r/AskAVeterinarian

He is a 15yr old terrier mix who got bit by something we didn’t see two days ago. We thought he stepped on a wasp so thought he was fine, but he was in a lot of pain so we took him to the er vet about an hour later to make sure it wasn’t a snake. Vet gave him methadone to calm down and confirmed it wasn’t a snake. She gave him antibiotics, gabapentin for pain and carprofen for anti inflammatory.

Next morning, I go downstairs and sit next to where he was laying on the couch. As I do, he gets up and is very wobbly and falls back down. Laying back down his head is still wobbling back and forth. I am worried so I go to my parents room and tell my dad. My dog then walks in and is stumbling and unstable. My dad goes to call my mom at work and I go sit with the dog. Less than 5 mins later he is walking fine again, but my mom still calls the vet who tells her to monitor him and bring him in if it keeps happening.

The rest of the day he is fine until he throws up around 3pm, which is not super unusual for him when he’s not sick/injured and we thought it might have been the meds, though he had only take the antibiotics at around 7am that morning as the swelling/redness had gone down and he wasn’t showing any more signs of pain. Less than an hour later, he threw up again and then two more times within an hour so we took him back to the er. They say it might be the meds and do a blood panel to check liver and kidneys which both look good. They give him an anti nausea injection that lasts 24hrs and then send us home with maropitant for nausea after the injection wears off.

Next day he is fine, takes his antibiotics in the morning and is fine all day until 3pm when he jumps up on me and is wobbly again. I get him to walk and he is wobbly walking. I call my dad and he says he’s not sure what we can do and tells me to film it if it happens again. I think he has gone back to normal at this point. Then I go to let the dogs out and go out with them and he is wobbly and unstable again, which I film this time. When we come in my dad gets home and see him and the video. The dog lays on the couch and still hasn’t wanted to get up for about an hour now.

I want to take him back to the er vet but my parents aren’t sure what they will be able to do. My mom is trying to schedule an appointment with our regular vet.

What could be causing this? Could it be related to the bite? All of his other symptoms are gone except for this, so I’m not sure if it’s related or if it has to do with his age or what. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you!

UPDATE: after going to our regular vet yesterday they told us he has old dog vestibular syndrome. This is what was causing the nausea and wobbling and it is unrelated to the bite. Luckily, it should go away in about 2-3 weeks. He is on meds to manage symptoms. Thank you!

I just recently pick up a fostering to adopt male dog and I’ve noticed something very strange about him…. From what I can tell is that he has a bit of separation anxiety and from his being a stray I believe he was dumped possibly because of my discovery upon brining him home (that and I believe his previous owner(s) more than likely didn’t have any experience on training the poor guy). I’ve had male dogs many years ago but I’ve NEVER seen something as weird as this… he pees a lot and I notice he licks it quite a bit. I don’t even know how to describe this. It’s got like bumps on the end of it. Is this something to worry about?? He hasn’t ever tried to mount my other dog, thank God. That’s unusual though… I really just don’t want him getting my other dog sick.

She’s had this for a little while and it was really small. Don’t bother her at all, felt firm. Never bled or seemed to cause her any discomfort, but this morning it looks a bit bigger and it’s bleeding slightly. Anyone any ideas? She’s 8 years old and always been healthy. Thanks in advance.

Boy cat, has ongoing infection of eye from feline herpes. He’s had no discharge the last week during ongoing treatment and no blood like this. The second picture was 2 days ago and the first picture was about 15 mins ago. Does this warrant trip to emergency vet??

I’m sorry for the blurry photos my camera is broken:(

Hi everyone, I’m cat sitting and one of the cats has a chronic eye issue/infection that the owner has medication for. The prescribed drops are gentamicin sulfate ophthalmic solution.

When we first met, the owner told me not to worry too much about the eye drops because the cat gets stressed and runs away. Later I asked again and she basically said not to force it if the cat is scared.

Tonight the eye suddenly started looking worse again (cloudy/red with discharge). Earlier today it looked mostly okay. I tried calling/texting the owner but it’s late and she hasn’t answered yet.

The medication is prescribed specifically for this cat. What should I do? Should I give one dose tonight until I hear back from the owner, wait until morning, or is this something urgent enough for emergency care?

(Photos attached)

edit: i did give her the eye drops and it does look better but still not good

Please help, this started yesterday where he gets excited and starts coughing with some discharge coming up. The discharge this morning has stopped but he hacked so hard he toppled over and got up in a panic like he had a stroke. Struggling financially so trying to get him the help he deserves.

So this is my dog Minnie and basically from one day to the next, her life completely changed. We’ve taken her to multiple vets, every one says they’ve never seen anything like it. After each vet visit, she’s a little worse, so I don’t know what they’re doing to her in there but we’ve stopped taking her. She went to playful, jumpy to cautious and almost depressed? Completely disoriented, it’s so sad to see. This was practically the fastest decline, ever. What is this?!? What can we do to help does anyone have experience with this? This had been a steady decline over the course of a month. She is a 6 year old female, never any history of any issues. This was so sudden and started out as a bump and then grew and grew to now, also affecting her eyes with swelling and inflammation.

So my 3 year old labradoodle threw up blood last night along with plastic bits. This afternoon, she threw up again with blood but not as much as last night. However, today’s had more plastic in it. Last night she got a hold of some plastic wireless over ear headphones and then chewed it up and the other piece of plastic in her throw up is unknown. I took her to the vet after the throw up today, but the vet is ordering x-rays and wanting to hospitalize her tonight on fluids and then potentially take her into surgery.
**The first two pictures are from yesterday afternoon. **the second two pictures are from this afternoon right before bringing her to the vet.

Hello guys,

My mini schnauzer is 8 months old. I know they are prone to teeth issues, so last week I started brushing his teeth with an enzymatic gel and a finger tooth brush. I just focus on the outer teeth mainly.

I was looking closer in his mouth now and I noticed his upper back teeth have some orange spots on them on the outer parts. Nothing on the bottom teeth. Is this tartar and do I need to take him in for a professional cleaning?

I’m worried I started brushing his teeth too late, but our vet told us we didn’t need to start until he was closer to a year old. :(

Will it resolve if I keep brushing his teeth? I’ve heard about dental sticks but I’m wary about adding additional sugar calories to his diet since mini schnauzers have sensitive tummies and are prone to pancreatitis. We live on a sheep farm so he does get the occasional sheep bone to chew on.

Thank you!

Hi vets!
My senior cat has a history of urinary crystals, so I prefer to feed him a urinary support food. It’s getting increasingly more difficult to keep him on Hill’s and previously Royal Canin brands due to stocking issues, so I am looking at Tiki Cat Solutions Mineral Balance. It doesn’t specify it is for urinary support, so I’d like to confirm if it will prevent crystals before making the switch. Google says it’s designed to support urinary health, but the Tiki Cat website does not mention it. Can anyone advise on the suitability of this food, please?

Thank you!!

Saw a Facebook post today from a woman talking about how her dog (probably a Schnauzer breed from the fur on the leg's.) was "attacked quickly" by a medium breed dog.

I've come here to ask for professional opinions about the stitches, because for all the times I've seen family/friends, dogs come back from the vets for whatever reason. These stitches look too formal to have been from a quick attack and more like from mass removal, like lipoma or tumours. Especially that very large one with diagonal lines.

I have reversed image searched the photo, and there were a fair few photos that came close to this one, but i haven't found a direct match.

Species: dog, Rottweiler
Age: 4yrs (2nd March 2022)
Sex/neutered: F/Yes
Weight: 45kg

Location: Perth, Western Australia

Preface: My dog HAS already been in the vet, received diagnosis & some treatment.

History: Diagnosed with Aspiration Pneumonia at emergency vet Monday 18/05, after cough developed & progressed from Sunday 17/05 night. By 8am Monday, wet hacking cough, drooling, holding head to sky for airway, lethargic, coughing up phlegm/bile. After vitals, bloodwork (can post in comments if requested), exam of airway & chest xray - inflammation of throat & Aspiration Pneumonia. No oxygen support needed as her levels have maintained really well, just IV antibiotics for a few hours. Picked her up after 9 hours there & lengthy discussion with vet about whether to hospitalise overnight. No longer held her head up, has an appetite, more herself, breathing good. Taught us how to coupage & count her respiratory rate. I know we aren’t out of the woods yet but we are watching her 24/7, prepared to rush her back if needed.

Currently: 10:20am Tuesday 19/05
Symptoms: respiratory rate sitting about 40 when resting, wet cough every so often, lethargic (still from sedation/meds/exhaustion), struggling to bring up any phlegm but minimal amounts
Medication: Amoxyclav (2 tablets 2 times a day) & Gabapentin every 8-12 hours for sedation/pain relief, coupage for congestion

Basically I just want to know if anyone can recommend anything else we can be doing to support her recovery? She’s still so out of it, I know we are in for a long recovery but these next few days are gonna be crucial. Will a humidifier help? What signs/symptoms should i be most on the lookout for? We are prepared to take her back to the vet like I said but also have to be thoughtful of the fact we just spent $2300AUD on her, and it would be another couple thousand to take her back. What can I do in the future to help stop this happening again? What can I get her usually vet to exam/test for to see if we can determine how this occurred?

I can’t have kids, she’s my literal child & my dads best friend, I hope someone else whose been through this can give me some hope I won’t lose my baby ☹️😭❤️

Photo of her just because, & the footage of her coughing is a hard watch. I’ll link in comments if anyone asks.

Hi I am a vet tech and I have never seen this before on a dog radiograph. This is of my own dog, an 11 year old yellow lab. Could you tell me what you think it may be? We were thinking maybe Carcinomatosis or fungal infection. No fever, E/D wnl, no SCVD. She did recently go blind through cataracts so it’s hard to tell if she is acting weird at home due to that or if something else is wrong (she’s also very stoic). Any advice and ideas are welcome and greatly appreciated! Pictures are easier to see if you zoom in. **CBC results in comments

Hi all,

I’m hoping for some advice.

Winston (8) has non regenerative anemia/PIMA and has been on prednisone for over 14 weeks and cyclosporine for over 8 weeks with no change. We have a second opinion scheduled for May 26 and honestly are at a loss of what to ask/how to advocate for him.

Timeline:

Nov 26, 2025: yearly check-up and bloodwork were normal. Healthy, no concerns.

Early Feb 2026: my husband started noticing Winston seemed lethargic and was losing weight.

Feb 10, 2026: took him to our vet who confirmed anemia (white gums, PCV 19). We were referred to a specialist. He got a transfusion, bone marrow aspirate/biopsy, and a lot of testing done.

Results came back negative for:
- FeLV (including bone marrow)
- cancer
- bone marrow cancer

At that point they ruled out everything except autoimmune/PIMA, so he started prednisone on 2/12. Before discharge he needed another transfusion. PCV after transfusion was 21.

March 17: recheck at specialist and his PCV was 10. We had to rush him to another ER because they didn’t have compatible blood available. He got a 3rd transfusion there, and their internal medicine specialist recommended adding cyclosporine. PCV after transfusion was 17.

April 14: recheck showed PCV 14. Since he wasn’t showing distress, specialist said to continue meds and give them more time to work.

May 15: PCV was down to 9. Specialist said she really isn’t seeing any response to treatment. Our options were:
- replace prednisone with chlorambucil (but one side effect is bone marrow suppression which scares me)
- or euthanasia

We had literally just lost our elderly dog a few days before this appointment, so we chose a 4th transfusion and scheduled a second opinion.

At this point he’s had the following with no improvement:
- 4 transfusions
- prednisone for 14+ weeks
- cyclosporine for 8+ weeks

Are we missing anything? Should we be asking anything specific at the second opinion? I don’t understand why we can’t find a cause for the PIMA/non regenerative anemia.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with something similar.

Any help/guidance would be appreciated. I don’t think I can handle losing another animal so quickly. :(

What could this be on my dogs paw? And what can I do to help? Our vet has given him antibiotics for an infection but it doesn’t seem to be helping. It seems to flare up and go down throughout the day (swelling/redness/bleeding). These are on two different sides of the same paw. He does also have some bumps on his lips that I’m not sure are related. The other paws do seem itchy but nothing like this one.
I do plan to take him to the dermatologist but I’d like some ideas in the meantime.