Immediate Help Needed!! Yorkie Puppy Really Sick =(
 

We recently purchased a Yorkie puppy (three weeks ago) and after about 5 days with us he came down with a mild cough and we took him to the vet who said he had a very mild case of Kennel Cough and perscribed some Amoxicilin. After a week of the medicine we had realized that the cough was not really going away (however he was showing no other signs of illness at all) and so we took him to the vet again and the vet suggested that we give him a Tracheal Wash to see if he had some sort of virus. We agreed and took him to vet for the procedure.

Immediately after the procedure the he became seriously ill and could not breath on his own. He was then transferred to emergency care where they diagnossed that he had Pneumonia. That was 4 days ago and now the emergency care staff has said we need to make "the decision" on what we are going to do since he is showing little improvement.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so could it be something other than Pneumonia? I asked the people at the Emergency Center if the Tracheal Wash could have something to do with this completely immediate change in our dog but they don't really seem to think that is much of an option. To me (obviously not an expert) if a dog suddenly changes to the worse after a surgery the surgery would have had something to do with it.

Any help would be great (as soon as possible) since we are really at the breaking point and don't want to lose our little pupp =(

Oh..........I'm so sorry for you.......I can't offer any real help because I'm not a breeder......there are several breeders online right now.......so hopefully one of them will see your post and can give you some advice.

What is a tracheal wash? I've never heard of that before.

I must admit, I agree with you, if he really worsened after the procedure, than the procdure could've caused the condition. Don't be suprised if the emergency office isn't going to say the procedure caused the condition......vets are like human doctors.....they tend to stick together and back each other up.

Sorry, I wish I could offer more. I will keep your baby in my thoughts and prayers.

I am so sorry
 

I am so sorry to hear your puppy is so sick. I have not dealt with Kennel Cough/trechia wash/phenomia so I dont have medical advice for you but I wanted to let you know I will keep your puppy in my thoughts and prayers. I hope someone on the forum will be able to offer you great advice.

Sending hugs to you and your puppy,
Jennette

kennel cough......... in extreme cases can lead to pneumonia (sp?) that is why they prescribe antibiotics for it.......... to give the dog a "tracheal wash" sounds kinda silly...... kennel cough DOES NOT go away over night, it can last up to two or three months (even with antibiotics)..... i would get to teh bottom of this unnecessary procedure (IMO)

Orinskye...is it common for Pneumonia to litterally appear in 8 hours? I mean I understand a condition can come on fast but is it likely that no vet would have even considered him starting to get Pneumonia then he gets a procedure and it is in a full on advanced (and it appears untreatable) stage.

all i know is that one condition can lead to another....the part that i found interesting was that they did .... of course he has a virus, kennel cough IS A VIRUS

That is kind of my point, the other thing is this little test still hasn't even produced any results they think the culture will be anothe 24-48 hours...

i stand by my opinion that teh procedure was unnecessary....... if the do that to check for viruses, it is obvious that they are going to find them because you baby has kennel cough, rendering the process unecessary and from what youre post also said (potentially more hazardous to youre baby becuase he started to get REALLY sick after they did it) :( IMO i wouldnt let those vet (or teh vet techs) play off of you, i would go and tell them what is what

He is not at the same vet anymore he is in the emegency room, I have tried to voice my concerns but they don't seem too interested, what can I do..he can't be moved

Don't let them control what you want done with your baby. He's your baby, and they need to listen to YOUR concerns. What options did they give you? Obviously the option we don't want to talk about, but what else did they say they could do for him? How old is he and how much does he weigh?

Bella came down with kennel cough about a week after we got her, it got really bad and she was on antibiotics for 3 weeks (not amocicillan), she was on Clavamox......We also gave her cough syrup........After 3 weeks the vet did blood tests and said the infection was gone but she was still coughing. She said it can take up to a couple months AFTER the infection was gone before the cough would end.

About 1 1/2 months later Bella was fine. She had been healthy from the cough now for a few weeks, it seemed like it took forever but it did eventually go away!

Maybe they could try a different medicine? Bella never had the trachea wash

We are using their last option which is giving them a medicine that might get rid of the pneumonia but also could affect his liver. He is only a puppy (12weeks) and weighs about 3lbs.

Thanks for the reply, it appears that the Trachea Wash seems to be a bit of extreme measure considering none of you have had to go that far. Especially since it wasn't as if he was acting really sick and they said it was just a minor case.

I am so sorry to hear about your puppy! I don't have much to add, just well wishes. I don't understand the "trachea wash"procedure and have never heard of it. I also don't understand the amoxicillin... I was thinking the same as orinskye.... it should be on clavamox also.

Honestly... I think if it was me, would start calling other vets ASAP and see if they can squeeze you in for an emergency appt and get a second opinion.

If he has pneumonia, is he dehydrated? Do they have him on any IV to get him hydrated?

It was the vet's responsibility to tell you the risks of the tracheal wash procedure. He should have told you that it's not always safe to stick a tube down a small puppy's trachea. I'm so sorry that your baby and you and your family are going through this. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.