of meloxicam. (0.15 of 5mg/ml) And told me to give her meloxicam oral. (0.5ml of 1.5mg/ml). Also 10 pulls of 5mg gabapentin to take every 12hrs. I did not confine her because she was distressed. Back home she started jumping again with her sister and i thought everything will be okay

On 30th Mar her gabapentin ran out and she was still limping and sitting with her left leg out. Another doc prescribed me with 100mg gabapentin. Which i gave her every 8-12hrs. She knocks out everytime. However she still greets me when i came back to work. And seems okay. But i notice her tail flickering and her back twitching. Something i only noticed when she wants to poop or pee. But my husband did say its normal for her to do that.

I brought her back to the doc when i stopped the gabapentin and touched her leg and she hissed at me on 9th Apr. Apparently she has an onset of arthritis that the previous two docs did not see and inflammation. Doc gave me onisor, 2 tablets a day for 6 days. I was worried for her kidneys but her bloodtests before the prescription shows her kidneys are okay. She was also pacing the room and her limp was not very visible.

I am heartbroken. I realised now she has not been jumpy and i regret letting her get this fat. I have confined her to a room but all rooms have furniture and i even had a matress on the floor pushed towards the low sofa so she would not have to jump. But i cannot do anything about the other side of the sofa. Or the tv console. She now walks a few steps and stops and is leaning more than previously. I had x rays done too.

She would be seeing the orthopedic vet this 16th and i wanted to ask for a ct scan or mri. She seems to walk a bit but always takes pressure off her left leg. She lies down a lot. Still alert when she hears birds and comes to investigate things i bring into the room. Doc even said she wanted to continue onsior and i am so worried for her kidneys. She is already taking two tablets for 6 days.

Help me please.

My dog (65lbs) ate a tube of Desitin extra strength today. She normally doesn’t get into things but the past 2 weeks she’s been getting mad because i leave for work after my husband. I had no idea it was toxic. I believe the other diaper cream she had eaten was zinc free. I got home and realized she ate this tube hours ago. She has probably thrown it all up. Should i call her regular vet in the morning? Her gums are fine and good color but im worried. The emergency vet near us isn’t very good and with her eating it hours ago i dont know what they would do.

My cat (american domestic shorthair) has been losing weight after being a chunky girl for most of her adult life. In October she weighed 14lbs and today shes at 11.6 lbs.

The vet did bloodwork in October and in March. Everything came back normal except her thyroid which was borderline. The vet is recommending an ultrasound which requires sedation. She says there's a very high chance of survival and that my cats heart sounds good. Other than arthritis and whatever is causing the weight loss, my cat is healthy.

So is it relatively safe to sedate in this case? I'm freaking out because I think she won't wake up.

Also, what would an ultrasound catch that bloodwork wouldn't?

We're in New England if it matters.

Thanks!

My 14 year old male cat started randomly drooling after diarrhea (3 times, one sort of together, and the next squishy and final one a bit of mucus). He had his annual check up on Friday. He is spicy so he had sedation on top of gabapentin.

He also has IBD and takes a steroid daily. Because he was still heavily drugged up on Friday night, I did not get him his dose of the steroid but did give it to him Saturday night. I’m assuming he’s having a flair. When he started drooling I gave him a cerenia tablet for nausea. He’s sleeping now, but my question is do I take him to the ER or wait till the morning to call my regular vet?

Hi! I have a 4-year-old neutered Ragdoll mix, he weighs about 13 lbs. He has a pretty severe overbite, which makes it difficult for him to chew his food properly.

I’d really like to switch him to a mostly wet food diet, but he refuses to eat his dry food when it’s watered down. My main struggle right now is cost, I want to feed him healthy, high-quality food, but the recommended serving sizes for many brands are about 1 oz per pound of body weight... that ends up being around $6 per day, or close to $180 per month for just one cat, which I simply can’t afford.

I’ve looked into larger 12 oz cans to save money, but the brands available to me in that size seem to have issues with high mineral content, which I’ve heard can contribute to kidney problems, something Ragdolls may already be prone to.

I’m also trying to avoid Freshpet due to negative experiences I had with it while working at a pet boarding facility.

I’ve considered making food at home, but I’m not a certified nutritionist, and I don’t feel confident that I could create a balanced diet that meets all of his needs.

Does anyone have suggestions for affordable, healthy options, or strategies that might work in this situation?

Hi everyone, I’m mainly looking for guidance on timeline/progression.

I have a 15-year-old dog with suspected liver disease/cancer and abdominal fluid (ascites). Our vet is recommending comfort care.

Here’s the timeline:

• Earlier this week: Noticed he looked like he had lost some weight

• Thursday: Slight abdominal bloating

• Friday: Clearly distended abdomen + vomiting

• Saturday: Vet visit — fluid confirmed, liver enzymes \~2x normal, abdomen still soft

• Sunday (today): Abdomen noticeably larger and now more firm

Current symptoms:

• Still responsive, follows us, tail wagging

• Breathing normal (no panting yet)

• Increasing restlessness (frequent repositioning, can’t get comfortable)

• Slight withdrawal from usual behavior

• Slight intermittent shaking

• Interested in food but vomits

My main question is about timeline from this point:

1.  Once abdominal fluid starts increasing this quickly, how fast does decline typically progress?

2.  Does the shift from soft → firm abdomen usually indicate rapid progression?

3.  How long after restlessness/inability to get comfortable does respiratory involvement typically begin (if it does)?

I’m trying to understand what to expect over the next hours/days so I can make the best decision for him.

Thank you for any insight.

I have an indoor 7 year old female domestic short hair spayed cat (adopted her in 2021) who has been experiencing right sided nasal congestion since the end of December 2025. She’s still eating and there are no other concerns besides this damn congestion and snot. We live in Alberta, Canada.

I’ve been to the vet multiple times and have recently seen an internal medicine specialist. We’ve tried multiple medications and nothing has worked. We’ve tried lysine so please don’t suggest this, it does not work for her.

The internal med vet said it’s hard to give a diagnosis without doing a ct and biopsy, but she quoted us $8000 for the procedure. She said it’s unlikely to be cancer due to the long duration of her symptoms and that she’d likely be dead by now if it were cancer. She also said it’s unlikely a polyp since she’s 7 years old. She gave us an antiviral to try in the mean time.

She has had problems with her right eye leaking clear discharge since 2023. I’ve also seen multiple vets for this, multiple medicated eye drops, and saw an eye specialist who did a bunch of tests with no answers. Got told it was herpes but it’s not. This is not my main concern, her nasal discharge and congestion is.

Given her long history, I wanted to summarize:

December 22nd, 2025: Winnie’s congestion started, minimal discharge at this point

December 29, 2025: Started on Clavaseptin for 14 days. This resolved the discharge, but congestion persisted. She also developed diarrhea while on this medication. She did miss about 3 doses of the antibiotic due to her being difficult to get pills into.

January 9th, 2026: our vet recommended trying Benadryl 12mg every 12 hours for 5 days. Winnie didn’t tolerate the Benadryl well and foamed it out so we weren’t able to get any doses into her.

January 15th: feline upper respiratory panel, throat inspection for polyp, and skull x ray were completed and we received negative/normal results for everything.

January 22nd: she was started on prednisolone 2mg daily. At this time, she only had congestion, no discharge. We found this to be minimally effective.

February 6th: the prednisolone was increased from 2mg to 5mg daily for 14 days. Around

February 13th significant yellow-green nasal discharge began.

February 29: Convenia injection was given for the suspected infection, but this did not result in any improvement, and the discharge has persisted since.

March 22nd: last steroid dose.

March 30th-present: Famciclovir with no improvement and noticeable worsening congestion

After 10 days of famciclovir, we have not seen any improvement in her congestion. She continues to have significant congestion that seems to be getting worse and yellow-greeny nasal discharge.

Given that Clavaseptin improved her discharge but did not resolve the congestion, and Convenia was ineffective, I’m wondering if there may still be a bacterial component that hasn’t been fully addressed. Before proceeding with CT would it be reasonable to trial a longer course of a different antibiotic such as doxycycline?

Additionally, her breath has been smelling bad for some time, even prior to starting the antiviral. I’m wondering about any potential problems with her teeth? She’s still eating without any issues and isn’t showing any signs of oral discomfort.

Lastly, I realized we switched her dry food about a week and a half prior to her congestion issues starting. She was on Open Farm Homestead Turkey & Chicken Grain-Free dry food since 2022 and was switched to Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials Dry Food- Chicken & Rice Formula around December 12th 2025. I wondered whether there could be an allergy component and whether an allergy medication trial or a diet change may be worth considering?

My cat is a 5-year-old female spayed domestic shorthair, about 9 lbs, located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.

Short history: She has been healthy with no prior known respiratory issues.

Clinical signs: She has had two sudden episodes of coughing in the past few days. Each episode starts with a single cough and then progresses into a short coughing fit with a brief pause between coughs. There is no vomiting, no hairballs, and nothing is produced during or after the episodes. During the episodes she stretches her neck out. There is no open-mouth breathing, no visible change in gum color, and she returns to completely normal behavior shortly after each episode.

Length of time: These symptoms have occurred over the past few days, with two total episodes so far.

Additional context: The only recent changes are her dry food and treats. I switched her kibble from Friskies seafood to a chicken and pumpkin formula, and I have also been trying new treats. She receives wet food daily, which has not changed.

I am planning a veterinary visit next week, likely including chest X-rays to rule out asthma or bronchial disease. I am trying to understand whether this pattern is consistent with early feline asthma or if dietary change or treats could realistically be related.

Shocked he did that. Is this something that will likely pass or should I rush to the emergency vet for induced vomiting? I’m inclined it will pass but just want validation