Hey reddit. We've got a metal lean-to roof connected to our house and we have a couple of raccoons that have been sleeping on it during the day.

They're super adorable, but they also keep pooping up there and it gets stuck there. It's starting to smell under the patio.

They are not aggressive, my kid's actually love looking at them (we have a window which allows us to see them up close). I don't want to call animal control or anything, not that I think they could do anything.

But my patio where we love to hang out is starting to stink like poop... looking for options to deter them from going up there (humanely).

The roof is pretty big, 15 feet by 18 feet. They like to hang out in the corner because it receives shade from the house roof over hang.

Thanks in advance!

These traps are labeled pet & kid safe. No pets & kids can easily access the bait but the rodents can exit the traps with chunks/almost a full block of bait.

Activated Charcoal paste from pet & feed stores is recommended but in a pinch/emergency you can use hydrogen peroxide ( image had dosing instructions)

I have a ranch so I keep activated charcoal paste on hand but I realize most folks don’t so thought i would share.

I had a ferret die recently of insulnoma with no signs. Now I can’t stop obsessing over my other pet’s health. One of my other ferrets was also just sick on Thursday too which didn’t help, but I brought her to the vet and he said it was a weird fluke. She was having sneezing first and throwing up which she never does. But for a little context as well she was in a new environment, in a new bed, and the bed had been slept in by other ferrets who we just got a week before. So idk if that was the cause of the sneezing fits but it still worried me. She’s fine now and hasn’t sneezed and is eating, drinking, and playing normal but I can’t help but feel she or one of my others is next so soon. Idk how to calm down after the loss of my other ferret and how to stop fixating.

Hi, so i don’t live at home anymore, but i sometimes visit. Mostly when my parents need someone to look after the dog (Lotta) and the cats (Findus and Luzie).
Normally Findus and Luzie need to go outside at night and Lotta sleeps downstairs, but i let them sleep in my room when im home (i leave the door open so they can go anytime) I want to spend as much time with them as possible.

Tonight Lotta was sleeping in my bed, Findus on the floor and Luzie on my armchair. At some point i thought i should also spend some time with the cats so i laid on the floor with Findus.

Lotta was asleep, but as soon as i left the bed she curled up and started to whimper and she seemed kind of distressed. I gave her my blanket and a plushy, wich seemed to calm her down. But now im worried, since she normally sleeps alone.
Can a dog have nightmares? And, if yes, is there something i can do to help?

Also here are some pictures of my precious babies :)

my friend brought me this kitten. we don’t know the age or who it may belong to or even what happened but she has bleeding near her butt or from it, i’m not sure. three legs don’t seem to work and her back doesn’t look good. the vet has been notified but none are open at this time. we have her on a flat surface with a blanket. she is in my bedroom as of now and hoping she makes it through the night.
begging for any advice.!!!

my 6 year old cat does this thing where she meows loudly and when i even slightly move to look at her she runs under my bed and hides. she does this primarily during 1-5 am. she doesn’t seem sick or ill in anyway, and she acts normally when she isn’t like this. i can try to entice her from under the bed with treats, but she’s stopped falling for that trick. she doesn’t need to use the litter box, nor is she hungry. i try playing with her but she stays under the bed and just stares at me. she stays like that till i go away then comes out and starts meowing again. i laid down on my floor and just stared at her under the bed for a few minutes and she didn’t meow, just walked around in circles near me, then sat down, then walked in circles again. she stops doing this after a couple hours, usually when the sun comes up. she then comes onto my bed and sleeps next to me. i’m not sure why she does this, if it’s just something silly and she wants attention, or if she’s sick in anyway, have any other pet owners experienced this?

My cat has been stuck up in a tree for about an hour and a half. I have food placed at the bottom of the tree. I can’t tell if she wants to come down. Please if anyone knows who I can call let me know! I’m located in north west OKC.

I had a bouquet of mixed flowers including lillies that I put on my balcony so that my cat couldn’t get to them. Today I decided to clean up the balcony so that I could create a space for my cat to be outside. I threw out everything I could that had come in contact with the flowers and did my best to sweep up the petals and clean the floorboards. There were a few petals in places that I couldn’t really reach so I left them.

I let my cat out and he explored a bit but we probably didn’t stay out there for longer than a total of 5 minutes. Fast forward 2/3 hours and he heaved for a few seconds(no vomit) and that sent me into panic.

I called the emergency vet and the doctor seemed confident that he likely would be fine if I didn’t take him in since I tried to clean thoroughly and he has been eating and playing since. I’m worried because everything that I’m finding on Google is saying if there is even a chance of exposure I should bring him in.

Just looking for any advice or reassurance! (Not medical advice, just if I am safe to wait and see or if I should bring him in)

My cat has always been around dogs. Literally from day 1 over a year ago, he’s been around dogs. Big dogs. Taking naps with them, cleaning their faces, playing rough with them, etc. My dog passed away about a month ago. I brought a different dog home that didn’t end up working out, but within an hour of this dog coming into my apartment, my cat was rolling over, showing his belly, and trying to gently play with her. That dog didn’t work out because she’d never been around other pets during meal times and she was food aggressive towards my cat. At least we got more information about her that will help her get adopted!!! She’ll make a great dog for someone who only wants one pet! :)

My issue (or what will SOON be my issue) is that I’m getting a puppy in a few days. We did a home visit to see if they’d get along and they’re BOTH nervous/scared of the other animal. The puppy hid behind me and barked, while my cat hid under the bed and watched. The cat didn’t seem particularly upset, but he just wasn’t thrilled if that makes sense. He didn’t puff up or hiss, he just stood there staring. The puppy stayed away from the cat once he realized the cat wasn’t a stuffed animal lmao. The puppy also stopped raising his hackles at the cat after a couple minutes. Neither was confrontational and both seemed to want to give the other space, which I feel like is a good sign?

Am I okay to just let them get to know each other in their own time, since they aren’t aggressive towards one another?? The puppy is under 3 months, so he’s only about ten pounds. Is there anything I specifically SHOULDNT do?? When I’m not home or watching, the puppy will be crated and the cat will be roaming free. Any advice?

Edit: I got my puppy two days ago. Day 1 they avoided each other and the cat hid. I told the puppy off when he was being too excited at the cat and reassured the cat that I wasn’t going to let the puppy just run him over lol. The cat figured out the puppy is scared of him so he’s more open to making friends now. It’s like watching two nervous toddlers who speak completely different languages trying to make their first friend together lol. My cat stood still to boop noses and the puppy backed off when he meowed from being overwhelmed. It was a great sign. It helps that my connection with my cat is so deep that he knows I won’t allow him to be in an unsafe situation. I’ve been giving him extra attention when the puppy is in the crate so he doesn’t feel like he’s being abandoned too. I’ll change the dynamic to suit his needs if his behavior or habits change. I’m hoping this trend continues and they’re playing soon, because they both seem to want to play with one another. The cat has been “dancing” at the puppy without being puffed up, his face has had the curious expression instead of the wary one, and he’s been laying on his back and reaching out with his front paws like he does with his other doggy friends. Fingers crossed this keeps going well! Thanks for the advice!

So I’ve noticed my guinea pig Beans has been “whining” almost every time he grooms himself. He is a long haired Sheba Guinea pig, however, I keep his hair relatively short. I haven’t noticed any skin abnormalities and he’s still eating and drinking normally. He recently had a respiratory flair up, but with 2 weeks of antibiotics, his lungs sound clear.

Note: I do plan on scheduling with my vet, just wanted to see if anyone here has experienced this

1 year old gsd rottie mix. I noticed he has these bumps around his eye lids and he’s been scratching. I also noticed he is chewing at the top of one of his back feet. Inside the feet are not irritated, smell or red just one spot on the top of one back foot and around his eyes.

Does this look like allergies? Has anyone else experienced this.

**we have an appointment with our vet in 2 days but looking for advice or like experiences and what you did to help in the meantime?

Thank you in advance!

​

There are three cats at my home. I live in the countryside, so our cats usually go outside to poop. However, one of my cats has become a huge problem because he poops literally everywhere in the house. I mean everywhere. There is almost no place left where he hasn’t pooped.

He poops in my room, my brother’s room, above my parents’ room, the kitchen, the dishwasher area, the bathroom, the toilet, the storage room, the living room, my mother’s tailoring room, under the clothes shelf, and even on the roof. He has even pooped inside the cooking stove! I’m not exaggerating when I say that there is no place he hasn’t pooped.

Where we live, cats usually poop outside. If they want to poop inside, we normally make an ash pile for them to use. We also made one for him, but he refuses to poop in it. He always chooses somewhere else. Sometimes I walk around the house and accidentally step on his poop. I have even accidentally slept on his poop before.

Whenever he poops somewhere, my family sprays him with water and takes him outside to poop, but when we take him outside, he doesn’t poop. Then, as soon as he comes back inside, he poops somewhere else again.

Now the whole house smells like cat poop, and everyone is getting really frustrated. My father is getting so angry that I’m afraid he might ask someone to get rid of the cat.

I really don’t want that to happen. What can I do to stop him from pooping everywhere in the house? Why is he doing this, and how can I teach him to use the ash pile or poop outside?

Edit: He doesn’t only poop—he also pees. He usually pees above my parents’ bedroom. Our house is made of wood, and to prevent dust and small things from falling down, my dad made another layer above the room using thick sheets of paper. My cats usually go up there to sleep and play. But this cat pees there, and the urine sometimes leaks down through the gaps. Sometimes I’m just sitting there and suddenly wonder, “Where did this water come from?” 😭 Only to realize that it’s actually cat pee.

So i recently started taking care of a stray cat in my apartments. Hes friendly so I would let him in almost everyday especially cause I live in texas and its hot as hell in the day so I would let him come and rest in the AC. He also build a little friendship with my puppy and they would play with each other. Along the way i also got him neutered and everything seemed ok. Because I had him inside so much i decided yesterday to take him to the vet just for a wellness check up and a little scab he had on his forehead that was considering me. Ill insert a picture.

I came back out 100 bucks cause they said it was ringworm and I got a oral medicine for him. Once I told my family cause I don't live alone they freaked out! Especially my mom. I understand them but im trying to stay on the postive side and just treat him as the vet said. Im keeping him away from our puppy and having him stay outside for now which I feel bad about cause like I said its hot. I deep a whole deep clean in our home and wiped down everything!! I even ordered a blacklight so i vould check on my dogs.I just wanna know how worried should I be? The ringworm is only on a few patches on his head and not his entire body but still ringworm is ringworm. I feel super bad about leaving him outside as I got him a custom to coming in so does anyone have recommendations on how i can make him more comfortable outside? I have a small patio that he chills in so any advice would be appreciated!! Thanks in advance!

i’m posting this to share my story and get advice and get the word out about how toxic apoquel can be for a cat. August 14th I came home from working night shift and saw my dogs apoquel chewable tablet pill bottle on the ground with no pills. there was 20 pills in the bottle at 3.2 mg each .i immediately had a panic attack because i knew my cat had to have got into them. she climbed the kitchen counter and chewed through the plastic bottle! i wasn’t sure when she got into them since i was at work for 8 hours! i frantically started looking for her and could tell her eyes were big and her third eyelid was showing. i had to call the hotline for emergency toxins for cats before any vet would see me. after paying 110$ for advice. i took her to the vet and they gave her fluids took blood tests and gave her some renal k for her phosphorus. i couldn’t afford them to keep her overnight. the next day my cat wouldn’t move or open her eyes much she was so lethargic. i syringe fed her some liquid food, water, and renal k so that she was getting some fluids. i would carry her to the litter box and she went twice. the third day the eye swelling went down and her eyes are cloudy we took her back to the vet to get more fluids and check her kidneys. the dr told us her kidney levels were so high and she was getting into kidney failure territory. they gave us fluids to give her at home for the next week everyday. everyday she seems to be acting more like herself. by day 3 she was eating and using the litter box herself scratching her post. we’re still not a full week past but i’m hoping and praying she will recover. i wanted to share my ongoing story to warn people about the dangers of the dog medication to cats and how toxic and attracted they are to it.

we have 3 dogs and 4 cats! my dogs have fleas the worst, i’ve tried giving them baths with a bunch of shit that is supposed to kill fleas but they just keep coming back. i feel like it’s mainly one dog that has them the worst, he is constantly itching and biting and i feel so bad. we got them a collar that is supposed to get rid of the fleas but it doesn’t seem to be working. i dont want them to live in such discomfort just because of something i cant fix. it’s getting to the point where the fleas are jumping onto me and my family, i see them on my bed and i dont know what to do. i see them crawling all over the dogs but the cats doesnt seem to have them. i have treated them just incase but i am a bit more worried about that said dog, please let me know what to do! i know they hide in furniture but how would i get them out ? do i just vacuum the furniture and wash bedding? help!

EDIT!! thank you so much for all your help!! i’m working on getting them into the vet i’ve done some things you all have said and it has worked!!

8/9 On Sunday night my poor 15 year old girl cat was at an increased RR of 35. She was also acting withdrawn

8/10 (Monday) I took her into her vet the next day. They did Xray and found a lung mass and pleural effusion. They did labs and potassium was mildly low, 3.3, and BUN was slightly high. Everything else, including SrCr were normal. They drained 70 cc from her chest and send her home on furosemide 1 mL BID, and orbifloxin ABX 1 x daily. They said give it time for the furosemide to catch up.

8/11 (Tuesday) I was freaking out because she was still tired and I was worried she hadn’t peed, which she ended up peeing. This made me a little hopeful. She didn’t eat except for out of my hand. She did however drink a lot of water. To pee and drink water was the only time she’d get up.

8/12 (Wednesday) nothing really changed but I did notice a little wobble when she’d get up. At this time lab results were not back for thoracentesis

8/13 (Thursday afternoon) called for results of thoracentus. No obvious cancer cells, no fungus. Increased WBC. I expressed concern that she wasn’t eating well, was wobbly, and hadn’t pooped since Sunday. They said I had two options, ID referral, or come in for repeat Xr and possible drainage and steroids and fluids. I opted for the second option, I told them she was drinking and they responded “that’s good”. They ended up draining 25 cc, and never mentioned fluids again. They asked if I wanted to food stimulant and I asked if the steroid would help with that and they said yes

8/14 (Friday) she’s weak and not moving much. Now I’m not noticing her getting up for really anything. If I put tuna water in front of her she drank it. I realized I didn’t feel okay going to bed with her like that so I took her to the emergency veterinary. I started to think her extreme lethargy wasn’t related to fluid on lungs , and started to suspect other causes. I thought she might have had critically low potassium

That Friday night in the er, they ran her BP, 90 sys

They did two 15 min bolus, on the second, her labs came back. Her BUN had sky rocketed (can remember), her SrCr was 3.8, sodium was 160, and her potassium was mildly low.

They said they could monitor her 48 hours and correct this, but that taking her home was ultimately inhumane. Her prognosis was already poor, so I was told. And this whole week felt like I was robbing Peter to pay Paul. I felt that I was going to restore her for uncertain reasons, and ultimately put her down. It was the most difficult decision I have ever made, and bwtween the two options I was given, I feel I made the harder decision to live with.

Why I feel regret: on Thursday they mentioned fluids, I said she was drinking. She was! It was the only thing she did infact. I wish I had never said that. I wish that vet had educated me that she was still likely dehydrated. Her mouth felt dry, I should’ve known the signs. Second reason, I was in school during all this and I feel like realistically if I wasn’t I would’ve done more, ie, specialized care. I feel I took the easy way out.

My hope is that I am not seeing it clearly. I hope from outsider perspective that she was ill, and her prognosis was poor. I can live with my decision if I did it to bypass more suffering on her end. It just hurts that she had a terrible last week of sickness on this earth. I wanted her to get better so bad, and I feel her care was consistently behind the curve and that she needed meticulous care with repeat labs to ensure stability. I made every call to the vet, and I don’t know if they were prepared for that sick of a cat.

My gym is in a rural area and is 24 hours, I prefer going at night later. I’ve suspected there was something living around there because I always heard rustling in the woods as I was walking to my car and I saw the silhouette of it another time. But yesterday it came up to me and followed me around. Not hissing making no noises just being a sweet little guy. Like within maybe 6 ft of me. I assume someone is feeding him or her. I watched it for a bit and then left it alone and didn’t let him come to close in case it had rabies or something. You obviously don’t want them associating humans with food and not hunting anymore. Any reason to call the DNR or should I keep letting him be and admiring him from afar. I move back to school at the end of August anyways and he seems healthy and capable of hunting and I don’t wanna mess with his ability to hunt

Hello po, my 5y/o daughter got scratched by our pet kitten (no vaccines) today, August 16, 2026. Nagpainject siya last January 2025 for anti rabies (3 doses/sessions). Effective parin ba yung previous anti rabies niya? Or can i observe our kitten muna for 10 days to see if may rabies symptoms siya before having my daughter get anti rabies vaccine ulit?

Ps. Tumalon yung kitten from sofa to floor kaya nakalmot yung anak ko sa forearm niya since nasa floor siya

Last 6 months he only eating wet food like water mixed if I stop wet food he not drinking water full day im worried please help

If your pet was unwell, what would be your financial limit that you would spend to save/treat them?

My gerbil doesn't have a runny nose, but she isn't moving a lot and she's making the classic clicking sounds of a respiratory infection, but I can't take her to the vet because of money. I've been keeping her warm and making sure that she has food and water. is there anything else anybody knows of that I could do to try to help her get better? I know that it's probably not gonna end the way I want to, but I've gotta try.

i found this in my shih tzu's left ear and to say that i am bothered is an understatement. what is this?