5.5-year-old Shi (or Ni?) has noisy breathing and coughing

[yasmin]

Took Shi (or Ni – not sure which one it is. Ni is the one who squints but they now both squint) to the vet last week. Her breathing started becoming "noisy" mid the previous week. She began coughing last Wednesday. She is still eating normally from what I can tell.

The vet examined her. She has a bit of noisiness in one lung so she is on antibiotics for at least a week. If I see no improvement by Thursday, I will be taking her in for a followup. Might do x-rays then and a mouth inspection. Should be able to tell who it is then because Shi was in months ago and had the beginning of a spur starting on one molar (but too small at the time to warrant the risk of anesthesia).

[ntg]

Oh no! I hope the antibiotics do their magic for poor Shi/Ni!

[moletteuk]

Hope the antibiotics help.

[deguconvert]

I hope she will dramatically improve, love! Share the package I sent with her.

[yasmin]

I took Shi to the vet this afternoon because, as of last night, she has been having trouble eating. She could not even eat the Critical Care without it falling out of her mouth.

He took an x-ray and removed two large spurs from her lower molars – one growing forward and the second one growing over her tongue.
X-rays showed that she has molar roots growing down past her lower jaw line and more roots growing upward into her nasal cavities. The X-rays also revealed a great amount of air in her GI tract and spots on her lungs. She has been prescribed OVOL to deal with the gas – once per hour for the next 4 hours – and Baytril for at least another week to try and cure the deep-seated lung infection.

Poor baby is in a lot of discomfort.

[Emziedee]

Poor girl!!! These d**n overgrown roots it's just not fair 😞

Wishing her the very best and a speedy recovery. Well done for acting fast!!

[deguconvert]

My goodness!! She must be feeling so poorly! SOOO glad you had the XRays and the vet had the spurs removed so quickly! That must have been a great relief for her, even that much. God bless and speed the healing!

[yasmin]

After two more doses of Ovol this morning, all signs of bloat disappeared.

That was until tonight – she is beginning to bloat up again. I think it is because she is breathing through her mouth.
We have had to syringe the Baytril and the Metacam. The Baytril is getting into her; not sure about the Metacam. Twice some of the Metacam went flying elsewhere but I don't know how much so I am afraid to OD her by giving her anymore.

She is still not eating. Did lick a bit of the soft food but that was it. Has taken some water by syringe. Will have to try and get Ovol into her again – hopefully with her willingly drinking a mixture of it with the water.

[winic1]

The poor little thing! I hope she will take her medicine for you, and for her sake, too.

[goolover]

Sorry to hear this Yasmin, sending lots of luv and good vibes. Know how difficult it was for Nina to try and eat when she was trying to mostly breath through her mouth. Poor little mite and as Garf said D**N these molars, our babies would live so much longer without them.

[moletteuk]

Sending best wishes x

[yasmin]

Shi is doing a bit better today. Will need to give her another dose of Ovol – she's looking big again tonight.
Continuing with the Baytril twice a day and will give Metacam again tonight.

[yasmin]

The 14 days of baytril may have helped her breathing a bit but she continues to bloat up. When she bloats up, her breathing becomes labored. She coughs after eating and is eating some hard food on her own and will take a bit of wet food when offered as well as a bit of fresh veg, but overall eats very little. She looks ragged, and skinny and her eyes are small. I have been giving her Ovol at least twice every day. It helps with the bloating and, when she is back to her normal size, she seems to be more active and ready to eat again.

I took her to the vet today because I need to know how her lungs were doing and whether inflammation of her nasal cavity caused by the intruding roots might be the reason she is bloating up (by requiring her to mouth-breath). I also wanted to know if giving her another round of baytril might be necessary.

The vet took a look at her. She has lost 50g (!) in the past two weeks. Her breathing issues do not seem to be caused by any root infiltration.

Though her heartbeat seems good, her lungs sound like they are filled with fluid. The vet has prescribed Lasix (furosemide) to see if that can help remove the fluid from her lungs. She will start on one drop/once a day; Shi can get up to one drop/twice a day, if necessary, and if she tolerates it (I have to watch for signs of dehydration). I am also to continue with the Ovol to deal with any possible gas issues.

I have given her her first dose of the furosemide. The vet had it mixed with Ribena flavoring – I mixed the drop in with some baby food and she licked it all up, no problem.

[deguconvert]

WOW!! That has to sap her energy so much! With the cancer in my Moms' lung, there has also been fluid build up, and it causes so much pain. Poor, sweet Shi. I really, really hope this stuff will help. Did the vet tell you what to look for with dehydration? Other than difficulty pooping, I'm not sure what that would look like.

[moletteuk]

Oh that sounds rough, poor girl. Is she on metacam too?

You can pull the skin away and see how quickly it pops back to check for dehydration, just like you would for a human. I think it's harder to see the skin settle again when it is covered in fur, but I have seen my vet do this to check.

[Deleted]

They do that skin test for a dog or cat too.

I hope she's okay and isn't in too much pain poorly girl, I'll be thinking of her ❤

[yasmin]

The vet said to watch to see how much she drinks and if she is almost non-stop on the water bottle then there might be a problem.

I have just given Shi today's dose of Lasix. I put it in a dab of PC Organic carrot (in a bottle) baby food. After that I gave her a few peas and then some Critical Care mixed with almond. She began to bloat up as I watcher her eat. Had to give her a dose of Ovol after that. Used the Sweet Potato PC baby food for that.

Also noticed that Rei has suddenly bloated up. She also just ate the PC Organic bottled baby food. She won't take any more food right now – will have to give her the Ovol later. Ichi had a bit too but she looks okay.

Going to check for recalls on that food now. I know the PC Organics line in the pouches were recalled a while back but the bottles were supposed to be fine (there was some issue on how the pouches were prepared). Or maybe some of them are allergic/sensitive to carrot? They just get about a half a teaspoon of it now and then (usually use the squash baby food).

[yasmin]

Apr 14, 2017 10:25:37 GMT moletteuk said:

Oh that sounds rough, poor girl. Is she on metacam too?

You can pull the skin away and see how quickly it pops back to check for dehydration, just like you would for a human. I think it's harder to see the skin settle again when it is covered in fur, but I have seen my vet do this to check.

Vet did not tell me about the skin elasticity test but we did have to do that to our cat Ditto when he was on furosemide. Good idea.

I did not give her Metacam last night. Do you think I should continue giving it to her?

[deguconvert]

That does seem to be a reaction to the food. Kind of scary! I think I would toss that and get new.

[yasmin]

Did just that.