Lethargy & URI

[andisafc]

Hi, I have 2 boys aged 8 months - Donnie and Bramble. Donnie had a UTI in late October which was deep seated and took 2 months to get rid of with baytril. After being off Baytril for 1 week he then started with a URI - Snotty nose and noisy breathing so cue 3 weeks baytril and metacam. After medication started he was lethargic and hardly coming out for food so I was support feeding him. He sounded better after 3 weeks and vet confirmed to stop the medication.
A week later he was lethargic and not eating much and had "clicky" breathing so back to the vets again, they started him on baytril again with metacam. No improvement after a week and even more subdued. Took him back to the vets (just like to add we go to Gilmoor Vets in Durham who are exotic savvy) and after a long consultation they think his nasal cavities could be damaged but as he was still showing lethargy and being off his food they have prescribed co-trimoxazole and metacam day and night along with nebulisation with F10.
He picked up for a couple of days and even ran around with his brother for a while but today he is back to being lethargic and not eating much on his own. So I feeding critical care round the clock. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? It is so hard and upsetting.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi, I have 2 boys aged 8 months - Donnie and Bramble. Donnie had a UTI in late October which was deep seated and took 2 months to get rid of with baytril. After being off Baytril for 1 week he then started with a URI - Snotty nose and noisy breathing so cue 3 weeks baytril and metacam. After medication started he was lethargic and hardly coming out for food so I was support feeding him. He sounded better after 3 weeks and vet confirmed to stop the medication.
A week later he was lethargic and not eating much and had "clicky" breathing so back to the vets again, they started him on baytril again with metacam. No improvement after a week and even more subdued. Took him back to the vets (just like to add we go to Gilmoor Vets in Durham who are exotic savvy) and after a long consultation they think his nasal cavities could be damaged but as he was still showing lethargy and being off his food they have prescribed co-trimoxazole and metacam day and night along with nebulisation with F10.
He picked up for a couple of days and even ran around with his brother for a while but today he is back to being lethargic and not eating much on his own. So I feeding critical care round the clock. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? It is so hard and upsetting.

Hi and welcome

I am so sorry.

To be honest, your vet seems to have covered all potential measures, including nebulising.

Have they checked for something inside the body potentially pushing on the heart? From their measures it does however not sound like a fluid build up in the lungs or chest cavity (you only ever get the one or the other) and the heart must have sounded normal bcause that is the first thing any vet checks, especially with lethargy in play.

I agree that the lethargy is very worrying. My gut feeling is that something else could be going inside the body that is causing lowering the immune system to allow opportunistis infections in and cause the lethargy. As long as your boy is taking the food and water, the breathing issue is not critical and it doesn't sound like pneumonia, either (the clicking coming from the chest and not the nasal area or the mouth). The problem is that it would be very hard to diagnose and find from my own experiences.

 

[andisafc]

Hi @Wiebke He had an X-ray in December when he had the urinary issues as they weren’t sure if he had stones (sorry I forgot to put this while typing my tale of woe!). The X-ray was looked over again the other day to see if they’d missed something further up so I’m assuming that’s ok?
The vet said that the only sound in the lungs was an echo from the upper respiratory area.

Do you think a blood test could see if there was anything else going on? He is actually putting on weight as well. The only thing I have noticed is that he seems to be itching a lot but they had a dose of Xeno 50 a month ago!

Thanks so much for your help! I’m at my wits end with stress with it.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi @Wiebke He had an X-ray in December when he had the urinary issues as they weren’t sure if he had stones (sorry I forgot to put this while typing my tale of woe!). The X-ray was looked over again the other day to see if they’d missed something further up so I’m assuming that’s ok?
The vet said that the only sound in the lungs was an echo from the upper respiratory area.

Do you think a blood test could see if there was anything else going on? He is actually putting on weight as well. The only thing I have noticed is that he seems to be itching a lot but they had a dose of Xeno 50 a month ago!

Thanks so much for your help! I’m at my wits end with stress with it.

Was it just one dose of xeno 50?
Xeno needs to be given as a course - three separate treatments with two weeks between each treatment - to fully cure a case is mites.

 

[andisafc]

Sorry that dose was preventive, in theory anyway.

 

[andisafc]

Me again. The saga continues, poor Donnie really isn’t well after needing X-rays, bloods & they have done a lung flush. 24 hours later & he is not eating at all on his own. Upped the critical care to every 3 hours @ 9ml. Vet has just prescribed metoclopramide to make sure he doesn’t have gut stasis. He is just sat spaced out. I understand he was only under sedation not full anaesthetic for 15mins.

Does anyone have any tips / experience of this? They did find that he has lung thickening indicating infection / slight damage & is still on antibiotics & metacam til results come back.