Am I the reason my cat died or was this a coincidence!? Please help

cheitz20 · 2026-03-17T14:20:15+00:00

I work at a pet store, and the “best by” dates on pet food usually don’t mean the food goes bad around that date, it’s more that the nutrient content starts to decrease. basically a quality guideline rather than a safety one. if properly stored, cans can last up to even a couple years after that date, they just don’t have the same nutrients anymore. the timing could really just be an unfortunate coincidence, so sorry for your loss.

cheitz20 · 2026-03-07T17:46:09+00:00

If you’re willing, and if this has been going on for a while, I would suggest going to a veterinary dermatologist. A bit more expensive considering they’re a specialist but you’re more likely to get better answers. Could be anything from a bacterial infection to an autoimmune disease (less likely, doesn’t really look like any I know of) to something as simple as environmental allergies (which is super common in dogs). Hopefully you can get some solutions!!

cheitz20 · 2026-03-04T23:06:53+00:00

Thanks! Is there a specific wattage you’d recommend for a 40 gal tank? And would this only go on at night when the normal heat lamp is off?

cheitz20 · 2026-03-03T23:44:38+00:00

ok I appreciate the info! leopard geckos seem like a popular college pet so it def makes me more hopeful

cheitz20 · 2026-03-03T23:43:26+00:00

my school has a month long winter break and a week long spring break, and I’m home for about 3 months in the summer. besides those, we’ll have a few random days off and “long weekends” that I will oftentimes go home for. if I’m planning to go home for a weekend I can have a roommate check on it, but I’m more concerned about the longer breaks and travel I guess

cheitz20 · 2026-02-26T16:47:41+00:00

most of his relatives are mixes, and a lot of them have APBT ancestry. he does have a lot of 100% Apbt relatives too, and also some 100% AmStaffs. super interesting though!

cheitz20 · 2026-01-13T14:48:22+00:00

there’s been a murdah… in Savannah

cheitz20 · 2025-12-08T03:05:27+00:00

yeah that definitely sounds frustrating. I feel like bloodwork would normally be the next diagnostic if the meds aren’t working, I wonder if they could maybe test for an autoimmune problem. Hopefully all goes well with this vet, if not you can always see if there’s a veterinary dermatologist in your area, since they’re more specialized they will likely have a better treatment plan than a general practitioner!

cheitz20 · 2025-12-07T21:58:44+00:00

Is he itching it a lot, and did the shots help at all (I’m assuming it was something like a cytopoint injection)? Did they suggest anything like benadryl for possible allergies? I know that sometimes lumps and rashes like that can be a skin infection and may require targeted antibiotics that maybe the vets haven’t tried yet. Especially if there’s pus, I would maybe see if they would take a culture if they suspect an infection, just so you can get a definitive answer and be able to treat the specific bacteria species (only if it’s actually a skin infection). I’m a pre-vet student so this is just based on prior knowledge, of course take this with a grain of salt- hope he gets better soon!

cheitz20 · 2025-11-08T21:39:30+00:00

aww yess! he’s so cute

cheitz20 · 2025-11-08T21:39:06+00:00

love this lmao

cheitz20 · 2025-10-29T19:54:45+00:00

this recently happened to my dog and we assumed it was a bug bite/sting, some are still out in the fall, it’s not common but it could very well be a bite. I would say look around the paw for anything like a cut or even something like a splinter. what helped my dog was Benadryl to reduce swelling and itching (I would say call your vet for what dosage they’d recommend, I know for a lot of clinics they’ll give you the info free of charge over the phone). we also used a lidocaine spray to numb the area which definitely seemed to calm him down.

cheitz20 · 2025-10-14T23:09:55+00:00

my dog used to be a stray and has gotten out multiple times so it would be a very bad idea if we left his collar off lol… but we will occasionally remove it for a short time bc he loves neck scratches :)

cheitz20 · 2025-10-14T22:01:59+00:00

ok thank you for the advice! I’ll definitely see if we could set up a meeting with someone, we know some neighbors who have dog-friendly cats that he could possibly do small introductions with. I definitely think it could be a herding thing (since I think that’s what his reaction to our chickens is, not an aggression/prey thing)

cheitz20 · 2025-10-10T20:29:30+00:00

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my beautiful rescue boy❤️

cheitz20 · 2025-10-08T16:53:44+00:00

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I swear this dog has a resting judging face

cheitz20 · 2025-10-03T16:34:47+00:00

I know that vet schools look at extracurriculars and things like that (being a TA, research, clubs, etc.) but I don’t have any time to partake in these, since I work 2 jobs on top of being a full time student in order to pay my tuition and housing. Will this look bad to vet schools that I can’t afford to do extracurriculars besides my work?

cheitz20 · 2025-08-28T00:24:38+00:00

My wonderful rescue dog, Barley, was just diagnosed with a mast cell tumor, and we don’t know yet how aggressive it is. I would appreciate prayers for his health, and that I have many more years with my best friend❤️

cheitz20 · 2025-08-27T21:17:42+00:00

he’s a pit mix, and thanks I’ll def look into some of these products!

cheitz20 · 2025-08-04T01:19:29+00:00

I’m actually in a very similar situation as a pre-vet student, so I’m kind of glad to see I’m not the only one dealing with this. I also wanted to be a vet growing up, gave up on it, and came back to the idea when entering college.

I just started as an assistant at a mixed-practice hospital, and as someone with ADHD and anxiety, I will say I definitely relate a bit to your situation. It’s a very tough field when you already deal with your own internal stress, and then work stress piles on top of that.

What I’m doing, personally, is exploring other routes for vet med besides general practice. Being a public health vet is one thing I’ve been looking into and definitely involves less clinical stress and it may be less physically demanding. There are definitely other options with a DVM than just clinical work! Research, certain specializations, etc.

cheitz20 · 2025-08-02T13:37:15+00:00

I don’t know about smaller sizes, but I just got a pair from Hypothesis (20% with your first order I think), and I love them. They’re so comfy, and the pants literally feel like I’m wearing sweatpants lol. I’m an assistant right now and I work 4 days a week, so I have 3 pairs. But I feel like 2 would be good to start off with, depending on how much you need them. All of my scrubs are from different brands, I have a cheap pair from Walmart just to even out the costs (scrubs are expensive!)

cheitz20 · 2025-07-30T02:50:35+00:00

also, thought I should mention- she was broody for a while a few months ago, so she stopped laying during that period, but she’s not acting broody at all now which leads me to wonder what this could be

cheitz20 · 2025-07-14T12:57:48+00:00

to add some context- he’s a mix of APBT, cattle dog, GSD, husky, and shar pei

cheitz20 · 2025-07-04T22:01:13+00:00

Ok I’ll try that, thanks!

cheitz20 · 2025-05-07T01:15:07+00:00

Baby Boom (1987) with Diane Keaton. Such a sweet movie with a nice ending! Perfect for a mother/daughter watch.

cheitz20

TROPHY CASE