Thursday, December 04, 2008

By JEFF KAHLER DMV

last updated: September 16, 2008 03:44:42 AM

Bounce is a lucky dog.

The day he was scheduled to be put to death at an animal control facility, Bounce was adopted.

That was two weeks ago. Since then, he has started sneezing and begun to cough.

Rhonda, said the adoption facility provided antibiotics for Bounce for two weeks to prevent infection. But Bounce seems to be getting a bit worse.

Anytime dogs are housed together in a large facility such as an animal control facility, the potential exists for transmitting diseases. Bounce likely has contracted a respiratory illness.

With respiratory illnesses, especially in a patient from a multi-dog environment, it is logical to assume the condition is infectious. Beyond that, it is important to decide the underlying cause of the respiratory infection.

We must decide if this condition is viral or bacterial. If it is viral, it is more difficult to directly treat because we do not have medications that will directly kill the offending virus. If Bounce's disease is bacterial, we may be successful in treating it with antibiotics.

Antibiotics will not treat viral infections and can cause problems for a patient with a viral infection.

Taking care of Bounce

We need to take a swab from Bounce's upper respiratory tract. The nasal passages work very well for this.

We can then culture the sample for bacteria as well as examine the material under the microscope to look at the types of cells present as well as the presence of bacteria that might be causing the infection.

I also strongly would recommend taking radiographs of Bounce's chest. This will help determine the extent of the disease process in the lungs and bronchiole tubes and if additional therapy might be needed.

Some of you sleuths in the audience might make the point that Bounce has been on antibiotics for some time now but he still got an infection. You might then ask, "Doesn't this make it more likely that Bounce has a viral disease?"

The answer is a most definitive "not exactly."

In my experience, there have been many cases of respiratory illness caused by bacteria that did not respond to initial antibiotic therapy. This was because the offending bacteria was resistant to the antibiotic being used. This is exactly what I believe is the case for Bounce.

Likely outcome

The scenario I envision in Bounce's case is that the culture for bacteria discussed above will grow a particular bacteria. We can then both identify the specific bacteria and also find out what antibiotic will work best to eliminate it. Armed with this very important information, we can then put Bounce on a course of this antibiotic, which should then cure his respiratory illness.

If the bacterial culture does not grow, we can then theorize that Bounce's condition might be viral. If it is indeed a viral infection, it has to be cleared by Bounce's own immune system just as is the case with us humans when we get viral respiratory disease. The best bet for treatment then becomes good supportive care.

Again, antibiotics will not kill a virus.

Jeff Kahler is a veterinarian in Modesto. Questions can be submitted to Your Pet in care of LifeStyles, The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352.

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