Help Needed for Puppy With Inhaled Milk Respiratory Issues
Advice needed, please. We had puppies Cavalier King Charles Spaniel born a week ago. Next day one of the puppies inhaled milk and it was really bad "rumbling" in his lungs. I tried to suck with the balloon as much as I could, but it was still bad. We rushed to emergency, puppy was checked for possible other problems (there are non) and got some antibiotics, but not too much hope for recovery. It was really sad, but I decided to do whatever it takes to save this puppy. The weight of this puppy is now 240 g and is getting 0.1 ml of Clavamox drops 2x a day. I am tube feeding him (every 2-3 hours - day and night) to avoid further milk inhalation. The whelping room temperature we keep at 90 F and in the whelping box we have a heating pad... We also bought an oxygen concentrator and she is getting a dose of oxygen for 10 min. after each feeding. The oxygen is set for 1.5 litre per min. Also she is getting some Ringer solution under the skin, as she seems to be a little dehydrated. After one week this puppy is looking very good, gaining weight (still much smaller then other puppies), but we still can hear the fluid in her lungs. Not as much, but it is still there. After talking to another vet we were advised to continue with antibiotics until her lungs will be completely clear. I am not sure what else we could do to assure her full recovery and also I would like to know if this complication in her early life could have effect on further health of this puppy. Can anybody help? Thank you in advance.
Mpls., Mn
06/05/2017
Hey Linda,
I have been in your very same shoes. I had a frenchie baby aspirate at 6 days of age and heard a crackling sound from her lungs, and nose congested. I went to vet immediately and was prescribed Necal [?] injectable, 2x for 14 days, and then oral clavamox after that for perhaps another 2 weeks. My advice would be to use an injectable at this time as it is simply far more effective in delivering the antibiotic. Regular visits to the vet are a must to ensure the correct dosage of the antibiotic is being delivered as the pup grows. My girl looked so teensy, most likely because her brother was so FAT [only 2 in the litter]. When all was over, my girl was healthy, and is of normal size. I see no adverse affects from being on antibiotics for an extended period of time. You might, after the lungs are clear and the pup is off the antibiotics, give beneficial bacteria such as Pro-bio, from vet and you can also find online, to ensure the good bacteria are established in the gut, but generally if your pup is still nursing after the antibiotics end, that does seed the gut with the good bacteria. Please report back!!
Toronto, Ontario
06/14/2017
Hi Theresa, thank you again for your help. We got for the puppy a different antibiotics (Convenia Injection). It was supposed to work for 14 days. For a few days she was getting better, gaining the weight, but then suddenly she started to cry a lot, her breathing was more difficult and she had lots of fluid coming out from her nose.... I was able to keep her alive for 2 1/2 weeks, tube feeding her every 2 hours (day and night), giving her extra oxygen and I was hoping to save her, but we lost her.
I have here another problem. Earlier I was getting advice for a puppy, which had that immune disease "Puppy strangles". He is now 4 month old and symptoms free. I am still slowly decreasing the medication ("Atopica"), which should be done in another 2 weeks. The vet is not sure when he can vaccinate the puppy (he doesn't have any vaccination yet). The other thing is that he has really bad "running (crying)" eyes and stain marks on both side of his face. Last week the vet tried to flush his tear ducts under mild anaesthetics, but without any success. Maybe we should try to do it again when he will be little older. I am just wondering if there is anything else we could do about it. Would you have any suggestion? Thank you again for all your help.
Mpls., Mn
06/14/2017
Hey Linda,
Thank you for the update - very sorry for your loss. It seems when it rains it pours :(
I would NOT vaccinate your strangles puppy until he is off all meds - so 5 to 6 months. I would avoid exposing him to non-vaccinated dogs, and avoid exposing him to visitors who have just come from the dog park, or pet store, or dog show. Socializing may be harder to do with these limitations, so make the extra effort where you can. I would supplement to build up his immune system - vitamin C, echinacea - use human grade and child doses and continue until off the meds. When you do vaccinate, do the 4 core only - 1 initial, one booster 4 weeks later, 6 + weeks after that rabies, and nothing else until the 1 year booster [1 year from the vaccine, not age]. I would also dose homeopathic thuja before and after any vaccination. For the blocked tear ducts, have you ruled out distichia? It sounds like your vet is on top of it, but sometimes when an issue seems obvious you forget to continue to look to confirm. I do know in my breed that teething causes excessive tearing, and so pretty much from when the teeth first cut the gums until the permanent molars set at 9 months, I am dealing with excessive tearing. Finally, if your vet is not successful in flushing the blocked tear ducts you might ask other Cavalier folks who they use for a vet - if you can find a breed specialist they are a good resource to have on board.
**To add to prior post - the injectable medication I used on my puppy who aspirated was Naxcel.
Please report back!
