Question by Tennessee Girl: What do you think could be wrong with my dog?
I have a 2 year old female westie. She is overall healthy and up to date on her vaccinations, etc. No health problems besides normal allergies. For the past few weeks, she has been acting a little different. My husband says he doesn’t notice anything different about her, so I’ve waited before I take her to the vet. She’s been sleeping a little more than usual but still plays like normal when she’s awake. I’ve noticed she dreams quite a bit as well. Like, she’ll move her legs and breath heavy and bat her eyes, etc. while she’s sleeping. She also is shivering quite a bit. I know it’s cold outside, but she’ll shiver and I’ll feel her skin and she’s warm. Even her ears and nose will be warm. She also has been licking her female private parts quite a bit. I looked at that area the other day and it seems to be a little redder than normal. So I wonder could it be some kind of infection possibly? Should I take her by the vet in the morning you think? I just hated to take her and the veterinarian think I’m crazy for bringing her for such small symptoms. Thanks in advance for any answers.
I’m not relying on answers here. I’m simply asking suggestions, as it’s not a life or death situation right this second. I plan on taking her at 9am but until then, I’m just curious. I’m not that irresponsible.
She has been fixed since she was about 7 months. Thanks for the answers everyone. I don’t feel so stupid calling/stopping by the vet in the morning now.

Best answer:

Answer by Heart W
Those are not small symptoms, take her. Vets hate people who don;t bring them in for something a lot more than ones who bring them in for nothing. Take a urine sample w/ you in a clean container.

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Question by I Fart Tiny Sparkles PTssss** ™²: My dog is old and shes got a real bad itching problem, my family think they should put her to sleep ??
They think she is suffering . I tell them all dogs itch . they have her on prevecox for athritis pain, glucosamine for her joints. She has to take allergy medicine and thyroid medicine. We have to wash her 1 a week maybe more because her skin gets greasy and stinky . She also has really bad ear infections constantly and we have done everything the doctor prescribed to get them better.
PLEASE help ! I dont want them to put her to sleep . She still walks and kisses my face in the morning . she still wants her tummy rubbed . If we can just find something to help her ears and her itching then they wont put her to sleep !

Best answer:

Answer by blondiefrank
I think you are bathing her too much. He skin may be dry and thats why it’s so itchy. Make sure she doesn’t have fleas and when you do give her a bath make sure to use something soothing for the itch like oatmeal shampoo or even head and shoulders.

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Question by XxKarToonxX: My dog won’t eat her food? I think she might not like it?
Kay, I know this is a long one, but if you’re a pet owner, I’m sure you’ll understand!

I have a Pekingese, she’s about 13 years old. It’s been a couple years that she’s being picky eater! I try to switch brands and flavors each time I buy her food, but she always ends up leaving half of it there! She always leave the light and dark brown bits of her dry dog food. I always end up throwing away the bits she won’t eat. Yesterday, she was out of food so I went to the store and bought her a bag of Kibble ‘n Bits Homestyle Chicken dog food. I got her one of the big bags; and when I got home and filled her bowl, she refused to eat it. I know for a fact that she was hungry because her bowl had been empty since I got home from school and my mom hadn’t noticed she was out of food. I was previously feeding her the same dog food but Homestyle Beef flavor and I thought I’d change it up for her. She hasn’t touched her dry food since yesterday and all she’s eaten is half a can of Pedigree Chopped Beef wet food…She’s actually also very picky about wet canned food too! I think Chopped Beef flavor is the only one she eats!

Here’s some other info about my dog:
- Other than human food, as far as I know, she doesn’t have allergies…although I think those Beggin’ Strips bacon treats are as bad as human food is for her!
- She’s had many different brands of dry dog foods before; mainly Purina, I think.
- I think she became a picky eater when we went on vacation to Mexico one year. I don’t know what kind of food we bought her there after she finished her dog food from home…that was years ago though, could that still have anything to do with this now?
- She doesn’t have any scheduled times to eat. Her food is there in her bowl, changed constantly, and covered when we know for a fact that she won’t be eating.
- She’s used to eating around others, her food and water bowls are near the kitchen, so privacy and distractions are generally not a problem for her.
- We don’t give her human food (she has “allergies” to that and her skin tends to like open up & can get infected…it’ll look like a really bad scrape, she’ll scratch at it a lot, and it really seems painful for her. She’s been given meds for this about 3 times already. One of her vets said that since she had it once, she’ll most likely keep getting it.)
- She does, however, always hang around the kitchen, especially when we’re cooking, to see what she can pick up. Or my little brother sometimes leaves things lying around. but this isn’t a constant problem.
- She has boiled chicken and boiled rice mixed together as a kind of special food. One time she got very sick (whole other long story) and nearly died. After she got better, the vet told us to give her boiled chicken and rice to encourage her to eat. But it’s really rare if she does eat this since my mom doesn’t make it for her too often. So i don’t think she’s distracted with that..

….I think that’s it…Again, I’m really sorry this is SO long but I’m really worried because she hasn’t eaten well in nearly 3 days! I appreciate all suggestions,,,as long as they’re not dumb. lol
Please and thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by Wakada
You may think it is bad for your dog to eat the same food for its entire life, but it is important for it to have a steady diet, so STOP buying different food each time you are at the store. Your dog is in its later years of life, make one last switch to a dog food for elderly dogs, it doesn’t need as much protein as it did earlier in life.

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Question by rach: do you think serratia marcescens is making my dog sick?
My dog has had a few episodes of being sick mainly with diarrhea and some vomiting. We thought she ate something outside but we watch her closly after that. I don’t think that was the reason because she got sick again. We thought maybe food allergies but we haven’t been able to directly pin it on that as I don’t want to experiment. She is just starting a grain free food now. We also bought stainless steel dishes for her incase she got some sort of lead poisening from long term use. Then it dawned on me that we get serratia marcescens on our shower heads and sinks. It’s nearly impossible to get rid of permenently but frequent cleaning keeps it away. I gave her a mix of tap and bottled water just depending on what was more convenient at the time. So it varied every day. I hate to admit I wasn’t the best at washing her water bowl with soap… I probably did it 1-2 times a week instead of every day. In addition to new food and new dishes I’m going to clean her bowls every day with soap. Do you think serratia marcescens could have been making my dog sick? All sick episodes had to be treated with antibiotics.
The home owners have lived here for 15 years or so and it’s had no effect on them. It’s fairly safe as long as you clean the areas regularly.
Yes it is and it’s very common. It’s airborne and can happen anywhere. Changing the shower heads and sinks wouldn’t change anything. We’ve actually gotten a new shower head and it’s still there, I just clean it a lot. I mean we could change every shower head, sink, toilet, pipe, anything and it could still come back very easily.

Best answer:

Answer by Jennifer
Are you sure it is S. marcescens growing on the shower heads and sinks? Did you have it cultured? If you really have that growing on your shower heads and sinks, you really want to change everything for your own safety and that of your guests. It can be a nasty organism, and if it is growing on your faucets, your water is probably contaminated.

Really you all should be drinking packaged water (dog included) and cooking food in packaged water if your water is that bad.

Again, get it cultured though.

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Question by bluhh!: when i was little, i always looked up to my dad. i don’t think i can anymore and i hate it.?
When i was little my dad knew how to deal with me. He was always light hearted and kind. I don’t exactly know where his mind snapped. As i got older he started to get controlling.. he used to make my sister and i clean the house all day everyday..sounds like normal father behavior.. i remember pulling an all-night cleaning the whole house so i would be able to go out on a Saturday. Instead of letting me have my Saturday, he found more things for me to do and said “that was last night”

A few years ago my parents got divorced. They hate each other, and i’m fine with that. My dad re-married a woman with three children, three dogs, and two cats. I’m allergic to dogs and cats to the point that i can barely set foot in their home. I take medication, but i also have tons of food allergies and his wife tried to claim they were “in my head”. Iv’e had scratch tests.. so they are NOT in my head. One time she knew i was eating something i was allergic to, and didn’t tell me. Every time i see her she says “how are you feeling today?” after i tell her i’m feeling great, she pretends i don’t exist the rest of the time that i am there. She would never give up her animals for me, and my dad would never ask her to. Despite all this, my dad is my dad.. and i always try to see him. I tried to sleep over the other day, but i had an asthma attack and had to go home at 2 in the morning, to take a shower and get my breathing under control. Even after all of my efforts to show my dad i love him, he still always blames me for everything that happens with our relationship. His wife likes to pretend that she’s helping our relationship. The other day for his birthday, she bought him a gift for me to give to him. I always get gifts for my father, so the fact the she did that, made me upset. Like i don’t love him enough or something? i was offended, so i text my mom about it so i could vent a little bit. my mom text back and said “she’s an ass”. Later on that day, i left my phone in the bathroom. my father knew i had text my mom, and decided to read it, and when he was driving me home, he had the nerve to tell me he went through my phone. And instead of asking me why i felt that way, he also decided to tell me that he was turning off my phone. I’m really hurt that even though i tried to show him i love him, he did that. you know? That was just too far. You don’t do that to your 17 year old, and if you think there’s something you don’t want to know in someones personal things, don’t read it in the first place.

I remember one time we were at a gas station, and there was a man who stole money from someone. The man who stole tried to get away, but was knocked out by someone (i don’t remember how) and people at the gas station called the police. My dad decided to be “heroic” and went to hold the man down while the police were on their way. The man was still sleeping face down, and when my dad went to sit on his back, he started rubbing the criminals face into the pavement. Not Heroic. I have held that in for so long, and tried to block memories like this out of my mind, that i feel like i need to put this out there so i can try to “let go” of it instead. i don’t know why i tried so incredibly hard to have my father and look up to him. i was only able to when i was a little girl, and oblivious. i’m ashamed.
i’m not really ashamed. i guess i’m just sad. i haven’t talked to my dad for a couple weeks, and i’m not planning on talking to him anytime soon.

Best answer:

Answer by The Lonely Ape Man
This is way too long.

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