I have a facebook friend who only feeds her dog what her family eats. She posts photos talking about how well the dog eats and it’s the dog eating table food. She’s not preparing him his own human grade meals, it’s literally their food she gives him. With all the salt and other seasonings she puts in their food. Their diet is not in anyway balanced, so you know the dog isn’t getting all the nutrients it needs. She posts photos of him eating ribs with the bone, freaking boudin, gravy, she puts syrup on it’s waffles, ONIONS (!!!) (I did voice my concerns about the onions), etc. She uses Cajun seasoning a lot. Most recently she posted a photo of the dog with the caption “look at all those muscles”. It was literally his ribs. I nosied through her photos to compare his weight and he has lost a significant amount of weight. I’m beginning to wonder if she lacks the mentality to be a pet parent since she can’t tell the difference between ribs and muscles. I don’t want to be a Karen, but this just seems wrong to me. Any input would be appreciated.

I have a Husky, Koda, who LOVES to run. Off-leash training has been a struggle because his recall is, well… let’s just say he has selective hearing. I just found out about the Halo Collar, which has GPS tracking and a virtual fence to keep dogs safe.

I watched this video breakdown on how to use it for walks, track movement, and reinforce recall. It looks like a solid option, but I know Huskies are escape artists.

How to WALK Your Dog SAFELY with the Halo Collar App

Has anyone used the Halo Collar on a Husky? Does it actually help with training, or do they just ignore it like everything else?

When I first brought my kitten home, I thought I had a general idea of how much it would cost—food, a litter box, maybe a toy or two. But no one really talks about the emotional budget you start spending the moment that tiny ball of fur curls up in your lap and purrs like you’re its whole world.

Yes, I’ve spent money—probably more than I expected. A high-quality scratching post instead of the cheaper wobbly one. Grain-free, vet-recommended food instead of bargain-brand kibble. A water fountain because I read somewhere that cats are more likely to stay hydrated when the water’s flowing. I even bought a heating pad for winter naps because she tends to get cold easily.

And the vet visits… oh, the vet visits. Vaccinations, deworming, spaying, and one emergency visit when she swallowed a piece of string. That one nearly broke my wallet—but leaving her in pain was never even an option.

But here’s the thing: I do all of this not because I have to, but because I want to. I love her. I love the way she blinks slowly at me when I talk to her. I love how she waits by the door when she hears my keys, and how she insists on sleeping pressed up against my chest like I’m her personal radiator.

Sometimes I sit on the floor beside her while she eats, just to make sure she feels safe. I clean her litter twice a day because I know she hates it when it gets too full. I even changed my apartment layout to make room for a cat tree by the window, so she can sit in the sunlight and watch the world go by.

So how much does it cost to raise a kitten?

It costs a portion of your paycheck, sure—but more than that, it costs space in your heart, your time, your energy, your attention. And in return, you get a love so pure it makes every dollar feel like it was never really yours to begin with—it belonged to her the moment you looked into those eyes and said, “You’re home now.”

Would I do it all again? A thousand times yes.

my 9 year old maltipoo is destroying my house and i’m honestly at my wits end. she was initially my bf’s dog, and she was pad trained & didn’t go outside. when he moved in with me years ago, she seemed to have a regression triggered by the carpet and would have accidents but after a few months it seemed to dissipate and she would only have the occasional accident when she didn’t have a pad or it was dirty or whatever.

we moved into a brand new build last year, and every single day without fail, multiple times a day, she is going to the bathroom on the carpet. she has access to clean pads. she still chooses the carpet upstairs. she will wait to be let out of a room instead of using the pad in the room, just so she can go use the bathroom upstairs. what carpet isn’t destroyed to all hell and disgusting, i would love to preserve.

i don’t know what to do. is it too late to retrain her? should i try to outside train her? diapers?

I’ve never had pets or had automatic cat feeders before… my parents are very enthusiastic about this idea since finding someone to take care of my rabbit is very difficult and inconvenient every time we go on vacation… however I am concerned and suspicious whether if this idea would work.

Pet owners, any comments and ideas about this?

Thank you!

Edit: I reiterate that it’s not my idea instead it’s my parents so please don’t come to say I can’t take care of my rabbit.. I can I just want to hear if it’s only me that’s so against it or if the majority of pet owners are against it. It would also be nice if you can help brainstorm ideas to do instead of leaving my rabbit alone with automatic cat feeders

Edit: Thank you for all your ideas for my rabbit being supervised by someone rather than just automatic rabbit feeders! Im just bad at brainstorming out of the box ideas!

i do ubereat and doordash on a bike. yesterday i was picking up a liquor order and when i was leaving the liquor store i notice a cat approaching my food carrier on my bike. so i assumed it smelled the mcdonalds in my bag (my own food). so i took out the double cheese burger, broke a small piece and wrapped the rest up.

i could feel that the cat expression changed like it looked at me with disgust and started to wonder who raised me. i know i threw the burger on the ground instead of laying it down softly but damn i didnt know it would feel disrespected. or was it mad that i put the bigger piece back in my bag?

or am i overthinking?

Recently when walking one of my cars hind legs have started making a clicking noise when walking. But other than that he seems totally fine - no limping at all. Eating and playing as usual.. Has anyone experienced this with their cat? What can be the cause?

Hi i need help and advice

My fiancée and I rent a house that his two friends had previously also rented. The boys let their animals defecate everywhere so the house smells horrible and no matter what i do to try to tackle it it just keeps getting worse (the animals are still here, despite one of the cats not being ours and me being bit in the face by another dog and my protests). the cats no longer use the house as a litter box but one dog, in just the 3 years that i’ve lived with him, started to mark his territory EVERYWHERE in the house and relieves himself everywhere despite going outside all the time. We’ve tried carpet cleaning, consistently spraying problem areas and getting rid of old furniture but nothing helps.

I just need help on how to tackle the smell, i know we need to downsize on the animals. 2 cats and 2 dogs is too much for a tiny house but you try telling a man anything.

So I have a guinea pig and he ha a bald spot on his butt he keeps scrat hing and we put anti fungal medication on him and we don't think it's doing to much so we got some diatomaceous to see if ita mites bit we are not sure so If you can help me figure out what he has thanks (also he has a spot on his like neck or top back that I'd bleeding and idk what to do)

Have some stray cats and dogs which aren’t in the best health. Looking for a site that I can order anti-inflammatory meds that don’t require a vet script. Looking for something to help with stomatitis, gingivitis. Don’t care if it takes weeks for delivery.

tw . . . .

We had to euthanize our dog yesterday. It wasn’t exactly unexpected as we saw him decline over a month. I had to be the one to make the call after doing a quality of life checklist. I can’t get over how guilty I feel for it though. I did my best to give him a great last couple days. I think part of it is we didn’t have him a long time, we adopted him around Christmas knowing he was older and that the time he had we wanted him to have a loving permanent home. Unfortunately that time was less than even we expected. His last night was rough. He had a seizure and was pretty out of it, I gave him some pain meds just in case and he woke up wagging his tail and acting like a puppy which is what I wanted, i had hoped he’d go out on a good note. I just didn’t expect that would make it so much harder. I feel like I took his good day away.

Hello everyone I am near at the end of my 20s and I have been living in the greater Brisbane as a foreigner, for almost 10 years. I have always been an animal lovers and I work full time with animals as well. Personally I feel like the pet accessories, such as cat towers, toys, beds etc. lack diversity and creativity. As a consumer I feel like the options are quite limited and over priced. I am not a true local and I possibly do not understand the pet accessories market well in Australia. Recently I have thought of setting up some side business, to resell some pet accessories from other countries (such as China) with lower production cost. Of course there are some tax and consumer law that I need to be aware of, if I intend to take this business seriously. Does anyone have any idea where to start? Should I just start by selling some stuff casually in Facebook market place or is my whole idea absolutely impractical? As an Australian locals or pet owners, what do you think about the pet goods or accessories in Australia?

Ps. Sorry for my broken English, which is not my mother tongue.

Any insight would be great!!!

Hello everyone,

I have a small pug. She had 3 seizures in a period of 4 hours two days ago at around 5 am . I took her to the emergency vet where they gave her a quick check up and said her vitals seemed normal. They didn’t do any blood tests and suggested coming back Monday to see a neurologist.

She’s had seizures before but always recovered quickly. It’s been 24 hours and she is very lethargic, refuses food (drinks water) and has coughing fits when walking a few steps. She is breathing normally when resting.

At the vet and all of yesterday she actually seemed fine and recovered. During the night though she became lethargic and had the coughing fits. Now it’s the same. It’s a Sunday here and I’m torn between seeing the vet yesterday and them saying she’s in no immediate danger and her very low energy. Has anyone had any experience with this?

Hi everyone! I'm starting to wonder if my dog is depressed or something, and we're unsure what to do.

My wife and I have a 6 1/2 year old rescue (mixed breed) who we've had for nearly 5 years now. She's always been afraid of things that many dogs are afraid of like fireworks, thunder/lightning, the fire alarm, etc. Like many dogs that are scared she'll find a small space to confine herself. For her that's under the stairs (we have a small bed set up for her when she decides to hide there), under the guest bed, or under the night stand in my side of the bed. Normal stuff I think.

However, the past month and a half or so she's been hiding more often, even when there's no storm or fireworks or anything. She also gets startled more than she haed by high pitch sounds, which I think she associates with the fire alarm. Earlier I accidentally made a high pitch scratching noise with my fork and plate and she ran downstairs. My wife used a soap dispenser that made a high pitch squeak and same thing. Whenever I watch a TikTok or video and anything resembling a fire alarm plays she gets scared and runs across the house with her head low. She also doesn't like being around when we're cooking, because we admittedly have set the fire alarm off from time to time. A lot of this leads to her hiding quite often, certainly more often than she used to.

The main problem is even when nothing is going on, and no high pitch sounds have been made, she just spends so much time hiding somewhere, usually under the guest room bed. This seems to slowly be turning into and almost all day thing. Lately we've seen she's not eating all of her food either.

She gets at least one good walk almost every day, and she loves that. She also has a good time playing frisbee in the yard with us as well. We also like to give her enrichment puzzles to do, which she's gotten quite good at. But whenever we are in the house or not doing those things, she just hides a lot, especially at night.

Our dog has always been a somewhat anxious dog, but never THIS anxious. We're considering getting a vet involved, but curious if anyone else has experienced a season of higher-than-normal-anxiety for their pets, and what they did. Thanks in advance.

Guys do not apply for a loan with ScratchPayVetApply.com. I was at the emergency vet with my pet and saw in their statement that I could do a payment plan with ScratchPay. Unfortunately, I was pretty panicked and gave my information to this website. DO NOT DO IT.

Hello, everyone! I'm relocating for a job to a fairly small cabin that has a bedroom, living room, kitchen and bathroom, and I'm wondering what kind of pet you all think could be good for a small living space. The only thing is that dogs and cats are off the table, only because I have a cat at home who would not get along with a dog or another cat, and once my contract is up with my job I will likely be moving back home. So, basically, whatever pet it is will have to be something that can stay in my bedroom for the most part when I go back home and not be unhappy. Thank you all for any suggestions!

I already have a pet scorpion but I need more like 1 or 2, so I want a pet that is:
- Low space since I live in dorm
- Low maintenance because I have many to be done
- I prefer exotic and small animals

Basically I have a tortoise who is the love of my life and I was bringing him to college with me as an ESA to help with some of my mental health issues. But the school called me and said they have a policy banning reptiles cause of salmonella. My school's other rule (the only one visible in the cite) is it has to be a pet that will be in a cage if I am not home. So no dogs or cats. The other option is small mammals but I am allergic to hay. That leaves birds but r/parrots said I would be abusing a bird if I brought one. I don't know what to do. Is there ANY parrot I could bring? It would need to be ok traveling because I have a 90 minute drive to get home on weekends. I really just want my tort but I can't bring him because my mom says our family is above smuggling.

So my cat is pregnant and I dont know when she might give birth. She is around 11 months old she's a long-haired calico. I'm pretty sure she's on her end of the pregnancy by her belly

Ps I went to the vet yesterday and he told me that it won't be necessary for her to give birth there because she is healthy

My questions for you are: Should I leave her do her thing and watch her from distance?; Does the size of her belly matter how many kittens she might have?

Recently, we have taken care of a cat that has been looked after by my niece. The cat's original owner is their neighbour. My niece has looked after this cat for 3 years as the original owner has not been feeding or giving adequate care for the cat's needs during this time. The cat's nails are far too long, and we are trying to find a place that can cut them. My niece has also tried to give the cat back to the owner, but the owner will not take the cat back. When the owner's daughter left home and moved away 3 years ago, she left the cat with her mum and never came back to retrieve her.

Now we are in a situation where we contacted the owner's daughter to see if we were able to transfer the keepership of the microchip to our details. Which she accepted and gave us her mum's details to us. So we could fill the form in to proceed with this which we had to pay for. We noticed that the cat was quite skinny and that she had a painful tooth which we were going to take her to the vet to have this checked and treated.

Fast forward to now the original owner wants the cat back within the family and the daughter is going to take care of the cat however, the daughter states 'If the cat was in my name you could keep her'. However, she says that the cat will be staying with her. So I’m not too sure whether she actually wants to care for the cat? We also informed her about us wanting to take the cat to the vet in which she did not say anything about this or wanted to know what was wrong with the cat.

Our concern is that the cat has not been looked after and has been neglected for the past 3 years as well as the daughter not caring about the cat and only now she wants to be involved in the cats care. We just want to make sure that the cat is being looked after as well as she was with us. Do we stand a chance in being able to keep the cat to look after her or will we need to give her back?

my cat who is a boy and is 10 months old is starting to make my life hell and is making me hate waking up in the morning. he's making me crave my old life without him. i don't want any pet sympathizers in the comments talking about how i signed up for this.

i did my research before getting a pet but i didn't ever expect this. he's been fine and sweet for about 8 months but the past 2 months has made me hate him so much i wished he was gone or i went back in time and told myself don't get a pet.

there is so much hair, so much mess, so much pee, so much poop to clean all the time, and it'll never end. it's not like a baby where they learn to pee in the toilet and flush it. i don't care about scooping the litter it's nasty but it's fine i care about the peeing in secret places and fermentaing it until it smells so bad i gag.

he's not allowed in any bedrooms anymore and has to sleep downstairs because he has peed on all of our belongings at one point. we buy him tous so he's not n bored and he destroys them and then is bored or just doesn't engage and thinks it's boring and doesn't care.

i'm genuinely at my wits end because part of me loves him and can't imagine life without him but another part of me hates him and thinks every single time i go out; did he pee on something, or did he use the little box. did he destroy something? did i close my room door? what is he doing right now?

i've never had to worry about him like this before and constantly stressing and worrying is about to give me an anxiety and stress disorder. help me literally anything to fix this and bring back my calm shy sweet cat and not this destructive insane cat. i see him in the corner of my eye and i get this insane word pit in my stomach and hurts me and makes me want to cry or rage idk. help. thanks.

Vets found fluid in his lungs (which they drained) and a large malignant mass in his abdomen that they’re 80% sure is cancer (especially when factoring in other symptoms like weight loss).

I have him on Pregnazone* to make his last few days more comfortable but he’s not as active/energetic as we was before sadly.

Looking for recommendations or suggestions on what to do with him, for him Etc. as this is my first pet I’m losing.

Hi everyone. I really could use guidance, and I think there is bound to be a wide variety of response here... Please feel free to comment with your best advice or any thoughts you have.

I brought my cat to my vet's office this morning. He is one of the most precious beings in my entire life, especially given that my family and I are no-contact right now. Around 30 minutes into the appointment, my vet, we'll call him Dr. X. agreed to give my cat an antibiotic shot, as this worked in the past when he was experiencing something similar. Dr. X. came in with the vet tech to administer the shot.

Immediately afterwards, Dr. X said "oh shit." I asked if everything was alright, and he said "no, I just gave him a sedative. I need to take him back right away."

Dr. X brought my boy back and I sat in the examination room for about 5 minutes. Dr. X then returned to the room and explained to me that he had accidentally administered a very potent sedative to my cat, and that he just now administered the reversal agent.

I was understandably freaked out. I told him "I want you to know that I understand things happen. I'm not upset right now, but will he be okay?"

Dr. X stated that he wasn't sure if my cat would be alright. He shared that the sedative is a mix of various sedatives, and he had the reversal agent for one of those sedatives, and that should increase his chances greatly. He said that my cat would probably be alright, but that he couldn't promise anything.

I want to pause for a moment and say that, while this is a WILD mistake to have made, Dr. X did take immediate action and it does seem that my kitty is going to be okay BECAUSE Dr. X and the vet tech jumped into action and saved his life. As of a half hour ago, he is tracking visual stimuli and breathing well on his own.

Unpause. Before that, however, my poor boy seems to have literally been on cat life support, IV fluids to flush the sedative, and constant monitoring. He couldn't breathe on his own, and someone had to hold the oxygen to his face for at least a couple hours.

Some relevant information:

(A) I have loved working with this vet in the past. He is sweet to my cats, he is gentle, he communicates well, and he has always seemed to provide the help that my cats need at the time. Dr. X also seems like a lovely person. Also... it seems like he saved my cat's life? Kinda? Idk.

(B) I do NOT want to ruin anyone's reputation or livelihood, and I do NOT want to tear down a small business in town with multiple good vets, techs, assistants, desk workers, etc...

(C) I am REEEAAALLLYY uncomfortable that this mistake even occurred in the first place. This is crazy to me and I have been on a roller coaster all day, not to mention I'm trying to buy a home and I'm juggling emails and payments in the background of all this. I am STRESSED and I technically don't know yet if my boy is for sure gonna be okay. I am still scared, concerned, and VERY uncomfortable with just letting this slide. While I don't want this to ruin anyone, I also HELLA do not want this mistake to occur again to anyone in the community.

Therefore...

What do I do? Please help. I want my boy back, but what are the best ways to keep this from happening to someone else's best friend?

UPDATE: Kitty and I are at home. In all honesty, it feels like he was sent home too early, but I'm happier to have him with me than not. I have to be honest: my boy is struggling. I do have Doc's personal cell, as well as the number for an emergency clinic. Still, he is having a really hard time moving around, and he is experiencing what I've now learned is post- anesthesia dysphoria. He has tried to clutch at his face with his claws a few times, and I have needed to pull his limbs away from his face. From a veterinary standpoint, I don't think I am super well-equipped to be his caretaker in this moment. From a cat mom standpoint, I'm so glad he can rest next to me while he's going through it. Unfortunately, he's having a super difficult time with the litter box as well. He can't really ambulate right now, so I have to hold him up while he tries to use the box. He's currently sitting in his litter box, I think because he needs to use it, but he also can't stand up long enough to do so. This is definitely rough, but sometimes, this is just how being a cat mom is.

UPDATE on the Sedative Cocktail: Telazol 64 mg (500 mg powder, reconstituted to 100 mg/ml when combined with 5 mls of fluid), Dexmetatomidine 0.16 mg (0.5 mg/ml at 2.5 mls), Butorphanol 3.2 mg (10 mg/ml at 2.5 mls). My cat is 14.1 lbs. The breakdown of ml/kg is Telazol at 10 mg/kg, Dexmedotomidine at 0.025 mg/kg, and Butorphanol at 0.5 mg/kg.

UPDATE: Buddy boy is struggling. It's 2:25 am, almost 16.5 hours after injection. My boy is pacing back and forth. My friend has offered to stay the night and help me watch the kitty. The more awake he becomes, the more distressed he is. While I have an eye lubricant, I don't think his eyes have actually closed since I picked him up, and his pupils are still insanely wide. Doc initially told me that it could take up to 72 hours before he is fully coherent - didn't think it could even go this long, but here we are. We called the emergency vet a little while ago, who gave us some signs of concern to look out for, but he hasn't truly showed those signs. Some panting, but only when he becomes agitated and paces too much. My friend and I are taking breaks observing him and making sure he stays safe. We tried some supervised drinking out of a small water bowl, but my guy was too wired to drink. He can't seem to relax at all, and he is whining quite a bit. Tbh, he seems miserable, and it's sad to see. I'll continue to update as I can. Thank you for your continued support and comments. I appreciate your thoughts.

UPDATE: It's 6:30 am. He is still struggling. He has some mobility back, but he is still completely out of it. He is so disoriented. I'm taking him into the emergency vet. Will update when I can.

UPDATE 7:15 am. We are here at the emergency vet together, and we are waiting for the shift change at 8 am. The nurse here has been helpful and stated that she's only seen that type of cocktail used as a pre-euthanasia sedative. Not sure what the purpose was in my kitty's case, but the nurse seems pretty horrified (while still showing great professionalism). She thinks it was ready to be used for a different animal.

UPDATE: 9:05 am. He's very slowly improving. Still waiting on the ER doctor. My kitty is stable and a critical patient was admitted earlier, so we're going to need to wait a bit longer. He's no longer howling and he's not pacing anymore. His pupils are not as wide, and he isn't breathing as quickly as he was. We are probably looking at another 48-50 hours of slow recovery. He's currently in my lap on the floor of the examination room, hiding under some blankets.

UPDATE: Per the ER doc's suggestion, we called the ASPCA Poison Control line. The person on the phone was incredibly helpful. She took down the concentration information and dose of each drug, then spoke with a doctor with ASPCA, who felt that this is treatable, and Finnick will be okay. Still, as she described to me, Telazol seems to be a lot like Ketamine. My boy was overdosed on kittyketamine... kittymine? Gotta try and lift my spirits with a silly joke. The nurse and ER doctor here at the Emergency Vet are connecting with ASPCA, then planning out a treatment plan, if it requires anything other than time. I just had a good cry of relief after the nurse left.

POSITIVE UPDATE!!! My boy is steadily improving in the emergency clinic. They have him on IV fluids, which seem to be helping a ton. They also allow regular visits. I spent about 1.5 hrs with him just now, and he is so much more alert and calm. I am also glad that I am not his caretaker right now. This would have been too much for me, and I obviously cannot provide him with IV fluids. I think this is going to be a long road for him from a psychological standpoint but I am feeling much more confident that he will be physically well in the next couple days. Lil buddy is so strong 🌸💕

I have an 11 year old cat who has started losing weight rapidly to the point he was only 2 and 1/2 pounds and you could feel his bones. We’ve been feeding him wet food for a couple weeks now and he’s gained a significant amount of weight. Leading me to believe that the dry food was too hard on him. Buying cans of wet food has become expensive as we still have to buy the senior food for our other 3 cats who have not been having this issue.

Would blending the regular cat food into a pate be okay for him? I’ve been considering it to cut down on the cost of his food.

My dog doesnet wanna eat and its been 2 days. He sometimes goes and drinks some water and then goes back too sleep sometimes he doesent sleeps but lays down with his eyes open or sits but hes gotten really thin and hes still less then a year old and he vommited color green,yellow and transparent pls help its only been a few months and dont want him to die. (Sorry for bad english)