[AMA] I am a veterinarian. Ask me anything :D

[Tania White]

1) will need a necropsy to answer your question, beyond that it’s all just wild guess...

2) what do u mean by home treatment? Assuming worse case scenario and there is parvovirus at your place then it’s quite risky to have new pups if they haven’t had all their shots

1) the vet results has shown that puppy had parvo, but very unlikely to get from other dogs as the puppy was not in contact with other dogs or puppies except siblings, which are healthy. hence the question, is it vaccine reaction and can such reaction occur after 10 days from vaccine (puppy was not strong at all)? I know that vaccine reaction usually shows after few days...
2) yes home treatment, as bleaching + virocid. How many shots does new puppy need to get before taking home? 2 or 3? And would it be necessary to make an antibodies titer test?

Thank you in advance and excuse me for so many questions.

 

[lycans]

1) the vet results has shown that puppy had parvo, but very unlikely to get from other dogs as the puppy was not in contact with other dogs or puppies except siblings, which are healthy. hence the question, is it vaccine reaction and can such reaction occur after 10 days from vaccine (puppy was not strong at all)? I know that vaccine reaction usually shows after few days...
2) yes home treatment, as bleaching + virocid. How many shots does new puppy need to get before taking home? 2 or 3? And would it be necessary to make an antibodies titer test?

Thank you in advance and excuse me for so many questions.

1) well, if the test demonstrate that the puppy had parvo, then it’s highly likely it diedof parvo. Again necropsy will be useful since the body can be sampled and tests done to confirm. The fact that the test is positive doesn’t preclude the possibility that there were other concurrent co-morbidity present.

Usually vaccine reaction presents as anaphylaxis

2) need 3 shots, each given about 4 weeks apart. You can do your antibody test but you still need your puppy to be vaccinated first

 

[harky]

parvo virus can live in the environment for months, and may survive on inanimate objects such as food bowls, shoes, clothes, carpet and floors.

gd lucky for ur next dog.

pls report to AVA which farm got parvo as this virus will pass down to all puppy (depend on the immunity).

 

[lycans]

Thank you doc! Appreciate your answers!

Would you suggest to bring new puppy home after 3rd vaccine or after 2nd vaccine + keep him in play pen until 3rd vaccine?

The previous puppy that was diagnosed with parvo was less than 12 hours at home, at only 3 spots and as you can imagine lethargic sleeping all the time. I have thrown away all the clothes, bedsheets, towels and other items were in contact with puppy. Everything else such as floors, bowls were bleached several times.

Save your self the trouble and take it home after the3rd jab.

Parvo can survive damn long outside in the environment. So the point of infection might not be from the farm but elsewhere

 

[lycans]

The point of infection was definitely not the farm, as puppy was not raised at the farm but at home. It was just a small underdeveloped puppy, probably the last one to come out. All the siblings are healthy and alive. Our guess it's vaccine that caused such reaction, as puppy was not in contact with other dogs exempt of siblings.

I will make sure it is in my ability to prevent the new puppy getting sick as well.

I’m not sure why you keep blaming the vaccine, I hope people like you are the minority

 

[harky]

Ppl who sell dog will not tell you the true.

Somme more get from home breeder. Must be illegal, never register with ava for selling dog.

 

[AristroCats]

Hi Lycans, hope you are doing well.
May I ask what would you suggest the best food to give to a 10week old kitten please? As in, wet food or dry food or raw diet. If you could suggest specific brands and type would be great as well.
So far, since 5 weeks old he's been having KMR milk replacement, either chicken or tuna canned Schesir for kitten and adult, a bit of FussieCat canned food, Nutripe turkey canned food, just started a little bit on Wellness Core kibbles. I believe he was the runt of the litter, he was very small compared to the siblings but growing steadily now although he have URI as per vet with the sneezing (still at the moment), discharge in eyes and nose. He's extremely active, can eat 200gr of wet food, plus KMR, plus a bit of kibbles. Pee at least 5x a day, poop can be up to 5x a day too though can be soft and greenish in colour, that has been varied for the past month.
Am not sure if we should continue giving him kitten wet food and kitten kibbles or adult/all age ones is ok and whether we should start on raw diet now (with adjustment period of course) if we are going to that direction.
Singapore doesn't have much options for kitten food though, the ones I'm considering are Wellness Core or Solid Gold kitten wet food, Orijen/ Acana/ Solid Gold/ Holistic Select kitten/adult kibbles; or adult cat food.
He has not been vaccinated cause the vet wants to wait until the URI is getting better first. Unfortunately I think my older cat got the URI too from the kitten, so far their food bowls, litter boxes are separated but they do have supervised interactions every day.
Much appreciate your opinion in this matter. Thank you.

 

[lycans]

Hi Lycans, hope you are doing well.
May I ask what would you suggest the best food to give to a 10week old kitten please? As in, wet food or dry food or raw diet. If you could suggest specific brands and type would be great as well.
So far, since 5 weeks old he's been having KMR milk replacement, either chicken or tuna canned Schesir for kitten and adult, a bit of FussieCat canned food, Nutripe turkey canned food, just started a little bit on Wellness Core kibbles. I believe he was the runt of the litter, he was very small compared to the siblings but growing steadily now although he have URI as per vet with the sneezing (still at the moment), discharge in eyes and nose. He's extremely active, can eat 200gr of wet food, plus KMR, plus a bit of kibbles. Pee at least 5x a day, poop can be up to 5x a day too though can be soft and greenish in colour, that has been varied for the past month.
Am not sure if we should continue giving him kitten wet food and kitten kibbles or adult/all age ones is ok and whether we should start on raw diet now (with adjustment period of course) if we are going to that direction.
Singapore doesn't have much options for kitten food though, the ones I'm considering are Wellness Core or Solid Gold kitten wet food, Orijen/ Acana/ Solid Gold/ Holistic Select kitten/adult kibbles; or adult cat food.
He has not been vaccinated cause the vet wants to wait until the URI is getting better first. Unfortunately I think my older cat got the URI too from the kitten, so far their food bowls, litter boxes are separated but they do have supervised interactions every day.
Much appreciate your opinion in this matter. Thank you.

Normally at 10 weeks old, should already transition to solid food. I dont really care these days what ppl feed their pet be it homecooked food, raw or commercial pet food as long as they know what they are doing. Commercial pet food isnt the best but its the compromise between convenience and nutrition.

I dont recommend wetfood as it is very tasty and nice and should be only given as a treat. Wet food also predisposes them to dental disease as the food gets stuck.

Think you cat might have cat flu

 

[AristroCats]

Normally at 10 weeks old, should already transition to solid food. I dont really care these days what ppl feed their pet be it homecooked food, raw or commercial pet food as long as they know what they are doing. Commercial pet food isnt the best but its the compromise between convenience and nutrition.

I dont recommend wetfood as it is very tasty and nice and should be only given as a treat. Wet food also predisposes them to dental disease as the food gets stuck.

Think you cat might have cat flu

Thank you for your reply.
Sorry but I am a bit confused. When you say solid food means canned food or dry food/kibbles?
Wet food to me is solid food, the canned kitten or cat food.
I agree with you that commercial pet food isn't the best but with what I've read so far about making raw diet at home, quite a bit of the vitamins/supplements are just not available here in Sgp. Looking into some local companies here who's offering raw diet meals for cats, they prepared it themselves and freeze it. One of them is BARF.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but home-cooked food like boiled chicken, etc or feeding raw chicken neck/other raw meat is not enough right?

Yeah, that's what we gather too for cat flu. The vet gave pro-biotic so that he can hopefully fight it off himself rather than giving antibiotics/meds and she recommended to give the kitten kibbles (in water) and to stop giving the KMR milk. He was quite weak/small when he came home to us. But he's still sneezing/eyes nose discharge after 3 weeks now...

 

[lycans]

Thank you for your reply.
Sorry but I am a bit confused. When you say solid food means canned food or dry food/kibbles?
Wet food to me is solid food, the canned kitten or cat food.
I agree with you that commercial pet food isn't the best but with what I've read so far about making raw diet at home, quite a bit of the vitamins/supplements are just not available here in Sgp. Looking into some local companies here who's offering raw diet meals for cats, they prepared it themselves and freeze it. One of them is BARF.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but home-cooked food like boiled chicken, etc or feeding raw chicken neck/other raw meat is not enough right?

Yeah, that's what we gather too for cat flu. The vet gave pro-biotic so that he can hopefully fight it off himself rather than giving antibiotics/meds and she recommended to give the kitten kibbles (in water) and to stop giving the KMR milk. He was quite weak/small when he came home to us. But he's still sneezing/eyes nose discharge after 3 weeks now...

Solid food = dry food kibbles

Raw food is risky from a food safety point of view so should only be attempted after a discussion with your vet

Same with home cooked diet, its possible to prepare nutritious home made food which will be safer than raw food but will require a knowledgeable and diligent owner as you have to keep doing it for the rest of the pet's life.

I dont recommend swapping food around as it can cause dietary upset.

Can try lysine supplements for cat flu but evidence for its use is scant.

 

[AristroCats]

Solid food = dry food kibbles

Raw food is risky from a food safety point of view so should only be attempted after a discussion with your vet

Same with home cooked diet, its possible to prepare nutritious home made food which will be safer than raw food but will require a knowledgeable and diligent owner as you have to keep doing it for the rest of the pet's life.

I dont recommend swapping food around as it can cause dietary upset.

Can try lysine supplements for cat flu but evidence for its use is scant.

Ahh ok.

Understood, I'll discuss it with the vet first about raw food feeding.

Agree with home cooked diet, I've read a lot into it, not an easy thing to do.
Noted on not swapping food around.

Lysine supplements, got it.

Thank you very much Lycans!

 

[lmwyng]

possible IBD? or what is wrong with my cat?

Hi! Am new cat guardian

I got a calico munchkin young adult (current 2.5 years old), who had no GI or general health issues for 1.5 years of her life (that I had her), normal active & playful eating well etc. until shortly after I changed her food to Wellness Core Original. Prior to this change, she had tried:

- VéRUS Feline Life Advantage Chicken Meal and Brown Rice Formula (as kitten mixed with cooked mince beef / pork or pumpkin)

- Nuture Pro Nourish Life Salmon

I always do the 1-2 week transition from 1 food to another, which wasn't an issue.

Blaming myself until now for changing her diet to Wellness Core (thought it was a better quality food), because shortly after consuming 100% wellness core, she started having soft stools, and often bloody mucus toward the last part of the stool.

Had brought her to the vet multiple times, even did an ultrasound scan, and the vet kept saying other than some slightly swollen lymph nodes around her colon area, she's fine, probably IBD but nothing to worry about. Gave steroids and asked me to use prescription diet, and daily probiotics (using Natural Pet bio-3 probiotics powder). She's had her Drontal pill recently as well.

My cat has been on RC Gastro prescription diet for 4 months now, and she has kind of stopped her soft stools / bloody mucus. But I know prescription diets shouldn't be used full-time forever if possible.

Recently I tried mixing Burgess Wellbeing Grain-Free Sensitive Digestion with Dental Defence Dry Cat food so far, and only about 2 days into the transition (about 80% RC Gastro, 20% Burgess) her output in the litterbox is back to soft & a little blood at the end. Even with daily probiotics!

I don't know if it's a super serious problem because according to the vet, if it were a big issue, my cat would have lost her appetite, always lethargic, losing weight rapidly and not playing. My cat is eating, behaving and playing very normally. Even greedily demands her treats by pushing her treats box off the coffee table then staring at me

I'm really unsure what's the exact issue, and I don't know if it's Wellness Core that started this whole problem with her GI area which up till today I'm still super guilty for, and/or isit general stress or anxiety or... I really am puzzled.

So.. Now she's back on RC Gastro Vet kibble, and "stabilised" her poop, so am about to embark on another "food suitability test" with Instinct Limited Ingredient kibble (Turkey). Very afraid that this will be another failure

Was anyone ever in similar situation? & is there any long term solution for this that doesn't require 100% prescription diet? Quite scared to keep trying other brands of foods.

BTW, my cat is a little weird, I tried letting her taste raw meat, but she refuses to eat (would rather starve herself), only eats cooked minced chicken IF it's mixed with her dry food. Will reluctantly eat wet canned food but almost never finishes it. Guess she just prefers crunchy stuff?

Read somewhere that steamed pumpkin will help with poop issues, but at the same time not supposed to be constantly feeding my cats fiber / carbohydrate? Is it true? Because my cat loves pumpkin. But if it does her more harm than good, I'd rather not give it to her at all.

Sorry for the lengthy post! Would appreciate any kind of advice that would help! TIA!

 

[lycans]

pumpkin)
Had brought her to the vet multiple times, even did an ultrasound scan, and the vet kept saying other than some slightly swollen lymph nodes around her colon area, she's fine, probably IBD but nothing to worry about. Gave steroids and asked me to use prescription diet, and daily probiotics (using Natural Pet bio-3 probiotics powder). She's had her Drontal pill recently as well.

My cat has been on RC Gastro prescription diet for 4 months now, and she has kind of stopped her soft stools / bloody mucus. But I know prescription diets shouldn't be used full-time forever if possible.

Recently I tried mixing Burgess Wellbeing Grain-Free Sensitive Digestion with Dental Defence Dry Cat food so far, and only about 2 days into the transition (about 80% RC Gastro, 20% Burgess) her output in the litterbox is back to soft & a little blood at the end. Even with daily probiotics!

I don't know if it's a super serious problem because according to the vet, if it were a big issue, my cat would have lost her appetite, always lethargic, losing weight rapidly and not playing. My cat is eating, behaving and playing very normally. Even greedily demands her treats by pushing her treats box off the coffee table then staring at me

I'm really unsure what's the exact issue, and I don't know if it's Wellness Core that started this whole problem with her GI area which up till today I'm still super guilty for, and/or isit general stress or anxiety or... I really am puzzled.

So.. Now she's back on RC Gastro Vet kibble, and "stabilised" her poop, so am about to embark on another "food suitability test" with Instinct Limited Ingredient kibble (Turkey). Very afraid that this will be another failure

Was anyone ever in similar situation? & is there any long term solution for this that doesn't require 100% prescription diet? Quite scared to keep trying other brands of foods.

BTW, my cat is a little weird, I tried letting her taste raw meat, but she refuses to eat (would rather starve herself), only eats cooked minced chicken IF it's mixed with her dry food. Will reluctantly eat wet canned food but almost never finishes it. Guess she just prefers crunchy stuff?

Read somewhere that steamed pumpkin will help with poop issues, but at the same time not supposed to be constantly feeding my cats fiber / carbohydrate? Is it true? Because my cat loves pumpkin. But if it does her more harm than good, I'd rather not give it to her at all.

Sorry for the lengthy post! Would appreciate any kind of advice that would help! TIA!

Without seeing the stool, it would be hard to say. Dont mix diets, just stick with one. I agree with your vet , if the situation was serious you will expect to see weight loss, lethargy, etc. If she still playful and active, then the problem isnt that bad. Have you tried increasing the fiber content of the diet?

 

[lmwyng]

Without seeing the stool, it would be hard to say. Dont mix diets, just stick with one. I agree with your vet , if the situation was serious you will expect to see weight loss, lethargy, etc. If she still playful and active, then the problem isnt that bad. Have you tried increasing the fiber content of the diet?

Thank you for the response, actually I have a whole folder of her daily bowel movements LOL but don't think it's very appropriate to show the whole interweb a series of poop photos hahaha.

Just sent in a sample for idexx feline diarrhea pcr test, waiting for results... Hope it's nothing serious >.<

I'm unsure what kind of fiber to introduce, pumpkin considered? Have been giving her an ice-cube sized piece of mashed steamed pumpkin daily.

Currently she's on metrogyl and loperamil. Not sure if I should stop the daily probiotics as I've heard the antibiotics & probiotics "cancel" each other out?

Despite being on meds, for some reason today her poop became a pool and totally nothing solid. Previously it was like soft-serve consistency.

Appetite & energy level today also not as good as before she started meds. First time being like this so not sure if it's reaction to medication or not, because previous courses of antibiotics in the past year+, she still ate and played normally.

Is this IBD? >.<

 

[lycans]

Thank you for the response, actually I have a whole folder of her daily bowel movements LOL but don't think it's very appropriate to show the whole interweb a series of poop photos hahaha.

Just sent in a sample for idexx feline diarrhea pcr test, waiting for results... Hope it's nothing serious >.<

I'm unsure what kind of fiber to introduce, pumpkin considered? Have been giving her an ice-cube sized piece of mashed steamed pumpkin daily.

Currently she's on metrogyl and loperamil. Not sure if I should stop the daily probiotics as I've heard the antibiotics & probiotics "cancel" each other out?

Despite being on meds, for some reason today her poop became a pool and totally nothing solid. Previously it was like soft-serve consistency.

Appetite & energy level today also not as good as before she started meds. First time being like this so not sure if it's reaction to medication or not, because previous courses of antibiotics in the past year+, she still ate and played normally.

Is this IBD? >.<

So whats the results of the Idexx test?

Best to discuss with your attending vet but personally if its the normal pumpkin, no extra salt and sugar then should be fine. It is very rich in fiber which is good for GI health

In human medical literature, some medical scientists advocate using probiotic with antibiotic but I am not so sure when it comes to veterinary medicine. I personally dont see the harm in it but best speak with your attending vet to allay any concerns

You mention swollen LN in the intestines, did your vet ask to biopsy it?

 

[aosw88]

What type of eye drop do you recommend for dog with eye cataract?

 

[lycans]

What type of eye drop do you recommend for dog with eye cataract?

i would recommend that the dog see a vet, and work out what manner of cataract it is and how severe. It is not very useful to say "give anti-inflammatory eye ointment x"

 

[lycans]

Risk of feeding raw pet food...

https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2018...IDWUVNFYClqa3Sm5PQ9FA5bO9c4MuIpVfKfjAaoOYrI90

 

[basicbrenda]

U recommend French bulldog for SG? So many around but read that they cannot cope with humidity../

 

[lmwyng]

So whats the results of the Idexx test?

Best to discuss with your attending vet but personally if its the normal pumpkin, no extra salt and sugar then should be fine. It is very rich in fiber which is good for GI health

In human medical literature, some medical scientists advocate using probiotic with antibiotic but I am not so sure when it comes to veterinary medicine. I personally dont see the harm in it but best speak with your attending vet to allay any concerns

You mention swollen LN in the intestines, did your vet ask to biopsy it?

Hi, idexx results emailed to me show that she tested positive for tritrichomonas foetus/blagburni, and feline coronavirus, all others negative. Scheduled an appt later this week with the vet to understand abit more & get some treatment medication.

Regarding the lymph nodes, vet advised only to take a biopsy as a last test if all treatments don't work, most probably due to the need to put my cat under GA which the vet does not wish to do so unless really very necessary, and maybeeee the costs involved? >.<

Vet also briefly mentioned coronavirus is incurable, may be fatal, which scares me a little. But I'm assuming my cat isn't at that serious stage yet because she is behaving fine, and from the last weigh-in, she put on 0.3kg currently at 3.6kg in weight. Is it that serious?