Elderly dog with bronchitis - Tweed OAP Health

I would be more than happy if Pereg would pick her toys up and put them away instead of leaving them strewn all over the bungalow!

Oh, and bring them in from the front yard - and she knows she is not supposed to take any outside...

[She could not take anything out of the washing machine though as mine is a top loader.]

I use children's liquid benedryl to clear up any problem related to fluid or mucous. It works extremely well. I am currently giving it to my Rita, age 16, who has allergies and is also in the end stages of congestive heart failure. I only give it "as needed" because both dogs and people can quickly develop a tolerance to it.

Hi Debra - I do not think I have seen you on Breedia before, so Welcome!

How is little Rita this morning?

Thank you Manydogz. I have used Benedryl as a cough supressant in kennel cough type situations - but am not sure this time as she still coughs up an occasional yellow 'string' of mucous, and I think this might be better coming away. Generally she is much better, and is due back at the vet next week, I'll make a note to ask her when I'm there.

@CaroleC - I am very glad to hear that Tweed in much better at the moment!

Yellow or green mucous indicates infection same as in child. Clear is allergies. Might be a good idea to ask your vet about an antibiotic.

And to Malka....Rita is doing wonderfully...Thanx for asking. And I am new here and I like it!!!!

So do I, and I am delighted to hear that Rita is doing so well!

Incidentally Debra, if you want to respond to someone without quoting their post, just type @ and their user name like @manydogz and it will come up in red and the person to whom you have responded will get it as an alert.

Very clever is Breedia, or should I say Azz!

Oh, I didn't know that Malka.
@manydogz. She has just finished a 10 day course of Oxytetracycline. If it carries on I'll ask about a different AB at her appointment next week.

Clever, innit! Before Azz got Breedia up and running and open, he did a Beta trial so some people had gotten used to it before he opened it to all, and say what they thought about the new format. And all the old breed sections from Dogsey were transferred to Breedia, hence some of the old dates on some threads.

I have to admit that initially this new layout and "things" seemed rather strange after having been used to Dogsey, but I like it - it seems open and uncluttered on my monitor, and it is frequently a jolt when I go from one to the other.

@CaroleC gotta watch the tetracyclines.......extended use can cause teeth to yellow and increases the chance of teeth starting to rot. One of those "damned if you do, damned if you don't," things.

At 13 teeth are not a problem. Her teeth are darned near perfect - it's the heart and lungs I'm trying to look after!

When Rita had pneumonia, a URI and bronchitis it took two courses of Emrofloxacin to clear it up completely. She started improving after a few days. I've found it takes longer for most meds to get the job done on an oldie. She is now on Enalapril for her heart. It makes it easier for her heart to beat and regulates her blood pressure. The Furosemide is a water pill. And Chlorpheniramine for allergies. Also when her allergies are very bad I add benedryl to the mix. A BIG PLUS.....was once I started giving her benedryl on my own for her constant wheezing and stopped up nose after a few doses this totally deaf dog started to hear. Granted she only hears very loud noises, like the other dogs barking, but it makes her less isolated to be able to join in the ruckus. Obviously she has fluid in her ears from the allergies along with whatever other problems she may have. When I told my vet and he tested her hearing again he was as surprised as I was.

@manydogz - I have been on Enalapril for years now, and was on Furosemide for many years before that, but then the Health Fund [or the Ministry of Health - I do not know which] stopped allowing Furosemide as it was found to cause pancreatitis in some patients - me included - although I do not blame the drug for it.

I was not pleased about no more Furosemide as it really did help my BP but it was "sorry but no allowed" so I was put back on Disothiazide which I had been on for years before. Furosemide is a potassium-sparing loop diuretic which is a thousand times more effective than Dizothiazide but who am I to argue with either my Health Fund or the Ministry of Health?

Benedryl was one of the things my doctor tried when I developed tinnitus. Unfortunately it didn't work on me.
You are doing so well with Rita, I do hope I can get Tweed stabilised - she's been a working dog and has stayed happy and active, but she keeps having the odd wheezy day, or an odd loose poo day - which the vet says is probably due to the AB's.

@Malka They must be like our FDA {food and drug administration). I never take them as the authority on any of it. Too many things they say seem to be related to how much money they get from a particular drug company. It may not be like that where you live, but here the big drug companies and the big insurance companies rule most everything. And of course they have to cover their butts, too.
@CaroleC I guess if your tinitis was allergy related the benedryl would have worked wonders. My son has had it since he was a young child and we have never been able to find something that worked. He used to tell me he had bees in his ears.

So glad Tweed is doing better!

Go on tweed you can do it

ABs can cause loose poos in humans so it is only logical that they can do the same for our beloved wubbles!

Before I had the accident I used to work for a company which was the major Israeli importers of drugs [medication] and similar items but which could be sold OTC and not prescription only. IIRC Benedryl was one of the products we imported. And everything, even toothbrushes and condoms and regular OTC haemorrhoid cream/suppositories/wipes [to go from one end to the other] had to go through vigourous Ministry of Health testing before we could import them. Some items took up to five years and they could still be denied import after all that time, even though they had been approved by the US FDA for many years.

The MoH is far stricter than the FDA plus they have what is known as a "basket of approved medications" which they regularly change - hence HRT Premaril, which was perfect for women who had had a hysterectomy and which had been proven to help osteoporosis and which I had been taking for years - both to avoid menopausal problems [I had a hysterectomy when I was 39 but they left my ovaries] and to help my osteoporosis was stopped.

The MoH said No, therefore no more Premaril.

And the MoH said No to Furosemide because it had been found to cause pancreatitis "in a few people".

And if the MoH ever found out that Ram, my wonderful vet, will let me buy the amount of Phenobarbitone I do for Pereg [I usually buy about 6 month's worth at a time] they would go doollally!

Anyhow, Carole I am still praying for Tweed each night, and Debra I am still praying for little Rita each night.

I am just so grateful that although Pereg has a horrible and life long condition, it is nothing compared to Tweed and Rita.

The sad part is, Malka, that most of these products are tested over and over on animals, to receive or maintain their licences, (hence my signature). The vast majority of this testing is carried out on Beagles. The details of their environment and treatment are too distressing to relate on a site such as this - but can easily be located by search engine if people are strong enough to do so. (Even my OH won't look or listen).

You are such a kind lady. Thank you for caring so much about our old ladies - I also think of Pereg a lot and wish hard for her to have longer and longer intervals between her seizures.