Monday, March 31, 2008

Poor Little Girl

My poor Quinn. She's such a sweet girl - always gives kisses (even when they aren't wanted) and loving to cuddle.

And keeping me awake all night. *sigh* I was ready to send her out into the kennel. :( She has always had a cough - practically since we got her in 2002. It sounds like she's got a popcorn kernel stuck in her throat and she hacks with her whole body heaving.

We've dealt with that issue and we give her half a pill (it's some sort of steroid) when it seems to get worse.

But now we're dealing with some other type of cough. It's horrible. We've already taken her to the vet - had ex-rays taken and blood tests. Nothing. It's not kennel cough. Her blood work was really good for a dog her age. The ex-rays showed some decent arthritis in her back (I've been massaging her back more now). But no reason for the extra coughing. And it does not respond to the same pills.

And last night it was nothing but coughing. It's a horrible hacking and heaving sound from deep in her chest. You can almost hear her wheezing. It's like she has some sort of allergy but it is only at home. When she's at daycare they tell me she doesn't cough and she didn't cough once at the vet.

I feel SO bad for her...I know how exhausting it is for us when we have a bad cough. I don't know how to help her. Rubbing her throat doesn't do anything to help. No wonder she's got so much extra weight on her - she is so tired all the time her metabolism is probably running on empty. My poor baby.

I'm going to call the vet again today. *sigh* The only thing I can think of is they will have to keep her for a day or more and see if she coughs there. Maybe even putting her under anesthesia (which I hate doing ... especially as she gets older) and look down her throat. :(

We started changing her food because it seems to me that this extra cough started after we changed her food to the Kirkland mature brand (I know...I know...not the best choice but we needed food). We're going to switch everyone over to the Solid Gold brand. And hopefully the B.A.R.F diet. We have to go super slow for Trooper because he has the world's most sensitive stomach and I don't feel like dealing with explosive diarrhea. (oh yes, it is very bad!) So far though we've got Quinn into a half Solid Gold and half Kirkland and I don't see a difference. I was hoping we could solve it through healthier eating.

My poor baby girl!!!

10 comments:

Daisy said...

I am sorry that Quinn is not feeling well. A cough like that sounds like it would be very tiring.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear that. Maybe she just doesnt wanna go to school.
- Muz

CastoCreations said...

Thanks Daisy. It IS tiring. For everyone.

LOL Muz. You crack me up! :)

Alorinna said...

Our boy Echo is very sensitive to foods. We put him on Old Mother Hubbard's Wellness dry food and it's made all the difference in the world.

It's not cheap, and I did extensive research before picking it, but it beats the vet bills.

:)

Good luck and snuggles to Quinn!

Anonymous said...

Your poor baby. It is so hard when you can't track down the cause isn't it?

gigibelts said...

We have a cat that does that all the time. Its not a hairball issue either. Several xrays and blood tests later, still nothing.

It sucks when you can't do anything about it.

Anonymous said...

your dog is SO beautiful!!!

Unknown said...

Proverbs 12:10:

The godly care for their animals,
but the wicked are always cruel.

I read this this morning and immediately thought of you. :)

Happy birthday month, too.

Cassie said...

ooooh poor baby! I hate when my four legged babies don't feel well. Our Gracie was dumped right after birth and we got her a week after that. We bottle fed her and she has a very sensitive tummy. I'm not sure if it has to do with having had formula instead of her mom's milk or not.

Perhaps you could video tape the coughing fits for the vet?

Michele said...

I know how you feel, our Molly does the same thing! We are trying everything too and oh boy...we know about the food thing!

We got a large amount of free samples of "Natural Choice" and it seemed to work. She hardly haaked at all. But, when we went back to Purina, she is back at it.

I Quinn is better soon, I so know what you are going through! Your dogs are beautiful!