#cw animal illness

[prince-liest]

Gonna be a bummer for a bit! (CW fish illness)

Lucy started pineconing slightly a few hours ago and I feel really shitty about it because I don't know what I could have done for this to not have happened, but I'm sure there was something.

Her fin rot visibly and dramatically worsened over the weekend despite a second dose of the antibiotic treatment I was using, and I even had a second medication arrive today, but she was already lethargic and not really eating. She's just been floating in the front corner of the tank where I usually feed her with her belly somewhat swollen, not really moving except to take breaths every once in a while. And then as of the past couple of hours, her scales are popping up a bit, which, in combination with the belly swelling, pretty much guarantees end-stage renal failure resulting in fluid retention, which is a death sentence for a fish.

She's always been such a lively fish full of way more personality than you'd expect from, y'know, a little aquatic creature, and I have been so convinced that she'd live a good life of at least 4-5 years of chasing shrimp around, but here I am with her probably-dead barely a year and a half into her life. It just feels shitty, because this isn't, like, a random death - there's clearly a disease process happening - but I don't know how to fix it or what I should have done to prevent it, except maybe realize that it was happening earlier. I still don't know if the red splotches she developed months and months ago were signs of a latent bacterial infection or just her changing colors like bettas sometimes do.

I've done water changes. Her water parameters are pristine. There's a thriving and reproducing population of adult and baby shrimp in her tank, which are all notoriously bad at handling crappy water. There's no other fish in there to stress her. There are so many plants. I only feed the highest quality betta food I could find based on extensive reviews. I added shrimp for enrichment and snacks. The water is heated. Even a few hours ago, I was convinced that I could get her through this. What happened?

I guess now I just mostly feel bad because barring a miracle, I'm probably going to find her dead tomorrow and it's going to be fucking horrible. Her poor fins look so awful right now. At least she's in a comfortable and familiar place. She's moving around a little more, now, and the pineconing is less obvious in the new light...I'm going to at least hope that I'm wrong about this.

Swim in peace, Lucy, if you don't make it the night.

[the8thsphynx]

Chesh has been off the past few days, getting sick and a lot of other concerning things. He saw his vet yesterday and she thought it could be either IBD, lymphoma, or stomach cancer and gave some meds to ease his pain and help make it easier for him, but today his mood and energy have completely dropped…

Taking him to the emergency vet with my husband right now… just so scared…

[wildmelon]

god im just so worried about my cat and all i can do is wait and its the worst possible timing bc im gonna be at a funeral around the time her bloodwork is done and im sick from how upset and scared she was and also have to make the funeral program and now my other cat is being aggressive towards my sick cat (her own daughter might i add smh) this is just the worst couple days oof

[scarfacemarston]

Send good vibes/prayers/thoughts

My dog is 16 and she doesn't seem to be doing too well. She won't eat much and is drinking lots of water. She has a limp which is NOT new, but it's way worse. We're thinking that part of it is the cold weather causing her bones to ache, but she's hardly eating, even her favorite treats. The vet said she's healthy, but her sleep schedule has been off, too. There doesn't seem to be an emergency, so we're not going to the hospital. We're hoping to get into the vet this week. I don't know what's going to happen, but send all the positivity y'all can, please. How did you all prepare for when it was time to let go? I don't think I'm ready. It doesn't feel real and I know I'll be a mess when she does go. What did you all do?

[fablepaint]

had to say goodbye to Dalton today. She's been going extremely downhill and any further and she risked a very painful end. I wanted to spare her that.

for her last day, i spent all morning with her in the grass in the sun. she got to take a nap on me (she was napping...a lot) and peck a bit at the grass and listen to her sister and flockmate call for her.

the vet allowed me time with her body so i could immortalize her in my sketchbook, just like those from my flock before. i also drew some of her in the grass. I'll muddle over whether to show that later.

[stavroginova]

my parents cat got really sick so they took him, barely conscious and half-dead, to the vet for an emergency visit. where he was promptly revived and proceeded to maul both my parents and all the staff

[mynameis-a]

does anyone want to know where the idea of jackalopes (most likely) originated from?

because i’m gonna tell you!!

(content warning for under the cut: talking about fucked up rabbits, and at the end there are three pictures of rabbits with horn-like structures on its faces. the first one has it the worst with the horns all over its face, the second one only really has them on one side of its face, the third has a few.)

ok so its called scope papillomavirus, or cottontail rabbit papillomavirus!

it can cause keratinous structures that look like horns to sprout on the rabbits head!

and, like how manatees were mistaken for mermaids, it makes sense as to how these horns would be mistaken for antlers. especially as they can form on the top of the head.

(IF YOU LOOK IT UP PLEASE SPECIFY “HORNS” IN YOUR SEARCH. THIS IS NOT THE ONLY PART OF SPV AND THE OTHER VISIBLE ASPECTS OF IT ARE MUCH LESS COOL.)

aaaaanyways, this is what it looks like :D

i think its pretty fucking cool :D

[aurorawest]

Have I ever told you guys about how my ex husband's father had a gender crisis over their cat? The cat was getting a ton of bad UTIs so my former in-laws decided to have this surgery done on him that essentially shortened his urethra, so he didn't urinate out of his penis anymore.

And my former father-in-law was like, genuinely very upset by this and kept saying the cat was being emasculated (the cat was neutered, btw, so was not exactly sowing his wild oats).

I think about that a lot these days.

[uncertain-delights]

Today one friend texted me early in the morning to tell me about the dawn, so it was the first thing I saw when I woke up. Another friend took me out for a walk, where I took these mediocre photos of beautiful things. Hi, turtle! Hi dandelions that are comically determined to grow everywhere!

My broken heart can still be used to carry water.

[funyarinpaa]

Louis' heart is doing very poorly and it is taking him a lot of effort to breathe and he's miserable and I hope he makes it to his cardiologist appointment on Monday ):

Pic is from a few weeks ago before he was having issues

[prince-liest]

Hello, you seem like you already know what you're doing with your pet fish so this ask is probably not very useful, but here is something I learned from my dad who used to have pet fish: When they can't eat food pellets, make sure to remove the uneaten pellets or they mold and could cause an ammonia spike. And soaking the pellets beforehand can make it easier for the fish to eat (sometimes there are special oils that make the pellets more appealing to the fish too). I don't own fish myself so I don't know how common this knowledge is, but since I learned one of your fish is sick I don't want to take the risk, so I will share the information just in case.

Best wishes of recovery to Miss Lucy

Aw, thank you so much! I really appreciate that you took the time to help out, as well as the well-wishes!

No worries at all: I'm not removing the food that she doesn't eat, but that's mostly because I have a nerite snail and a plethora of shrimp in the tank that are having a good time feasting on the leftovers. There's been a little shrimp party underneath the part of the tank where I feed her the past couple of days, and I'm doing extra water changes on top of that to make sure that the water quality is pristine for her recovery.

I might try soaking some micropellets, however. She's definitely trying to eat, just not able to swallow for whatever reason - likely the dropsy. I have a leftover container of New Life Spectrum's extra small pellets that I'm hoping might do the trick, and I'll give pre-soaking them a shot just in case as well.

[officialbabayaga]

so my baby boy rocky’s been having a rough time of it this weekend & i was fully prepared to have to take him to urgent care this morning, but i got him to eat & drink some and he seems to be in a good mood if still a bit lower energy than usual, so i’m skipping classes this morning to monitor him (if he throws up again we’re going STRAIGHT to the vet) but i really hope it was just adjustment stress since we did move really recently. our other cat’s stomach seemed a little upset yesterday too so i’ve switched their water out with new bowls of filtered water instead of tap & i’ll pick up a different kind of cat food that’s worked well for them in the past, in case there’s a quality issue with their current brand but oh my goddddd if it’s a foreign object i’ll die i don’t have that kind of money 💀💀

[wildmelon]

literally shaking all over after taking my (very traumatized and skittish) cat to the vet for the first time

[cecelovesrats]

pebble's in trouble again :( the little scratch wound healed but now he has a respiratory infection and tooth problems. the respiratory infection is going away with antibiotics but idk what to do about his teeth :( i'm calling the vet tomorrow but i'm not sure what she can do because i doubt pebble would survive anesthesia (he's old and frail)

[gourde]

Douglas has cancer, most likely, and will pass within the month. This is such bullshit. He's not even 2. I love him so much.

[buzzsawbebop]

My darling boy. My dear friend. My dog, which I've had since the age of 9, who has been with me through several moves and deaths, passed away yesterday. I refused to let him die alone, and he breathed his last breath in my arms. It hurts to have loved him so very much, but the time we spent together was well worth the grief I'm feeling. It feels silly to be so heartbroken over a dog, but he was my dog, my boy, and I could never let him go.