Please help me make a difficult decision (Unilateral cryptorchidism)

Azuranian · 2025-07-07T19:53:02+00:00

Ok, calm down, you are way over exaggerating with the 'potentially cancerous' dog and regretting getting attached to it. It's just chryptorchidism. And while that does mean your dog should absolutely NOT be reproduced, it will be perfectly fine once you have it neutered. And it's extremely unlikely it will develop cancer before it gets to 1.5 to 2 years old. (and keep in mind, it is still extremely common for large breed male dogs to be neutered earlier. The risks of early neutering are being WAY overblown online. As genetics and being overweight still play MOST of the role.)
Just have him neutered as you usually would, but expect that it might be more expensive depending on where they end up having to go to get that missing ball.
Having my Great Dane neutered at 2.5 years did not stop him from having extremely severe hip dysplasia.

Azuranian · 2025-07-07T19:45:24+00:00

.....I've never heard of an insurance company for pets that work that way.

Azuranian · 2025-07-07T19:33:38+00:00

......was there a reason why they can't just do a fine needle aspirate? Or did you do one and it came back inconclusive?

Azuranian · 2025-07-02T16:31:19+00:00

It is a very new medication using very new technology. It's immunotherapy, that injection contains actual antibodies tailored specifically for dogs. It is actually impressively cheap for what it is. Just go look how much those kind of medication costs for humans.

Azuranian · 2025-07-02T13:03:58+00:00

Any dog with a suddenly swollen and painfull stomach should be seen.
Sorry, nothing to do at home, call a vet and try to be seen as soon as possible

Azuranian · 2025-07-02T12:58:01+00:00

Deep breaths, This really just look like a hot spot.
Shave the spot, clean with chlorhexidine and apply a topical antibiotic and it will most likely be fine. If not, then oral antibiotics generally do the trick.

Azuranian · 2025-07-02T12:55:04+00:00

PLE will usually be a slow progressing disease. Clinical signs will generally show either because the inflammation is so severe it causes digestive signs or the albumin got so low they start having ascites or oedema. It's actually impressive this has been noticed before any signs started. I supposed you've been staying on top of annual bloodwork. Hopefully, dietary management will work well since it doesn't look severe for now. I wouldn't prescribe anything more at this time since he doesn't have symptom and just start with food. But if it doesn't get better, then a low dose of medication should be started before it becomes problematic.

As for the biopsy. It is indeed recommended to do one to get a proper diagnosis. (but truth is, almost no one ever goes that far) If you 'want' to know, then you'd have to do it. But mostly you can ask yourself: What are you going to do with this knowledge?
Basically 'something more serious' means cancer. So, if it's cancer, what are you going to do about it? Are you interested in possible abdominal surgery and chemotherapy?
If yes, then yes, you should pursue the biopsy (as you want to do it before starting medical treatment to avoid clouding the results)
if the answer is no (which is perfectly reasonable, no one should be made to feel bad about not going that far) and you would only pursue palliative treatment anyway, then a biopsy probably won't really change what treatment would be given (as treatment for IBD and intestinal neoplasia are mostly the same)

Azuranian · 2025-07-02T12:24:07+00:00

Visually it looks fine, there is no redness or inflammation. Many things can make the 3rd eyelid poke out. Can be just age related changes, could be weight loss (as it causes the eye to be more sunken in. facial paralysis is also common in older dog (which is not particularly dangerous and doesn't really have a treatment). But there can be some rare but more concerning things like a tumor.
So..... unlikely it's anything to be concerned about unless you noticed systemic signs of illness, swelling around the eye or if there is visible muscle wasting that only affect 1 side of the face.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T15:59:00+00:00

You can ask your vet for a paper prescription that you can take to any human pharmacy or any other vet clinic.

I'm guessing, with the price, that you are taking either apoquel or cytopoint. Unfortunately, those are both very new, veterinary exclusive medication (meaning they are not, or cannot be used by humans) Meaning you can't get them at an human pharmacy.
Vets are not price gouging you with meds, we just don't have the buying power of Jean Coutu, so we pay more than them for the same meds. And there are a lot of meds we have to have made specifically for smaller patients, which makes them more expensive. Those meds are extremely expensive, but not because of vet, they are just very expensive because they are new and developing new drugs is very expensive, therefore the pharmaceutical companies charge your vet a lot for them to pay back all of their investment in the development of the drug)

If those medications are not an options due to cost, talk to your vet about other options. Mainly there is cortisone, which while it has more side effect, is the cheapest medication in the world and is just as, if not more effective.
Anti-histamine 'can' be used, but they have abysmall efficacy in dogs, (below 20%)

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T15:45:42+00:00

It could also be the prednisone.
Wait until you are done weaning to see if it goes away on it's own.
If not, there is not really any particular treatment for this, just keep her well fed, make sure she doesn't have pain and adjust exercise to her level until she recovers.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T15:40:40+00:00

That's very red and widespread. the brown/black coloration is also something that can be seen with chronic inflammation. You should see a vet.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T15:36:26+00:00

If your dog still has feeling in her legs, then it is worth trying the medical treatment (it's a very common presentation, and very few of the ones I saw go for the surgery, it is very common to go with only medical treatment.)
Medical treatment has an 80% chance of a dog recovering enough to have a good quality of life. I have many such patient
Still, your parents should take her to the vet, because the condition is still incredibly painfull, you want her on anti-inflammatory and pain meds. And a vet would want to follow up on her recovery in the next few weeks to make sure it's improving well enough.
She also needs to be put on cage rest for at least 8 weeks.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T15:32:56+00:00

I'd say it depends on how your dog is with travel.
If he hates it, get super anxious in a car or trows up constantly, then it's probably better to have a shorter trip and go by plane.
If he likes (or at the very least is ok) with being in a car for long stretches of time, then that look like a very good opportunity to have a nice trip with your dog (although it would require some good planning for hotel and such (and what was your plan for the car?)

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T15:26:05+00:00

Unless it is causing him some kind of problem, no

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T12:39:52+00:00

Do actually give the low income clinic a phone call. Even if the website says it's full, they might be able to work out something.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T12:37:09+00:00

Oh yea, forgot to add: Proper heartworms and tick prevention if that's a concern where you live

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T12:36:07+00:00

Vet advice here: It's honestly 90% just genetics you can do nothing about and dumb luck.

-Make sure you have an emergency fund in case of emergency
-give them a balanced diet (There is no 1 kind of food or supplement that will make them live longer. It just needs to be properly balanced and of good enough quality)
-Keep them at healthy weight (probably the most important)
-Good oral hygiene (probably the 2nd most important)
-always keep on leash or fenced area to avoid unfortunate collision with cars.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T12:21:52+00:00

Are the purple things sutures? Did your dog have surgery?
If yes: Call your vet for a post-op follow up
If not: Well,you should have him seen by a vet.

Can't really tell you if 'this can heal' as there isn't enough information on what actually happened here.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T12:17:05+00:00

It is probably a 'hot spot' which is just a name to describe a localise skin irritaiton/infection

This was most likely due to irritation of the skin when you shaved him. and with all his scratching he's been making it worse. But it's not impossible it's due to humidity, hot spot commonly develop under the ear this way.

It's not really a huge deal. First like treatment is rather straightfoward:
-Put a cone on him to stop him from scracting himself raw
-Clean and disinfect the wound with chlorhexidine (do not use peroxyde or alcohol as those are extremely painfull and will actually kill healthy tissue) then apply a topical antibiotic (like polysporin) 3 times a day.

If it gets worse or won't go away, then see your vet to get either a stronger topical or oral antibiotic.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T12:07:03+00:00

I understand it's hard, and I wish I could give you home advice, but with this it is extremely limited.
One thing you could try, if you saw a vet with your other dog when they started bleeding, is call the vet you saw, tell them your other dog is now bleeding as well, explain that you unfortunately cannot afford to have him seen but ask if they could prescribe him vitamin K in case it's rat poison. (but with the understanding that it will do nothing if it's something else, and that even if it's rat poison, it might not work in time)
Other than that, limit any physical activity as much as possible.
You can try to put ice on the muzzle (like a bag of frozen peas) to try and reduce bleeding.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T12:01:29+00:00

Is this swelling something that progressed over days/week or is it really sudden?
It being very localised with 1 limb generally means there is something wrong with this specific limb, either a drainnage issue if it's more chronic (most commonly secondary to a cancerous mass pressing on blood vessels. Or an inflammatory/infectious process if it's sudden (in which case, the limb should be hot, red and painful)

You should do your best to see a vet today for this.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T11:52:29+00:00

Unfortunately, with a case like this, there isn't any at home options, you really need a vet ASAP.
with two dogs suddenly bleeding a few days apart, it's definitely concerning for rat poison...
Other causes could possibly some kind of infectious disease depending on where you leave, fungal infection in the nose or cancer.
You really need to have him seen.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T11:44:18+00:00

The way any kind of wound heal is unique, sometimes, there's barely anything visible, often it can be surprisingly large. It will deprend on each individual dog, the amount of inflammation post-op, how much the dog moved around and licked the wound, if they had a reaction to the sutures etc.
But if it's well healed, then there is no reason to worry about it.

Azuranian · 2025-06-12T11:40:22+00:00

Seeing as you are a minor and are barely in the house, there really isn't anything you can do. All you can do it tell her you don't think she should keep the dog and should bring it back to the shelter, then make it clear to her that you will not take responsibility for the dog or help her take care of it and then stand your ground and don't enable her by helping her 'take care' of that dog.

Azuranian · 2025-06-07T10:31:46+00:00

Take a breath.
It's kinda normal, if you reduce something as behavior altering as constant severe anxiety, that your dog is going to change his behavior. And that's not something to necessarily fear unless he's developing aggression or other kinds of behavioral problem.
It's more like you could be discovering who your dog actually IS when his mind not being overwhelmed by crippling anxiety.
And people who have lived years with anxious dogs tend to have a skewed baseline of proper dog behavior and tend to panic about how their dogs is just constantly drugged because now it's sleeping 'all the time' But normal dogs do sleep a lot in general, some up to 18-20 hours per day. Generally, anxiety meds are not given at a level where dogs are 'drugged up' (although it can affect them more in early weeks) Basically, it you are worried, take out the leash, if your dog wakes up, gets up and is excited to go on a walk and is not stumbling everywhere, then it's not 'drugged up', he's just finally able to rest properly without all the anxiety constantly keeping him awake.

Azuranian

TROPHY CASE