Does anyone have any ideas on what can cause labored breathing. My Toby has been breating extreamly rapidly and heavy, but shows no other signs of illness. His eyes are bright, his fur nice and shiney, he's keeping his ears up and eating and drinking fine, he's just breathing fast and heavy. I took him into the vets last week and he got a baytril injection and was put on oral antibiotics. Since then, he has been back several times for additional injections, since the oral medicine wasn't making a much difference, but even with the medicine there is little noticable improvement. My vet has been hesitant about doing an X-Ray because we didn't want to sedate him in order to take a chest X-Ray. Tomorrow though, he's going to take one from the back while he's sitting there and see if that will show anything. He's also had a fecal done, but that didn't really tell us anything. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions about what else we could do, please let me know.
Chris Illusion, Malcom, Isabell, Annabelle, Zach, Isis, Aly & Indy AND Miss Emmy & Miss Chloe kitties
My Angels: You are always in my heart.
You've flown to the rainbow and wait there for me Someday I will join you together to be
last yr my glider had those symptons and it was pnumonia and bacteria e mail me your phone numer and i'll give u my vets number he'll tell u how to treat her but u need a strong antibiotic right away []karinalee@msn.com[/]
Last edited by Chey (short for Cheyenne); 08/21/0311:27 PM.
[:"green"]I would definately suggest that imaging is done. I have a Pomeranian (Jake) that has just been diagnosed with a "narrowing" is his air passage. He has been to Tufts New England for a full evaluation and is currently on meds. If no improvement, he will have corrective surgery. This occurs in small animals. [/]
My suggestion is take your glider back to the vet ASAP. sounds like a resperitory illness and the Baytrill does not sound like it is working. If your glider has been on the Baytrill for a week with no improvement then perhaps it is time he do a med change.
Test that should have been done was a culture of his nasel and throat fluids.
In most cases, labored breathing = respiratory distress. So the question is, what's causing it?
If antibiotics aren't making a difference, your vet may need to do x-rays to rule out what else might be causing respiratory distress - it might not be an infection, but something like congestive heart failure or some sort of blockage. Unless you know for sure, it's difficult to know what to treat.
I had a glider with labored breathing that was treated for pneumonia, since that was the obvious (and quickest) choice to treat. Antibiotics didn't show an improvement,and x-rays were necessary, in spite of the sedation. It turned out to be congestive heart failure (actually multiple organ failure, from which she eventually died). CHF sounds horrible and imminently lethal, but people and animals can live a long time with CHF if treated and if there aren't lots of other complications...IF that's what it is.
In my case, oxygen made her comfortable while the meds were given a chance to work. My vet also tried Lasix to try to get rid of some of the fluid. Because the condition was more involved than just the respiratory distress, these efforts weren't successful, but might well have been if there hadn't been other system failures.
It sounds to me like you've got a good vet giving good care -- I hope you get your answers about Toby's condition soon. I'm sure it's been an ordeal for both of you!
Toby's been going in to the vets for the last 3 days to have his breathing checked and to get baytril injections. Tomorrow he is going to have an X-ray done and hopefully we will be able to tell something from that. My vet did ask if I knew of any viral infections that gliders could get that might cause labored breathing. Any ideas there? I'll also ask to see if maybe we should change his meds and try something different. On a positive note, Toby has been wanting to play and eat. Those of you who have seen his pictures know that Toby likes to eat, and throughout all of this, he hasn't lost his appetite or lost any weight. He may have even gained a gram or two. I'll let everyone know how it goes tomorrow.
Chris Illusion, Malcom, Isabell, Annabelle, Zach, Isis, Aly & Indy AND Miss Emmy & Miss Chloe kitties
My Angels: You are always in my heart.
You've flown to the rainbow and wait there for me Someday I will join you together to be
Re: Labored Breathing
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#9272 08/22/0312:00 AM08/22/0312:00 AM
I hate to be making the same assertion as Lucy, but what she is describing about heart failure, sounds like one possibility, and now that you describe weightgain, i would really have the vet check for such problems, as fluid build up would cause weightgain. I think the sooner this is figured out, the better it will be fore your glider.
I have dealt with an animal with heartfailure before, and it sure wasn't pretty, it was quite heartbreaking.
Good luck, and please keep us posted.I truly hope it's just something minor and treatable.
Tanja
Re: Labored Breathing
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#9273 08/23/0301:55 AM08/23/0301:55 AM
Chris, Sorry Toby is having trouble. The posts above make a lot of sense. Congestive heart failure and pneumonia look very similar not only in signs and symptoms, but also on X-ray, both can give increased fluid in the lungs. The fluid gain in CHF can make daily weights climb. You might ask Dr. K if he sees any edema or if he thinks a diuretic is in order. After several days of Baytril without improvement, did he give any consideration to a different antibiotic? Since the distinction can be hard to make between CHF and pneumonia, some cheat and treat both, especially in the really sick. Good luck. I still have Toby's picture from the SGGA on my fridge and he does appear to be an excellent eater! Wishing you well.
Re: Labored Breathing
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#9274 08/23/0308:29 AM08/23/0308:29 AM
I had Toby into the vet's yesterday for an X-Ray. They were able to get a good one from the back and side without sedating him. From the X-Ray, my vet thinks that is is one of two possibilities: congestive heart failure or a tumor. He is going to e-mail the X-rays to a specialist for a consultation and we should hopefully know something next week. In the meantime, Toby can go back with his family since he is not contagious and I am doing my best to make him as happy and stress free as I possibly can. I am to continue giving him the Baytril to prevent any secondary infections. He does not appear to be in any pain, and is acting normally other than his rapid breathing. Keep your fingers crossed and say prayers for him.
Chris Illusion, Malcom, Isabell, Annabelle, Zach, Isis, Aly & Indy AND Miss Emmy & Miss Chloe kitties
My Angels: You are always in my heart.
You've flown to the rainbow and wait there for me Someday I will join you together to be
Oh gosh, i'm so sorry, i will send prayers for your little one. How is the vet going to determine what it is ? If it's heartfailiure i would think a diuretic would be needed soon. Just keep an eye on him.
I'm not sure that this should be posted here, but I wanted to give everyone an update with the origional post. Toby passed away yesterday. He had gone into the vets for blood work an yet another X-Ray. He seemed to be coming out of the anastetic well and came home with me where he continued to become more alert. Suddenly he started gasping/gagging and siezing. We rushed him back to the vets, but he died in my hands on the way there. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crying.gif" alt="" /> I did have a necropsy done on him and it was discovered that he had multiple tumors in his chest and his liver was failing. According to my vet, it was just a matter of time anyway. Nothing could have been done for him. Thank you all for your support while he was ill.
Chris Illusion, Malcom, Isabell, Annabelle, Zach, Isis, Aly & Indy AND Miss Emmy & Miss Chloe kitties
My Angels: You are always in my heart.
You've flown to the rainbow and wait there for me Someday I will join you together to be