Pneumonia in Siberian Husky

[huskypupowner]

My 16 month old male Siberian Husky has had what our vet is saying is pneumonia for a week and a half now. His symptoms before we brought him in were extreme fatigue, coughing and hacking up mucus multiple times an hour, runny nose then very stuffed nose, difficulty breathing and a slight fever (103).

We had an xray done and they saw cloudy-ness all throughout his lungs, which led them to believe it was a bacterial pneumonia and not aspiration pneumonia.

He is on two different antibiotics, zenequin and clavamox and has been for the last week and a half. We've also been inducing a cough 3-4 times a day to assist him in clearing his lungs.

We are seeing slight improvement in his cough, which isn't as frequent and not as productive, but he is still very fatigued. His temp is back to 102, which they have told us is normal.

My question is, is it typical for these antibiotics to take such a long time to take effect? If not, are there other possible diagnoses for these symptoms, and if so should we take him to another vet for a second opinion?

If it is typical for recovery to take this long, is there anything we can do to help him besides what we've been doing thus far? Would any sort of exercise help? Are there things we should be avoiding?

[Ghilly]

Karla has given you some excellent advice!  Many antibiotics don't work immediately or even in a day or two, but if you aren't seeing any changes after a week and a half, they clearly are ineffective against whatever it is he has.  I tend to agree with Karla in that it is probably viral since it's not responding.

In most cases, Kennel Cough is more annoying to the owner than it is to the dog, because the dog hacks and coughs at all hours making it difficult for the owner to sleep or concentrate on anything but the hacking sound.  In some instances, though, it does worsen to the point where it CAN cause pneumonia, and the fact that he had the cloudiness in his chest x-rays and it doesn't seem to be responding to antibiotics sure looks like a case of Kennel Cough that has gotten much worse.

Please let us know how things go when you contact your vet about the couch suppressant.

Ghilly

[Misfits4Me]

Hello & welcome to the forum......Since the Antibiotics don't seem to be effective, I'm thinking this sounds more like "Kennel Cough" Or "Canine Influenza" which are both Viruses.....They have a lot of the same symptoms, but Kennel cough is the one most commonly diagnosed.....

Each of these viruses can last up to anywhere from 2-4 weeks..... A Month is Common.....Both of these can also turn into Pneumonia....COUGH SUPPRESSANTS are always the first line of defense.....Did your Vet offer any medication for the cough? Steroids are sometimes prescribed for the bronchial inflammation, also....

By suppressing both the cough &  the Bronchial/lung inflammation, they seem to get over it quicker......

Antibiotics are normally used, too. It's usually a "Penicillin" Antibiotic like Amoxicillin....Clavamox is a Penicillin....Zeniquin is another form.....However, if no improvement is seen in 5 days, then it's either not bacterial or the wrong antibiotic has been chosen.....On the other hand, it's possible that the lungs ARE clearing and your not aware of it because of the continuing cough.....In this case, the Antibiotics are doing their job....

First thing tomorrow, I would contact the Vet and #1- Get a Cough suppressant, #2 - Inquire into the need of another chest xray to see if the cloudiness is any better, thus the Antibiotics would be working..........Let us know how he's doing and good luck.......Karla