Sandra

I am a fairly new Vet receptionist, and I really don't know as much about cats as I would like to.

Today a client came in with a mother cat and only one kitten, and she told me why there was only one kitten. She lives in the country, and all her cats have been ones that wandered over one day and she took in, the latest being the pregnant cat. All went fine, until one day when she went to the store, and all the kittens but two were dead, and the mother had a wound on her face.

One of the remaining two kittens was fine, but the other was badly injured, so she rushed the injured one to the emergency vet. Unfortunately, he didn't survive. The vet didn't believe it was the Jack Russells, as he said the bite wounds were too small, and the client's account of the dogs made me feel as if it wasn't them either. Also the wounds on the Mom did not look like any dog bite I'd ever seen. It was kind of like large needle marks on her nose.

The owner believes it must have been one of the other cats. Is this common in cats? Would it have been a male cat, or a female? Or did the mother do this? I didn't know cats were a species that usually killed young from other cats. The kittens were maybe 6 week I want to say?

We made sure we fed our dog top quality food and then some when we adopted a dog, even though we were super broke. We also made sure we had money set aside in case there was any medical issues that sprung up.

So when we had to spend several thousand in a few years on our dog, even though we again, had no money, we still didn't sacrifice her diet.

So why do people whine that dog food is too expensive? Don't people factor that in when they take in their animal?

I am so done. I tried working a vet's office, and I got verbally abused for an hour because someone said everyone that fed raw was an idiot. I even hid most of my views and just said "Well people are just trying to do the best for their pet and their aren't a lot of studies."

I have no problem with raw. Their aren't ANY studies that say they are better or worse.

But everyone says vets have all these studies, that they won't release to the world.

And now I'm getting a nasty attitiude because you absolutely should make sure your dog isn't immuno-supressed if you are doing raw!

WHY THE F*CK IS EVERYONE SO AWFUL?

I just can't fricking win. I'm scared to go back to work for even sticking up for raw, I'm losing my health insurance,l but somehow I'm a terrible person for saying a dog who is immuno-supressed should consult a vet about raw? Salmonella doesn't cause really any symptoms in a healthy dog, but for immuno-suppressed, it DOES.

I have a four year old pit bull, and we discovered a fairly large lump on her chin yesterday. We have a vet appointment scheduled for the tomorrow. I think the lump is probably new, but I can t be positive. It feels almost like a big zit. Do dogs frequently get zits? Can mast cells appear very quickly? (She had a mast cell removed 2 years ago.)

Additional Info: The lump is bigger than a pea, smaller than a marble. The skin under the fur is a darker red than her surrounding pink skin. It doesn t seem to bother her that we can tell, but it might itch, I think she scratched it.

My fiancee and I got to talking about the possibility of fostering and/or adopting children in the distant future, and wondered if it would be possible.

We have a very sweet rescue pit mix, who is a little shy with adults, but nice, and just adores children. We hope to adopt and/or foster another dog as soon as we find the right house. We've both worked with dogs and refuse to discriminate based on breed, so it's likely if we get a rescue it will be a mixed breed with some pit. Whatever dog we get or foster will also be friendly with people, and children.

Would we still be able to foster or adopt children with friendly pits or pit mixes?

About a year ago, during a breast self-exam, I noticed a milky/clear liquid coming from my nipple. It really freaked me out, and I realized both breasts would leak the fluid if pressed.

I've tried some different things, hoping it would stop, like bigger bras, but eventually thought it was my birth control, so I stopped it and relied solely on the condoms we always use about a month ago. I'm still having the discharge.

I had been on the pill, and we always used condoms, and I took pregnancy tests when it started. I have never been pregnant. I am 28, had been on the pill for years, and have been on Effexor for at least five years. I did gain a little weight the past years, so now I am a normal weight, which has caused my breasts to grow (before, I was very skinny and had very little breast tissue.)

The discharge is always clear or pale white, and there are usually a few drops worth in one breast, and a bit more in the other, but one seems to squirt out.

Any med student out there that want to take a crack at this one?

Although I've worked with dogs a lot, I'm only very rarely around other people's dogs and children. I have found my rescue dog is amazing with kids. To the point where it's just astounding. She usually just likes us, and she's usually rambunctious, but if with kids, she wants to hang out, she's so relaxed and happy, and SO gentle, and usually she's an oaf. I just would like to hear how most people's dogs do around children, and their if their upbringing contributed.

I've asked this a couple times, but everyone jumps down my throat if I mention she's a pit, or don't really answer.

DISCLAIMER: Let me start by a brief statement to reassure, and hopefully get answers rather than cautions. We would NEVER leave our dog alone with a child, and we supervise very closely. We have both worked with dogs, and pay careful attention to her body language, and she gives excellent cues. If she displays any anxiety, even about unrelated factors, she is removed from the children, because we know the importance of being overly cautious. Both trainers are fine with this. She has never shown the slightest bit of human aggression, and has always been phenomenal with kids.

Back to my question. I have never seen a dog that is so great with kids. She will even pretend to play tug, without actually tugging, so the child believes he is winning against the dog. Only a few actually answered this question when I asked before, and said they believed she had grown up with children. Has anyone had a dog from puppy-hood that behaved this way? Can you explain their up bringing? Also, when she was rescued, she was not spayed, and may have had a litter previously. Could either of those be a factor? We are just very surprised, as she's usually rowdy, and likes us more than most humans, but with kids, she is gentle, relaxed, and wants to be around them very much.

No matter how good she is, we will never cease supervising, and being hyper vigilant. That is not why I am asking.

We adopted our rescue dog, Wren, mostly American Staffordshire, when she was about two years old. She had been found living as a stray in Detroit at one year, and spent about 9 months with a foster couple with a lot of dogs, but no kids.

We were very careful when we introduced her to children, but we quickly learned she was fantastic with them. She seems to communicate with them much better than with other adults that aren't us. She seems to adore kids too.

The first young kid she was around was a toddler cousin, and we were shocked at how much Wren loved the little girl. Wren is usually glued to us, but she would follow the girl around, and flop on her back next to her when she could. The little girls "pets" were more hits, but Wren loved it.

It's been a few years, and Wren has consistently exceeded our expectations with children.

She lets the kids play with her toys, and loves nothing more than licking them, is pleased as pie to let them grab her, and plays with them back when they want her too, being oh so ginger (even though normally she's a crazy-butt), and even PRETENDS to tug on toys, but doesn't actually, so the kids think they are winning tug.

She met a two month last week, and was so careful, and kept trying to crawl over to kiss the babies face (but we didn't let her for sanitary reasons.) If the baby cried, she would wake up and try to crawl next to the baby.

Does it sound like she grew up around babies, or is she just good with kids naturally

It's been there for 3-4 days, and I popped it today, and a normal amount of pus came out. It's been more swollen than most zits I've had swelling since it appeared, and of course popping it caused more swelling.

It doesn't hurt.

I went online, and read all these horror stories about Staph infections, etc.

Should I be worried?

Also, I do have a dead tooth, but not under the zit, and nothing hurts.

Our couple friends had a baby we got to meet today, and it's the first friends we have that have a baby. I couldn't get enough of the baby; she was so cute, and happy, and clearly smart. Are the parents likely happy or at least fine with this, because they are proud to have such an amazing baby, or was it rude to be distracted by baby?

Our couple friends had a new baby we got to meet today, and the baby was just adorable. The guys are closer than the wife and I, which I would love to change because she's really awesome, but I worry that occasionally I might be a bit awkward.

Anyway, they have an adorable two year old boy, and a two month old baby girl, who we met for the first time today. I just loved the baby, she was so cute, and I'd make faces and talk to her to get her to smile, and give her my finger to grab onto. I spent a decent amount of time focused on the baby when she was awake and not eating, and I asked a lot of questions about babies and motherhood and stuff. I hope I didn't focus too much on the baby. Is that okay, that I spent a lot of time with the kids or asking about them? We talked about other stuff some too, but not that much.

any given time I usually have a handful of small bruises, and one to four large ones, just from everyday living... Bumping something or whatever. Is this not normal?

I've never really questioned it and assumed doctors were being over protective and vigilant by always asking, but my boyfriend tells me it's not normal. My mother even asked if he was beating me because of a light face bruise! My boyfriend also found a handprint bruise that must have happened from our sex, which isn't rough at all!

Do I just have thin blood or something? Are normal people not like this?

My boyfriend had a belt break in his old rusty car, and since he wasn't near enough home to get it back here, and he wanted it done quickly, he took it to a shop that was right there.

While he was waiting and trying to keep the dog calm (our pup was with him), they put it up on a lift.

He didn't realize they were doing that until after it was done, because he wasn't looking through the glass into the shop, but when he saw he commented that he had been going to mention that his car probably wouldn't do well on a lift, but thought they would know that from the state of the old car.

The belt is accessed from the hood of the car. We don't know why they lifted it.

Anyway, they fixed the belt, but he got in and started driving and basically had no breaks.

The car is old, but they did break it by needlessly lifting it. Are they likely to pay or should they, or is this just kind of a thing where if the car was that rusty, it's not on them?

I've been vegetarian for 9 years, almost my entire adult life, because I'm disgusted by what happens to the animals that go into the meals that I would otherwise eat.

My father hunts, and it makes me so mad when people curl their lips or wince. My father is the one that taught me to respect animals when he took me hunting (we never got anything, likely by design but still.) If he kills something, it is killed humanely and eaten.

What do people think goes into their hamburger? Slaughtering is much more disgusting, fearful process, and their lives in captivity are horrible and joyless.

Hunted animals get to live naturally, free, and happy and then pass very quickly. So why is everyone so anti-inflammatory?

As an ethical-vegetarian, I completely support hunting when the meat is eaten, so why doesn't any one else?

I'm starting to get really fed up with employee conditions. Our backroom is an obstacle course of metal objects and stacks of heavy bags, and there are never any walkways. We are required to climb around and pull out different heavy bags, and try to carry them out onto the floor without tripping on the metal stuff strewn everywhere, and I'm covered in bruises constantly, but grateful I haven't been seriously injured yet. Are there laws against this? What specifically?

This is to prevent fixing the toilet. We have to work in there to process returns, etc. We also have to take out the trash full of used toilet paper weekly. I am fairly certain all of this is illegal and dangerous as a permanent solution. What are the specific dangers in hopes I can convince my employer to fix the toilet instead of the open disgusting bin? Or at least so I can refuse to use this bathroom and go to a nearby store?