Squirt's Mom
06-17-2013, 01:18 PM
Hi ya'll,
On Squirt's thread, Glynda mentioned our new foster. Her name is Josephina, Josie, and she is an AKC Chihuahua with a similar story to Tasha’s. Josie’s mom passed recently and after one son neglected everything including Josie and apparently their mom, the other son came along to take control. He placed Josie on Craigslist where Arkansas Chihuahua Rescue found her and took her in.
Josie was very sick when she got here. Doc B looked her over and found pneumonia, possible CHF and allergies, and probably collapsing trachea – her breathing was so bad and so loud, plus she is very high strung and a biter, that he couldn’t hear very well. We came home on a regime of Baytril, Lasix, Vetmedin, and an antihistamine. After a few days, the wet sounds were gone, her fever was gone and she was breathing with more ease…but nowhere near normal. The rescue’s vet saw her the next week and testing there found her heart and lungs to be in good shape, the fluids were gone. But a “growth that isn’t supposed to be there” was found on or near the heart and a large mass was found in her chest. The mass is pressing against her trachea, severely compressing it. Because of its placement, it is inoperable and the vet says it is too risky to even biopsy to get a definitive of the type of mass. My gut says this was found much too late to try to shrink it but we are trying. Josie gets an Adequan shot every week for 6 weeks, then once a month in the hopes it will strengthen the tracheal rings enough they can press back against the mass, allowing her airway to open a bit more. If the mass grows very much more, it will suffocate her. :( She will have her third shot tomorrow and while it does seem to have helped a little bit, she is still struggling to breath…and the fluid sounds came back yesterday so she is back on antibiotics and the Lasix as of this morning.
I'll keep you informed on her progress.
Hugs,
Leslie and Josie
On Squirt's thread, Glynda mentioned our new foster. Her name is Josephina, Josie, and she is an AKC Chihuahua with a similar story to Tasha’s. Josie’s mom passed recently and after one son neglected everything including Josie and apparently their mom, the other son came along to take control. He placed Josie on Craigslist where Arkansas Chihuahua Rescue found her and took her in.
Josie was very sick when she got here. Doc B looked her over and found pneumonia, possible CHF and allergies, and probably collapsing trachea – her breathing was so bad and so loud, plus she is very high strung and a biter, that he couldn’t hear very well. We came home on a regime of Baytril, Lasix, Vetmedin, and an antihistamine. After a few days, the wet sounds were gone, her fever was gone and she was breathing with more ease…but nowhere near normal. The rescue’s vet saw her the next week and testing there found her heart and lungs to be in good shape, the fluids were gone. But a “growth that isn’t supposed to be there” was found on or near the heart and a large mass was found in her chest. The mass is pressing against her trachea, severely compressing it. Because of its placement, it is inoperable and the vet says it is too risky to even biopsy to get a definitive of the type of mass. My gut says this was found much too late to try to shrink it but we are trying. Josie gets an Adequan shot every week for 6 weeks, then once a month in the hopes it will strengthen the tracheal rings enough they can press back against the mass, allowing her airway to open a bit more. If the mass grows very much more, it will suffocate her. :( She will have her third shot tomorrow and while it does seem to have helped a little bit, she is still struggling to breath…and the fluid sounds came back yesterday so she is back on antibiotics and the Lasix as of this morning.
I'll keep you informed on her progress.
Hugs,
Leslie and Josie