Pneumonia Recovery

[Pretty Miss Emma]

For those who have had experience with a dog who has been diagnosed with pneumonia what sort of recovery time did your dog have?

And what special things did your dog need during this time?

Miss Emma is 12yo and is suspected of having pneumonia. Will obviously discuss this with the vet when I visit her tomorrow in hospital, but always interested in the experience of the DOLer's!

[puglvr]

When my GSD had it her lung collapsed and she was in intensive care in Werribee for a week.

She came home on antibiotics, rest and gantle excercise. She also had to have chest lavage (I think that's what they called it). She spent 20 minutes in a steam tent three times a day and then we "banged" her ribcage gently with cupped hands on both sides for about 5 minutes. This helped loosen the secretions. We did this for 2 or 3 weeks and then she went back to the vet for progress check. He could not believe it was the same dog.

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Thankyou puglvr!!!

Can I ask how you did the steam tent? As in logistically! Emma is a border collie, do you think this would be logistically possible??

[puglvr]

For my girl I bought a humidifier & used a card table with a double layer of plastic drop sheets around the out side. I also put a blanket around the outside of it. I would probably work well with a crate covered in like this and the humidifier underneath the dropsheets but outside the crate. Because my girl was obedience trained she stayed in the tent no worries. One tip though is to turn the humidifier on 5-10 minutes before putting the dog in there so there is already a build up of steam. Also you will need to towel the dog off after as they can get quite damp.

[cavNrott]

My Cavalier had pneumonia last September and was on two different antibiotics for 3 months before he got the all clear. No other treatement was needed, probably because we caught it early.

He refused breakfast one morning and this dog never refuses food so I knew something was wrong and took him to the vet immediately. They took xrays and thought he had an obstruction in the oesophagus caused by the raw bone I fed him the previous night. We could see bone fragments in the first xray. The second xray showed the bone had moved along to his stomach as it should have. This vet is very much against feeding dogs bones so I had to listen to a lecture. My boy wasn't coughing or wheezing showing any sign of pneumonia so I don't blame them for not figuring it out.

When the second xray showed the crunched up bone had moved along they were stumped and sent us off to the specialist centre right away and it was there that they discover the pneumonia on the set of xrays they took. They did a lung wash to make sure nothing sinister was going on. Pneumonia, as I discovered , hangs around and isn't easy to get rid of. My boy recovered well and has had no further problems.

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Thanks.

Em has been put on Norclav and also Baytril, I'm assuming she'll be on it for a while. I know she has to be kept pretty quiet for at least the next few weeks, but good to hear that it was 3 months for you - I'll be watching her closely to make sure she doesn't over do it for quite some time yet!

I'm your boy is better now, hoping Emma makes a similar recovery!

[cavNrott]

Poor Emma. She's dealing with two problems isn't she? It sounds like her pneumonia is far more serious than Bronson's was.

I had to keep Bronson (Cavalier) quiet for a few weeks too, no daily walks, just had him quietly lying around in the house. He usually sleeps on my bed but I was worried about him maybe jumping off during the night so I bought another crate and put it beside the bed.

With no walks and no sleeping on the bed I could see he though he was being hardly done by, especially when I took the other Cav out for a walk.

I think it was about 4 weeks before they said he could have a 5 minute walk each day.

[Kaffy Magee]

My 5 month old puppy Chase had aspiration pneumonia last year. He was on some pretty serious antibiotics for 4-5 weeks and I also had to do coupage (cupping your hand and banging on the sides of his chest) numerous times a day. He had to be kept quiet for the first week and then get him out and moving a couple of times a day, nothing strenuous but as steady pace as it helps to clear the lungs apparently (by making him cough it up). They did some xrays after the antibiotics finished and got the all clear! Hope your girl is ok.

Edited April 18, 2011 by Kaffy Magee

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Poor Emma. She's dealing with two problems isn't she? It sounds like her pneumonia is far more serious than Bronson's was.

It's starting to appear that there could be many problems, or the pneumonia could be causing lots of little problems. But yes, she has her eye "issues" - to be honest at the moment I'm completly giving up on them because this current problem is just so much worse and could end up with me having no Emma (I'd rather have a blind Em than no Em at all).

Today the vet said her pneumonia was actually looking better. She was x-rayed again as she's been readmitted to hospital - I wasn;t happy with her resps, but it turns out that it may not be the pneumonia it seems to be her diabetes playing up, which is likely caused by the pneumonia. So it's a viscious cycle.

Anyway hoping for an update later that says we have some hope and I'm clinging on to the "pneumonia is looking so much better" bit at the moment.