Question

A young man from Texas brought his dog to the veterinarian’s office because he had begun to get worried as his dog, which had once been full of energy, had become quite listless. He mentioned that he takes his dog on daily runs, and while in the past the dog usually outran him, more recently she had to slow down after just a minute or two of running. He had also noticed that she had been coughing frequently and had begun to lose weight. He said he didn’t know the dog’s age because he had found her as a stray a little over a year ago.

1. What disease do you think this animal has? Are there any long-term risk factors associated with this disease?

2. What organism is responsible for causing this disease?

3. What medical tests are required to diagnose this disease?

4. What would be your prescribed treatment regimen?

5. Are there measures available to prevent this disease? If so, what?

Answer 1

1. Dog is suffering from pneumonia. Another type of pneumonia is aspiration pneumonia, also called inhalation pneumonia. This is a condition in which the lungs become inflamed and infected as the result of breathing in a foreign substance like vomit, regurgitated gastric acid or food. Aspiration pneumonia is life threatening, and the prognosis for most dogs with the condition is poor, so the goal should always be prevention. If you suspect your dog has aspirated something, it’s important to get her to your veterinarian or an emergency animal clinic right away.

2. The most common bacteria that cause pneumonia in the dog are Bordetella bronchiseptica, Streptococcus zooepidemicus, Pasteurella multocida, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, E. coli and Mycoplasma species.

3.

A series of tests may be required to confirm the diagnosis and to exclude other diseases that could be causing the symptoms, including:

A CBC and biochemistry profile will assess the general health of your dog, and specific blood or fecal tests may be recommended to rule out parasitic diseases such as heartworm or lungworm. Specific blood tests to rule out serious metabolic diseases may be necessary.

Thoracic radiography (chest X-ray) often shows characteristic changes in the lungs, and may be helpful to eliminate other types of heart or lung disease.

4.  bronchodilators, expectorants or other medications to control specific symptoms