r/PetAdvice

Hi everyone. I know this sounds extremely crass, but I really just need some advice right now.

I have three dogs. Two are related, XL bully females, and a chihuahua.

The two bullies are mother and daughter, and because of their age, they both do NOT like each other. The daughter has fully “dispersed” from her mom and no longer sees her as family but instead a threat. We’ve tried socializing them and it hasn’t really worked…They get violent. They both love the chihuahua though??? Our neighbour has a pup from the litter as well and they both react to him just fine. It’s more than likely a dominance issue.

The daughter wasn’t even an intentional adopt; she was quite literally forced onto us and abandoned by her previous owner. This lady ran off to an entirely different province and then lied about it!! 😭😭 Like okay!?!?

Our hearts are completely shattered. We want to keep both and try to provide them with a good and proper life, but one either has to be locked into a kennel / room while the other is out. What’s worse is we live in an apartment building, of literally all places— we just don’t have the space, the time, or the proper resources for this poor pup to have a good life.

We have called the two humane societies closest to us, but have heard nothing back. We have tried Facebook groups, family friends, everything we could possibly think of. I’m so out of ideas, I’m asking Reddit.

I know how this sounds. Backyard breeding is never justifiable and it’s a crude and unprofessional practice. We left our pups in the care of someone we trusted during a move, and when we got them back, one was pregnant. None of this was ever meant to happen.

I just need help. Advice, tips, ideas; anything to help this poor puppy find a home. She’s the sweetest thing in the world, she has so much potential and just needs some work. She’s has so much energy and loves to play…I don’t know what to do.

She was acting strange like biting on her tail and pulling her fur out, biting all the floor mat , biting stone in the process breaking her teeth , try to bite my other dogs, her fur was all over her mouth and eyes was kinda look like upward , and she keep howling in pain , not eating her food , she went missing for 2 days and came back day before yesterday she became thin with her fur become very thin

hello!

i have a lot of information to give but i will try to make it as brief as possible. please try to refrain on passing judgement. i simply want advice.

when i was 13 i wanted a bird. my parents gave me a young male galah. i believe he was only 1-2 years old at the time. very young with a very long time left to live.

at the beginning, he was a nice bird. he would sit on my shoulder, he would play with me and even our other pets (we had multiple dogs and multiple cats - we still do).

early on he started to randomly attack people. not just a little nibble, not just a warning. out of nowhere he would latch onto people’s necks and take chunks out. he did it to me once or twice. it got to the point where he couldn’t be trusted on people’s shoulders. it then progresses to him flying at and attacking heads unprovoked. i was young, i didn’t understand how pivotal it was to correct that behaviour right there and then. i was following the lead of my parents and as sad as it made me, he started spending a lot of time in his cage. ultimately, it got to the point where he was constantly locked in his cage.

to this day, it is exactly the same. i am 23 now for context. he spends his entire life in his cage. it isn’t a small cage (it still isn’t big enough for 24 hours a day), he is well taken care of, shows no signs of health issues and is fully feathered. but is in a cage all day. he mimics a few sounds but nothing else if that is relevant. we tried putting him in an aviary outside but he would mimic noises and follow us if we walked past. he was lonely and it was even more saddening. his cage gets wheeled outside everyday for enrichment, he calls to the other galahs and cockatoos and whatever, but with bird flu recently just hitting australia i am getting worried about continuing that.

he enjoys it when we go up to his cage and talk to him. he will allow scratches of his head and his toes through the cage. he dances if we sing to him, or if there’s music playing and we dance. if we go near his cage he immediately walks up to us. he is connected to us and has a lot of personality. this is why it breaks my heart.

i suspect he is extremely territorial over his cage. he used to manage to get out of his cage while he was outside and all he would do is sit on top of it, getting aggressive if you went to touch him. he will get aggressive if hands go inside his cage (getting toys and such inside his cage, cleaning his cage etc. is a two person job). when i have time to catch a galah, i let him out of his cage in our garage. initially he will be fine with just him and myself in there, he will walk around and touch things and taste things. this is usually shortly before he decides he will randomly fly at my head and attack me, while i haven’t even moved or spoken. if my mum or one of the other pets walked in - game over instantly for them. don’t even get me started on trying to get him back in his cage.

a few other behaviours to note:

- he will do weird things with his neck and body. flattening himself out and rolling his head back while on his perch. rolling his head around. he used to do it while sitting on his bell, but of course he destroyed the perch the bell was near. now he just does it.

- if we are making dinner or handling food that he decides he would like a taste of, he will screech. full volume. inside. it is so loud it melts cranial nerve viii. the only way to get him to stop is to give him a treat.

- he will sometimes just accept treats, other times will get aggressive and rip them from your fingers and toss it away. it has nothing to do with the type of treat and everything to do with what mood he is in.

- he will destroy anything he feasibly can that is put inside his cage except for one perch. toys, native tree branches, suets are destroyed quickly.

i don’t know what to do. we are honestly all scared of him and as desperately as i wish to help him, i dont even know where to start. his nickname is literally “devil chicken”. he has been in his cage for years. there are new pets that he has never interacted with (there are 3 dogs and 4 cats in this house total). he is aggressive, to the point of taking chunks out of peoples skin. i was so upset at one point that i approached my mum about potentially rehoming him - she said that was absolutely not an option. as he is her bird on paper, my hands are tied. thing is, as long as he is healthy, he will live after my parents. he is my bird, i asked for him, and i feel an insane amount of guilt for the life he lives. i live in a small town and a bird trainer or behaviourist is not an option. i can’t realistically take care of a bird for decades using workaround solutions. i love him and am desperate and determined to change this.

please help!!! thank you

Hola, necesito ayuda con este dilema.

Con mi familia tenemos un perro de 16 años que a priori no tiene ninguna enfermedad o nada grave pero su calidad de vida es baja y cada vez peor.

-Para empezar, en los últimos meses ha perdido mucho peso/masa muscular(es casi piel y huesos) por ende ya no tiene fuerza para caminar o estar parado por su cuenta, ni si quiera para estar sentado. El cuerpo está medio rígido, las patitas de atrás se le cruzan y cuando intentamos separarlas se juntan de nuevo, casi ni le funcionan. Las patitas delanteras si funcionan pero no tienen suficiente fuerza para todo su cuerpo.
- Requiere de ayuda para caminar, hacer sus necesidades, beber y comer (lo último lo hace acostado).

-Tiene incontinencia hace muchísimo tiempo, antes no llegaba al patio y hacía en el piso, hoy se hace pipi en su cama.

-Necesita de ayuda 24/7 tanto para necesidades básicas como por una necesidad emocional de no estar solo ya que eso le angustia. Esto está siendo desgastante para algunos de nosotros en la familia.

-Duerme todo el día, solo se despierta para hacer del baño, comer o quejarse porque está incomodo por algo (cambio de posición, molestia en sus partes al no poder limpiarse por su cuenta).

-No disfruta de casi nada (salir al patio, jugar, vernos volver a casa, etc) solo disfruta de la comida que para eso llora y ladra hasta que le demos de comer.

-He notado que le sale una mucosa con sangre del ano, con mi familia creemos que es porque tiene el tránsito intestinal lento y le cuesta o no hace popo. Hemos cambiado su dieta y si bien ayudó con el problema no lo solucionó del todo.

Por lo que investigué y en mi opinión como su dueño deberíamos dormirlo pero mi familia no quiere por temas financieros y por que les da pena matarlo "a sangre fría".
Sinceramente, estoy cansado de cuidar de él y creo que todos en casa lo estamos. Nuestra vida gira alrededor de él. Capaz mi opinión viene desde el desgaste y es egoísta pero no creo que él mejore, solo va a empeorar y no quiero atravesar por alguna enfermedad que le haga sufrir.

Agradezco sus opiniones.

Sorry this is long. I (48F) have lived in a place where fleas were never an issue. My whole life I have owned pets, and neither I, nor anyone I know has ever had a pet with fleas.

A few days ago I was working in the yard clearing some brush. Something started biting me, but I didn’t see anything. I came in, changed my clothes and showered, and then I found a flea. I killed it, and didn’t think much about it. The next day (yesterday) I had a ton of itchy bites and I decided to check my cats. I have two indoor cats that aren’t on preventative flea meds. (My fault. I have learned my lesson! I worried about the negative effects since they are pesticides and like I said, never even seen a flea). Well, I found several fleas on them. I would say about 8 on the long haired cat and 4 on the short hair. The cats aren’t really scratching or anything. I combed the fleas off and put them in water to kills them and immediately went to the vet and got topical meds (Nexgard Combo) for the cats and a chewable for the dog. (Strangely he has none on him. He is 16 with diabetes, Cushing, and glaucoma and on a ton of meds. Not sure why the fleas aren’t interested but I am thankful.) I came home and put the topicals on the cats and gave the dog his meds.

Today I vacuumed the entire house and furniture top to bottom. I then cleaned all the carpets with a steam cleaner. I bought a spray but I am reluctant to spray a bunch because there is no where to take the cats while it dries and a lot of it says toxic to animals. So I went back to the store got a spray that goes on the actual cats and sprayed that deep in the sofa only. I am thinking about spraying their beds too. It smells kinda strong so I wasn’t sure what to spray. (It is an Adam’s spray for cats). I washed all the bedding that I didn’t throw away. I combed. the cats 5 times and pulled one or two off each cat each time. I would say I have removed about 2 dozen.

The weird thing is, after a ton of research (I have an anxiety disorder and health anxiety so this is a living nightmare) the infestation (so gross) isn’t “normal”.

I walked around the house in light tan socks. They aren’t cotton or white, but are super light in color. I saw nothing on them. No fleas or dirt.

I am still pulling fleas off the cats over 24 hours after meds. When will the meds start killing the fleas! But strangely, I am seeing no fleas anywhere else. I saw none in the vacuum (I emptied it outside) or the carpet cleaner. None are jumping in the carpet. I put white towels in the cat beds. I saw none in the bed before cleaning and none on the towels after.

There is no flea dirt anywhere. None on the comb. None on the cats. None on any surface they sit on. Every black speck I find, I test on a wet paper towel and nothing. Is it weird to get fleas in the comb but no dirt.

I don’t think I am seeing any eggs. Every white speck I look at, but it mostly looks like their litter or dandruff. The long haired cat is black so fleas and dirt might be hard to see, but eggs?

I think I got one or two more bite on me even after the clean-up today. But I am not sure when I got them. Shouldn’t vacuuming have gotten them?

Lastly, when I comb the cats I am only pulling fleas off their heads and necks. I am combing all over, but I only find the fleas on the head area.

I guess I am looking for some support or reassurance. Am I doing something wrong? Just impatient? Is this weird? Any advice? It has only been about 36 hours and I am so tired and itchy and my anxiety level is a 10!

My cat (1.5 year old female) hasn’t eaten or drank anything for a week now. I have taken her to the vet 6 different times. She has gotten everything from ultrasounds, to X-rays, to an endoscopy. Nothing has helped. She has been getting fluids in her back to stay hydrated. Her vitals have been showing up perfectly normal from blood work. Mirataz has done nothing for her and anti nausea meds haven’t helped. Today she started Elura but now she is extremely disoriented like she is drunk. My vet said this is normal but her eyes keep rolling back and she keeps collapsing. When she’s not collapsing her body seems normal. I am becoming desperate I do not know what is happening.

Hey ! So, the title may seem a bit strange, but this is my situation right now.

I'm 26, my boyfriend, Jason, is 27. We live together in an apartment with my two cats, Banjo and Koda.

Koda, my older cat, loves Jason. Absolutely loves him. Snuggles all over him, purrs when hes around, follows him everywhere.. but when it comes to the night, when my boyfriend will make love to me every now and again, Koda will go nuts. He meows and scratches at our door to get in - and god forbid, if we let him in, he will meow and hiss and bite us. He doesn't do that ANY other time. Literally ONLY when I'm trying to have sex with my man. We've tried so many different things to try to get Koda to stop freaking out and stop being angry about it, but he just will not calm down.

Someone please explain why this is happening and how can I make it stop?

..this month. Her vet diagnosed her with Dementia. I’m at a loss as to what to do about the sun downing. Paige starts around 5:30-7:30 AM, which is her bedtime, as a nocturnal creature. However, that’s when I’ve usually gotten almost enough sleep. That’s when Paige starts to yowl like she’s never going to see me again (we’re attached at the hip), because I’m “lost” in bed. Keep in mind we live in a studio apartment where the bed is always in clear view. I can’t keep Paige locked in the bathroom at night because that’s mean and makes things worse. I’ve tried calming treats and sprays to no effect. I’m seriously towards a nervous breakdown if I can’t get some good sleep. Besides noise canceling headphones, I don’t know what to do for my cat. Please help.

Reign my 4M / neutered Cat hasn’t pooped since Tuesday.
Saturday night I came home and he was throwing up, he threw up all the food he ate, and he started to just throw up saliva. He wouldn’t eat anything he wouldn’t drink water. So I brought him into the vet on Sunday morning. Bloodwork came back fine. X-rays came back he was constipated with a little bit of dry stool in the colon And dehydrated. They sent me home with an anti-nausea and anti-acid for him.

The vet told me he should be eating boiled rice and chicken. Obviously he ate around the rice and only ate the chicken so I just started giving him chicken and chicken broth. He had been eating that fine, but still no bowel movement by Monday so the vet said let’s start him on lactulose. He’s taking it every 8 to 12 hours and he pooped late Tuesday night.
He started to immediately feel better and come back a bit to himself. Running around the house, playing snuggling, begging for food, etc.. Wednesday was normal. He just played and he ate his appetite. 100% came back. I’m pretty sure. Thursday he had a recheck appointment at about an hour before his recheck appointment he refused the boiled chicken and broth. I started to get really scared cause I thought he was losing his appetite, but he was actually hungry and he just didn’t like the flavour anymore so I had to mix it with something flavorful. I recheck appointment. The vet was able to palpate his abdomen and notify us that he didn’t feel any constipation. He doesn’t feel anything wrong with the colon he’s not as dehydrated as before, but still mildly dehydrated.
He said continue with the lactulose and start to feed him more.

So I did exactly that and it’s now Saturday Reign is very happy about it. He is eating so much just like his normal self he’s eating boiled rice, chicken bone broth, and a little bit of pumpkin with a bit of mousse topper.
Everything is 100% ingredients and good for digestive systems here.
BUT STILL NO POOP??
To be fair, he only started eating normally on Thursday.

Financial situation: I F 25 can afford vet care, but it is stressful/expensive so I’m trying to understand what is normal before escalating further. I’m actively working with Vet right now.

TLDR
My cat has not had a bowel movement since Tuesday night (several days). He is otherwise eating normally again (small frequent meals), drinking fluids mixed into food, peeing normally, and acting mostly like himself (alert, playful at times, grooming, seeking attention).

I had a small wound on my body so I unscrewed some dettol, mixed a few droplets of it in some warm water and cleaned the wound. I then proceeded to get out while my hands dried(I don't remember if I ran them through water) and then pet my cat, I then looked it up on Google because I was mildly concerned about dettol. Now I find out that dettol is highly toxic to cats. I've wiped down my kitty with a wet tissue(barely damp not completely wet) and am now freaking out, will she be okay???

Cat species: calico Age: about 6-7 years Weight: about 3-4 kgs

Hello, I have never been on this sub sorry if it’s the wrong one

My dog has a habit of chewing on her back paws. I always tell her no or redirect, today I started saying noooooooooooooo just a very long no, not loud or high pitched or anything like that. She stops immediately.

Am I like potentially pissing her off? Or like is that harmful?

I tried googling it and it gave me a very robot answer of some pitch’s are harmful for dogs. It’s my regular speaking voice I’m just saying no for longer.

If anyone knows why this working so well? Because it’s so effective it made me anxious it was upsetting her in someway.

im at the vet with my teacup chihuahua now and they have her back in an oxygen tank. They are saying it’s probably congestive heart failure and if we don’t have the money for the bill we might have to put her to sleep which is quite possibly my worst nightmare, I can’t imagine even leaving her here for the night let alone never getting to bring her home again. I just don’t know what to do. I’ve reached out to family and nobody can help. Is there any other resources for this type of thing? There has to be something else we can do??? They’re saying it’s between 4-5k and there’s just no way, we don’t have that much money or any way to get it right now. This doesn’t even give us time to attempt a gofundme or something you know. Any advice is helpful right now. And I’m sorry if this isn’t the right place to put this.

Tl;dr sprayed dog at work with a hose because he was trying to bite me, now I feel guilty

I work as a kennel attendant. There's a dog here that I'm pretty sure has a screw loose; aggressive to all but two people here, but he never gives any warnings. No aggressive body language, just straight to biting when he wants to. He's unpredictable and that's the worst part. If you're not one of his two favorites, it's hit or miss whether he'll behave at any given moment. Sometimes he'll be fine, sometimes he won't. The two constants are that he bites when he gets too excited, or when he wants something.

I wouldn't say he's anxious or anything, he doesn't display any nervous behavior. He just goes straight from O to 100 for no reason.

Anyways, he peed in his kennel so I went to clean it. I couldn't get in because when I tried he went after my foot- I assume this was an excitement bite this time because it was near the time we let the dogs out to play.

I normally would go get my supervisor to handle it, but we're super busy today and I didn't want to add more to her plate. So I sprayed him with the hose to get him to back off. I didn't drown or pummel him with water mind you- the hose was on the shower setting and I only flicked it at him for a second.
He backed off and let me clean his kennel without issue after. I feel bad though cause he had more submissive posture immediately after spraying him- bowed head and crouching a little. He went back to normal after a minute and would come over for pets when I called him, so I wouldn't say he was destroyed, but I still feel guilty. He normally barks 24/7 but he stopped barking after spraying him.
I gave him a treat after I was done. But so- should I feel terrible for doing this?

Also no I’m not confusing play biting/chewing with aggression. When I say bite with this dog I mean full on snarling “I’m trying to hurt you” biting.

Hi everyone,
I’m hoping someone here can point me in the right direction because I’m absolutely heartbroken.

I’m currently going through a divorce after leaving an abusive marriage involving domestic violence. For my safety, I have to move, and unfortunately I’m going somewhere that won’t allow me to keep my dog. I’ve exhausted every option I can think of, and surrendering her is the last thing I ever wanted to do.

She is a senior pit bull and the sweetest dog I’ve ever known. She’s very low-energy, spends most of the day sleeping, loves short walks, and is happiest just being next to her person. She’s incredibly affectionate with people.
She does best as the only pet because she really prefers human companionship over other animals.

She’s happiest in a home where she can have her humans to herself.
What scares me the most is that she’s an older pit bull. I know senior dogs and bully breeds already have a hard time getting adopted, and I don’t want her to end up sitting in a shelter for the rest of her life after everything we’ve been through together.

Does anyone know of any reputable senior dog sanctuaries, pit bull rescues, or no-kill organizations in Central Florida that might be able to help? Even organizations outside Central Florida that accept owner surrenders would be appreciated. I’m willing to drive if it means she has the best chance at living out the rest of her life somewhere safe and loved.
Please be kind. This is the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, and I’m devastated that I’m even having to ask.

Thank you so much for any recommendations or resources. ❤️

so we just got this 2 month old cat 5 days ago, (it was a abbadonded cat), the first 3 days it went ok the dog wanted to interact he was playful and the cat did not want to he was scared, after the 3 days we saw our dog peeing around the house at first we tought it was just him needing to go one more time so we didnt really tought anything about it... but now hes doing that again infront of us where the cat was, could it be a territorial thing? if so is there any way some of you made yours stop? cause the cat and the dog are getting along pretty good now, and i dont want to give the cat away... thanks to everyone

P.S. english is not my first language

Hi so my mom wants to give my dog Benadryl to my dog (50 pounds) because she has bad anxiety this is our second year with her. And she is an older dog.

My dog started doing some random spinning and moving her head from side to side she's panting tucks her tail between her legs does anyone else have this problem

My aunt is part of a cat fostering group, fostering around 22 cats per month. She moved out of my house nearly a year ago, but one of our fosters, Sasha, had become so attached to me that she wouldn't let anyone else come near her so she was left to stay with me. She's 10 years old, and I've had to teach her how to accept pets, treats, and teach her how to play. I've signed off on her medical records as her owner and was even told that if I wanted her teeth disease fixed, I'd have to pay for it myself, not the foster group my Aunt runs. Despite all that, my aunt won't allow me to adopt her. She tells me it's because I can't take care of the cat, I'm leaving for the Air Force soon, or because she "deserves a better place" and "only has a few years left." Clearly, I can take care of the cat if I'm the one who taught her how to have fun again and take care of her medical bills. My fiancé is capable of taking care of my cat until I'm able to come home in 6 months after training. As for "deserves a better place" and "only has a few years left"... I don't even know what she means by that because this cat gets my undivided attention and has a very loving home. As many people say: "It is better to have loved and lost than have never loved at all." I can counter every reason why my Aunt won't let me adopt this cat, but she keeps saying no. She has offered to let me pick who adopts her but I can't, it literally breaks my heart. My friends and family agree that this is so incredibly messed up and that she has a totally different reason why she won't let me take this cat... Can anyone give me advice? I am at a loss of what to do.

I have a corgi mini Aussie mix. He seems mostly corgi. He is five years old. Years ago he started limping a lot. I took him to the vet who sent us to an orthopedic doctor. They could not find anything wrong with him in x-rays. They put him on steroids and he eventually stopped limping. Now he is limping again on and off. He will get better and then start limping again. Today he ran really and started limping. He doesn’t seem like he’s in a lot of pain. He doesn’t cry. He just won’t stand on the foot. I try and feel but it feels exactly the same as the other leg. He doesn’t like when I hyperextended it. I started him on two supplements that he used to be on, Movoflex and Cosequin. He’s been on the mobile flex for about a month, which is the amount of time he’s been limping on and off. I started the cosequin maybe a week ago. The reason I haven’t taken him to the vet yet is because it’s so on and off. I’m usually one to rush him to the vet when the smallest thing happens, so I’m really stressed out over this. Before I end up taking him has anybody ever had this happen and is there anything you were able to do to fix it on your own? I’m not opposed to going to the vet, I just want to see if it’s worth it or not considering it it’s on and off.

Hi, I am moving from MA to OR and am finding conflicting results for how to properly handle moving my cat (4 years old, she was rehomed I’ve had her now for 3 years but I never traveled with her before but she is typically is really quiet during car rides but haven’t done long drives with her) and dog (11 years old shihtzu with heart condition/arthritis/joint deterioration/not crate trained but can handle extended car rides in his car seat).

My partner is moving in first, I am planning to fly up to OR later this month, and was thinking of bringing my cat with me since it’ll be the fastest method of getting her over there and trying to cause as less stressful for her as possible but I am planning on driving with my dog across the country since it’ll be less stressful for him that way and idt he’s healthy enough to get stressed out in an airport (never traveled in a plane with him before)

If anyone has had any experience going across the country this far out I’d love to hear from you!

I also want to note, I have time schedule to see their vet this Wednesday as well and want to have as much info to help me plan and prepare as best as possible while meeting both of their individual needs.

Thank you in advance!