All About Our Pets(Pics, Advice, Etc)

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Took my kitten on his first hike today! This was my first time ever taking a cat on a hike. It was way more successful than I thought it would be. At the start of the trail if I placed him on the ground he would stay still. Eventually he just started following one of our dogs and got the hang of walking on a leash so quickly. I thought I would be carrying him most of the way, but he really just wanted to explore on his own. This is the same kitten we are currently treating for FIP, so we were amazed by how energetic he was. We are so happy that he is living his best life now.
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Since I'm new to hiking with cats, I do have a few questions:
-Is exercise induced open mouth breathing any less serious than open mouth breathing caused by other things? There was one point on the trail he started open mouth breathing and I got very worried but we got him to some shade to rest and he stopped after a minute. It was only 75 degrees F at the time, but we were going uphill. Just wondering how worried I should be if this happens again in the future, especially since ultimately he is still sick and I don't want to make things worse for him. After it happened we started carrying him more (despite him wanting to walk on his own) and he was fine for the rest of the hike.
-How do you recommend keeping him hydrated while hiking? He wouldn't drink from the bowl. Someone recommended to me liquid treats so he did have churu on the hike but I'm not sure if there are better options - he loves hydra care as well but we didn't bring it with us.
 
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puppydogtor said:
Is exercise induced open mouth breathing any less serious than open mouth breathing caused by other things?
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I think this is something to talk to your veterinarian about because it isn't always a simple yes or no, and it really should be answered by someone who has physically examined your cat. Glad he enjoyed his first hike!
 
I purchased a prime sirloin steak to grill for dinner, perfectly cut and ready for seasoning.

For dinner, my cat received a warm plate of her favorite canned cat food and a side order of delicious kibble.

Then, I answered a call in my upstairs home office.

Fortunately, the call ended quickly!

When I returned downstairs to take the sirloin steak out of the bag, my cat was EATING the steak, and not her own dinner!

POOF!
 
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Someone is getting a spay and a dental cleaning tomorrow and I am very much a nervous owner.

Needless to say I will not be the one performing surgery. She will be in the hands of my very trusted coworkers while I hide at the front desk waiting to hear that she's done. It's funny how the minute it's my pet, my vet brain turns off.
 
finnickthedog said:
Someone is getting a spay and a dental cleaning tomorrow and I am very much a nervous owner.

Needless to say I will not be the one performing surgery. She will be in the hands of my very trusted coworkers while I hide at the front desk waiting to hear that she's done. It's funny how the minute it's my pet, my vet brain turns off.
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I feel u
I didn’t even want to be in the building and having to see my own patients during her surgery so I scheduled baby bean for my day off 😂
 
i had a vet student who worked for the clinic spay my dog. i think it was her second or third one? so no anxiety there for me.

and yet, when my kitty needed to have mass removals done on 3 separate occasions, i asked one of the other doctors to do them for me because i can't think straight about that. didn't even want to hold him for IV catheter placement because i am too attached!
 
finnickthedog said:
Someone is getting a spay and a dental cleaning tomorrow and I am very much a nervous owner.

Needless to say I will not be the one performing surgery. She will be in the hands of my very trusted coworkers while I hide at the front desk waiting to hear that she's done. It's funny how the minute it's my pet, my vet brain turns off.
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She's all done and awake now 🙂
 
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finnickthedog said:
Someone is getting a spay and a dental cleaning tomorrow and I am very much a nervous owner.

Needless to say I will not be the one performing surgery. She will be in the hands of my very trusted coworkers while I hide at the front desk waiting to hear that she's done. It's funny how the minute it's my pet, my vet brain turns off.
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I take my girls to a completely different GP now. I'm not going to be their doctor since I can afford not to be. They did the Golden's mass removal and dental a few weeks ago. All I'm willing to do is the suture removal
 
So, all of my pets (1 big dog and 2 cats) have access to dry food all day. The cats are great about not overeating, so they also get a can of wet food to share when I arrive home.

The dog eats when I feed her in the morning. She doesn't touch her food much during the day. She suddenly finishes it when I get home.

The cats eat their wet food when I get home and feed them and then an hour or two later eat down their dry food.

Does anyone else's animals do this? I am hoping it is just because they see me and heavily associate me with food and not that they aren't eating when alone for whatever reason.
 
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That doesn't happen with my dogs or cats since they're all highly food motivated and treat obsessed. I once used Rover (never again) and left the sitter with written feeding instructions, a measuring cup, and about 5 days worth of food in case of an emergency even though I was only leaving my pups for one night. The sitter didn't bother to read my note and fed my dogs all of the food I left them with in 24 hrs. They weren't feeling so good when I picked them up...

Anyways, I do know plenty of pets that do not like to eat without their owners. This has happened to me during several pet sitting gigs and the owners told me it's typical behavior. The pets eventually get hungry and eat something, but they don't stick to their schedule or eat as often. My sister's dog is also like this
 
RespectTheChemistry said:
So, all of my pets (1 big dog and 2 cats) have access to dry food all day. The cats are great about not overeating, so they also get a can of wet food to share when I arrive home.

The dog eats when I feed her in the morning. She doesn't touch her food much during the day. She suddenly finishes it when I get home.

The cats eat their wet food when I get home and feed them and then an hour or two later eat down their dry food.

Does anyone else's animals do this? I am hoping it is just because they see me and heavily associate me with food and not that they aren't eating when alone for whatever reason.
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It might just be that it's the routine that they've gotten into! Animals tend to really like routines. In any case as long as they're eating and maintaining their weights, I wouldn't worry about it too much 🙂 My cats do tend to eat less for the first few days when we go away, but I think that's more because of their routines being thrown off than necessarily because of our absence alone.
 
puppydogtor said:
That doesn't happen with my dogs or cats since they're all highly food motivated and treat obsessed. I once used Rover (never again) and left the sitter with written feeding instructions, a measuring cup, and about 5 days worth of food in case of an emergency even though I was only leaving my pups for one night. The sitter didn't bother to read my note and fed my dogs all of the food I left them with in 24 hrs. They weren't feeling so good when I picked them up...

Anyways, I do know plenty of pets that do not like to eat without their owners. This has happened to me during several pet sitting gigs and the owners told me it's typical behavior. The pets eventually get hungry and eat something, but they don't stick to their schedule or eat as often. My sister's dog is also like this
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Thank you! I am glad it's typical behavior. 🙂
 
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WildZoo said:
It might just be that it's the routine that they've gotten into! Animals tend to really like routines. In any case as long as they're eating and maintaining their weights, I wouldn't worry about it too much 🙂 My cats do tend to eat less for the first few days when we go away, but I think that's more because of their routines being thrown off than necessarily because of our absence alone.
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Thank you so much! You're so right about the routines. That's been very true of every pet we have ever had.
 
I'm debating whether or not I should get pet insurance for my cat. People say it's best to get it while they're young because the premiums are lower, but I've also read that the premiums will go up with age. Is the amount that your premium would increase lower than it would be than if you got insurance when they were older? For people that do have pet insurance, what company do you like? And have you ever had any issues with your insurance refusing to cover things that they should?

I feel weird about adding expenditures while I'm in school, but I want to be able to afford any emergency or specialty care my cat might need down the road.
 
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zenarcade said:
I'm debating whether or not I should get pet insurance for my cat. People say it's best to get it while they're young because the premiums are lower, but I've also read that the premiums will go up with age. Is the amount that your premium would increase lower than it would be than if you got insurance when they were older? For people that do have pet insurance, what company do you like? And have you ever had any issues with your insurance refusing to cover things that they should?

I feel weird about adding expenditures while I'm in school, but I want to be able to afford any emergency or specialty care my cat might need down the road.
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Premiums do tend to go up as they get older, the amount depends on the company. I imagine you end up at roughly the same premium that you would be at if you had just started the plan when they're older, but I don't have any data to back that up. Not sure if anyone does since...you can't simultaneously do both for the same pet 🙂 that's a question you'd probably have to pose to the company.

One benefit to starting younger is that you can get ahead of anything that would later be considered a preexisting condition and therefore not be covered. And, of course, you have the coverage earlier in case an emergency happens.

I have Pet's Best, haven't had to make any claims with them so can't really speak to that process. I had Healthy Paws previously and had good experiences with several claims for an older kitty with many chronic issues, but their premiums were getting really expensive, especially when I eventually had 3 pets (including a dog, more spendy than cats) to cover, so I went looking for a company with multipet discounts.

I'm of the opinion that pet insurance is a really individual decision. If you have the funds to put aside for emergencies quickly, that may make more sense than paying out the premiums for something you may never use. It would take me years to build up to that, so for my risk averse self it made sense to get insurance. No coverage is 100% and you usually still have to pay for things up front and then get reimbursed, so still a good idea to have an emergency fund or at least a good line of credit for that, your deductible, and any costs that aren't covered by your plan.
 
I have insured an older dog (7 at enrollment) and also two dogs from puppyhood. Premiums go up some, but the difference was like starting at $50/mo vs $70/mo. I mean over time you’ll probably pay more total money for enrollment as puppies or kittens, but by enrolling young you don’t have preexisting conditions. My older dog couldn’t get expenses reimbursed for his chronic allergies because they were preexisting so that was a lot of bills I still had to pay. But literally about anything that happens to my puppies will be covered. All insurance is a gamble, just depends what you’re willing to pay on a ‘what if’. Maybe you’ll be a lucky one and have healthy pets all their lives, but maybe you’ll have one with a chronic illness.

I use trupanion now and I really like it. They have a per condition deductible which I don’t love (I’d prefer yearly tbh), but if your pet only developed one or two conditions over it’s life the per condition deductible may actually work out better than yearly. But if your pet is accident prone or has several conditions, a per condition deductible can be annoying. So I just chose a plan with a lower deductible to offset that some.

Before trupanion I had Nationwide and I do not recommend them. Maybe they’ve improved in the last few years but they constantly fought covering things and tried to (erroneously) blame them on preexisting conditions. I had to fight for every payout. They did eventually pay everything I felt they should have covered but it would take 30 days minimum and sometimes up to 60 if I was fighting plus emotional energy and time on the phone. Trupanion pays literally in 2-5 days every time. Nationwide used to have a whole pet plus wellness that was good but they don’t offer that anymore and they raised premiums for that plan on my friend from like $70 to over $200 one year. And like, yeah she had a Frenchie but that is an excessive increase and I believe they were trying to get people to cancel that whole pet plus wellness plan. My premium increases have historically just been like $5-10 a year on both Nationwide and Trupanion. And actually Trupanion actually DECREASED my premiums for both my plans in 2023 all on their own which shocked me. It was a $5-10 decrease for each dog.
 
My sisters cat just had an MRI and will also be getting a myringotomy for a bilateral middle and inner ear infection. Both with 90% reimbursement because she already met her deductible. One of my good friends from college has a 2 year old frenchie. She is kicking herself because she didn’t get insurance earlier. Her dog now needs a neuro visit and likely an MRI because her GP found some spondylosis and 1-2 malformed vertebrae and she’s having pain issues.
A girl I know the year below me has a Great Dane or dane mix who was diagnosed with Addison’s her first or second year. She has Trupanion which does “per illness” deductibles so everything is covered for her Addisonian dog relating to that (I believe it’s for life unless they’ve changed it?) since she has already met that deductible 3 years ago. I definitely recommend it.
I have PetsBest and like it so far, but I haven’t had to submit a major illness claim or anything yet. I opted to get the wellness plan for each dog for the first year since they reimburse some for the spay and vaccines. I didn’t get it for the second year for any of the 3 I have because I was going to be getting preventions through school (which then got cancelled because covid spiked again 🥲) or work so it wasn’t as good of a deal for me but I may keep it for the 3rd one who is still a puppy, I’ll just have to see what happens with work and preventions and such and if the costs would be lower than it’s worth for me.
 
I think a lot of people here do have pet insurance so I'm just chiming in as someone who doesn't and the reasons I decided against. All in all I agree it's an individual decision.

I don't have pet insurance because I don't feel the cost vs benefit pans out for me to insure 4 animals that by my estimation have a low likelihood of needing expensive care. I'm also not someone who necessarily wants to "do everything" even if it's covered.

I do have savings to cover the things I would want to pursue should something happen, but I'm a vet now and not a student.

When I was in school I couldn't afford insurance OR savings. The pros vs cons didn't even matter because I simply did not have the money for an extra expense. But this did mean that if something had happened to my animals, I may have had to make an extremely difficult decision.
 
We have Healthy Paws at home for my family's dog. They got it as a puppy. Good thing. My sister's friend had a commotion going on at the front door and her then boyfriend left they door open and out dog ran out, got scared and ran right onto the busy street right in front of our neighborhood before anyone could catch it a car hit her and ran off. They got her to the vet and she had a broken leg and broken pelvis (she wasn't even two). Over $10,000 in bills, surgeries over two years, tons of follow up and they paid everything they said they would! We were very happy with them. She has had things like stomach viruses, etc since then and they paid those too. Now we know she is covered if she has complications as she gets old etc. She is 7 now and you would never know she has a plate in her hip. (The one in her leg was removed a year after the accident). She runs like a wild one! That said I don't have pet insurance on my cat. She came with pre-existing conditions.
 
I have pet insurance for my cat.

I applied for a Healthy Paws pet insurance policy immediately after I adopted my cat because I wanted to make sure my cat was insured *just in case* my cat ever needed expensive medical care, due to an emergency, or some other serious medical condition or costly procedure.

I thought to myself: emergencies happen in human medicine, and emergencies happen in veterinary medicine, and many emergencies are unpredictable, and occur without any advance warning.

So, I wanted to be prepared ahead of time, you know ... just in case my cat was ever involved in an emergency situation. My cat's insurance policy provides 90% coverage, after payment of the annual deductible, and it is an unlimited lifetime policy.
 
Well the insurance that I was leaning towards picking (Embrace) says that after I graduate I would not be able to be my own pet's veterinarian under their insurance. Not sure if that's a common policy, but not something I'm interested in agreeing to. So I guess I'll keep looking.
 
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zenarcade said:
Well the insurance that I was leaning towards picking (Embrace) says that after I graduate I would not be able to be my own pet's veterinarian under their insurance after I graduate. Not sure if that's a common policy, but not something I'm interested in agreeing to. So I guess I'll keep looking.
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I have pets best and so does @WildZoo (and some other people in ow in vet med) and iirc dubz and others have said they do allow you to be your own pets vet. I only recently submitted my first claim as the vet so I can’t confirm it myself 😂
 
zenarcade said:
Well the insurance that I was leaning towards picking (Embrace) says that after I graduate I would not be able to be my own pet's veterinarian under their insurance after I graduate. Not sure if that's a common policy, but not something I'm interested in agreeing to. So I guess I'll keep looking.
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Yeah it's not uncommon. Pets Best doesn't have that restriction and it's one of the reasons I picked them. There are probably others too, I just don't remember them off the top of my head.
 
Trupanion will let you be your own vet. I don’t work in clinical practice so I just type up exam findings for the initial “illness” and send in wholesale vet supply company invoices…they accept those and reimburse it no problem. Because I’m not affiliated with a clinic I think I sent a copy of my license the first time just to document I’m really a vet and not an imposter, haha.

Edit: I never tried being my own vet with Nationwide. The dog I had on that policy was under specialist care so it wasn’t an issue.
 
zenarcade said:
Well the insurance that I was leaning towards picking (Embrace) says that after I graduate I would not be able to be my own pet's veterinarian under their insurance. Not sure if that's a common policy, but not something I'm interested in agreeing to. So I guess I'll keep looking.
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As others have said, Pets Best doesn’t have that stipulation. I’m pretty sure Dubz switched companies b/c Healthy Paws wouldn’t let her be the vet for her pets. I’m about to submit my first claim with Pets Best, but I’m not a vet yet so I can’t speak to how easy the claims process is with treating your own pets. I’ve liked Pets Best a lot so far even though I’ve barely started the claims process. The monthly premiums are pretty reasonable and they’ve been quick to respond to any questions I’ve had.
 
Zorbium!

My cat had a mandibular canine extracted.

Everything went well ... no problems at all. :cat:

Before my cat was discharged home, Zorbium was applied to the back of her neck.

For the past 36 hours, my cat has been alternating between:

1. Cat sitting upright on the floor, with both eyes wide open, staring into the distance at nothing at all - as if she is a cat statue glued to the floor!

2. Cat joyfully rolling from side-to-side all over carpeted floors, full body surfing on hardwood floors, purring loudly, kitty-kissing everyone, and sharing non-stop love with all she encounters, including a few inanimate cat toys!
She seems blissfully detached from reality, without a care in the world. :biglove:

That's all. Zorbium!
 
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Cat was break-dancing all night, like she was at a dance club.

She is still lively and super-affectionate today.

Rolling on floor, wiggling like a worm on floor, standing up on her hind legs like a squirrel, purring loudly, and still happily KISSING everyone.

She is filled with love and wants to share her LOVE with everyone!

Absolute feline euphoria! :cat:

Her DVM told me they provided cat with weight-appropriate dose of Zobrium, on the low side.

DVM think my cat's behavior is hilarious, and not concerning. All is well.

BUT, I don't think my cat has been sleeping.

How long can cats go without sleep?

Zorbium!
 
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Doctor-S said:
BUT, I don't think my cat has been sleeping.

How long can cats go without sleep?
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She's sleeping! Unless you're watching her 24 hours a day, I'm pretty sure she's sneaking some naps in there. Some kitties are just more sensitive to opioids than others. My boy was like that for four days!
 
I have had dogs for years but I have recently noticed more people who seem to be very annoyed by dogs simply existing, especially in neighborhoods. I feel like I am a responsible pet owner. My dogs are very well behaved, walk nicely on a leash, I always pick up after them etc. I have noticed that people in my neighborhood (and just in general) are very annoyed with the fact that some people have dogs. Like my dog will be on the sidewalk and have one foot in someone's lawn and they will run out screaming. Has anyone else noticed that more people seem to be just generally frustrated with dogs? Is this because a lot of people got dogs during COVID and many are not being responsible pet owners, training their dogs, picking up after them, etc? Ugh!
 
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fdvet said:
Rant incoming... I have had dogs for years but I have recently noticed more people who seem to be very annoyed by dogs simply existing, especially in neighborhoods. I feel like I am a responsible pet owner. My dogs are very well behaved, walk nicely on a leash, I always pick up after them etc. I have noticed that people in my neighborhood (and just in general) are very annoyed with the fact that some people have dogs. Like my dog will be on the sidewalk and have one foot in someone's lawn and they will run out screaming. Has anyone else noticed that more people seem to be just generally frustrated with dogs? Is this because a lot of people got dogs during COVID and many are not being responsible pet owners, training their dogs, picking up after them, etc? Ugh!
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I think it’s a lot to do with so many Covid dogs and irresponsible pet owners. The amount of off leash dogs I’ve seen recently with no recall is insane. Last august I was bitten by an off leash dog who approached me without asking. Recently a girl let her dog IN HEAT into the dog park and then was so confused why all the male dogs started fighting? I’ve become really weary of other dog owners recently…
 
katiemcat said:
I think it’s a lot to do with so many Covid dogs and irresponsible pet owners. The amount of off leash dogs I’ve seen recently with no recall is insane. Last august I was bitten by an off leash dog who approached me without asking. Recently a girl let her dog IN HEAT into the dog park and then was so confused why all the male dogs started fighting? I’ve become really weary of other dog owners recently…
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YES! I have an off leash dog run up to me almost every day. Where do y'all walk your dogs? I feel like I can't walk my dogs at parks anymore because there are so many off leash dogs.

This question might stir the pot a bit... Is it wrong for dogs to potty in neighborhoods (I obviously pick up after them every time)? I just don't know where to walk them anymore 🙁
 
fdvet said:
YES! I have an off leash dog run up to me almost every day. Where do y'all walk your dogs? I feel like I can't walk my dogs at parks anymore because there are so many off leash dogs.

This question might stir the pot a bit... Is it wrong for dogs to potty in neighborhoods (I obviously pick up after them every time)? I just don't know where to walk them anymore 🙁
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I usually walk my dogs around the neighborhood or down the street outside my neighborhood when they need a long walk. There’s some nature walks that allow dogs around here that are also strict about people having dogs on leash and picking up after them that I enjoy a lot. I personally don’t see a problem with dogs using the bathroom on my lawn as long as the owner picks it up. But a lot of people also don’t do that so that may be why your neighbors are up in arms.
 
fdvet said:
YES! I have an off leash dog run up to me almost every day. Where do y'all walk your dogs? I feel like I can't walk my dogs at parks anymore because there are so many off leash dogs.

This question might stir the pot a bit... Is it wrong for dogs to potty in neighborhoods (I obviously pick up after them every time)? I just don't know where to walk them anymore 🙁
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This is where the vast majority of dogs are walked. The average dog owner isn't taking their dog to the park realistically. I'd be willing to bet my OOS debt that maybe 60-65% of dogs are taken on walks. Then maybe 30% of those are walked somewhere other than the neighborhood in which they live on a regular basis.

For reference, I only walk my dogs in our neighborhood and that's the only place I have ever walked my dogs.

If there's no sign in the yard asking to keep dogs out of the yard, it's fair game.
 
battie said:
This is where the vast majority of dogs are walked. The average dog owner isn't taking their dog to the park realistically. I'd be willing to bet my OOS debt that maybe 60-65% of dogs are taken on walks. Then maybe 30% of those are walked somewhere other than the neighborhood in which they live on a regular basis.

For reference, I only walk my dogs in our neighborhood and that's the only place I have ever walked my dogs.

If there's no sign in the yard asking to keep dogs out of the yard, it's fair game.
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Thank you! I have been digging deep to figure out if this is something I just have not known after being on the earth for nearly 3 decades LOL! I have never had an issue with others dogs' potty-ing in my yard, as long as the poop is picked up. I definitely don't want to be rude by letting my dog potty in others' yards but I truly never realized it was an issue for others until recently.

Maybe my neighborhood is just weird. I am really hoping that wherever I live when I move for vet school won't be like this because I don't see myself having time to drive to the park 2x per day everyday. After being bullied by my current neighbors about this, this is now one of my biggest worries 🙁
 
fdvet said:
fter being bullied by my current neighbors about this, this is now one of my biggest worries 🙁
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I'm a pretty forward person, so depending on what the neighbors are doing, I would chalk it up to it being a them problem and not a you problem. If there's no sign in the yard, yard is fair game, for example. There's also the concept of politeness; I completely ignore people who are rude when speaking to me and only acknowledge their existence once to tell them so. If they fix the attitude, awesome, let's have a conversation. If not, then whatever.

You keep doing you!
 
I mean, as long as you’re not letting your dog roam all the way into their yard and up by their door and such and they’re just along the edge where you guys are walking, I personally wouldn’t care about a dog using my yard as long as poop is picked up 🤷🏻‍♀️
If there’s no sign saying no dogs allowed on the grass/no pottying on the grass, the grass is fair game. If they really have a problem with people letting their dogs use their grass, they need to put a sign up.
 
SkiOtter said:
I mean, as long as you’re not letting your dog roam all the way into their yard and up by their door and such and they’re just along the edge where you guys are walking, I personally wouldn’t care about a dog using my yard as long as poop is picked up 🤷🏻‍♀️
If there’s no sign saying no dogs allowed on the grass/no pottying on the grass, the grass is fair game. If they really have a problem with people letting their dogs use their grass, they need to put a sign up.
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Yup no sign and my dogs are on a 6 foot leash. So they can't go any farther than 6 feet away from me while I'm standing on the sidewalk...definitely not anywhere near their front door.

I got yelled at once for my dog simply sniffing someone's lawn. Imagine if someone broke it to them that rabbits, geese, deer, etc are pooping/ peeing in their lawn every day.
 
fdvet said:
Yup no sign and my dogs are on a 6 foot leash. So they can't go any farther than 6 feet away from me while I'm standing on the sidewalk...definitely not anywhere near their front door.

I got yelled at once for my dog simply sniffing someone's lawn. Imagine if someone broke it to them that rabbits, geese, deer, etc are pooping/ peeing in their lawn every day.
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Yeah, absolutely ridiculous.
I do hate when rabbits poop in my yard but that’s only because I have a puppy who’s barely 1 and will eat any Cocoa Puffs she finds in my yard and they’re hard for me to find and clean up 😩🥲
 
My definitely not puppy still eats the Cocoa puffs. Love having to pull that out of her mouth
 
SkiOtter said:
Yeah, absolutely ridiculous.
I do hate when rabbits poop in my yard but that’s only because I have a puppy who’s barely 1 and will eat any Cocoa Puffs she finds in my yard and they’re hard for me to find and clean up 😩🥲
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I have a foster bunny right now so my dog is lucky - she has her own private supply of Cocoa Puffs! And she's always trying to sneak cookies from the cookie jar aka the cats' litterbox 😅
 
sweetvalentin said:
Hey ya'll I have a dilemma, I'll make it short and sweet. Here is some background. My 13y/o FS DSH has been anorexic for 3 days now. She was diagnosed with ckd but its early so that's not the problem. The r/o list has been narrowed down to IBD and pancreatitis (fPL was abnormal). We are doing supportive therapy at home while waiting on results from maldigestion tests as well as our internal med appointment. In the meantime, she is still not eating. I've tried Elura, Cerenia, pain management, Omeprazole, 3 dry foods and 8 wet foods, 1 hydration supplement, 3 types of meat flavored baby food, and am boiling chicken and rice now.

So this is my question, I've talked to 4 of my vets and 1 ER vet. but I don't have a definitive suggestion/answer. Should I try force feeding?

I'm torn because she has now gone 3 days with maybe 2oz of food, and she needs the nutrition.
On the other hand, I'm afraid of creating negative associations with food psychologically. I'm also afraid of giving her aspiration pneumonia. I suppose I could hospitalize her with an ng or esophageal tube if it comes to supplemental feeding...

Sorry to be that person asking for advice. I've been a tech for 8 years but all of my reason goes out the window for my own pets and I become that overbearing annoying client.

Pic for tax <3
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Not necessarily giving this as veterinary advice, but in general you don't have to hospitalize patients on e-tubes. Or, I should say, solely for having an e-tube. They can go home after getting them and be managed very easily by clients from there. I am somewhat well known in my places of work for being very pro-e-tube and will reach for them very early compared to other doctors, especially if I'm concerned the patient has a reason to be inappetent for a prolonged time. They have the added bonus of making it super easy to give PO meds with zero stress to patient and client. Not sure how much they usually cost (I don't work in private practice), but worth exploring imo, especially if you're considering force feeding as your other option
 
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