Message Number: SG11245 | New FHL Archives Search
From: s.m.owens@rogers.com
Date: 2004-10-27 23:52:21 UTC
Subject: tracheobronchitis
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <541406.1098921141016.JavaMail.root@thallium.smartgroups.com>

Hello everyone.

I've searched for info in the archives on this and can't find anything. I =
have a female between 1 & 2 years. She was in 3 different homes before she=
joined my group. She also came with a jaw injury of some kind that has an=
impact on her being able to eat kibble properly. I'd say her jaw opens ha=
lf as much as a normal one would. She also came with a cough which my vet =
noticed upon examination, but said it wasn't anything to be concerned about=
at the time. It wasn't often I'd hear it (got her in May/04), but has inc=
reased in frequency over the last 3-4 weeks. So she was brought in for xra=
ys and after getting a second opinion to confirm, it was concluded she has =
tracheobronchitis. The vet also said there was a definate difference to th=
e last time she listened to her lungs (back in August I believe). My vets =
(2 at the same clinic see my kids) seem to think the only true course of tr=
eatment is steroids for the remainder of her life to control the inflammati=
on. I suggested we start her on Baytril for a month to 6 weeks first in ca=
se this is something bacterial. So this is the course I'm taking. Full bl=
ood work was done and the results were "unremarkable".

Has anyone else dealt with this? Any suggestions for treatment? Should th=
e Baytril dose be slightly higher than would be used in other circumstances=
? Is this curable or a life-long problem she's going to have? Impact on h=
er life span?

Part of the report on the second opinion states:
"throughout the lung, there is a diffuse mild interstitial opacity. The br=
onchial walls and trachea are slightly mineralized........due to lack of pr=
onounced intra-thoracic abnormalities, tracheobronchitis is suspected"

Thanks in advance for any help.

Suzanne & Trixie =

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