YorkieTalk.com Forums - Yorkshire Terrier Community - View Single Post - Theophylline - Enlarged heart (Cardiomegaly)and Collapsed Airway Disease

Bekgarrett · 05-11-2010, 07:55 AM

I'm new to YT, but have had Yorkies now for 12 years. My first Yorkie died at the age of 4 from trachea collapse in the thoracic area. There was nothing we could do for him, as he was suffering and we had to let him go. Needless to say, anyone who has heard a dog gasping for breath will never forget the horror of it all. We are still grieving his loss. He was my little boy and the love of my life and he did not have a chance to live a full life.

My 2nd furbaby, Kissy, is about to be 8 years old and about a month ago began to cough and honk which made us immediately take her to our regular vet. He diagnosed her after doing xrays with a collapsing airway further up near her mouth area. Since she was having extreme breathing problems, he put her on Baytril should she also have bronchitis or pneumonia, whereupon she began to improve. In the meantime, my husband decided to go to a specialist and have them take a look at the xrays. Why not, since a 2nd opinion is better than none.

The specialist informed my husband that she indeed does have a collapsing airway, but that her heart was pressing on the throat and she has an enlarged heart. She should begin a diuretic. Well, we started the Lasix (prescribed by my reg. vet) and it did not seem to improve her as much as the antibiotic. The first antibiotic round finished after 10 days and she began coughing. I asked my regular vet what I should do and he suggested trying a 14 day regimen of the antibiotic again (Baytril). Well, that seemed to improve her immensely again, but after finishing this round and the next day, she really got into trouble with foaming out of her mouth and not being able to breath properly. She was in dire need of help. I had not been told to put her on the Theophylline, though I had some in my possession prescribed by my regular vet and was told to "hold off" giving it to her.

Friday (05/07) I called my regular vet and he could not see my dog until 3:30PM and it was 10AM. He was in surgery with other dogs. I knew that she would not make it for long like this. Each breath became more labored and she was gasping for air. I immediately called the specialist who runs an emergency specialty center and they told me to get her there FAST. I got her there 30 minutes later and this vet immediately recognized the xrays that my husband had brought in a month ago. He did a thorough checkup on Kissy and informed me that she is a "respiratory cripple" and that if I even was lucky enough to get her home and should she survive the weekend that I must get these medicines into her.

OK...this is why I am posting. He told me that the Theophylline that I had gotten from a pharmacy in Arizona in liquid form I could just throw away. Kissy will not take pills easily. He also told me that the Theophylline pills that I had gotten from Kroger ALSO were not any good and I needed to throw them out. He explained to me that there are probably 30 different manufacturers of Theophylline and he has only seen ONE manufacturer where his patients have success with taking the pill. The pill MUST remain in tact, though I give her 1/4 in the morning and 12 hours later another 1/4. The syrup is immediately absorbed into a dogs body and will not give the "time release" properties that the dog needs to have it work effectively. The type of Theophylline tablet that he uses is made by BARR PHARMACEUTICALS and he has 1,000's of them on hand. I wanted to bring this to my fellow Yorkie owner's attention, as maybe you have not had success with the pills you are using, and this may be the reason why.

I want you to know that Kissy after 1 day was doing so well that she looked at me on Saturday morning as though she could not believe her good fortune to be feeling good again and continues to improve with each day. The words are still ringing in my ears that she could die in my arms on the way home and also it was a critical time for her and she could "go" at any moment. The specialist's office was OVERJOYED when I called yesterday saying that Kissy is doing much, much better. I know she still has issues with her collapsed trachea, but to see her feeling better after one dose of these medicines made me post. She also is taking 0.25cc's of Lasix 2x per day. They will adjust after she's been on it 1 week. Oh... and as for why the antibiotics "seemed" to work, he said it was sheer coincidence and who knows why she got better??? I'm thankful she survived the last month and seems like someone "up there" was watching over us.

I'm taking it one day at a time. I cannot believe that I almost lost her for good Friday.

----

I'm so new at posting that I erroneously posted this message to my own blog... please excuse. I wanted this to be "out there" for everyone to see.

05-11-2010, 07:55 AM	#1
Bekgarrett Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Roswell, Georgia, USA Posts: 29 Blog Entries: 5	Theophylline - Enlarged heart (Cardiomegaly)and Collapsed Airway Disease I'm new to YT, but have had Yorkies now for 12 years. My first Yorkie died at the age of 4 from trachea collapse in the thoracic area. There was nothing we could do for him, as he was suffering and we had to let him go. Needless to say, anyone who has heard a dog gasping for breath will never forget the horror of it all. We are still grieving his loss. He was my little boy and the love of my life and he did not have a chance to live a full life. My 2nd furbaby, Kissy, is about to be 8 years old and about a month ago began to cough and honk which made us immediately take her to our regular vet. He diagnosed her after doing xrays with a collapsing airway further up near her mouth area. Since she was having extreme breathing problems, he put her on Baytril should she also have bronchitis or pneumonia, whereupon she began to improve. In the meantime, my husband decided to go to a specialist and have them take a look at the xrays. Why not, since a 2nd opinion is better than none. The specialist informed my husband that she indeed does have a collapsing airway, but that her heart was pressing on the throat and she has an enlarged heart. She should begin a diuretic. Well, we started the Lasix (prescribed by my reg. vet) and it did not seem to improve her as much as the antibiotic. The first antibiotic round finished after 10 days and she began coughing. I asked my regular vet what I should do and he suggested trying a 14 day regimen of the antibiotic again (Baytril). Well, that seemed to improve her immensely again, but after finishing this round and the next day, she really got into trouble with foaming out of her mouth and not being able to breath properly. She was in dire need of help. I had not been told to put her on the Theophylline, though I had some in my possession prescribed by my regular vet and was told to "hold off" giving it to her. Friday (05/07) I called my regular vet and he could not see my dog until 3:30PM and it was 10AM. He was in surgery with other dogs. I knew that she would not make it for long like this. Each breath became more labored and she was gasping for air. I immediately called the specialist who runs an emergency specialty center and they told me to get her there FAST. I got her there 30 minutes later and this vet immediately recognized the xrays that my husband had brought in a month ago. He did a thorough checkup on Kissy and informed me that she is a "respiratory cripple" and that if I even was lucky enough to get her home and should she survive the weekend that I must get these medicines into her. OK...this is why I am posting. He told me that the Theophylline that I had gotten from a pharmacy in Arizona in liquid form I could just throw away. Kissy will not take pills easily. He also told me that the Theophylline pills that I had gotten from Kroger ALSO were not any good and I needed to throw them out. He explained to me that there are probably 30 different manufacturers of Theophylline and he has only seen ONE manufacturer where his patients have success with taking the pill. The pill MUST remain in tact, though I give her 1/4 in the morning and 12 hours later another 1/4. The syrup is immediately absorbed into a dogs body and will not give the "time release" properties that the dog needs to have it work effectively. The type of Theophylline tablet that he uses is made by BARR PHARMACEUTICALS and he has 1,000's of them on hand. I wanted to bring this to my fellow Yorkie owner's attention, as maybe you have not had success with the pills you are using, and this may be the reason why. I want you to know that Kissy after 1 day was doing so well that she looked at me on Saturday morning as though she could not believe her good fortune to be feeling good again and continues to improve with each day. The words are still ringing in my ears that she could die in my arms on the way home and also it was a critical time for her and she could "go" at any moment. The specialist's office was OVERJOYED when I called yesterday saying that Kissy is doing much, much better. I know she still has issues with her collapsed trachea, but to see her feeling better after one dose of these medicines made me post. She also is taking 0.25cc's of Lasix 2x per day. They will adjust after she's been on it 1 week. Oh... and as for why the antibiotics "seemed" to work, he said it was sheer coincidence and who knows why she got better??? I'm thankful she survived the last month and seems like someone "up there" was watching over us. I'm taking it one day at a time. I cannot believe that I almost lost her for good Friday. ---- I'm so new at posting that I erroneously posted this message to my own blog... please excuse. I wanted this to be "out there" for everyone to see.