Vet Q&A-Dog

My 5 month old puppy is still peeing and pooing in the house. I've used puppy pads but I only leave one out at night for him now. He goes to the back door to do it but how do I get him to bark to let me know that he needs to go out?

It's completely normal for Ziggy to still be having accidents in the house at this age - most puppies are not reliably housetrained until 8-12 months of age. For now, since he is still having accidents, I would recommend taking him out very frequently (every 20-30 minutes, unless he is sleeping) - praise and reward him with a treat as soon as he pees or poops outside. Inside, he needs to be supervised at all times to prevent accidents. When you aren't able to watch him, he should be in a crate or a puppy-proofed room where accidents will be easy to clean up. He will start letting you know when he needs to go out when he gets a little older - first, he needs to have a strong habit of going potty outside, which it sounds like isn't really established yet. For now, you need to be taking him out frequently even if he doesn't bark or give any other kind of signal - this will come with time.

What is the best canine diet for our 11yo Chihuahua with Gall Bladder sludge. She is down to 9 lbs.

Typically a low fat diet is recommended. They have several forms such as science diet W/D or low fat I/D would be a good choice if there is vomiting as it is a little easier to digest. It is best to monitor the gall bladder via ultrasound to check progress.

My dogs stomach won't stop making loud gurgling noises and he threw up a little bit?

Poor Papas! It sounds like he has an upset stomach, which could be caused by a GI illness, eating something rotten, a foreign body, or pancreatitis. I can give you a home remedy to try to see if that helps. Withhold food for 12-24 hours, then feed a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken (no bones) and white rice in small amounts several times a day for a couple of days. Then slowly add back in his normal diet. If the vomiting continues in the absence of food, he vomits the bland diet, develops diarrhea, stops drinking water, starts vomiting water, or becomes very lethargic, he will need to see a vet right away.

My dog is sat shaking, won't eat, move or drink. What is wrong?

Poor Dexter! The symptoms you describe are usually caused by some type of pain or discomfort, but it's hard to say more specifically what might be wrong without being able to examine him in person. He may have back or neck pain due to a "slipped" or herniated disc, abdominal pain due to an upset stomach, or he may have been injured somehow. Since it sounds like Dexter is quite uncomfortable, I would really recommend taking him to a vet today - he/she can do a complete physical exam to help determine where he might be painful, and may also recommend x-rays or other testing if needed to diagnose the problem.

I noticed today that the bridge of my dogs nose is covered in lumps. What could this be? He isn't acting weird and doesn't seem bothered by it, but I'm pretty concerned.

Since there are a few lumps all in a row, my best guess as to what that would be is some sort of irritating from something that he stuck his nose into. It could also be a series of insect bites that are now deciding to swell up. Without examining, palpating, and possible aspirating the affected areas it is really impossible to say with certainly, but with that would definitely be my best guess based on the photos. If areas seem like they are hard, or very warm to the touch, they should definitely be examined by a veterinarian for other possibilities. Some of these would include some sort of bony abnormalities or the beginnings of an abscess, though it would be a very strange location. Hope this helps!

hello dear, i gave infant motrin 1.25ml to my dog, she is 7 lb , i,m concern that i can poisining her wiht motrin

You should never give this medication or any other that contain Ibuprofen to your dog as it is toxic, doses as low as 5mg/pound could potentially be toxic to Nina. The amount you gave her is not likely to cause a severe toxicity, but you should watch her for any of the following: Diarrhea, Vomiting, abdominal pain and anorexia. If she shows any of these symptoms- take her to the vet urgently.

My dogs tail got slammed in a door and I took her to my vet and he just shaved and cleaned it but it's still bleeding a bit. What should I do?

I'm sorry Samantha's tail was slammed in a dog! First off, you did exactly the right thing by taking her into the vet. The problem with tail wounds is that dogs wag their tails, putting the wound at risk of opening back up. If Samantha is wagging her tail, that's probably why you are still seeing a bit of blood. If it's only a bit of blood, then I wouldn't be concerned. If it's a lot of blood, I would be concerned, and then you should take her back into your vet. It's impossible to get a dog to stop wagging their tail, so I recommend putting a bandage over the wound where it's bleeding in an effort to stop the bleeding. Don't put the bandage on so tight that it restricts blood flow to the tail. Samantha may want to bite and chew at the bandage, so I would get an Ecollar from the pet store to prevent her from doing that.

I give my dog wet and dry food but she will not eat the dry unless the wet food with it how do I just get to dry

Great question! I would mix the wet and dry food together, and over the course of two weeks, slowly decrease the amount of wet food and increase the amount of dry food so Maxine is eating the dry food only. Start off with 75% wet and 25% dry, and feed that for a few days. Then give her 50% wet and 50% day, feed for a couple of days. After that, give her 25% wet and 75% dry, again feeding for a couple of days. Finally, give her 100% dry, and that should encourage her to eat the dry only.

My dog has parvo. I've been treating her at home. She stopped having diarrhea but she still throws up. She does pee normally. Is this a good sign?

If she's stopped having diarrhea, this is a good sign. I hope that she has some medication on board for nausea and vomiting - if not, your vet should be able to prescribe some for you to give at home. Normally, with parvo, the best sign of recovery is when they have gone 24 hours without any vomiting and are eating on their own - until then, you need to continue treatment with fluids and other supportive care.