Bacchus

Thanks to everyone for your advice and assistance. It has been a week or so now and Mack is doing brilliantly. His cough is all but gone, his cheekiness is back and today he was so excited when I threw his ball for him for the first time in a couple of weeks. The nice part is that he has also matured just a bit. He's still a puppy but used to jump up and unintentionally knock the kids over if he was excited. He's much more considerate and gentle now which is absolutely wonderful. It was a big vet bill but well work it - he's a great boy. I believe that he was fully monitored for O2 sats plus being on constant O2 during his treatments. I can't comment on the aspiration as I didn't query that with the vet.

Erny, you were there when I lost my 10 year old Rotti in 2007 so the fact that you have responded again is lovely enough. Thank you.

My 11 month old Rotti has gone through a pretty rough week. He started gagging last Sunday night and after rushing him to the vet, we found that he was going blue and needed immediate sedation. An X-ray showed that he had 'inhaled' a date palm seed (we don't even own one so it most likely was dropped into our yard by a bird) and it was stuck in his trachea. 1.5 hours of a 'snatch and grab' endoscope couldn't get it. It was at least though pushed out of his main airway and more toward one lung. 2 hours later (post procedure) he had a heart attack and had to be revived. He was intubated and kept under heavy sedation all night and after another 1.5 hours of procedure in the morning, the offending item was removed. We then had to wait to observe motor skills (in case of brain damage post heart attack) and were told that he threw up under anaesthetic and aspirated some into his lungs which has now caused pneumonia through a few bugs, the most nasty one Pseudomonas. He has been home for 3 days now and I am coupaging his chest at least 3 times per day to help him clear the fluid. His cough and wheeze are lessening but are temperamental. He is on three types of antibiotics, Clavulox, Metrogyl and as of today, Ciprofloxacin. I am allowing him light exercise only - just enough to move some of the lung infection so he can have a good cough. He's definitely not himself. Still wonderful but so much quieter...he has been through so much though so I can kind of expect that. I guess I am after any feedback at all on this. What else could I be doing to aid in his recovery? The Ciprofloxacin is a generic human antibiotic ($91) vs the vet's original recommendation of another antibiotic which was $760. Has anyone any feedback on the use of a human antibiotic on a dog? What should I be looking out for in terms of future cardiac issues - if he's had an arrest, does that mean that his heart will be damaged somewhat and more susceptable to another? The biggest one - he seems much better within himself today although his cough is waining. Is that a good sign as it shows his lungs are clearing? or a bad sign that he's not bringing enough up? Any comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

We have a beautiful 6 month old female Border Collie. She is growing up to be a lovely happy dog, great with our 3 year old son and with increasingly improving manners. I was home alone yesterday though and had a home invasion. Said beautiful puppy dog was nowhere in sight She generally barks if she sees someone in our back lane but never on the street at the front. The intruder though actually came from the back lane so I'm unsure where she was. How do we get her to be more alert? Is it just an age thing or is there some way that we can train her (without affecting her lovely nature with the family?). I don't expect or want her to attack anyone, just to bark so we are alert to the fact the someone is coming in the yard (and also maybe make them think twice about coming in). We used to have a Rottweiler who was a sook but intimidating to look at so this is a bit of a change for us. Any suggestions would be great

It has been a couple of weeks now and I'm pleased to say that she is turning into the gorgeous dog I always hoped she would. She is growing so big and so very quickly. She learnt very quickly how to sit (and almost to wait for her dinner ) but most importantly, is now patiently taking hand-treats from both myself and my 3 year old after she sits. She has stopped nipping him (playfully) as much and stopped barking at him too. We've come full circle - thank you all so much (and especially you Sheree for your advice).

It sure does - I brought her in last night after your post and both my son and I had her sit down before getting a yummy snack. She took the food beautifully so we'll be working on that over the next few weeks. Thank you so much for your advice.

With previous dogs, we have always taught good 'table' manners but our new 14 week Border Collie puppy just shocked me. When I feed her dry food, I generally give her a pat when she starts and run my fingers down the side of her nose quickly. She normally just stops eating momentarily then goes back to it. I do this just as a quick check, we did it with our previous dogs and then could remain confident that they were happy eaters. Tonight, my little puppy growled, a very throaty growl. When I removed her from the food saying 'No', she started to shake but continued a much louder growl. I'm not used to this. I have a 3 year old and puppy safety is something I'm extremely paranoid about. She's a beautiful girl during the day, loves to play and all but I need to be able to trust her. How do I show her that this behaviour is wrong? I know that I probably pushed her outside of her comfort zone but I am used to having a Rottwieler who was as placid as a teddy bear. The alarm bells are ringing here. Please help

Thanks again everyone. We made the hard decision to put him to sleep this afternoon. It appears that it wasn't a ruptured disc but a tumour in his spine that had ruptured. Unfortunately that limited our options so we did was was best for him, given the pain that he was in. It doesn't make it any easier though. Thank you all for being so helpful. It was my first visit to this site and obviously in a great deal of distress. You really helped me look for the pros and cons of the situation so I can feel some level of comfort in our decision.

Thanks for your ideas everyone. They haven't done X-Rays yet, just a lot of manipulation. Due to the pain level, they wanted to stabilise him overnight whilst they did the blood work, then investigate more after their team meeting in the morning (it is a University Vet Centre and all specialists will be on board in the morning). Personally, I think that the blood work is a search to check for 'something else wrong' to assist our decision. I can't get him to a chiro - he is in too much pain however post X-rays, it may be something to move toward. I will review with the vet in the morning. Bacci is such a gorgeous boy - I hate that he is going through all of this. He has always been so wonderfully healthy. Apart from a little of what we thought to just be arthritis sneaking up in the past few winters (which, looking back, may have been a warning sign of his spinal issues), he has rarely had a health issue. My 3 year old son is still dealing with the loss of our beloved border collie last September when both she and Bacci decided to jump the fence at our new house and she was hit by a car. We were so lucky that we were able to take Bacci home, the people who had hit Jess took them both to the Emergency vet - he was thankfully unharmed. Ironically this is the same vet he is now staying at. I will let you all know how it goes tomorrow.

Unfortunately yes, he was in serious pain (shaking and heavy panting) anyway but to turn his neck was agony and even when he did it himself (lured by a liver strip), he would yelp and shudder as he turned his neck. Even in a supported sling, he can't let his hind feet touch the ground as it is too painful. Thank you though for your advice, it would be devastating to make a decision based on a poor diagnosis. It really does make you think. Thank you as well Erny - your post brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you for your honesty. I just don't know what to think - he's such a wonderful dog. I want to do what's best for him - I just don't know what that is. Thank you again.

This is the first time I've posted here but I really need some advice. My 10 year old Rottweiler became paralysed today with no warning. He was lying down and simply couldn't get back up. We took him to the vet who tested his reflexes (ok), his temp (ok) and tried to get him up into a sling. He could put no weight on his hind legs (his toes would curl up), his front legs were tentative but it was his head movement from side to side that hurt him the most. He was in major pain, they sedated him and are doing blood work tonight just to rule out any infection (cancers etc). They have advised that they could do surgery, no guarantees on effectiveness, value of about $3000 - $5000. They advised though that due to his age, due to the general thought that Rottys are potentially predisposed to cancers etc at this age, that we should consider putting him down. I really don't know what I should be doing. I love him dearly but would I simply be putting an old dog through more pain if I was to proceed with the surgery? Does anyone have any advice? Please? :p