Update: JRT with chronic bronchitis

[Calamber]

I have tried Zyrtec and Benedryl, which did not work. He also had some kind of contact dermatitis for which he just had a 7 day course of a Cipro type antibiotic and 2 weeks of Prednisone which did almost stop the wheezing cough, which, of course, has now resumed. He has had 4 chest xrays, nothing wrong with his heart, I had him heartworm tested in the beginning just to be sure and that was negative. His thyroid level and all other blood counts are normal. Any ideas, any type of medicine that has helped? He is bright eyed, eats well and has had normal bowel movements except the prednisone made him drink more thus more bowel movements and the Benedryl gave him diarrhea. Too much. Help?.. He cannot even run now without wheezing.

Updated 12/5

[Beethoven]

Talk to you vet about using inhaled steroids.

[UlysMom]

My 13 yo shepherd has chronic bronchitis and has for probably the last 7 years. The only thing that ever knocks her cough down is prednisone. And I have tried everything natural, antihistamine, honey, etc. Unfortunately the only thing that worked was a course of pred. And as she has gotten older, I’ve found I have to keep her on a low dose to keep the cough at bay. If I stop, it comes back and she is miserable.

I asked my vet about inhaled steroids for her earlier this year and he didn’t think she was a good candidate for it (cost, duration and frequency she would need to utilize it). Beethoven, have you had good experiences with the inhalant? I’d be curious and would be open to broaching the subject with my vet again, since I hate having her on systemic steroids.

[Calamber]

I just got another dosage of prednisone with a different type of antihistamine, Temaril-P? He is sleeping quietly, we will see if the wheezing abates in the morning. Thanks for the ideas! He just started this spring with mild wheezing inside and now with the rain, it has gotten much worse. Probably allergic to mold, and probably some mildew under the house. We are ripping out the old insulation and replacing it as there was rodent damage, probably some moisture in it also. Hope this works. Poor little guy.

[Kachina]

Have a kitty developing same issues. Research yesterday suggested that for cats anyway, MDI fluticasone can be very helpful. Flonase. You can get the same equivalent dose of steroid (prednisolone) into them but it’s more targeted and because of that, less hard on the other systems in their body. Sounded promising to me and will be exploring this option with the vet. Fortunately, I already have the inhaler gizzie. Just hoping that Flonase isn’t super expensive. Hope that your boy responds well to the new antihistamine.

[Calamber]

It is working better however I forgot one dose yesterday and last night/early this morning he had another wheezing attack. I have one more day of 2/day, 4 more of 1/day and then every other for another however many doses there are, probably 4.

[Calamber]

Update: I went for a second opinion to a vet recommended by someone who works in the emergency clinic. I had previous vet take chest xrays on advice of Hoopoe, and they said his heart was fine. Second vet had those xrays and one new of throat and he has a totally different reading. Heart is mildly enlarged with no other evidence of heart disease, but, he has a redundant tracheal flap which seems to been partially collapsed, lower airway disease and evidence of chronic bronchitis, no asthma (it is rare for dogs to develop asthma). He had begun coughing again quite bit, and is now on 2 x a day Temaril-P, one time a day of anti-emetic to help stop coughing, every 6 - 8 hours of hydrocodone to help with the coughing and Doxycycline. He has stopped coughing but I accidentally gave him too much of the anti-emetic and he is sleeping as it will sedate. I hope this works. Probably will have to be on some kind of medication for the chronic bronchitis for the rest of his life. I am kicking myself for not going to this vet sooner. The other “consultant” for the xrays, missed the heart issue, and I could never get them to discuss his throat with me at all, I had even asked for a view of the throat out of concern for a tumor and she said dogs don’t get tumors in the throat, never once even suggested tracheal issues even though he is a small dog.