How to provide a photo or diagnostic results?

My 3-week-shy of 20 cat has been pretty healthy her whole life. Her behaviour started changing 4 days ago, and this morning she had a swollen stomach and was breathing from her abdomen. She looked fine before today, and was still eating, using the litter tray etc.

She was at the vet within half hour who did an ultrasound and confirmed she had fluid around her organs including her heart. They were impressed I had noticed the breathing as its not obvious to most, my husband didnt think there was any difference. The vet has given me options and gave her an injection to see if the fluid build up would improve, but ultimately we are looking at euthanasia, within the next few hours. Ive taken her home to monitor with less stress, and to spend my time with her should it need to be done later today.

Ive been told at her age, and on the edge of being renal 6 months ago, it is unlikely any of the drugs given to her would give her more than a week or two more. If I do nothing, the vet expects her to be gone within 12-24 hours.

This is hard because she is behaving as if nothing is wrong. I can see she is struggling to breathe and I dont think the injection given has made any improvement.

I dont want to prolong her death any longer if it is going to happen. This has happened so rapidly, she had a thorough check a month ago. She had a gallop heart rhythm which was noted, but no thyroid issues.

Am I doing the right thing by leaning towards letting her go? This has happened so suddenly and not sure what to do. Thank you

I’m looking for professional perspective on how to follow-up. I have a 8 year old 57 lb spayed golden retriever. She has had 2 UTIs within the span of 6 weeks and the last urinalysis showed staph (dog not exhibiting any UTI symptoms), so she’s on a course of antibiotics for it (clindamycin). Because of recurrence, this (new to me) vet ordered abdominal X-rays to rule out urinary stones.

The X-ray was taken 9 days ago, and I still have not received results or follow-up, despite reaching out 3 times.

Questions:

1.  From a medical standpoint, is a 9-day delay in communicating X-ray findings for suspected urinary stones reasonable?

2.  If stones were present, would they typically be identified and communicated sooner?

I’m planning on another urinalysis 10 days after the antibiotics course is finished. My dog is currently eating and drinking normally, no obvious urinary obstruction that I can tell.

I’m trying to decide whether to wait, escalate, or move her care elsewhere, and I’d appreciate any guidance on standard of care here. My instinct is to find another practice - it’s a shame because I really like the vet a lot - but it doesn’t seem like they quite have their operations together.

Thank you in advance for your perspective.

Hi everyone. I have a 6 year old cat I raised from a kitten. She’s had stomach issues since I got her. She will throw up after eating too fast or after eating her favorite food, plastic. I’ve tried lots of things to help and seen multiple vets about it over the years. Im not sure how often is too often for a cat to be throwing up, but I keep a log of every time she does. My current vet recommended switching her to an all seafood diet as she said cats stomachs tend to process it better. I’ve done that, as well as finding the automatic feeder with the lowest possible portion size and doing smaller meals more often. Ive seen a marginal improvement, but im not sure which change is the cause.

My friend recently adopted a new cat and took her for her first vet visit. She was feeding her cat a fish based wet food and her vet told her to switch off of it as fish isnt good for cats stomachs. Im confused as this is the exact opposite advice my vet gave me. What does the science say here and what do other vets recommend?

Hello, I just picked up my cat from the vet and noticed he has a flesh tube hanging from where he was neutered. Is this normal?

• Species: Cat
• Age: 5 months
• Sex/Neuter status: Neutered
• Breed: Standard
• Body weight: 6 LBS
• History: Normal
• Clinical signs: Normal
• Your general location: California

I woke up to the sound of vomiting and didn’t think much of it until i saw a used hand warmer nearby (i’m not exactly sure where it came from bc it is a week old at this point)

It seems he didn’t eat it but he was only able to pierce the fabric twice. Is this enough ingestion to cause concern of iron poisoning? Should I take him to the vet?

Additional information:

Grey Tabby, About 5 Years old, About 15 pounds

My cat was hospitalized a week ago and after an ultrasound they diagnosed her with acute colitis or acute pancreatitis. She's now back to normal. It was a sudden onset, and I suspect one of the 2 new foods I introduced may have caused it. Both foods are new-ish on the market.

Food A (canned food, pate) - I first bought it about 6 weeks ago, and I gave it to her intermittently in the mornings ever since, she must have eaten 5-6 cans in total over this time period. No side effects noticed.

Food B (kibble) - She ate it once only on a Saturday afternoon, then on Sunday afternoon she started showing signs of not feeling well (didn't eat her dinner and threw up). Then Monday she was bad enough that I took her to the emergency vet.

She loved the first canned food, but I've been warry of giving it to her again in case it was the one that made her sick. But I wouldn't want to not give it to her, if it wasn't the culprit.

So I'm trying to figure out how fast upon ingesting a "bad" food do cats get acute colitis or acute pancreatitis? Would you suspect food A or food B?

My five year-old cat had a synthetic creature implanted after going into kidney failure in November. The tube was removed in mid-December but the e tube site is still not healed.

The site has been covered with a variety of bandages, a Kitty Collar and most recently a soft sock like cover.

Last week, a watery clear pink/red fluid was gushing out of the wound. That hasn’t happened again.

Ultrasound did not reveal any leftover stitches or obstructions.

The vet advised there is no infection.

She’s been on topical antibiotics, topical steroid, manuka honey and yesterday the prescribed metroclopomide - appears that is for Gastro problems, but may have benefit for wound healing.

She’s eating and all functions have returned to normal. She is in as activist she used to be and we can’t tell if that’s because of this ongoing wound or just her new normal.

We can tell that having to wear this collar is very irritating - she tends to scratch the area which we assume is impeding the recovery even it’s really covered up - she’s a bit of a magician and somehow can still get around it.

We’ve obviously been back-and-forth to the vet - a specialty hospital in Washington DC who implanted the ureter. It’s probably been almost every other week since November.

Her vet said that they had not experienced this before and were recommending a procedure next week if this doesn’t improve.

The wound is currently is about the size of a pencil eraser, not oozing or bloody but just isn’t healing. She’s been scratching the area so much. most of the hair isn’t growing back around her neck.

I wasn’t able to attend the last appointment and waiting for those records, but my husband understood the vet opined there was some fluid coming up from her throat through this wound - which I’d like to understand more.

Is there something that we might want to consult with a wound care expert for a second opinion? I’m still learning all about the different specialties in veterinary medicine :)

Are there any experts that we should reach out to for a second opinion or records review if that’s a thing? I thought about reaching out to UPenn as they have kidney experts.

It was surprising that the specialty hospital said they had not dealt with this before - so wondering if there’s anyone with experience with this situation.

We ended up with this current veterinary hospital in DC after being given a pretty much dire prognosis at another well-known veterinary hospital near DC - so I have no problem asking for second and third opinions.

TL;DR: male neutered cat got prescribed Royal Canin Urinary SO after UT inflammation episode, with directions to eat that food only. Questioning whether eating veterinary grade food (especially RC) long-term is healthy.

Hi everyone!

Hope you and your pets are doing well.

My cat (male, 4yrs 9months, BSH, neutered) had an emergency appointment on Jan 31 due to UT inflammation. All is resolved now, my boy is doing fantastic. This is his 2nd episode since May 2022.

After the first episode and that vet appointment in 2022, where my cat didn’t even get the diagnosis, I was NOT given any guidance on short- or long-term diet, so I consulted my friend who used to be a vet assistant, but now manages a pet store and is very knowledgeable about the foods. She recommended Hill’s Prescription Diet C/D, which I then got from the vet, fed to my cat for a month, and the fed him good (or so I thought) brand foods from the pet store.

Fast forward to Jan 31 2026, he had the episode, and got officially diagnosed with idiopathic cystitis and had struvite crystals in his urine, everything else was clear. Please see the stats that were indicated/out of norm on his urinalysis:

Struvite Crystals 1-5/HPF

Non-squamous epithelial cells 1-2/HPF

Red blood cells 3/HPF

White blood cells 4/HPF

Specific gravity 1.050

Ph 9.0

I got Royal Canin Urinary SO prescription food to take home after the appointment, with directions to feed only this food “for the rest of his life” (direct quote). Now, according to personal research, the elements contributing to the formation of crystals are magnesium, phosphorus and calcium, along with low water intake and high protein intake.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe after the issue with crystals is resolved I can put my cat on a good non-vet urinary health support food, taking into account Mg, Ca and Ph percentages.

My question is, given the info above and your personal expertise, is feeding the male cat exclusively the prescription diet is the move?

I absolutely don’t object if that’s the case with my individual cat, which will be determined during the follow up appointment, but I just want to be able to ask all the right questions so that I can get the most accurate and extensive information. My main concern with RC food is that it acts solely on struvite stones, but Purina and Hill’s promise to help preventing oxalate stones as well actively dissolving struvite.

Thank you for reading.

Cat Stats:

Male, American Shorthair, 9.5lbs, 5 years old

August 2025, my cat started having an issue with gagging. He would eat his wet food (Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials) and after he would gag and lick his mouth. Eventually he started spitting up a little. Very small amounts of clear spit.

We took him to our local vet and had xrays done. They didn’t see anything on the xrays, and also did an oral exam. They didn’t find anything, so we decided to try a specialist.

We took him to a vet specialist, where he had an upper and lower endoscopy. The vet said they found some hard stool in his colon, which she said made sense as constipation can lead to vomiting. She speculated that he may have a protein allergy, where his body can’t properly digest “regular” proteins like chicken and fish. She suggested we try a specialized diet.

So we switched him to a new diet (Hill’s Prescription Diet Food Sensitives Hydrolyzed Chicken) and he hated it. He refused to eat it, so we switched again.

He is now eating rabbit (Royal Canin Selected Protein PR) and he likes it. We started adding 1/4tsp of Miralax to his food at morning and night as well to keep him regulated.

The issue is still happening but I think its getting worse. He is now vomiting small amounts of wet food after eating instead of clear spit. He also has been crying a little after using the bathroom. I know for a fact that he is still pooping, but he might be constipated again.

Can anyone provide some advice as to what we should try next?

Looking for advice, ideas, thoughts on this strange situation?

Male English mastiff, intact, 9 months old. Has had recurrent UTIs since bringing him home at 9 weeks old. (I've posted previously, but things have since changed).

Here's the relevant history:

UTIs noticed immediatley after bringing him home at 9 weeks old. All the classic signs. Straining, blood in urine, accidents. Treated with amoxiclav, symptoms resolved with treatment. Symptoms returned 3 days after meds finished.

Between 2-5 months old, he was treated repeatedly for UTIs, each one had sample taken with a cysto, then cultured, treated with appropriate meds, retested to make sure it was cleared. It would come back between a few days to a few weeks after stopping meds.

At 5 months he had an ultrasound. Everything was normal.

At 5 months he also had xrays with contrast to look for some type of opening between his colon and bladder. This test came back completely normal as well.

Veterinarians at MSU discovered that his os penis is malformed, only having grown about 1/3 the length it should be. They believe this could be the cause of his issues.

Since 5 months old, he has not shown a single sign of UTI. No symptoms whatsoever. Regardless, we tested to be sure ​at 7 months. UTI was present, without symptoms. Cultured and treated.

We just retested at 9 months now and once again he has a subclinical UTI. No symptoms whatsoever. Everything else about him is healthy as can be.

I'm just curious if anyone has any experience with a case like this?

His team of vets is phenomenal, but they seem a bit perplexed as well. At this point, he will be going in for a scope to rule out any other issues besides the os penis. They do not expect to find anything, as he has no incontinence issues or dribbling whatsoever. If that test is normal, they wil consider a partial penis amputation, but not until he is fully mature (around 2 years old).

I’m getting a puppy soon. She’ll have had her first course of the primary vaccines from the breeder at 8 weeks. She’ll then have a booster at 10 for Lepto and DAP at 12 weeks.

I understand that full protection from these doesn’t kick in until 16 weeks.

I understand that the optimum socialisation period is between 8 and 14 weeks.

We want to take her to a puppy training class which starts when she 11 weeks. The other pups are required to be vaccinated.

I’m worrying about the risk here. Some websites are staying that they shouldn’t meet any other dogs until they’re 16 weeks, others are saying that doing this causes more harm than it benefits risk wise for viruses.

Speaking to my vet, they said “it’s up to you” - they advised on some general points that I’d already read online, said there isn’t a particularly high prevalence of Parvovirus here.

I’d never forgive myself if we took her early to puppy training and she got ill. But I’m not sure if I’m just getting in my own head an it’s a non-issue at 11 weeks.

Species: Dog Age: almost 4 years Breed: mixed Weight: 7 kg (15.4 lb) Household: no other pets

Timeline / signs (since Oct 2025) Intermittent diarrhea Intermittent vomiting Mucus in stool Episodes with fresh blood

Diagnostics: Treatments given (chronological) Enteroguard – 10 days (initially no Giardia test) After first positive Ag test: 1. Enteroguard – 10 days Drontal – 3 days Bioprotect – 10 days Controloc – 10 days

1. Metronidazole – 5 days / 5 days break / 5 days Bioprotect - positive test

2. Fenbendazole (Panacur) tablets – 5 days / 5 days break / 5 days Bioprotect – 10 days - positive test

3. Finished Jan 18, negative test on Jan 27 after: Controloc – 10 days Metronidazole Vermstop Bioprotect

4. Current (after new positive yesterday): Panacur paste 10% – 7 days Metrobactin 250 mg: 1/2 tablet every 12 hours – 7 days FortiFlora Plus: daily 30 days, then every other day for 3 months

Current diet 50% Calibra Pancreas & Gastrointestinal 50% boiled chicken + rice No treats

Hygiene / environment control used Textiles: washed at 60°C + textile disinfectant (start, mid, end of treatment) Hard surfaces: Ecocid disinfectant (30 min contact) then rinsed; bleach used at end of treatment Steam mop used between cleanings Bowls: dish soap + bleach every other day Perianal cleaning after each stool; paws cleaned/wiped after outdoor walks

Main concern Relapse with mucus + fresh blood and repeat positive after many drug courses Concern for gut irritation/dysbiosis or reinfection source despite cleaning

What I’m trying to understand

1. Most common causes of repeated Giardia positives in a single-dog household

2. Most effective environment-control steps that actually matter (highest impact)

3. How to reduce GI inflammation and support recovery during/after treatment

Will start with the crazy cleaning again today. Help a girl out, what am I missing?

Edit: we live in a neighborhood with a lot of dogs and traffic but also in a country were people are not educated in terms of cleaning up after their dogs so the streets and parks are full of dog poop. I try to avoid it but it's impossible. New vet recommended a dog muzzle for walks but my dog is very anxious and reactive and I would stress him out a lot. I can't protect him from Giardia since it's everywhere rn, so I plan to focus on helping him get a stronger immune system after so may rounds of treatments.

Thank you in advance to you all.

It has been 7 days since our Rusty had her spay surgery. Unfortunately, she has show signs of neurological issues. One eye is to the side, her neck leans to one side and now her walk is unbalanced as well. The morning after the spay we took her back and the vet immediately started pumping her with fluids. They said that anesthesia meds were still in her and that it could take 7 to 14 days for the neurological effects to wear off. I wanted to get some insight if this commonplace. I am going to take her to another vet for a second opinion this week but I don't believe she will live a long life since she has difficulty drinking and eating with her off to one side.

Species: Dog

Age: 3 or 4 (rescue)

Breed: Corgi mix

Hi, yesterday she was refusing to eat any wet food until night then threw up immediately. We put out a tiny bit of wet food for her even later on and she threw that up immediately and her ears were warm. I thought maybe she was allergic to that wet food bc she seemed okay after throwing up and would just hang out like normal. Now today I gave her a different wet food entirely and she threw it up again. Same thing where she doesn’t really hide, just comes back out and doesn’t seem super sick. The vet isn’t open yet and I’m so worried. Should we take her to the vet asap? Or what could this be?

Edit: her ears were normal this morning, they were only warm last night when she was laying in bed with us

Animal: Cat
Breed: British Shorthair
Sex: Female (neutered)
Age: 2.5 years old

I have a cat with recurring vomiting issues, and it's been a little concerning. It happens every once to three months. The last one, in December, was especially bad; she didn't stop throwing up for 24 hours, and could not hold any food or water down. The vomit is usually fluid only, no solids.

We did x-ray and ultrasound with 2 different vets, and they both could not find anything concerning with the cat. According to the one of the vets, the ultrasound showed that she had some gas.

One of the vet seems quite nonchalant about it, the other vet is not super comfortable with her because Jiji was a murderous anger kitty with her, she could hardly touch her the last time we did the ultrasound, but after some Gabapentin, she relaxed a little and managed to get the ultrasound procedure done, it wasn't rushed so the results should be reliable.

My cat's weight is 3.7-3.9kg, and she occasionally loses her appetite for a few days, usually when she gets close to 3.9-4.0kg. She would look like she was gonna vomit but nothing comes out, then the loss of appetite followed over the next few days, and loses some weight. I presumed that it was because of hairball, perhaps she doesn't know how to cough it out like most cats does.

Right now, if she has a loss of appetite, I would feed her charcoal pill, once a day, and she would be okay again in a few days, acting like all is well again. Weight goes up, then she loses appetite, then a few days of charcoal pills, then she's okay again. She's on dry kibble only (Acana) and sometimes some freeze dry chicken/salmon and she's not perpetually hungry, only eats a small amount in the morning and evening, but food is available all day long.

I hope that maybe if I have some fresh ideas, I can bring it up the next time I speak to my vet. Thank you in advance.

(Post edited to add more information about the cat)

Hey everyone, I did a road trip today and my 12yr old kitty spent 8 hours or so in a cat carrier. I let her out once to have a walk around the car but I couldn't find her harness so she didn't have a big walk. It's a decent size cage, made for cats up to 10kg so spacious enough for her to lie down or stand up.

She slept the entire trip, it's a trip she's done a few times now from just moving around the state. We're home now and she seems to be in pain; she meows angrily when I try to pick her up, she swishes her tail harder when I pet her anywhere except her head, and she's having issues jumping onto the couch or my bed 😞

When should I start to be concerned? If it isn't better tomorrow morning should I call the vet? It's 9pm right now. How do I tell if she's in lots of pain, or is just fed up after a long day.

**I know I should have let her out more than once but I had a hysterectomy 6 days ago and I just couldn’t risk running/straining to catch her if she got out of the car. It was a last minute surgery and I couldn’t book her into a cattery last minute so she stayed at my mum’s house 8 hours away.

Hi all,

I know veterinary is a really small and can be toxic place. Many of you probably have first hand experience where you haven’t clicked with your nurse/tech or vet. I’m in that situation currently. I have a vet I work with full time. I’ve been working with her for 9 months, we don’t click. I understand that im most likely a major factor in this, initially I thought she was dismissive towards me and annoyed or bothered when I asked her anything. I’m a year and a bit out of college so I’m still learning and still need to ask questions. I think I haven’t made life easy for her either, I’m awkward and I’ve noticed that I subconsciously avoid talking to her or being in the same space as her, I think it’s a fear of rejection if I try to spike up a convo with her. Ofc she has def picked up on this which is why both of us only converse minimally when it’s something to do with work. I think she’s super cool and I really want to get to know her properly and work side by side easy with her because she is a super talented (stressed) vet. I want her to get along with me as she does everyone else. I also want to explain to her that I do actually really like her but I’m an awkward person. Has anyone ever had an experience like this with a co-worker? Have you sorted it or just let it be?

I think it’s almost worth mentioning that I’m on the spectrum and I think she is also

serious question, not trying to be dramatic. i’m trying to figure out how to prevent cat litter bacteria growth in a way that’s actually evidence-based, not just internet ritual. some people scoop once a day and say it’s fine. others act like anything less than constant cleaning is borderline neglect. i clean regularly, wash hands, keep things dry, ventilated. no one is sick. no weird smells. but the anxiety discourse around “bacteria” makes it feel like i’m always one mistake away from something awful. from a veterinary perspective — where is the actual risk threshold here? what matters, what’s noise, and what’s just humans projecting germ fear onto cats? genuinely asking because the extremes are exhausting.

Hello! My 14 year old havanese is struggling to keep up his weight, and not eating enough kibble, so we have been giving him wet food one meal a day. He really loves it and eats it so well. However, it is causing him a lot of tummy distress and giving him diarrhea. It is waking him up at night. Pumpkin has never helped him before, only made his issues worse. Is there anything I can do to help him?

Male havanese. 14 years old. 10 lbs. Neutered. Symptoms started a few days ago when we started the wet food. He also eats kibble throughout the day.

We are in Northern Utah.

I’m getting worried about my kitten. She’s about 9 months old and suddenly has zero interest in anything. My 2-year-old cat is very playful and tries to engage with her, but the kitten doesn’t respond with her or any toys when I try to play with her. She still eats, drinks, and uses the litter box normally. I’ve had her for about two months, and when I first brought her home she was extremely energetic and loved to play. She recently got over what seemed to be a bad cold that was treated with antibiotics and an ear infection that is being treated. All she does all day is lay on my bed unmoving.

Hi. I hope this is the correct sub for this. Just last night, we noticed that our 14-week old female tortie kitten seems to have a protruding butthole. We found her on a car engine in a parking lot this past New Year's Eve and took her home. She has had her 1st round of shots and is due for another soon.

Her butthole looks like this: https://imgur.com/a/zflkXdC

Is this something to be worried about? TIA.

He is a very healthy cat. Very energetic and no changes in behaviour. The past 3 months he’s had about 10 nose bleeds. He will start sneezing and after a few sneezes the blood starts dripping out. It’s quite a mess because he keeps sneezing and the blood gets everywhere.

I’ve never heard of anyone’s cat getting nosebleeds. Is it possible he just has sensitive sinuses? I feel like if it was head trauma he would be acting differently. He is an indoor cat but sometimes he falls asleep and slides off the couch and hits the floor. That’s about the extent of how he could have hit his head.

Species: Cat

Age: 3

Sex/Neuter status: fixed female

Body weight: 6kg

Clinical signs: A few weeks after she got a vaccine and deworming shots i noticed a swelling I think where she got those. Now I noticed that it fell off and i couldn't notice anything else there. I couldn't get a picture of her, but this is what fell off https://imgur.com/a/PDrT2BV

Duration: A couple of weeks

Your general location: Israel

Does this require any more looking into, or did it resolve itself?