r/AskVetAnimals

My 5 year old has always been the healthiest, happiest, sweetest girl. We have been through so much together. School, exams, my husband and I getting married, becoming parents. A few days ago I found a firm movable lump under her right armpit. I spiraled thinking it was lymphoma. The vet did a fine needle aspiration and found mast cells in what they believe is the axillary lymph node, so now they are concerned about metastatic mast cell disease.

I am honestly devastated and barely functioning. She is completely normal otherwise.. eating, playing, energetic, happy, acting like herself. You would never know anything was wrong.

What makes this harder is that we had a growth removed from her belly about 5 months ago, but we did not send it for pathology because vet said he was 99.99% sure it was benign. so now I’m terrified it may have been related.

Either way We are waiting for next steps/staging and I feel sick with fear reading stories online. I know this is serious, but I would really appreciate hearing from anyone whose dog had dealt with similar situation and still did well or lived meaningful happy years after treatment.

Please share positive stories if you have them because my heart is honestly broken right now. I can’t take it.

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!

hi all guinea pig lovers, my female guinea pigs front toenail looks inflamed and has barely any nail. what would this be caused from and should i take her to the vet? i’ve never had any issues like this before. she has a cage with fleece bedding and doesn’t walk on any hard surfaces.

On Sunday we took our 6 year old Dobie to the park like we usually do to get him exercised and burn energy. All was well and we had loads of fun playing soccer and racing. Come Monday after work I get
home my baby was laying on the floor as he does, but I noticed a purpleish spot on his thigh? I lay don’t and have him lay on me so I can spread his leg to see and it’s a huge bruise. He wasn’t limping and I touched the area and he didn’t seem to mind. I reached out to the vet and they asked some questions but since he isn’t reacting like he is in pain they told me to monitor it. They think it could be a strained or torn muscle and that it’s the blood rushing from the muscle sort of how it happens to adults. He is still not limping or having any signs of pain at this time. Has this happened to anyone?

Is this a good dog food for a puppy (large breed mix)? I didn’t realize it’s grain free and I’ve heard that’s not good. Would there be a way to supplement to make up for that? We give him two tablespoons of canned pumpkin each meal plus 1 chewable Forti Flora tablet/day.

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??

Hi guys! I’ve had my girl Leo for over three years now and she’s the same age. She’s on week three of not eating. She’s in a 40 gal with 70/30 and a UVB and a heat lamp, as well as three hides (hot humid cold) and half of her tank is full of decor (I have slate rocks under the heat lamp on the warm side and don’t have a lot of plants near it). The first week I fed Dubai roaches and was able to hand feed her one, got crickets the next week and this week and she hasn’t eaten any. She seems interested and will come out of her humid (main) hide and follow them but won’t attack any. I have pictures of her set up, her, and her belly incase she’s holding eggs or about to because I’ve never had that happen before so I don’t know what exactly to look for. I also see no mouth rot, no clogged plugs, and no stuck shed so I’m totally stumped. We haven’t changed environments or routines or anything. Last I measured she was around 7 1/2 inches and weighed 72 grams.

Edit: I forgot to mention I dust their food in calcium with D3

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.

This is boots, he was a stray and I scooped him up back in October. Hes around 8-10 months old and I feed him 2-3 times a day based on how early he wakes me up. Hes also extremely active and plays day and night so Im not worried about his mobility. When I first got him, I thought he had worms and took him to the vet and they said it was all just weight, so he’s always been kinda chunky but I’m worried he might be unhealthy, If he is what do I do?

My cat is around 6 years old. Adopted him about 3 years ago. He is neutered and has a flea and tick collar on. I noticed he had some leftover stool on his rear end. I went to clean it up and it's rather bloody. Is this a cause of concern? He is eating, drinking fine to my knowledge. He hasn't been eating his dry food as much but he's pretty picky and that's pretty normal for him. He is on Hill science diet and he gets one sheba wet food container a night. Behavior is normal. Will attach picture, warning. Vet has not been contacted as it's past hours and they are closed.

TLDR : Cat has bloody stool, acting normal.

Hello!! This is Noodle. I just noticed the pink bump in the white fir below her lower lip yesterday, and I noticed the white bump right above it this morning. I just need advice on what to do!! She doesn’t seem to be bothered by them, and I’m not sure what the cause is. Also, would the wipes I purchased be good or bad?? :)

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.

My dog that is about to turn 1 randomly developed a growth on her mouth and I’m not sure if I should be concerned or not. It probably appeared within the last few weeks but I only just noticed it a couple of days ago. Should I take her into the vet for a biopsy or is it nothing to be worried about?