[XenaLee]

Originally Posted by Scoobstersmom

Awww....poor sweet Xena. She really has been through a lot. Does your vet find it odd/unusual for her to have two serious respiratory infections within a few months and at such a young age? (I don't know if it is odd/unusual or not - it just caught my eye and I wondered.)


At any rate, years ago my Scooby had pneumonia. He was about nine months old when he was diagnosed and he was very ill with a white blood cell count at over 38,000. Yes, he did pull through but it took months of antibiotics and intensive nursing care. He was first on IV antibiotics - I would drop him off at the vet office first thing in the morning and they would hook him up to antibiotics and fluids. He'd spend the day, and then I'd pick him up and bring him home at closing time. We did that for about a week, then he was weaned onto oral antibiotics. Baytril and Doxycycline for 30 days and then Antirobe (clindamycin) and Doxycycline for 30 more days.


Doxycycline is a tough antibiotic on the liver, so ask your vet about adding something like milk thistle or denamarin to protect the liver if you decide to go with the Doxy. It can also be tough on the digestive system and might mess with her appetite. You might want to try giving her a probiotic. Doxy will kill off all the bacteria in the gut, and a probiotic will keep some of the good bacteria going.


Our little guy coughed and wheezed and wheezed and coughed and ran high fevers for several weeks. We didn't think he'd make it either. He was at zero on the energy scale and could barely get himself up to go potty. Slowly but surely he finally started turning around, and the second month of treatment was much easier. The coughing, wheezing and fevers were mostly gone, but he was more tired and slept a lot. Eventually his energy level came back and his wbc's dropped to normal range. It was a tough couple of months, but he made it through.


We found out later that his pneumonia was a secondary complication to Coccidiomycosis (Valley Fever), a fungal infection in his lungs. He might not have been so ill without the fungal infection.


I wish you the best of luck and am sending prayers for your sweet Xena. Keep doing what you're doing and don't get discouraged.


Diana

Thank you so much for your kind words and for sharing your story. I think that her sickness came from the very beginning. I bought her from a pet store (which is currently under investigation). I'd say that Xena was lucky to survive the first one because my friend bought a puppy a week or two prior to me buying Xena from there and hers died. I've talked to at least 3 other people who had similar experiences with this store. I'm sad to see that places like these still exist. I hope that this will be nothing but a memory soon.