laurajadegreen
New Born Pup
Hi everyone, just looking for some advice.
I adopted a beautiful boy, Toast, from a rescue who was 1 week post neuter. He has been living next to my girls separated with some plexiglass as he was chewing the bars to get to them.
Toast was a very quiet boy from the start however a few weeks after having him I noticed he was head bobbing when he was breathing, queue a panicked emergency trip to the vet I had used for years. They couldn't find anything wrong but I didnt believe them. Managed to get him referred to an exotic specialist and seen a few days later. He was diagnosed with a URI and was given Co-trimoxazole for 10 days and metacam for 5. Other than the heavy breathing and a slight hooting his other symptom was rapid weight loss and lack of appetite. I began syringe feeding him critical care every 3 hours for 4 days before his appetite came back. After the 10 days he still was breathing heavy so went back for another 10 days antibiotics. He has 4 days left on antibiotics, the hooting has stopped, his breathing is inaudible. He has no nasal or eye discharge. He has put on nearly 200grams in weight and is popcorning and shouting for veg. His appetite is huge and hes eating everything given to him. He still has the strange breathing in his body, I can see him breathing around his flank area still which would suggest respiratory effort.
Has anyone had experience with stubborn URIs? I'm worrying that he is never going to breathe normally at this rate and wanting advice to help me stop catastrophising. He will be going back to the vets after his second round of antibiotics but just wondering is there light at the end of the tunnel?
Thanks
I adopted a beautiful boy, Toast, from a rescue who was 1 week post neuter. He has been living next to my girls separated with some plexiglass as he was chewing the bars to get to them.
Toast was a very quiet boy from the start however a few weeks after having him I noticed he was head bobbing when he was breathing, queue a panicked emergency trip to the vet I had used for years. They couldn't find anything wrong but I didnt believe them. Managed to get him referred to an exotic specialist and seen a few days later. He was diagnosed with a URI and was given Co-trimoxazole for 10 days and metacam for 5. Other than the heavy breathing and a slight hooting his other symptom was rapid weight loss and lack of appetite. I began syringe feeding him critical care every 3 hours for 4 days before his appetite came back. After the 10 days he still was breathing heavy so went back for another 10 days antibiotics. He has 4 days left on antibiotics, the hooting has stopped, his breathing is inaudible. He has no nasal or eye discharge. He has put on nearly 200grams in weight and is popcorning and shouting for veg. His appetite is huge and hes eating everything given to him. He still has the strange breathing in his body, I can see him breathing around his flank area still which would suggest respiratory effort.
Has anyone had experience with stubborn URIs? I'm worrying that he is never going to breathe normally at this rate and wanting advice to help me stop catastrophising. He will be going back to the vets after his second round of antibiotics but just wondering is there light at the end of the tunnel?
Thanks
My piggy Polo hoots and wheezes, but has no URI specific symptoms. He has been on antibiotics but most of them stopped it for a while and then the wheezing came back. I have noticed that vigorous use of my air purifier coincides with cessation of the wheezing (touch wood) I have damp in my wall which causes mould when I don't wash and disinfect the wall. My landlord knows but the chances of it being fixed don't seem high 
I can see what looks like more damp under the brickwork further along the external wall which correlates with weather related damp behind the plaster inside. It is strange that antibiotics stopped Polo's wheezing fairly effectively. I am not sure if residual areas of inflammation and possibly infection remain that become sensitive to allergens and moulds in the air. During the heat waves I was surprised to find that Polo was free of breathing issues, with them returning predictably as soon as damp weather set in. A vet I consulted outlined a potential treatment plan using steroids. I decided to try the conservative route using the air purifier and washing the wall with anti dandruff shampoo and Dettol spray. It is difficult to hear a piggy making these breathing sounds. I am just relieved that for the time being at least using a fan, ventilation and the air purifier seems to stop the sounds.
I hope you can find a solution for your piggy 
The vets I have seen suggest imaging as a way of finding out more and this makes sense. It is the balance of having anaesthetic or probably light sedation and taking a conservative approach and managing the problem.