My dog's aspiration pneumonia returned. Is it chronic? What to do?

This presentation associated with pneumonia is quite concerning as it could be the result of an aspiration pneumonia. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is immediately essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Antibiotics and possibly further investigations (like abdominal imaging as ultrasound or radiographs) may be needed. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

I am sorry to hear about Sadie. If she finished her antibiotics three weeks ago and is still coughing I would definitely let her vet know and if she didn't have an x-ray after finishing her antibiotics I would recommend an x-ray now. We don't usually see dogs cough as a result of ingesting cat litter (and plenty of them do that!), so I would be concerned either the pneumonia isn't resolved or there is another underlying condition we need to treat.

So sorry that Mandy is having this problem. Knowing the cause of the aspiration pneumonia would be helpful in making the decision. It definitely could be a long recovery as aspiration pneumonia is very serious. You could give her a couple of days before making a decision so at least you know that you tried everything. If she doesn't make a significant improvement in a couple of days than it might be time to consider euthanasia, especially if she seems to be suffering.

I'm sorry Meatball (I love his name!) is so sick at the moment! The best thing you can do is follow the vet's instructions and give his medication as needed. Continue to monitor him closely, and if you notice that he is in respiratory distress (having trouble breathing), develops a high fever (above 103F), decreased appetite, and/or severe lethargy, take him into a vet immediately. Hopefully he recovers well, good luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would assume if Danny has something infectious like a bacterial or viral pneumonia he would have improved with antibiotics or the virus would have ran it's course. The only advice in retrospect would have been to not stop the antibiotic until the cough had resolved for at least a week or 2. Some pneumonia's require 4-8 weeks of antibiotics. He definitely could have something else going on in his lungs like heart worm, heart disease, tracheal disease, a hernia, fungal pneumonia (they are very sick), cancer or allergic airway disease. If you are able try to get Danny to a vet for an exam, heart worm test and chest X-rays. I wish you the best!

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Ziggy. Sounds like Ziggy needs to be evaluated by his veterinarian again and possibly a referral to a specialist such as a dermatologist or internal medicine specialist. Your vet may want to re evaluate him, do some more testing, change medicines, add medicines, etc. If your vet seems comfortable continuing to treat and you are comfortable then great but if you are doubtful about the situation, I would just mention that you are interested in going to a specialist or another veterinarian for a second consultation. Some cases cannot be handled appropriately by all of us in private practice and I would hope that most of us are quick to advise referrals to specialists when we cannot adequate resolve the problems that we see. I hope this helps. In the end, it's about quality of life and getting Ziggy well so that you and him can enjoy life together.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While antibiotics can cause vomiting and nausea, a cough can definitely be due to aspiration pneumonia. However, other conditions unrelated to possible aspiration such as heart disease, infectious pneumonia, or heart worm infection can cause coughing as well and may just be a coincidence. If you are concerned about Chester’s cough, I recommend having him seen by his vet to rule out the conditions above. They can perform bloodwork and x-rays to make a diagnosis and begin the appropriate treatment. I hope this helps and that all is well with Chester!