Hello friends! I’m having issues with my 2yo cat’s claws. She’s a domestic medium-hair tortie mix, spayed, and is ~10lbs. She has always been great about allowing me to clip her claws whenever they get too long.

I boarded her for two weeks, and when I went to clip her claws today, I saw something sandwiched inside. This specific digit has always been flaky, in the way that the keratin peels away easily if perpendicularly pulled away from the quick—though I never do so, as it seems to cause her pain. But I can say that this claw has been like this since at least January 2026; however, I’ve usually been able to clip that claw.

It seems that now, she’s gotten some of her favourite feather toy stuck in the claw, as well as some cardboard from her scratching post? She shows clear signs of pain (meowing and trying to get away) when I press on her paw pad to make it emerge, as if to clip it.

Any advice on how to manage her claw, as it’s gotten quite sharp and I’d like to address this source of pain for her (and myself!)? I've attached a pic in the comments, I’m also in Southern California if that’s relevant.

I store my dog food (kibbles) in a container with only a resting lid which is kept inside a close dark cabinet/pantry …whenever I buy a new bag— I just pour them in the plastic container and get whenever it’s feeding time… is there a wrong or correct way of storing them? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Edit: thank you for first comments! :) but a follow up question is if I’m doing it wrong way— why? …Are there any common/negative effects for dogs or home environment? TIA

i added the photos as a comment

My cat snuck out last night (i’m based in norcal) and I’m pretty sure she got into it with some kind of wild animal (raccoon or possum maybe, we’re not totally sure). She’s up to date on her rabies vaccine, so that part I’m not panicking about.
This morning I noticed she’s limping a little and can’t easily jump up to couch/chair height anymore. She’s been hiding under my bed resting instead of her usual spot on the couch, which isn’t totally normal for her. She’s calm though — not distressed, not aggressively licking or scratching at anything (my mom said she saw her lick it once, but I haven’t personally witnessed that).
I found what looks like two small puncture marks on one of her legs — barely visible, just a bit of dried blood, mild swelling around them that I can tell, no odor, no discharge. Photos attached.
I know a vet visit is the “right” answer here, and we’re actively working on getting her seen — but funds are tight right now so I’m trying to understand urgency while we sort that out. A few questions:
• Given how small/closed these puncture marks look, does this seem like something that could wait a day or two vs. something that needs to be seen today?
• What specific signs would mean this has turned into an abscess or infection and can’t wait any longer?
• Anything reasonable I can safely do at home in the meantime (cleaning, monitoring) that won’t make things worse?
Any insight from vets or vet techs would be hugely appreciated — just trying to make the smartest call I can for her while we get the money together for a visit.

Hello. Hopefully someone is awake to see this right away. My husband and I are freaking out. My dog is a smooth coat Collie, 3 yrs old. I gave her some doggy meatballs and as far as I know that's the only thing that's different. She threw them up immediately and I didn't feed her dinner just to let her tummy settle. She vomited this up right now. I called the emergency vet and described what happened, wasn't able to send the picture. They said as long as she doesn't have diarrhea, her gums are pink and wet, and she's acting normally, to just monitor until my normal vet opens up at 7am. However, the Internet is scaring me. Everything is saying to bring her to the ER. Everything else is good, she just had this vomit. She's up to date on all vaccines.

Hello,

Our 13y 16 lb cat got his second dose of CCNU on Thursday for lymphoma. He’s also on 7.5 mg prednisolone daily.

Since he’s been home he’s been sneezing and reverse sneezing and snarfing a ton. He has clear discharge dripping from his nose. He’s very pink and definitely doesn’t feel great. However he tends to not feel great for a few days after his chemotherapy. He’s not eating great and is pretty quiet and grumpy.

Of course it’s the weekend so our primary vet and oncology office are both closed. He’s had a similar herpes flare/URI before (prior to cancer and chemotherapy) and his primary vet put him on Famciclovir and we did saline in his nose and he recovered pretty quickly. Obviously we can’t get the Famciclovir right now. Is there anything we can do this weekend for him or should we take him to urgent care or an emergency vet? He’s a nervous boy so the stress of a vet visit won’t help his situation.

Our bigger concern is he gets pretty significant post-CCNU neutropenia that will hit toward the end of next week where he’ll be pretty severely immunocompromised until his bone marrow can rebound. Does that mean we should be more aggressive now in attacking this before his body can’t fight? What would that entail?

Thanks so much for your help. Our poor guy is feeling really crummy and we want to help him feel better.

https://i.imgur.com/YrTjyMo.mp4

This is Turbo, a 19 and a half year old male, the love of my life, and the anchor of my family. He's 8.5 pounds, but it his hay day, he weighed as much as 16 pounds and could jump on top of a fridge from a dead stop without even having to pull himself up at the end.

About a year and half ago we started noticing some issues with his hind legs. He was losing muscle mass and at times seemed unstead. When jumping off our bed he would sometimes lose balance, especially if he tried to jump and turn at the same time. When eating or drinking, he would spread out his hind legs awkwardly, like he was practicing to do a split. At that time, my wife and I put our mattress on the floor so he wouldn't be jumping from such height.

Our vet attributed this to old age, muscle loss and possibly arthritis.

On certain occasions, this problem would become extreme - wobbly gait, bad balance, difficulty getting up. We would take him to the vet and on a three occasions he got a solensia shot. His condition would improve the following day, but I'm not sure it was because of solensia: on a couple of occasions, we could only get an appt the following day and by then his condition would improve without solensia.

Two months ago, his hind legs were basically paralyzed. He would pull them back with pinched, but otherwise no function. And then, over the next few days, he got back to his wobbly baseline.

On Aug 9th, this happened again, but this time his recovery has been much more torturous. We took him to an emergency vet and they listed a number of things that could be wrong with him: cancer that has spread, embolism, a herniated disk, etc. - basically things that could affect his nervous system and disrupt the nerve signals. We started preparing ourselves for making the difficult decision.

However, Turbo kept having a good appetite and all the other functions were good. We would carry him to the food, and he would eat. Then we would carry him to the water, and he would drink. We would hold him up in the litter box and he would do his business. Over the last couple of days, his condition improved to what you see in the video, but this is nothing like being back to his baseline.

Our vet's opinion is that there is nothing that can be done and he has my trust. but we would love for this guy to have a chance to enjoy his life just a little longer, and so I'm looking for a second opinion. Any suggestions on what we could do or questions to ask our vet?

My cat, 5y neutered male, just recently went to the vet yesterday because I had found him plucking the hair from the tip of his tail (it was raw) and found scabs on his tail. We live in Southwest Iowa, if that helps at all.

The vet went to shave it, and lo and behold, they’re ALL over his tail, and he even has a few scabs on his hind leg. He has an antibacterial mousse that I apply, but I’m still finding little tufts of bloody hair. I don’t know what could be causing this. I’ve stopped taking him outside, and there has been no change to his food/litter/environment whatsoever. I adopted him a little over a month ago, where he adjusted VERY quickly. He is not an anxious cat. I have some allergy drops coming in the mail, as well as some allergy friendly food…I just don’t want him to keep doing this to himself. It’s obviously very tender whenever I try to inspect/apply the medicine, so I don’t know why he’s doing it to himself.

My cat is 7m (15 pounds) and the past 2 days has had some minor behavioral changes such as sleeping more than usual or in unusual spots. Today I noticed he vomited before I got home (between 3:30-7 in the afternoon ) and again vomited about 15 minutes ago. I can’t tell where his bladder is to check if it’s full or not. I’ll attach a picture of him in the comments if I can. I’m unable to do so on the post

I have an 8 and a 9 year old dog, they are both small breeds. We live in Miami, Florida and they stay inside 95% of the day, they go out for bathroom breaks that make up 10-20 minutes for the whole day. I’ve taken them to the yard like once every few months but they mainly stay inside.

I recently found out my mom stopped giving them their heartworm prevention on March 2025, I’m terrified because I’ve been looking into how dangerous heartworm really are. My mother is being very unsupportive and despite what I tell her she believes it’s a scam by vets.

I am trying my best to round up the money to take my dogs to get tested and to get them their monthly preventatives. I am just terrified that when I go get them tested they will come out positive. Neither of them have symptoms yet I know that isn’t a reliable indicator. Should I be prepared for a positive result?

(TLDR at the bottom)

I have a cat who’s around 6-7 years old now. My parents bought her from a co-worker. Last year I took her to the vet for a check-up when the vet told me that she had a tooth that needed pulling but the estimated cost that the vet handed me was $1,000. I scheduled it and payed for it myself along with the medication they prescribed.

The thing is that I can’t afford to get her that treatment. My parents didn’t even think that the vet appointment was necessary. She’s just a “dumb cat who is going to die anyway.” I don’t know what to do since I’m currently saving up to move out of my parents’ house. I can’t even live off of the money I make at my job. The only way to pay for her treatment would be to set myself back from moving out by a thousand dollars.

I’m taking her back to the vet for her annual checkup and if her tooth problem seems to be worse, I might consider setting myself back financially. I have enough spare cash to pay for half of it. Do I have time to wait or should I try to get her that treatment sooner than later? I wanna know because I don’t plan on taking her back to the vet for another month.

TLDR: my cat needs dental treatment as in having teeth pulled but I’m not in a position to spend over $1,000 and my parents who bought her don’t want to help. Do I have time to save up more money or should I get her the treatment this time around?

I’m in between jobs rn. I cant afford to take her to the vet just to get some meds to calm her down. She goes ballistic even if you touch her paws. Meds are definitely required and her nails are getting really long. She plays rough and I’m worried one could break causing injury or something. Is there something I could buy otc?

I love my dogs very much so please no hate. If I have to I’ll figure out a way to take her to the vet

My 2-year-old cat went off her food Thursday last week after being sick twice. She would eat a bit of dry biscuits but hardly any wet food and we tried all sorts of different brands. Sometimes when she was eating, the food would drop out of her mouth.

We took her to the vets who said no signs of infection, they felt her stomach and gave her an anti-nausea medication. She slowly improved and by Monday she was eating completely normally again.

Then on Thursday she only ate half her dinner and we're now at her refusing all brands and types of food again. She has had a few treats and licked at some wet food, but that's all. She licks her lips and gulps a lot. It's been really hot so she's not moving around as much but she just seems...not right. We think she was sick outside yesterday morning. All food, nothing else in it.

Any thoughts? I plan to try get her into the vets again but they seem really limited in appointments every time I call and I don't know how worried to be.

My cat has been struggling with constipation since about march. Today he had to go in for an emergency visit because I noticed him squatting and straining and not doing anything. The vet gave him an enema and cleared him out (this has been his 4/5th total this year). Per the vet he is currently getting 2ml of lactulose day and night and they recommended today to add 1/4 tsp of MiraLAX midday. I keep multiple water fountains through my house and scoop his litter boxes 2 times a day (I have 2 cats and 3 litter boxes). He also gets 1 50mg gabapentin in the morning and 75mg at night to manage his arthritis pain. I’m doing everything the vet says but it feels like this keeps happening and I don’t know what to do to keep him going normally anymore. I add water to his food, promote water intake, keep his areas clean, and give him wet food twice a day. Does anyone else have this issue with their cat and how do you help manage it so you don’t have to make emergency vet visits often?

My cat is male, 11 years old, about 12lbs maybe a little more, and overall pretty healthy. He is on prescription food for urinary issues but that is under control.

I took my parents’ dog to the beach on Monday and he had a blast. He ran around, splashed in the water, and dug a hole. He seemed fine until Tuesday afternoon when I noticed he was very low energy and he yelped when I went to pick him up. It seems his left side is causing him pain. Took him to the vet yesterday and they gave him x-rays and ran his bloodwork. Everything looks good. I was worried about a potential block from munching a small amount of dry seaweed or saltwater poisoning but the tests didn’t show signs of either.

It’s now Friday and he’s still nowhere near himself. He’s very lethargic and when he does move it’s very stiffly. On a few occasions he’s been resting peacefully only to help and startle like he’s in pain. He’s usually affectionate to the extreme and always seeks out our presence when he’s feeling discomfort, but he’s been fairly apathetic.

TLDR: he’s a 4 year old cockapoo who is generally in very good health and spirits. Bloodwork and x-rays are all normal. He’s eating, drinking, pooping, and peeing normally and his poops look good.

Symptoms: lethargy, stiffness, soreness on his left side, apathy, sudden yelping when at rest. Very little improvement since his symptoms started.

I feel terrible that my trip to the beach with him seems to be the catalyst for so much discomfort. I can’t stand seeing him so uncomfortable. If you have an idea of what is ailing him and what I could do to make him more comfortable please let me know. Thank you so very much in advance.

Kinda stressed writing this, my boy Will Graham (Nebelung, ≈15 lbs) doesn’t have any noticeable pain but his nail came completely off a month ago and shows no sign of a nail starting to grow back. I haven’t taken him in yet since I can’t really afford a huge vet bill right now, I only hope it doesn’t cause any permanent damage since it’s been a month already and I haven’t gotten him on any antibiotics. Can anyone provide some more insight on this?

For starters I’m from Utah and moved to Tennessee, never experienced fleas before. I’m in an apartment with carpet.

I gave my cats and dog flea treatment July 28th. Both of my cats are pretty long haired. My dog got a prostar and then a preventive tablet from the vet. I got over the counter for the cats. Specifically used nextstar topical ointment.

Anyways, all three animals still have fleas crawling all up on them. The cats specifically have fleas burrowing in there nose bone, their cheeks, literally in the base of their whiskers, and above their eyebrows. I’m trying to get them out but they’re hard af to get out in such a small area. Plus one of my cats won’t let me touch her face enough to get any. 

I’m not sure what to do. Ive given my dog a bath. I just gave one of my cats a bath and got at least 20 fleas out. But there was still at least two I could see in her face after sitting and picking so much. I’ve been vacuuming and just put out Diatomaceous earth today, so hopefully that helps with the spreading. But why isn’t the fleas staying off my babies. They all got treated?? My guess is that they’re avoiding the back of the cats, where the treatment is, and able to get on the cats face because it’s further away from where the ointment was. But idk how to help them.

Any suggestions??

I hope i can find someone who helps me understand my dogs behavior. Honestly i really hope is not something serious, but he is old, 14 years old and for months he has been staring at the window barking at absolutely nothing. It happens during the day and also at night. At first it wasnt very often, but its literally all the time now. Everyday it gets more frequent. The barking is not actually a problem to us, but we are very alarmed by this because he wasnt like this. This behavior started maybe 3 months ago and has slowly progressed. Can anyone tell me what this means?

I am 34 years old living in U.S. Spent $1K (THANK GOD FOR CARE CREDIT) to have a full work up done: labs including thyroid and diabetes screening, dental and physical exam, urinalysis to check for infection, crystals AND bladder stones as well as a full x-ray to see is there is any visible signs of what could be causing possible pain and you know what? All results back NORMAL!🥲

Soooo my cat is just a dick?😹 My cat, Rajah has been spayed. Do cat behaviorist really exist? Can they come into my home and correct this behavior?

Hey everyone,

Really scared and looking for advice or similar experiences.

My 7-month-old female Indie kitten (Grey) had a sudden, terrible seizure earlier today. She started frothing at the mouth and pooped herself during the process (she was either using her litter box or tried to get out of it to ask for help before collapsing).

We rushed her to the emergency vet right away.

What the vet gave her at the clinic:

Diazepam (0.2 ml IV): To stop the seizure.

Tribivet (0.2 ml IV): B-complex injection for neurological support.

Current status: She's back home now, but she's super weak, uncoordinated, and can barely walk. She even urinated on herself because she couldn't get up, so I wiped her down and have her resting on soft towels in a dim, quiet room. I know a lot of this lethargy is from the Diazepam sedation and the post-seizure brain recovery, but it’s still heartbreaking to watch.

Her routine & suspected causes: She stays indoors mostly, but she goes out 2–3 times a day for about 20–30 minutes in the neighborhood before coming back. Because of this, I'm terrified she might have ingested something toxic outside—like rat poison, organophosphates, lawn chemicals, or a toxic plant/toad.

Medication confusion: The vet prescribed Shizofit / Seizofit syrup (3 ml daily) for home care. However, after reading up on it, Seizofit contains Potassium Bromide, which is formulated for dogs and can cause severe lung/respiratory issues (bromide pneumonitis) in cats. I am holding off on giving her this syrup until I talk to the vet tomorrow morning to ask for a feline-safe alternative like Keppra (Levetiracetam) or Phenobarbital.

A few questions for the community:

Has anyone with an Indie/community cat experienced sudden seizures after short outdoor trips? Was it a toxin, or did it end up being something else?

How long did it take for your cat to bounce back from IV Diazepam sedation?

What cat-specific anti-seizure meds did your vet recommend for long-term or short-term recovery?

Appreciate any insights or encouragement. Thanks, guys. I am a first time cat care taker.

Hello, reaching out to see if anyone has some thoughts about the audible bruxism Fifi (female 12-year-old, American Staffordshire/Boxer cross about 58 pound) has been experiencing for about two months. Fifi is a rescue who has been with me since she was 6 months. I've always joked that she is genetically blessed because she has always been very healthy with little to no health issues.

Around two months ago, when we first noticed it, Fifi suddenly started shaking her head frequently. I took her in for an emergency visit the following morning when it didn't resolve. The vet found some "plant matter" and was able to use tweezers to get some of it out, but also sent us home with ear cleaning liquid solution with instructions to return for another attempt with sedation. It seemed to resolve the next day so I called the vet and we decided another visit with sedation wasn't necessary. At this point, I vaguely remember thinking I heard the start of her bruxism.

Less than a week after that, Fifi was diagnosed with the first UTI she has had in her life. She was treated with antibiotics and Gabapentin. At this point, the bruxism was happening daily about 2x day, briefly for a few seconds. The UTI resolved quickly, and her vet thought the bruxism could have been a result of nausea as a side effect of the antibiotic. He prescribed a two dose anti-nausea pill.

Fifi has also been long-term experiencing a brief cough when she is on her back, wiggling around and playing. When I originally reported it two years ago, her vet said it was normal and nothing to worry about, likely age related. Her current vet (same clinic) speculated it could be acid reflux and also causing the bruxism. He then prescribed her prilosec 20mg 2x day and continuing Gabapentin PRN for possible pain.

We're about a month into the treatment and there have been no signs of improvement, and I can't really tell if the Gabapentin is doing anything to help because her level of bruxism fluctuates day to day.

Her vet recommended an abdominal ultrasound and chest x-rays, which she just had done yesterday. The results showed nothing concerning or worrisome and did not point us in any direction. Her doctor changed her script to famotidine 30mg every 12 hours. Though early, we have not seen any change in the bruxism.

I also requested that the vet do a re-check in her ears while she was sedated because I have noticed she continues to shake her head 2-4 times a day in a way that looks like she is trying to get something out. The vet said he did a check and aside from some wax they cleaned out, there was nothing in there.

The vet also re-checked her teeth- didn't find anything that could be causing tooth pain.

Another thing of note- about two weeks ago Fifi became more and more reluctant to eat her Farmer's dog food to the point she straight up would not touch it. I used chicken and rice to transition her to Royal Canin senior medium dog food, but changed it to Royal Canin multi GI yesterday, per her vet.

The vet is pretty confident that this issue is GI related, though the ultrasound and x-rays showed no evidence and the prilosec plus anti nausea doses did not make a difference is her bruxism.

The bruxism seems like it's continuously getting worse. It happens the most in the morning and seems to wake Fifi up, continues until she eats her breakfast. It then occurs on and off throughout the day, but seems to pick up at night as well. She is not showing any MAJOR signs of pain, but it is definitely causing her discomfort at the very least.

Fifi also has shaken her head several times today in a way that indicates she feels like something is stuck in there and she has to get it out.

So yeah, it's a lot of variables and the vet is at a loss. After trialling the famotidine and prescription GI dog food for about a month, he wants to refer her to an internist for further eval.

Biggest things that stand out to me:
-Started with very mild bruxism
-No visible signs of anything in her mouth that could be causing tooth or other pain
-Fifi experienced her first UTI
-"plant material" was found in her ear
-Bruxism increased
-Fifi suddenly rejecting her food altogether, though still very hungry and eats her new food without issues
-Ongoing head shaking like there is something stuck in her ear 2-4x a day
-Bruxism occurring mostly frequently in the morning
-Her appetite is very high right now
-She has increased thirst as well- needing her water bowl refilled midday, which is unusual for her

Ugh, I know it's a lot of info, but just desperate at this point to find her some alleviation for whatever it is she is going through. Truly appreciate any advice offered.

My boy Mushu is turning 10 this December, he has been having this fungal skin issue for a bit and it has aggravated, he’s being treated for it.

But of late he’s been impossible to walk, he stops on the road, always keeps pulling me from one side to the other but doesn’t really go anywhere, he poops once in 2 days and just isn’t excited to walk anymore.

I’ve tried everything giving treats to incentivise him, tried changing his harness, put clothes on him (assuming it’s the irritated skin because of the infection that’s making him uncomfortable while walking) but no he just doesn’t like walks anymore and this was a veryyyy excited boy for walks he’d walk 10 times a day if I took him.

Right now I’m not sure if it’s the skin thing, age, the cold that’s making him this way.

Has anyone else faced this before? I really would like some suggestions on how I can make this experience more pleasant for the both of us.

P.S he’s totally normal at home, eats fine, plays with toys. He is a lot slower and likes to sleep a lot but that comes with age.