Name: LittellP@aol.com
Subject: Chronic Cough/Bronchial Condition
Comments: Molly is a 14-yr old miniature poodle (14 lbs) who has developed a chronic, bronchial-type cough. She was very allergic as a puppy. She grew up to be an athlete, and likes to be very, very active. The vet has diagnosed her as having an old-age bronchial-allergy type condition - I understand that some "bronchial thickening" has taken place. We have her on Tavist (antihistimine) a.m. & p.m. (1/2 tablet), and 25 mg. of a bronchio-dilator, "Theo-Dur", a.m. & p.m. She recently ran in the backyard, probably over-did, and has had several days of deep, intermittent coughing. I have given her a tiny bit of children's Robitussin. And, on a couple of occasions, we have given her a cough suppressant, Torbutrol (2.5 mg). This medication also sedates her enough so that she can sleep (we all can sleep). We can't given that to her more than 3 days in a row, however. Does ANYONE know of something else which might work? It seems like we can't get this most recent flare-up, under control. She is resting comfortably now, and the coughing is not constant. She has been checked for congestive heart failure - she's ok in that regard. Nothing we have ever given her (even before) worked totally, though it seemed to help. Without this chronic cough/bronchial condition, she would be running around, acting like a puppy. Thanks for any help you can provide.

I am writing this as a last resort. My 3-year old Australian Shepherd (male), Zero, has been extremely sick and three vets later they still cannot tell me what is wrong with him. I am hoping that if I tell you a little about what he has been going through you might be able to offer some opinion. Firstly, I got Zero from a pet store in the Boston area when he was 8 months old. From the beginning he had problems with whipworm, and suffered about five bouts in the first two years we had him. Other than that he seemed to be a healthy young dog, who loves to play frisbee etc. In fact, so much so he started to limp after playing last November. Went to the vet who said he had most likely strained a ligament and we treated him with Rimadyl for a short while. The problem did not get better so we went back and decided he had torn the ligament and scheduled surgery for May. Before this (in February I believe) I came home one day to find Zero not at the door to greet me, listless and unwilling to eat or drink. He continued this way for a few days and when I brought him to the vet (he had bad diarrhea at this point despite not eating) he took his temperature which was around 105 degrees. He put him on Flagyl and Amoxycillin and Zero rebounded in about three days. This episode occurred two days after Zero had been anaesthesized for a leg X-ray and given a reversal but the vet said it could not really have anything to do with his getting ill.

Then it happened again (same symptoms but this time with vomiting and a hacking sort of cough) and he was again running a fever, and put on Amoxycillin. Once again he rebounded. They did blood work this time and said he most likely had pancreatitis. Zero went in for surgery in early May, but they found his ACL intact so they just closed him up again and suggested a glucosamine supplement. We put him on it and about two weeks after this he got sick again. Vomiting, diarrhea, acting listlessl yall over again, but no fever this time. They assumed again that it was pancreatitis and told us to take him off the glucosamine as this was the only change to his diet in this time. He was given Flagyl and recovered in two days and we stopped the Flagyl. Two days later he got sick again and we took him to the vet again. She did bloodwork and said that he did not have pancreatitis as the bloodwork was not consistent and thought perhaps he might be in the first stages of Addison's disease or that he may have some tick-borne disease. She decided to put him on Doxycycline (sp?) but when she got him from the cage (he had been there all day) he started to pant REALLY heavily as if he was having problems breathing. I was really concerned and she gave him something to calm him down but it did not abate.

We got home and after about five minutes he started to stagger and his front legs buckled. We took him to Angell Memorial right away. He was put in an oxygen cage overnight and his breathing went back to normal. The vet there took a chest X-ray and said that his lungs showed small white spots all over them. She said if Zero was a 13-year old she would definitely tell me had cancer but that with his age it did not really fit. The other possibility was a fungal infection but he has lived in Boston all his life (except for the twelve weeks in Missouri at the breeders) so she thought that very unlikely. She also said his liver and spleen looked enlarged and that she wanted to do an ultrasound to see if they could see a cancerous mass there. She suspected laryngeal paralysis to be the reason for his breathing difficulties. I authorized an abdominal ultrasound, a joint tap (his joints were swollen but he could walk without apparent pain), a laryngeal examination and a tick panel be run, in addition to more bloodwork and urinalysis. The results- liver and spleen fine, nothing there. Joint tap fluid- no infection present. Tick panel came back clear. However when they went to look at hi larynx they were horrified by the amount of edema at the back of his throat (possibly from original surgery when tube pout down his throat) which had obviously caused the breathing difficulties. They also found small ulcers on the underside of the tongue and they took a biopsy from one. Result- benign and nothing to be concerned about. The ulcers lined up with his lower teeth so again may have been from force exerted from tube down throat for surgery. Meanwhile Zero on Amoxycillin was gaining strength. Took him home and decided to run a fungal panel but that was it. No biopsy from lung. It came back clear. Zero gained back all 9 lbs he had lost in three days and was really back to normal within four days from us rushing him to Angell. Then two weeks later he got sick again. This was last Wednesday I got Amoxycillin and he was so bad last night (just lying there not even able to drink from a dropper, could not really move and acted like he was about to expire) that I really thought he was going to die. Took him to the vet the following morning to leave him in for observation and to get fluids. When we picked him up that evening he was ready to go and acting like himself again. He seemed to have turned the corner- once more.

Has anyone any idea why he may be going through these episodes? The symptoms he displays- fever, vomiting, diarrhea, listlessness, loss of appetite- are just so general and can be attributed to nearly anything. Do you have any ideas whatsoever? I am really upset and cannot bear the thought of losing him but the vets simply say he is a mystery and that they don't know where to go from here. I am terrified as the periods of wellbeing are getting shorter between episodes of illness. I would really appreciate if anyone could give me any input