Health Update

December 19, I went to bed and was completely normal.  When I got up early on the 20th, I wasn’t myself.  I still wasn’t normal by the time I would want to go for a walk so my people called my vet.  I wasn’t interested in anything and my breathing wasn’t right.  The vet people said to bring me in by 9 when my vet came in.

I got checked in and they came out to get me.  My vet was waiting for me inside the door.  When she brought me out 20 minutes later she said I had aspiration pneumonia again.  My people expected that was going to be what was wrong.  The good news was my collapsing trachea hasn’t gotten any worse than it was when I had aspiration pneumonia 25 months before.  

I got 2 kinds of antibiotics, 1 that I had to take once a day and the other that I had to take twice a day, and I got to come home.  I wasn’t interested in my regular raw food so my woman got out a can of dog food that they had for me to take my medications in and I ate some of that.  I had to go into the hall bathroom later that day after the shower had been on for a while so I could breathe in the steam. 

The 21st, I woke my woman up to go for a short walk and I was able walk around without panting or having rattly lungs.  I was super interested in my cat food that had antibiotics hidden in it and ate most of my regular breakfast.  Since I was showing interest in canned food, my woman went to the local pet store and got me a bunch of canned food.  My vet said I was too thin which my people already knew and shouldn’t lose any more weight, and should gain weight if possible, so my people wanted to have canned food in case I stopped eating my regular food again. 

As I got better, I did a couple more steams and my woman figured out what to set my cold laser to to help my lungs clear up.

I stopped wanting to eat my breakfasts again and my people realized it was because the raw chicken was too sticky and I didn’t like how it felt with my megaesophagus.  Before I got sick, my woman had picked up some freeze dried Stella and Chewy’s raw patties to have for emergency food.  So they started giving me some of those patties plus my regular raw dinners and canned dog food.  The canned dog food gets pureed using a stick blender so it doesn't cause problems, even the ones that are pates.

For a week, I ate 4 Stella and Chewy's patties, a can of dog food, my full dinner, and all my normal snacks.  Then I stopped eating it all so my people gave me fewer patties and less of my regular food.

I had my 2-week follow up x-rays on January 3 and my lungs were completely clear of pneumonia.  My vet kept me on the antibiotics for 3 more weeks to make sure there wasn’t anything left.   

My people have kept adjusting what I eat, how much I eat, and how often I eat.  Now I’m eating 4 Stella and Chewy’s patties, ¾ of a can of dog food, half my normal raw dinner, plus my normal snacks and extra treats.  And my people say I’m starting to very slowly gain some weight.