I’m concerned because my cat started drooling. he only did it for a small amount of time and it was while he was purring and being cuddle. Is this a happy response or should I be worried?

We have an 18yr cat who was diagnosed with CKD about two months ago. He has eaten canned food his entire life. Dry food makes him fat and dehydrates him, which makes him constipated and thirsty. When our vet diagnosed him, she recommended switching him to a renal diet, but he won’t eat any of the wet, he will only eat dry. We have him on Hill’s k/d dry and we give him daily SQ fluids. We just rechecked his kidney values and they are worse and she said his labs also show dehydration. Is the dry food making his kidney disease worse or would it be getting worse anyway? Should we do canned instead even if it’s not prescription? What do you tell your clients with stage 2 CKD cats to feed them? Our vet focuses so much on the prescription diets and we’re worried maybe that’s not the right fit for our cat. Thank you.

Hello,

I am having to put my cat down because essentially his liver failed. I am really struggling with immense guilt about not taking him in sooner. He is a very finicky cat when it comes to eating and we noticed him eating a bit less and thought maybe it was a phase or allergies or something. We monitored it for a week and still eating much less. Probably about 50% less by week 2. Week two we tried trouble shooting giving him new flavors, wet food, etc. Still not eating. By week three he was eating 70-80% less so we booked an appointment with our Vet. They took bloodwork and next day recommended ER. They tried 24 hr stabilization to see if we could get him to eat. Liver ALT varied from 650-700. Next day still not eating so we planned a feeding tube and while he’s under to test his liver for lymphoma. They then found his blood wasn’t clotting so vitamin K and blood transfusion. Still no clotting. Since we couldn’t test for lymphoma they basically told us lymphoma was a huge possibility and the feeding tube would be intrusive. We chose euthanasia. I am really really really struggling with the fact that maybe there could’ve been a different outcome if we took him in sooner. Like what if it’s not lymphoma and we’ll never know? Maybe it wasn’t and we could never test because his liver got too bad. I just didn’t realize he was declining so rapidly. My guilt is so immense I don’t know what to do. I love him so much and I just really thought he would eat again on his own.

Hi, my cat got misdiagnosed with diabetes and was described insulin, after which she fell into a hypoglycemia coma after a month of taking it, the vet makes it look like its our fault to not have double checked the blood faster, but that was after he ALREADY diagnosed her and gave her 4 stripes of insulin in a 40 syringe 2 times a day, he also didn't explain that we had to give that AFTER food, our cat went into a coma yesterday, her temperature went down to 33 and her sugar was almost non existent. We paid alot for everything and we have a big trauma from it all, do you think the vet has to make this right? He also never checked her urine or anything else, her sugar was slightly higher but still in a very normal range, she has alot of annoying symptoms such as obsessive eating and drinking and peeing an pooping all over our house, but that could be many reasons and could be many ilnesses. We feel so angry, so defeated by it all. Luckily she made it, hopefully the weekend goed well. I feel like he has to fix this or pay us back a part of the expenses.
We almost don't have any money left for food and this situation cost us almost all our savings, but the biggest issue ofcourse is that this was deeply traumatic. We went to more vets and also the clinic and all of them told us this in not diabetes, and the blood results don't say anything obvious proving the diabetes, they were also shocked, what do you guys think? After all of this craziness we still don't know what her real illness is.

Going to make this short.

My cat has diagnosed asthma, she's a scared and hard to handle kitty. Inhaler/mask training has failed despite multiple and current attempts to introduce it.

She has been taking decortin/prednisolone every 48H along with aminophylline. These were her prescribed meds,and I was told there was nothing else orally they could give. I have been to countless vets in my country. The answer was the same,and no country near me supplies this specific active ingredient.

My cat's flares are not inconsistent,she can snore,and cough multiple times a day even after being pilled.

Usually, aminophylline helps for 12h and then wears off.

Decortin used to hold her for 4 days,but now wears off after or even BEFORE 48h are up.

I am looking, begging,for an alternative human medication that can be given orally with a specific dosing schedule.

Her dosing schedule for decortin is: Minimum 48h,use when needed. 1/2 of a 5mg tablet

Aminophylline: 1/8 of a 100mg tablet

Any help is appreciated.

No injections (long term) are available here, dextamasone as an injection IS available,but is difficult to come by.

Thank you.

My cat has had his third eyelids showing little in both eyes for about 1 and half week, then more and more. He has otherwise been eating and drinking.

Yesterday he suddenly started avoiding putting weight on his front left paw/leg. At times he seems weak in it, but later in the day he seemed to have more strength and could use the leg a little better.

There is no obvious wound or clear swelling that we can see. He can still use his claws and has been able to pull/scratch at the sofa. But he seems turn his feet little different while he tries to walk

Has anyone experienced something similar where bilateral third eyelids appeared first and then a cat developed pain or weakness in one leg? Could these symptoms be connected, or did your cat end up having two separate issues?

​

Hi,

I am having difficulty with my dog Yuki. He is a shiba inu of 4 years, his birthday is coming up on halloween so he will be 5 soon.

I do apologize this will be long, but I want to explain the entire history to you so you get the whole backstory.

When Yuki was about 6 months old, he got a traumatic experience. We had a couple of lovebirds who were prone to escape. I went to the store for about 30-40mins and when I got back, the lovebirds had escaped their enclosure and Yuki was nowhere to be found. The birds had pushed the bath I had put onto their enclosure off, it had fallen on the floor, and that's how they got out.

So I gathered the lovebirds and put them in their cage. I then went looking for Yuki and found him in the furthest corner of our yard, behind the shed, behind the rain barrel. He was all balled up and shaking out of fear, and it was summer so flies were buzzing around.

I gathered him and comforted him and that was that.

But Yuki wasn't himself anymore. All of a sudden, he was afraid of flies in the house and outside.

About two weeks later we noticed Yuki had scratched open his lip. He had also been chewing his right hind paw to the point it was irritated.

Having forgotten the traumatic event, we went to see our vet, and they said it was allergies. We were sent home with apoquel for it.

The apoquel never really worked very well, and Yuki had been developing severe panick attacks. At times he would be skittish, even when playing, he would suddenly sit down and having to scratch/bite his buttocks and sides.

He still does this. Like he feels an itch or something brushing his fur lightly and he has to react to it.

He developed fly-biting syndrome.

I washed him with douxo calm to soothe his skin and it would make him settle for a little bit but it was really hard to deal with.

We went back to the vets a couple of times but never found a solution.

So we went to my moms vet. At that time we had switched to cytopoint because I read apoquel wasn't to be given to pups under a year old.

Mom's vet gave him a cytopoint shot, and we told her the history.

She referred us to another vet who specialised in dogs with fear and agressive behavior.

We went to see her and she prescribed us Sertraline which we had to try for at least a month to see if it helped at all.

It did not. Yuki would still get flare ups of intense fear, fly-biting, seeing things that aren't there, following shadows, barking at things that aren't there and licking his paws raw.

At this point we stopped the Sertraline as it didn't help anyway and went back to our regular vets. We went the allergy route.

At 9 months old, Yuki got a blood test panel for environmental allergies and we put him on hypoallergenic kibble.

We had a shot made for his allergies and gave him monthly injections of immunotherapy and apoquel on the side since cytopoint did give a tiny bit of relief at the start but it didn't anymore.

It all didn't work. We gave the immunotherapy for a littly shy of 2 years. Alongside the apoquel.

As the immunotherapy didn't help, we stopped giving it after that and he had been on apoquel alone.

Being fed up we went to another vet, who prescribed us cortavance spray to put on his paws every day. And adaptil chews for when the panick is to much and so we all can sleep a bit at night.

We did see some improvement using this. Problem is adaptil only works for about 4 hours until it wears off.

Then Numelvi came out and we tried that, it didn't work at all.

Then Zenrelia came out and it has been better. But not fantastic.

I've been giving him the daily cortavance spray on his paws for almost 2 years now. The Zenrelia I have been giving since december last year.

I had an allergy calendar for him, but every year is different. He seems to be the worst in spring, also that is when all the flies and buzzing bugs are starting to come out. But other than that there is no clear pattern to be seen.

His paws are licked bare on all 4 paws. If he does have a flare up, he will lick one paw. I will treat it with Fucicort cream, and when it's healed, he will lick open another paw. And so on and so forth.

I am still a bit on the fence about the allergy diagnosis. He never has ear infections, no red belly, no real hot spots. It's only the paws, and most of the time it is one paw at a time. Sometimes 2, but never more then that.

Now the house next to us is under construction and the noise is putting a lot of stress on Yuki. He will be ok during the day but in the evening when everything has settled he is so BAD. Panick attacks and licking in the air like he has bitten his tongue or something and licking his paws and not being able to settle, looking around and always being vigilant, being hyper aware of his surrounding and barking at seemingly nothing.

Looking back i notice his episodes have always been triggered by stressful periods. So, out of desperation, I started googling...

I came onto something called focal seizures, nerve pain etc. Triggered by stress. Also the gut-brain axis. He does have less firm stools at the time, and he does once or twice a year, vomit like there is no end, I had to go to the emergency vet twice already to get him something to stop vomiting. Second time the shot didn't work enough and he had to get a second shot the day after and anti nausea meds for the coming days.

The vet kept thinking he ate something in the yard, we took x-rays of his belly but the only thing to see was a lot of air in there. I also didn't find anything remotely strange in the back yard.

So here I am, wondering, pondering, trying to help my boy find some rest.

And I want to ask the vets here what they think. Allergies? Focal-seizures? Something gut related?

What should we do? Should we visit a neurologist? A dermatologist? Leave it like this?

Please help us. Thank you.

My dog  is a 6-year-old female Griffon, weighing around 6–7 kg. She is not spayed.

For the past 7 months, we have been going from one veterinarian to another, trying to figure out why she keeps losing her appetite, but unfortunately, no one has been able to find the cause or a solution. It’s been exhausting and worrying, and I really don’t know what else to do. 

Her main problem is a severe loss of appetite. She refuse eating or she eats a very little amount of food Despite all the investigations and treatments, we still haven’t found a clear explanation.

Here are the tests and examinations we have done so far:

CBC 

 Liver and kidney

SDMA kidney test

Blood parasite and tick-borne disease tests, performed twice

Thyroid function test

Cardiac enzyme tests

Heart X-ray and echocardiogram

Abdominal ultrasound, including examination of her stomach and pancreas

X-rays of her joints

Blood pressure measurement

Physical examinations at the clinic and consultations with several veterinarians.

We have also tried several medications and treatments under veterinary supervision, including stomach medications and other medications, but her appetite problem has continued. We have spent these past 7 months doing everything we can to find an answer, but we are still left without a diagnosis.

Has anyone experienced anything similar with their dog?

Thank you so much for reading❤️

Cat, 1yr, male, neutered, domestic shorthair, 11.4lbs

Smudge has been healthy in the past except for an issue with worms when he was a kitten (got him as a stray). He is normally very active strong and playful.

About two weeks ago, 3/5 of the cats in my household came down with something. We don't know what but every single one was vomiting, not eating/drinking, diarrhea, and lethargic. 2 cats got over it easily after a day or two, one had to go to the vet because it lasted for multiple days. They gave her an antibiotic shot and medicine to go home with that my parents didn't give her.

Now Smudge is sick with the same symptoms except he's doing much worse. He hasn't ate or drank since Tuesday or peed. He's had a tiny bit of diarrhea maybe 3 times. Every two or so hours he goes to three different litterboxes to strain and nothing comes out.

Vet gave him fluids, antibiotics, probiotic, and appetite stimulant. He got an x ray that the vet said was "suspicious" but after sending it to a radiologist to review there were no conclusive answers. The vet thinks he swallowed a string because he has some air bubbles and his intestines look a little bunches up. He has a history of eating stuff he's not supposed to, but he's never had issues before. He has eaten string in the past but it was thick and no more than 2 inches and he threw it back up. He likes chewing on pant strings until he gets a piece off.

Went back to the vet yesterday and no improvement. They did x rays again and they looked the same. They gave me the option to do an exploratory surgery to see if he has anything in his stomach, but I declined and went with an inflammatory shot, more antibiotics, fluids, and an anti nausea shot.

The vets aren't confident he swallowed something and can only say that the x ray looks suspicious but said it could just be "him being a cat". I think the likelihood of him swallowing something at the same time all the other cats got sick is very low especially because they have the same symptoms, his is just lasting longer.

Regardless he won't eat and drink and he's declining. If he has the surgery and there's nothing inside him, I don't think he will recover from it while being this sick. We checked the whole house and there's nothing suspicious the cats could have gotten into.

Do you think the surgery is the way to go? Is there a way to know for certain if he swallowed something? Should I get a second opinion? He hasn't lost weight yet and has gotten lots of fluids, but no appetite and no peeing and very minimal diarrhea.

USA

My est. 1 year old large, male dog had a plush cone on in his kennel while I needed to be out of the house for roughly 2.5 hours. He was neutered this morning and when I returned home I realized he was able to lick his surgical site. I immediately switched the cone out (I have two dogs that were fixed, one was plush and one was a full collar). I had put on the plush one, thinking it would be more comfortable in the kennel (my bad, never again). How concerned do I need to be about this? The incision is still closed, but his scr*tum is red. He’s a light colored dog prone to redness in the first place, so I’m not sure what to be concerned about. The clinic I went to is closed until the morning.

A little info on my boy. 7.5 yr old DSH male (indoor cat.) Adopted him 3.5 years ago. He has always been a bit of a drooler since i’ve had him. Anyways, 8-9 months ago he had 3 teeth extracted due to resorption. Lately (past 3 months) he has had on and off episodes of random sneezing with the odd nasal discharge from one nostril. We were told it can be common for their nasal passage to be irritated after a tooth is extracted near the area. Eventually it got so bad he couldn’t eat or drink without sneezing. He was prescribed antibiotics (3 weeks ago) and it stopped his sneezing and discharge problem fully. Today I took him in for a dental and skull x ray to ensure there was no teeth resorption present. His dental X-ray was excellent, and they found no concerns when examining inside his mouth. However, the vet showed us his skull X-rays and voiced his concern of bone loss on the upper jaw. They narrowed it down to either a sinus infection or a tumor on his jaw. I have been researching and if it were to be a tumor it would most likely be SCC which carries poor prognosis. Currently, he still drools as he always has, but overall is normal. Eating both dry and wet food, no sneezing, and no blood tinged saliva. The vet did not give me a definitive answer when I asked for a prognosis and for them to confirm if it’s a tumor or not. What should be my next steps with the information i’ve been given? Photos here.

Hi everyone!

My cat has been struggling with something he can't seem to bring up for about three days now. You know that sound cats make when they're trying to bring up a hairball? He used to do that occasionally, even though he doesn't have particularly long fur. Every now and then, he'd bring up a small amount of saliva with a few hairs in it, as he grooms himself a lot.

But for the past three days, he's been doing this repeatedly without bringing anything up. The only exception was one time when he brought up some pinkish mucus with a small amount of bloody tissue. It only happened once, and I'm wondering whether it could be due to irritation from all the retching.

He's also become hoarse and his meow sounds much quieter than usual.

I know the sensible thing to do is take him to the vet, but he gets extremely stressed during vet visits. I'm also worried about him catching a virus there, as this has unfortunately happened to one of my other cats before.

Has anyone experienced this pattern with their cats? Could it be something more serious than a hairball? What would you recommend?

Thank you so much!

I took my cat to the vet yesterday where they confirmed his is anemic. Got bloodwork done and today when they called with results all they would tell me is “he’s got a bad liver, bad kidneys, and is severely anemic at 15 when the low is 21”
They didn’t send a report of the results or explain any further.
They want to run more blood and urine tests. While we wait for those results they prescribed pradofloxacin, rehmannia eight combo, and Happy Wanderer.
Just did the first dose of all 3 meds.

My cat is still refusing to eat and has had barely any water since Wednesday night.

Should I still be concerned or will these meds kick in and help him? Is that combo of medication a standard treatment option? What are the odds he comes out of this?

Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

So I went outside for a bit, I wanted to check under my house since I lost a ring. I then see a cat with a bat in it's mouth. It then let the bat go and it bumped into my arm. I've called animal control, 911, and other phone numbers, all of them told me that animal control isn't available. And they also wouldn't be able to help. The fourth call, a deputy told me they'll call animal control for me so I waited about 3 hours, and during those 3 hrs the cat was play fighting other strays. Should I mention animal control about that too? I've trapped the cat that caught the bat but not the others. And is it safe to leave the cage outside? I don't know where else to put it, should I also put a litter box? This has given me a panic and while Google was a bit of a help, it changes its answer. I'll be going to the hospital in the morning.

Species:Cat

Age:11

Sex/Neuter status:Spayed female

Breed: DSH

Body weight: Approx 12 lbs

History: My cat had vomiting and diarrhea late night Weds into Thursday am. Slight blood in vomit -> trip to emergency vet, diagnosis of gastroenteritis. She received antinausea meds and subcutaneous fluids and was discharged with a bandage on her back paw. The instructions did not tell us when to remove the bandage and our regular vet did not get back to us. I ended up looking it up tonight and removed the bandage promptly, but she ended up having it on for 24-36 hours total. Her paw is swollen but it seems to be having blood flow come back after we removed the bandage.

Clinical signs: swollen paw from compression bandage after IV/blood draw. She is still walking around, etc.

Duration: bandage was left on ~36 hours

Your general location: upstate NY

Links to test results, X-rays, vet reports etc: https://imgur.com/a/jdZDp7O

Hello, I am wondering if it’s possible to buy a fecal worm testing kit/system. We currently have alpacas and horses but are likely to add sheep to the farm soon as well. The alpacas get their poop tested monthly and with the addition of sheep and sharing/roaring pastures we expect to potentially need to test both species more often.

I think it might be beneficial in the long run for us to invest in our own test system/kit over dropping the samples off to the vet. Most of what I have found are all mail in test kits but that would take even longer for results and likely isn’t much cheaper. Is it possible for non vets to buy testing kits/systems and if so, what brand or system should I be looking for? The link is the closest I’ve found to a test kit but when I click details it says nothing. TIA!

https://www.maianimalhealth.com/modified-wisconsin-fecal-parasite-egg-flotation-starter-kit-kit-of-100-tests-49700?srsltid=AU7gw4VqJCDpPd_Kl0oM19Bb5CXCSczPw-1HLCWPuZBmG3F8Rd-eCO-xqtQ

Main Issue: Cat began scratching/pawing her face after getting 4 teeth removed. Prednisolone seems to help, but isn't a long term solution.

Scratching is on sides of mouth where the whiskers are, under her chin, and sometimes above her eyes.

Cat Age: 11

Weight: About 7.5lb

Cat Sex + neuter info: female; spayed

Financial situation: I can afford vet care and am currently working with a vet.

---

Back in April, my 11 year old cat was diagnosed with resorptive lesions on 4 teeth and periodontal disease (<25% attachment loss) on her remaining teeth. The dental surgeon crown amputated the 4 teeth and left the root. As it was explained to me, this was because it made healing easier and also lowered the risk of her jaw breaking during the tooth removal.

The surgery went well and my cat's mouth healed well. However, about a week later she began scratching around her face. Initially I thought it could be the stitches maybe poking her mouth or an allergic reaction to them but her mouth wasn't inflamed and once the stitches had dissolved fully she still was scratching. We tried continuing her dose of buprenorphine for another week after surgery which didn't help at all. Once she was fully healed, all the surgeon could offer is to do another CT/x-ray. He didn't seem convinced the scratching was a result of the surgery and I wanted to avoid putting my cat through the stress of going under anesthesia (as well as adding additional hundreds of dollars to a surgery that was already a few grand...), so I took her to her regular vet.

The regular vet believed this could be some kind of neuropathy (not sure her actual diagnosis), but scratching can be caused by so many things which needed to be ruled out. My cat was already on a limited ingredient food, but I stopped introducing any kind of new protein to her diet to rule out a food allergy. She was also given tick/flea preventative. She also prescribed her half 2.5mg prednisolone initially twice a day for a week, then once a day for a week, once every other day another week until fully tapering off. This seemed to help, but as soon as I tried tapering the second week her scratching came back worse. This caused the process to start over, with 50mg gabapentin in addition to the prednisolone.

After a LONGGG process (tapering every two weeks...) my cat was finally able to come off the prednisolone. I noticed her still scratching here and there but never found scabs or evidence that it was the same intense scratching as before. However, after a few weeks the scratching came back. I wouldn’t say there was 0 improvement- the scratching behavior turned into more of an over grooming behavior still around her face combined with less intense scratching. I tried giving her a dose of the prednisolone as I saw the scratching come back which initially seemed to hold off symptoms for about 5 days. I quickly made an appointment with the vet and did a cytology of a small white bump that has been on my cats chin for awhile which didn't give any answers and is seemingly unrelated. I also started a true trial diet on hydrolyzed protein and am continuing the tick/flea preventative.

It’s now been 8 weeks of being on the food trial and it doesn’t seem to have helped the issue. Is it worth it to go back to the dental surgeon at this point? Part of me wonders if this could be a result of the retained roots. Any insight is appreciated!

Hi everyone! Last Saturday, I rescued a 3 year old male stray who is still intact (he's due to be neutered next Friday). I took him to the vet for a checkup and the only issue he has is tapeworms; other than that, he is healthy and free of other diseases. The one issue I'm having is that every time he pees, he leaves a small trail of urine when he leaves the litterbox. He's peeing normally, usually twice a day, and drinking a good amount of water so I don't think he had a blockage. Does anyone know what could be the issue? Are his balls getting dipped in the pee and trailing, or is it something more serious like incontinence? Any advice is appreciated, especially as a first time cat owner!

I have owned cats my entire life and have never seen a cat dingaling until this guy. But now it's everywhere. He sees a fluffy blanket minding it's business? Bricked up (and sin biscuits). Just lounging on a relaxing Tuesday afternoon? Chubbed up. I can't relax in my own home without being visually subjected to a cat erection. He's 3 years old and was neutered around 2.5 years ago. He's always been like this to some degree, but I feel like he's exposing himself/humping blankets more and more lately. He has no history of UTIs, eats well, plays often, and is generally in very good health. Should I be concerned with his behavior or are some male cats just like this?

My cat threw up a bunch of undigested food at 5:30 in the afternoon today, then she slept for 2 hours. After sleeping, she threw up again however, her barf is clear the second time. I’m still monitoring if she’s going to throw up more but she’s sleeping right now. Is she going to be alright? It’s currently 8:34 p.m.

She is 6 and a half months old and was recently spayed.

Hey everyone, I’m hoping someone here might have some insight or has gone through something similar with their cat.

My poor kitty has been dealing with this stubborn skin issue around her face, ear, chin, and neck. This irritation causes significant hair loss, raw red patches, and scabbing. 

The frustrating part:
We’ve taken her to the vet at least three times for this infection the last 3 months. Every single time, they give her an injection and a topical cream. It looks like it's clearing up, but literally a day or two later, it flares right back up again. The cycle just keeps repeating and I'm exhausted watching her go through it!

What we are wondering:
Has anyone else dealt with a recurring skin flare-up like this that kept bouncing back after temporary treatments? 

Could this be an underlying allergy (like a food or environmental allergy) or parasites that the temporary shots are just masking?

What specific tests should we be asking our vet for, or is it time to seek out a second opinion or a veterinary dermatologist?

I just want her to get some long-term relief and stop being uncomfortable. Any advice, tips, or similar experiences would mean the world right now! ❤️

Am I supposed to transition slowly, or if I am coming from a non-rx food (Purina Pro Plan) is it better to just give the new food?

ETA: Cats, male (7yrs), female (13yrs). Male has crystals, female has UTI (still waiting for the culture). Not questioning the diagnosis, just want to make sure I don't mess up the food situation!

cat/6/neutered male/domestic mediumhair/8lbs

Hello! I'm hoping to get some advice about an ongoing issue my kitty Shortbread has. He has been to so many different vets at this point and no one really knows how to treat his problem, so at this point it's just maintenance.

Theres a LOT of history here so I apologize in advance for the wall of text, I tried to summarize but theres just so much info its really difficult.

For background info I'm a shelter worker and I adopted my cat back in October 2023 when he was already a young adult, estimated to be between 1-3 years via teeth. I know that he came from a hoarding situation so there was definitely a ton of inbreeding going on. I also know that he was not given a proper diet while he was living there (I've been told he lived off of hotdogs but I'm not sure if that was exclusively what he ate), and when I brought him home he was super tiny at 4.5 pounds.

Not only did he weigh very little, he was just a really small guy in general, about the size of a 4 month old kitten. I was under the impression that he was this way because of malnutrition as a kitten, and that since he was already an adult, he would most likely stay the size he's at or only get slightly bigger. Over the last couple of years however he has grown to the size of a normal, albeit somewhat petite, male cat. He weighed 9 pounds at his last appointment in August. So it is very possible he was just aged wrong and was, in fact, a 4 month old kitten with horrendous teeth.

A couple of days after bringing him home I noticed a swelling on the bridge of his nose, right on the center. I brought it up to the vet at his first exam, and was told to just keep an eye on it and to bring him back in if it gets any worse. Over the next week or two it did increase in size, so I brought him to urgent care to see what more we could do.

The first thing that they suggested was a possible fungal or bacterial infection, and suggested a cytology of the site. Got that done, started a course of amoxi-clav and was awaiting test results for a few days when I noticed the swelling had gotten significantly worse and was turning purple and shiny. He was starting to lose hair in the area as well. Back to the vet we went! On the drive to the vet he actually burst it open rubbing his face on the kennel door, draining purulent discharge and blood.

Got the spot drained and cleaned, sent out another sample for bacterial culture, and was prescribed an additional med, onsior, while we awaited results. He was sent home with a cone as well. Things looked to be improving, the swelling decreased and he was given the all clear at his recheck appointment.

Over the next couple of months I noticed it would intermittently swell slightly but now that there was an exit hole, it would drain and the swelling would go back down. This happened a few times before I brought him back to the vet. This time they recommended a mass removal surgery with the caveat that they would likely not be able to get complete margins and the mass may regrow.

Went ahead with the surgery and was informed that there was a hole extending into the deeper tissues of the head, and they were able to flush out a large amount of thick tissue that was most consistent with a cyst. Sent out a biopsy to rule out cancer (negative thank goodness!!). They weren't able to remove everything as they didn't want to risk damaging sinuses or facial nerves. Sent home with a cone and more antibiotics + pain meds.

Results came back, e. coli and enterobacter. Switched up antibiotics. Got sutures removed, things were looking good again for a while.

3 months later swelling came back and the site burst again. Back to vet. Consulted with advanced surgery team, who informed me a CT would be necessary before anything could really be tried surgically again as the area is so intricate. Agreed to get it done but had to wait a few months to scrounge up enough money.

CT day finally arrives, learned that there was no invasion of the surrounding bone which was good. I will copy and paste the radiologist interpretation here:

"A small, approximately midline soft tissue attenuating structure is identified extending to the subcutis at the level of the nasal bone. The structure extends caudoventrally through the maxillary bone towards the nasal septum. A well-defined osseous defect, with smoothly defined margins is identified. The contents of this "bone tunnel" are hypoattenuating. It extends caudally to a blind ending defect in the nasal septum. The tubular soft tissue attenuating structure measures approximately 5 mm in diameter. It is approximately 15 mm in length. It extends to the nasal septum at the level of the rostral extent of the zygomatic arch. There is no evidence of a palatal cleft. The nasal cavity is unremarkable. There is no evidence of turbinate destruction or soft tissue attenuating material within. The frontal sinuses are small but otherwise unremarkable. The remainder of the study is unremarkable.

Assessment: Findings are consistent with a cleavage of the nasal septum and rostral midline of the maxilla. This has created a 5 mm diameter sinus which extends to a blind ending cavity on the midline of the nasal septum. The continual discharge suggests that there is an epithelial lining to the lesion. Almost certainly, this finding is a congenital/developmental defect. There is no evidence of further congenital skull defects. The nasopharynx is unremarkable and the hard palate appears intact."

The problem now is that no one that I have consulted has ever heard of this issue or knows what to do for it. Another surgery was suggested, to be aggressive and go in and remove the epithelial lining, but this would be incredibly invasive, has a high risk for complications, and wouldn't even be guaranteed to work because the surgeon has never done it before (this was a board certified who had been practicing for years and years at this point). Got a second opinion from a different vet at the same facility and she was of the same opinion, that the risks wouldn't be worth it unless his quality of life is significantly impacted from the growth. That vet also prescribed an antibiotic ointment to use as needed if his nose was acting up, and we can revisit if anything changes.

It's been a little over a year now since that visit, and things have stayed mostly the same. His nose doesn't really swell up anymore, but he does have a chronic scab that falls off every couple of days. It oozes discharge when this happens, although pretty minimally. Typically it's just a small amount of blood, and I just clean it up with KET wipes and it scabs over again.

Since day one this issue has not seemed to bother Shortbread at all. He is very happy, playful, and affectionate, exactly the same as when I first adopted him. It doesn't seem to impact his quality of life at all, and he is fine with me cleaning it/interacting with the area so I can only hope it's not super painful. He leaves it alone for the most part, save for sometimes accidentally scratching it open while cleaning.

So I suppose my question is this: has anyone ever heard of this or anything like this? Are there any additional treatments I should consider? I just want to know that I'm doing everything I possibly can for my little buddy, he really is my whole world.

I have copies of all of his records if anyone wants to see the CTs or his test results or anything like that.

Thank you to anyone who's taken the time to read through this whole post, even if you don't have any suggestions, I appreciate it a lot 🩷