During the first week of February Daisy started to get this serious sounding cough that immediately worried Allen and I. We asked a few people what they thought it could be and then after some discussion we decided that we hoped it was just allergies, we would give it a few days, keep her around a humidifier and give her benadryl to see if it got any better. Fast forward to me leaving town for my cousin's bridal shower and when I got home from it she seemed much better.
Then this past Friday morning she started coughing again while in bed with me after Allen had left for the morning. When I went to let her outside she coughed up a bunch of white foamy stuff on the kitchen floor and then did that a few more times throughout the morning. I noticed she was having what looked like a hard time breathing so after Allen got home around lunchtime we decided I would take her up to the nearby vet and have her checked out.
I could have driven 20 minutes to our old vet but decided to head to the one that was nearest to our house now and I'm so glad I did. They did the initial exam then we chatted a bit about all her symptoms. The vet discussed with us what he thought could be the issue but let us know that without further testing we wouldn't have a conclusive answer. So after discussing this some more, we decided to have x-rays and blood work done so they could look into it a bit more.
The vet finally came to get me to go over the results of both tests and immediately stated his concern over how her thorax looked and how he couldn't see her lungs or heart in the x-ray. The whole space under her ribs is supposed to mostly be black in the x-ray but hers is all cloudy white in a large portion of it and only black in a small portion. Her blood tests showed her white blood cell count at about 17,000 when it should be between 5,000 and 15,000. He said that wasn't too worrisome so he wanted to focus more on what he saw in the x-rays. He was very adamant about the fact that she was sick and needed to get on some medication asap so he told me she would be put on a steroid to open up her airways and relax those muscles, a diuretic to help flush out the fluids her body has built up and the strongest antibiotic he could prescribe to fight the infection.
He focused in on 3 diagnosis; 1. pneumonia 2. upper respiratory infection 3. mass/tumor. He asked if I would entertain an ultrasound so they could look at a more 3D image to see if it was more in her lungs, her plural or in the thorax area itself and we scheduled one for the following morning.
He went over a few other things with me while we were there about if this wasn't in fact just an infection of some kind, the different specialists that may come into play if needed and what we could be looking at if this turned out to be the "worst case scenario." I tried my hardest to not get emotional while we were discussing everything but Daisy is my first baby and all of this is just so much to handle.
Saturday morning Daisy and I went back to the Vet and had her ultrasound performed. It didn't 100% rule out a mass/tumor but they said that it didn't look like that was what we were dealing with thankfully. We left the Vet again without a 100% certain diagnosis but felt better that at least we weren't looking at the worst case scenario for the time being.
As of right now Daisy is doing a bit better than she was on Friday. She is breathing better and after one snafu with her meds (her not wanting to eat the Greenie pill pocket so I had to try cheese), she's taking them pretty much without issue. We go back on Thursday to have another x-ray done to see her progress and I'm just praying we get good news and that her thorax is much clearer. I need my baby healthy!
Thank you to everyone on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram who've said prayers for her and kept her in your thoughts and thank you in advance for all the love she's bound to get from our friends here. My pugs mean the world to me and I'm trying my best no matter how much the vet bills cost to get her better
14 comments:
Jenn - I know how much your sweet girl means to you and I'll keep her and you in my prayers! It is so hard to see your baby in pain....I hope she gets better soon! xoxo
Oh no! I am so truly sorry! Going through this stuff is the worst feeling ever! Praying for your sweet Daisy and you guys!!! God will take care of her. xoxo!
Poor Daisy girl :( I am still praying for her little pug self. I am glad to hear they don't think it's a tumor or mass. I will continue to pray for good news and little miss to feel better. Heck when my dog even acts weird I freak out, I cannot imagine. I have faith she will get through this!
Good to hear that she is on the mend! It IS scary when they get sick - and they can't tell you what is wrong.
I cannot even start to add up how much money we have spent on our pugs. Probably the most expense is their eyes...and eye specialist and eye medicine! But they are so worth every (uncounted)penny!
A few months ago, Parker was acting funny, her belly was bloated and hard, and she would cry and yelp when I tried to touch her and when I picked her up. It was during Hurricane Sandy in October. The day after the worst of the storm, she started it, so I called the vet , fully expecting them to be closed, but they were there, only 3 people and had limited electricity and phone lines but when I explained what was going on, they told me to come right up. And thankfully, they are only 10 minutes up the road. My husband stayed home with the baby and I took Parker by myself. I was a crying mess the entire way there. I was just imagining that her stomach was twisted (like on Marley and me) and that we wouldn't be able to afford to fix it and I would have to put her to sleep and I would have to call our neighbor, Joyce who loves Parker the most, and tell her to come up to say goodbye. All this was going through my mind in the 10 minute drive.
Needless to say, there was nothing wrong with her stomach, it was her back. And most likely from a very active, "loving" 30lbs 18 month old jumping on her. $75 and some meds later, we were on our way home.
But I just cannot imagine losing one of my first furry, four-legged babies.
All that to say, I know how you feel.
I'll be thinking about you and Daisy! Hope she starts feeling MUCH better soon!!
awww i hope she gets better soon!
Go Daisy! Glad shes feeling better.
Furry babies are family no matter what. Xrays make perfect sense on an animal as much as human. You did the right thing.
Aw, I'm thinking of you and Daisy and keeping you in my prayers. It's SO frustrating when they can't diagnose an issue right away, and just need to keep testing things. That's the unfortunate thing about animals- they can't explain what's wrong, so it's harder for us to figure it out! My dog, also Daisy, has pneumonia several years ago. Our vet told us we'd have to have this very expensive test, and surgery, but we took her to another vet for a second opinion, and they treated her with medicine and it all cleared up. Hoping for the easiest, and best scenario for you! Don't be afraid to seek second opinions! or third!
Dog troubles are the worst! I hate when my Harper is sick! :(
It is so hard to see your fur babies sick, I totally get it :( I'm just glad the vet's are taking good care of her and that you're even able to get her all this treatment! I hope she's over all this junk soon. Keep us posted and let me know if I can ever do anything. xoxo
awwww.. i hope your pup is better asap!
Oh I hate that Daisy is so sick. I know it can be hard on you too, as her mama. Praying her x-ray on Thursday is more clear!
I'm glad she is starting to feel better and I wish her a speedy recovery!
Keeping poor Daisy in my prayers. I hope everything ends up being ok.
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