My puppy has respiratory disease. Why is she still weak after meds?

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. If your puppy is not improving after being on medications for a week or is worsening, I would schedule a recheck with your vet. Sometimes switching to a different antibiotic may help. The particular antibiotic that your puppy is on may also cause growth defects, but this is rarely seen. I typically use Clavamox or doxycycline for Respiratory bugs in puppies. Another alternative treatment your vet might consider, is initiating nebulization therapy to help relieve some of the symptoms your puppy is experiencing. I hope this helps and I hope your puppy gets better soon! Please contact me if you have any other questions or concerns. I am also available via consultation if needed. Please remember to write this post as helpful or not. Thank you!

Yes, it is quite possible the pneumonia has not resolved. She needs urgent reassessment by a vet and further medication, possibly intravenous fluids and antibiotics in order to stabilise her condition. Such severe pneumonia in a young pup is very concerning and can be fatal due to lung scarring and collapse. It is possible there may be underlying birth defects contributing to the original condition and/or her poor response to treatment

Thank you for reaching out to the consultation service. If she is still acting lethargic and has not improved after 10 days of the antibiotic‘s, there are only a few reasons why this is not working. She should be showing signs of improvement by this time if the drugs being used the correct medications for the condition being treated. But obviously something is wrong. First, you may have been giving an antibiotic that was resistant against the infectious agent or whatever is causing the disease. Second, if it is indeed a virus causing the symptoms, then an antibiotic will not be effective. Lastly, maybe the dosage needs to be increased in milligrams as well as frequency. I strongly urge you to contact your veterinarian the soonest possible to have another physical examination performed. You may even need to do some chest x-rays or a cold sure of the respiratory mucus. Please do this before the symptoms worsen and your dog gets sicker. I hope I have helped you today. Thanks for your question.

If the respiratory signs got worse despite the treatment given, I would recommend another check up today (am) to make sure the condition has been diagnosed correctly and no other treatment need to be added. It is very important to rule out any possibility of heart disease as well.

I'm sorry Hennessey is so sick. There are many potential pathogens or problems that could cause chronic discharge and cough. Be sure that you have been giving medications or treatments as directed, and do not stop any antibiotic therapy early as this could cause resistance. But If she is not responsive to current therapies, further diagnostic testing may be necessary. In some cases radiographs of the head and chest may be helpful, or sending out bloodwork or tissue swabs to a lab to try to determine what pathogen's may be causing her illness. In some cases if her primary veterinarian is unable to dart term and the cause of her illness, it may be worth discussing referral to a specialty clinic or veterinary school for an internal medicine consult. Good luck, I hope you get some answers soon. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach

Poor puppy. It is hard to say how best to help your puppy without knowing if there are any specific underlying problems going on here. I would recommend getting your puppy's stool tested for intestinal parasites first. If there are parasites that are taking away his nutrition, this could be the only reason for his failure to thrive. I would also recommend getting some bloodwork done on this pup to look for other clues as to why he is not recovering well. Anemia, parasites, congenital disorders, etc, could be at play here. Also lung infections are notorious for taking forever to resolve, especially if a fungal infection was present. These can take 6 months to a year in some cases. As long as your puppy is eating well and still bright and alert, then take it one day at a time. The best thing to do is to continue the medication prescribed and feed your pet a high quality puppy food, as well as checking for any other underlying problems as I mentioned above. Some good brands of food to consider are: Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Eukanuba and Purina. I hope that your puppy is able to make a full and speedy recovery soon! Best wishes and take care.

She will need more medication. Sometimes these infections need a course of antibiotics for a longer period than is normally prescribed. It's also possible that she needs a different antibiotic. The best thing to do is have your vet recheck Lola as soon as possible, so they can evaluate her and advise on the best course of action. I hope that helps and Lola gets better soon.