Guest keegsmom Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 When my MIL passed away recently we took her elderly pekinese. Mei Ling is a wonderful little dog who always seems happy despite being blind and having a serious heart condition. Our other 8 dogs and our cat (not to mention us!)immediately fell in love with her. Two nights ago we had to get emergency attention for her when she went into severe respiratory distress. I was afraid she wasn't going to make it long enough to get to the vets office. Our vet met us at his office, gave Mei Ling aminophyllin, oxygen, and a low dose of steroid. Yesterday she was improved enough to bring her home. She is still on aminophyllin and also antibiotics, in addition to her heart meds. She seems to feel pretty good, but still has occasional bouts of coughing that sound like a goose honking. We initially thought she had gone into heart failure, but the vet said she had tracheal collapse. I am really worried about her. Anyone else had this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sassifrass Posted October 30, 2008 Share Posted October 30, 2008 Tracheal collapse is a problem common to small dogs. Your dog should be walked in a harness so as to minimize any pressure on her throat area. I have had two small dogs with tracheal collapse, and as long as you walk in the harness, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, other than loud breathing and snoring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest keegsmom Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Thanks! She has been coughing some today, but seems to feel OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LindsaySF Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 I hope she feels better soon! Will she need to be on the steroids forever, or just during flare-ups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest keegsmom Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 They are hoping to only use steroids during flareups. With her heart condition steroids are not a good thing. I wish we knew more about Mei Ling's history, whether this had ever happened before, etc. My MIL lived in another state and died very unexpectedly and she had not discussed Mei Ling's health with us. I knew Mei Ling was being treated for a heart problem and that she had poor eyesight, but when I called the area vets, no one seemed to have records on her. Turns out she has keratoconjuctivitis sicca (spelling?) which causes the eyes not to produce tears and predisposes the dog to corneal ulcers. She was supposed to be getting a special eye ointment called optimmune every day. Of course we didn't realize that until shortly after she came to live with us she developed a terrible corneal ulcer that took what was left of her sight. We had our vet do a complete physical with a cardiac work up to see what we could do to help her. The poor dog has a hugely enlarged heart and such severe valve problems that her whole heart sound is just a big murmur. I feel so bad that we were not aware of all of this and now on top of losing her person, Mei Ling has lost her sight and has to adjust to a totally new environment. But this little dog is amazing. She has learned her way around our house, never meets a stranger (whether human, dog, or cat) and always has this big crooked toothed grin that makes everyone around her feel happy. I am honored to love and care for her and help her have the best quality of life possible. But this has made me realize is how important it is to have records of our pets health,their meds, their vet--readily accessable in case the unthinkable happens and suddenly someone else is caring for our babies. Please keep little Mei Ling in your prayers. She is such a brave little girl and has such a beautiful outlook on life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ChasesMum Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 poor thing! but what a trooper! So sorry to your family on the loss of your MIL! Just a couple thoughts on finding her old vet (not that it much matters) Does she have tags or a tattoo that might help in tracing her vet? Maybe the city has them on file with her licence number? What about her heart meds, where were they filled? They should have a doc's name at least, one would think...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.