Pneumonia – Page 2

Lillie

July 1, 2008December 27, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

My name is Lillie and my story (for my new family) begins around May 5, 2008. That’s the day I landed myself in the Warrenton County Mo pound. I was traveling with my beagle buddy and we wound up in some nice lady’s yard. She called Lori the ACO to come and get us so we wouldn’t get hurt. I was actually pretty lucky. Lori is a nice ACO and she does a great job of finding us new homes.

My mom saw me on Petfinder the third day at the pound. Lori said she had to wait two or three more days and if no one came for me she would be first on the list. The next Tuesday on July 11th mom drove the sixty-mile to and get me. She never told dad or the boys that I was coming home. It was a surprise. When she came to the pound she looked like an OK lady so I thought what the heck, I’ll give her a try.

I was on my best behavior. I acted like I had known her for twenty years. I jumped right in the car and sat in the front seat all the way home. When we got to my new house there was a great big obnoxious dog they called Del Fuego. He instantly loved me because of my fabulous personality and award-winning looks, however, I hated him. I tried to chew his face off. Lori had told mom that I was not dog aggressive – haha I just wanted out of there so, I pulled a fast one on her. Anyway, to make a long story short, that obnoxious Del Fuego would never take no for an answer and now we are best friends. He never leaves me for a minute

Life was pretty good here but after a few days, mom saw that I had a cough and she took me to the dogtor and they said kennel cough. They put me on medicine and it never got better. This is where my story becomes very scary. I started having very strange spells. I would start to eat and drink very fast and then I would throw up. My eyes would glaze over and I would start to fall down. My heart would beat so fast and I was so hot and then I would start to freeze and my heart would go so slow that I couldn’t breathe. Mom rushed me to the emergency room the first time and they told her pneumonia. They gave me fluids and antibiotics and I started to feel better. I was feeling good for about a week and then the big crash as mom calls it. I started coughing again on Monday but nothing too alarming. Colin stayed home with me (he’s my new boy) and I seemed fine. On Tuesday Colin had a ballgame so I had to go into the crate for a couple of hours. When mom came home two hours later she found me cold and barely breathing. She scooped me up and drove straight to the emergency room.

I was dying. The dogtor told mom my body was shutting down. My heartbeat was 41 and I wasn’t going to make it much longer. They started me on fluids and heart medication but nothing worked. Mom sat with me until 8 AM and then she took me to my regular vet. They kept me for three days. Fluids, heart meds, broncho-dilators I was full of tubes and I couldn’t eat. I was so tired. I didn’t even pay any attention to anyone around me until my dad came to see me. I rolled over and the techs got me out of the crate and dad carried me to out to go potty. They said it was a good sign. I came home after three long days. In the meantime mom was frantic. She sent out an SOS on a Westie Rescue site and the next thing you know nice people were letting her know that help was out there.

Ms. Bette from WestieMed contacted mom and told her to take me to see the Cardiologist at VSS in Manchester. Dr. Marshall was a very nice lady. She put me on a thirty-day event monitor to watch my heart. I am also now on Thyroid medication twice a day. My Thyroid panel came back as virtually nonfunctioning. Mom was so happy to hear Thyroid meds because this would be easy and now we were finally getting somewhere. After seven dogtors and all that poking and prodding, you would think they could figure it out.

My dogtor bills were over $2,000 dollars. My cardiologist’s visit was $747.00 all by itself. WestieMed came to the rescue and got me to the Cardiologist. Today I am feeling pretty good. I get a little better each day. Mom says I’m about 90%. I’m eating and drinking and I’m getting back my fabulous personality. Throughout all of this, Del Fuego never left my side. He slept by me and watched over every day. He was very anxious and depressed when I was in the hospital. Mom said she thought he would need Prozac. I will have a new Thyroid panel in another week and hopefully, all I will need is a couple of pills per day for the rest of my life. Mom says this is “no problem”.

Lillie continues to do a little better every day. Unfortunately, her thyroid panel showed that her Thyroid Stimulating Hormone was also nonexistent along with the other two factors. The two specialists at VSS feel that this could be due to a tumor growing on her Pituitary Gland and the pressure inside her head is causing her to have atypical seizures. This is only a guess and cannot be confirmed without a CT scan. If she indeed does have a tumor, nothing can be done about it.

We are giving her thyroid meds and pretending that the bad news email never came. If she has another spell it will most likely kill her but, at least she will be at home with us and not on some road or in a ditch somewhere.

No one ever came to look for her. She had no tags or collar. It was very apparent that she had been cared for. She was fed, groomed, potty trained and spayed. Maybe someone knew something wasn’t right and they chose not to deal with it. It doesn’t matter now. We love her and she’s ours forever. She now has a mom & dad two boys and her own dog Del Fuego. My son Colin named her Lillie Mc Gee after Willie Mc Gee the 80’s St. Louis Cardinal. He wasn’t very good looking but he was an awesome ballplayer. Well, our Lillie sure isn’t show quality but, she’s’ a heck of a dog!!!!! We call her GEE GEE.

Thanks to WestieMed and the IL MO Westie Rescue. I appreciate all of the support and Emails that I have received from everyone. It’s nice to know that you all are out there.

Sincerely,
Stacy, Richard, Nick, Colin, Del Fuego, and the Fabulous Miss Lillie

Update September 21, 2008

I just wanted to let you know that Lillie is still hanging in there. She has been having shorter and less intense spells than before, but they are more frequent. She usually has one every Thursday or Friday. It’s very bizarre.

She goes to the vet on Monday for her retest on her t-4. They do this every three weeks to readjust her meds. She started at .4 and we are now at .2 hopefully they will lower it and she can level out. The vet thinks her spells could be caused by her thyroid still being out of whack. When she was tested at .4 her thyroid was a 9.4 instead of a 1.2-2.0 which is ideal. He said not to give up just yet. Otherwise, she is fine. She has a few bad hours a week and then sleeps it off and bounces back. It’s giving me a nervous breakdown but she seems to handle it fine.

She has two new friends, my sister in-law’s 2lb Maltipoo and my son’s friend’s three-pound Toy Pom, she finds them fascinating. I think she thinks they are varmints. She like to hunt them throughout the house and when they stop she rolls over in front of them. It’s pretty funny.

Sincerely,
Stacy

Update November 16, 2008

Knock on wood!! Lillie has not had a spell in several weeks. her thyroid meds have been dropped to a .2 and this seems to be doing the trick. Her coat is coming in nicely. The wiry coat is also coming in and she is really starting to look good. She’s back to 100%. Hopefully, we will stay on course. So far no other problems have come up. I’m hopeful. Now if I could get her to sleep past 6:30 AM on a weekend we would really be making progress.

Thanks for everything and Happy Holidays.
Stacy & Lillie

Update January 29, 2008

Today is a good day. Lillie went for several weeks without any spells. Her meds were regulated at a .2 and she seemed to finally have leveled out. The first couple of weeks of January were rough. She has three spells and one of them lasted for two days. This was the first time that the Vet was able to see her in the middle of a full thrown spell. He feels that it is definitely neurological. He really feels that the spells are her form of a seizure and he would like to try and put her on seizure meds, however, he does not want to make anything worse. At this point, we have contacted U. of Mo. Vet school about having the CT scan and a visit with the Neurologist.

When she comes out of the spells she acts 100%. She is all Westie. She still has tons of spunk.

Here are a few pictures…her fresh summer haircut, her sunbathing (this is her morning routine in the summer) and her Christmas poncho.

Stacy & Lillie

Update April 21, 2009

So far so good. Lillie has been doing very well lately. No real spells, just a few upset tummy episodes.

I have contacted both the U of I and U of Mo and they both want $2,500.00 for a full MRI work up. They say that a CT scan is not good enough. They need to see soft brain tissue. It is a two to three-day process.

Good news, I did find a job. I work out of my home several days a week so I do get to spend a lot of time with her. She is not home alone for long periods of time. I can stagger my schedule around everyone else.

I am waiting for her insurance to process some info on her. The underwriter has it now. We will see what they say. I really want to encourage everyone to take out a shelter care policy with a pet care insurance co as soon as they take guardianship. If I had done this with Lillie within seven days of adopting her, I would not have had any of these issues. They would have covered 70%. I hope all is well with everyone at WestieMed.

We are looking forward to nicer weather. We have a new dog park and agility course in town. Lillie loves agility and the more she can run the better. A few days ago she took off after a goose at our pond (at least three football fields away) she is lightning fast.

There is hope for broken-down ol’ Westies. I will keep you posted.

The Fischer Clan

Update July 11, 2009

Lillie is still hanging in there. I have her on a holistic diet and we are working with a nutritionist and a natural pet food store. I came across an e-book on canine pancreatitis and the effect if prolonged and untreated. So we are back to the basics as dogs that have thyroid issues are predisposed to pancreatitis.

Stacy and Lillie

Update January 20, 2010

Update on Lillie. She is doing really well. She is on her holistic diet and has not had any spells in quite a long time. She has a new Westie sister Heidi from the HSMO in St. Louis, MO. Heidi has some leg issues due to being what I call a miller. They get along very well and they team up together against DelFuego. We will be moving to Santa Fe, NM this summer. They are looking forward to their new big fenced in back yard!!!!

Sincerely,
The Fischers

Finn

November 1, 2006February 6, 2021 by westiemed in Stories

November 2006:

My name is Finn. I am a rough and tumble puppy. I was rescued from a puppy mill in western Pennsylvania in October 2007. The mill owners, who never gave me a name, indicated I was fourteen weeks old and that they were giving me up due to skin problems. The rescue people were worried because I was half the size and weight a fourteen-week-old Westie should be. I spent a few days at the Greater Annapolis Veterinary Hospital (GAVH) until my foster parents Ann and Phil came to care for me. All the ladies at GAVH were sad to see me go (one of the veterinarians called me a “puppy rock star.”)

At my foster home, I was VERY hungry and ate everything in sight. I was lively and cute, and enjoyed running and playing with the adult dogs, but got tired often. After a few days, I started having a little trouble breathing and stopped being active. Ann got really worried after I stopped BITING and started limping. She was petting me and found that my jaw was very painful at the joint and immediately took me back to GAVH. They found that I had pneumonia, signs of Craniomandibular Osteopathy (CMO), and a strained knee. I was given medication and sent home.

Several days later, when my condition did not improve, I was admitted into the hospital and given antibiotics through a nebulizer several times a day. My foster parents called to check on me EVERY day. I had a few rough days but eventually, I started to improve. I came home and Ann and Phil thought everything was going well. A week later, though, after my first Parade of Rescues (I got a ribbon!), I started acting very tired and wheezy again. Everyone was very worried. I went back to GAVH for another week, where my vets, Dr. Daher, and her colleagues, figured out that one of my antibiotics was no longer working, and put me on doxycycline. After a week of observation (three days I which I was feeling so good I was bouncing off the walls), I got to go back to my foster home. Ann and Phil, and the “big dogs,” Jasmine and Arie, take good care of me. Phil and Jasmine get up early every day to get me breakfast and my medicine (yucky medicine in a big syringe they stick in my mouth). I also have to take my antibiotics at night. I take Pepcid for tummy aches (the medicines I take are strong) and prednisone for my CMO. I like to go outside on walks and romp around in the backyard (but not without my coat!). Because of the prednisone, I am still having some trouble with housebreaking, but my foster parents are very patient.

These days I love to eat, look out the windows, bark, and nibble on fingers (my big dog teeth are still coming in). I play tug with my foster brother Arie and chase with my foster sister Jasmine, and bark at dogs, people, and squirrels passing by. I am learning to be a Westie. Someday I hope to be placed in a loving forever home with other dogs I can play with.

Finn

Update January 2008:

I found the best forever home a pup could ever hope for! I have two older Border Collie brothers that let me chew on them, a cool fenced in yard to explore, and a great mommy and daddy who love me to death. I even have other pup friends in the neighborhood that I get to play with on a regular basis.

I’m the picture of health, with no skin issues and I seem to have grown out of my CMO. (I love to play tug with my brothers!) I also have a Westie sister named Dory. She is a 3-year-old rescue from a puppy mill we got a few months ago. She’s my best friend. I’m teaching her all about Westie-tude and how to play.

I am quite the handful and very entertaining. I always seem to be in some sort of mischief. I started agility classes this Fall and have picked up on it really quickly cause I’m very smart and a fast learner.

Woof! Finn

Wesley

October 1, 2000December 29, 2020 by westiemed in Stories

October 2000:

We received our lovable Westie, Wesley, on July 8, 2000. The Westie Rescue service said Wesley came from an abusive/neglectful home. He was suffering from severe lung problems and was never properly treated for a broken leg. Arthritis had set in to the legs and hip area. Most importantly, Wesley was hospitalized for pneumonia in February, but these effects were still plaguing him. He was put on antibiotics to help the lung infection but all efforts were failing.

Wesley was sent to a internal medicine specialist where it was determined that he was suffering from chronic bronchitis. The course of treatment included a trachael wash which would swipe his lungs and determine exactly what treatment needed to take place to stop the “crackling” and coughing from his chest. In October, Wesley was finally medically stable enough to have the trachael wash done, and was also neutered at the same time. The rescue service believes Wesley is around 10 years old but we know that he has many happy years ahead of him!

The tracheal wash determined his lungs were still severely infected and inflamed and he has been put on more aggressive antibiotics to rid him of this problem once and for all. Wesley has also been put on medication for his arthritis which couldn’t be done until they determined what was wrong with his lungs. We know Wesley feels like a new dog since he’s been with us these last three months but we hope this will help him feel even happier and healthier.

Wesley has fit right in with our family. He loves his sister, another Westie we bought before Wesley. Madison is three years old and they love to wrestle and chase each other around the house. He also takes a daily walk with her around our neighborhood. They’re best friends.

Wesley seemed very hesitant of people when he first came to us, especially of men. He often hid behind furniture so he could feel safe when he feel asleep but as the weeks went by he came out of his shell and made his presence known. His Westie personality is shining through! He loves to spend time outside just looking around the neighborhood and barking at squirrels and rabbits. He loves to give kisses (he didn’t know what they were when he first came to us). He may be an older dog but we have taught him new tricks! He watches Madison and imitates her tricks, after all he knows if he does it he gets one of his favorite treats.

Wesley is a joy to have. He is absolutely spoiled rotten and loving it! Thanks to WestieMed and Westie Rescue of Greater Washington, MD, his medical costs have been covered – and they have been pretty expensive.

Second hand dogs do make first rate pets!

C.O., Hagerstown, Maryland