Back in the hospital
 

My little guy is back in the hospital. :( I'm sure some of you have followed my story about Sam. When I got him he had an URI and that turned into pneumonia/kennel cough. He's been on and off medication and hospitalized twice so far. This will be his third time b/c I took him to the vet yesterday and there was fluid in his lungs again. I decided to take him to a specialist in Allentown, PA so they are keeping him for the weekend and doing a bunch of tests and putting him on new medicine that can only been given through IV. The good thing that is keeping me strong is that he's eating a drinking like a champ. He gained another pound, 5lbs now! He's only 4.5 months and weighs that much so at least I know he has an appetite. Monday the specialist will let me know what's going on and where we should go from here. I'm just hoping that we finally find out the problem and we can fix it. Thanks for listening. I will keep you updated.

GOOD LUCK !! Poor little guy - I hope they get him all better fast - that's got to be very scary for both of you ! Sending BIG Get well wishes to Sam !! :getwellso

Went through this
 

I can surely sympathize with you. My new baby yorkie was a gift from my daughter for my birthday in 2004. He weighed one pound and I found out later was no more than 8 weeks old. He never should have been taken from his mother. I was told that he was 14 weeks old and weighed 2 pounds by the broker (boy from YT and YF I know now what to look for in a pup). He was sick from the first day and spent many nights in the hospital. Pneumonia finally took him when he was just 4 months old. Be careful with your pup, I lost mine to it and liver shunt and it just devastated me. Good luck with your pup.

Poor little Sam...I hope he will be okay soon and I'll say a prayer. I feel so bad for you going through this...it's not easy for sure! *HUGGGGGGGG*

I am praying for Sam. Poor guy. It just isn't fair.

i'm so sorry. i will keep him in my prayers. send him a HUGE get well wish from all of us here at YT!! i'm sure he'll pull through just fine. oh this must be so scary for both of you!

Bless your heart - and the puppy's! You are sure doing all the right things, and I'm sure you are going to get ahead of the problem. It seems like these little tykes are just like babies - once you get them through that 1st year it gets pretty smooth except for the occasional tummy upsets and finiky eating. At least he's eating well. That's half the battle because he'll have the strength for the rest of it. Best wishes

I am sorry Sam is sick. My thoghts and prayers are with you. I hope he gets better soon.

Poor puppy! You are doing the right thing by tsking him to the specialist. Hopefully they will diagnose it and he will be well from now on. :getwellso

Gucci and I send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Sam..oxoxo

Thanks everyone for your support and prayers. I just talked to his nurse and they said he is doing really well, but b/c of his history of 2 months on and off medication and still not getting better, they want me to keep him there to continue testing. This might include a trachea wash which I have read on here from Chewy's mom (blykmyk44) that it may be life threatening. I have talked to the nurse and will talk to the doctor tomorrow, she has said that there are always chances taken when it comes to anything involving sedation. She said her cat had it done and came out fine. I guess there are good and bad instances. Maybe b/c Chewy had the trachea wash done by a regular veteranarian as opposed to a specialist, my little guy will have a better outcome. I pray that is the case b/c I don't know what I would do if anything happened. When I heard about Chewy I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks. I feel stuck b/c it seems like that's the only way they will be able to find out what kind of bacteria is in his lungs to prescribe him the right medication finally. I will also do an ultra sound which is really expensive, but obviously a lot safer. I have to go all the way to Allentown, PA from NJ tomorrow to sign discharge papers to release him from emergency services to the specialist on monday. This weekend has just been terrible. The thing is, he is fine otherwise. All the nurses that I've talked to are saying how playful he is and how he's eating and drinking fine. They don't even have him on IV fluids. You would never know he was sick. They are taking him outside to play and holding him all day b/c he's so adorable. At least tomorrow I will get to visit him. I miss him so much...it's so weird not having him here :( .

Our prayers are with you and Sam. Hope all turns out great and he is home soon jumping, playing, and being spoiled like he should be. :p

I'm so sorry to hear about Sam & he's still not better.

He is at a specialist & will get the best of care & expertise. That has to be a comfort. They should be able to help him get better. :)

We will pray for you and Sam . Hope the little guy is all better now.

We are all pulling for him here. Hope they find his problem and he is home again. sounds like they are taking real good care of him and not just keeping him in a cage. It should put your mind a little at ease to know they probably adore him. Hugs from this crew!

I am so sorry to hear this . Really hope the little one will be better soon . Jade and Choulita send him kisses .

Kandra.. What part of NJ do you live in? I am in NJ also, I take Gucci to one of the best vet hospital there is. It's suppose to be number one in the country. It is a state of the art hospital , they just rebuilt a new building and they have many vets. there who are specialists. Let me know and I will give you all the info....If you like another opinion.

Best Of Luck
Gina

GucciMyGirl I live in Marlton, NJ. It's like a southern part near Cherry Hill. That would be really helpful thank you!

Kendra send me your email address I do not know how to email you from here...and I will give you all the information...

Gina

My email address Kendraleigh@comcast.net. Thank you!

Well tomorrow Sam will be seen by the specialist and we will finally know what is ahead of us. I have been so nervous all weekend about what he is going to say. I went there today to sign papers and visit with him. He was eating his "brunch" when we saw him...hehe. He looked so big! Poor thing had both front legs shaved for the IV. The hair just grew back from his last hospitalization. I miss him so much. It is so hard to see his little bed and basket of toys just sitting there and not being used. The nurses are in love with him there and say that he is of least concern b/c of how well he's doing. That is so good to hear. I have been going back and forth with this trachea wash b/c I have read good and bad things about it. I think once I talk to the doctor and have him explain EVERYTHING to me very thoroughly, I will see what I want to do. This is really our last resort. Thanks GucciMyGirl for the info, but I am very happy with the place we chose to go to. It is far, but it's worth it for my baby. I really appreciate you thinking of us though! I will let you know how everything is tomorrow once I talk to the doctor. Thanks for all of your prayers.

coco sends his get better kisses :kiss2: :kiss2:

Poor little one.. We'll be keeping you in our thoughts. *hugs*

Joey sends his puppy kisses to Sam! Joey pulled through a tragedy with a miracle, and we just know that Sam will be strong - everyone told me how strong yorkies are, but I just didn't know how strong until Joey survived. Good luck with Sam - I know he will be just fine!

Kisses from Joey.

im so sorry.. my baby had kennelcough pnuemonia too! we will keep him in our thoughts and prayers! let us know how he's progressing.

Sending prayers your way! Hope he gets better real soon! Please keep us posted!

Blykmyk44~ when your Chewy had the trachea wash was it done by the vet at a regular animal hospital or the vet techs? It wasn't performed by a specialist right? Also, it sounds like Chewy didn't have pneumonia until they actually did the trachea wash. Was that the case? Sorry so many questions, but I don't know what else to do. He's had fluid in his lungs since we got him and that seems to be the only way to find out what bacteria is in there to finally knock it out of him. The doctor is calling today and I will find our more, but until then I just wanted to know what your experience was. Thanks!

I just talked to the doctor and we both decided to proceed with the trachea wash. She said it only takes a few seconds and if anything were to happen it would either be during or right after. She will be calling me later today right after it. I am so nervous, but there's really no other alternative. She said that there really is no "fluid" in his lungs, otherwise it would be coming up when he coughed and through his nose. He doesn't have any of the symptoms of pneumonia (fever, runny nose, vomiting, etc.). She thinks there's some kind of bacteria in his lungs in which we need to find out exactly what kind so we can prescribe the right medication finally. She also said he might have a collapsed lobe which I don't think is the case b/c he doesn't have labored breathing at rest or when he's running around. Another possibility is his esophagus. He could have bacteria in his esophagus that is pushed down every time he eats or drinks into his lungs. They would have to do a swallow test where they give him barium and let it go through him and then test his stool. As of now we're just sticking w/ the trachea wash and I should be able to bring him home tonight on the nebulizer. She doesn't see any reason for him to be hospitalized since he's eating, drinking, and very active. Unless something happens during the surgery, (I am praying that is not the case) like if he needs to be on oxygen, I will pick him up tonight. I will continue to keep everyone updated.