Help Needed! Desperate for help!! 4 mo old EB with severe hypoplastic trachea

[2BullyMama]

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My goodness he is freakin adorable.... I'd be setting mud puddles up for him.

 

[ChrisRN]

Mabel has a very narrow trachea also. I believe that explains so many of her problems. I pray his trachea will grow some as he does. Because it is made up of cartilage, there is little they can do, except for everything you are doing now. You are amazing. He is so lucky that you are his human!

 

[ddnene]

I'm SO sorry to read this… I don't have any experience w/the trachea issues. I did have a special needs pup that we cared for, so I know how much you want the BEST for these little guys. I hope that he improves w/time, but in the meantime just LOVE him… that is all that ANY dog wants in this world.

 

[2BullyMama]

Yep I do that too! I have eucalyptus essential oil and I put that in there and it helps too! Thank you for that info as well! A few weeks back when we first got the Gentocin for the nebulizer, his first treatment he had green yuckies coming out of his nose.. I was so excited LOL I was like, yeah he's getting it out!! I know, I'm crazy getting excited about that, but when our babies are sick, we do get excited about the silliest little things! Last week or about a week and 1/2 ago when he was feeling better before going backwards this last week.. I got excited that he was being a puppy... took him for a short walk around the pool and the silly little wrinkle butt found a mud puddle in the grass and decided to play in it! I could't help but sit there and laugh because he was getting to be a puppy and if all it was, was mud and having to give him a bath, then I thought we were in good shape! You'll see attached pic of his lovely mud bath! Now praying that he can/will continue to improve and get to play in the mud again! He deserves to be able to be a puppy, that's all he's ever asked for in this life, that and be loved and cared for, and he has that, now it's his turn to be a puppy!

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I see you are not too far from Houston, not sure of the distance, but many members in the Houston area use Brittmore vet for their bulldogs and swear by them. Might be worth a try.

How is Bentley doing?

 

[Frith]

I hope it's all still going well. Additional ideas.. Try running the shower to get the bathroom really steamy, and then put him in without the shower running. The other thing few people are aware of is that Catholic priests bless animals, they do this in honor of St. Francis of Asisi. I watched a priest walk up to a hostile, lunging, barking, muzzeled German Shepard, and the dog staggered on his feet, shook his head, and was calm. The priest removed the muzzle, and let the dog lick him. All agression, all hostility gone. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.

 

[rjisaterp]

We are sending you prayers and positive vibes that Bentley will thrive and beat his challenges. --rj

 

[Whoababy23]

Good Morning! Thank ya'll for the ideas and support and prayers! Bentley is doing alittle better with the pneumonia! Last night and this morning he has been wanting to try and play! So I take that time and sit on the floor with him, for hrs if need be, for him to play and be a puppy and forget that he's sick. I don't leave his side, so if he's up, I'm right there with him, if he's asleep, he's usually next to me, or at my feet asleep in his bed under my desk...

The steamy bathroom we tried once, but since he can't get hot and it made him too hot and panting way more than he was, we have opted for the humidifier instead, with essential oils... has helped him alot! Oh I do believe in God working through our animals! So I can believe that with the priest! I also believe in the power of prayer, so that's why I so deeply appreciate ya'lls thoughts and prayers for him, they do help!

I will have to look up Brittmore vet to see how far away it is from me.

I'm praying that he continues to get better, over his pneumonia and then we can see how his trachea is again, if it's any better, maybe alittle better than it was with a growth spurt.. I can hope!

Like I said.. Bentley makes 7 dogs in the house... We (between me and my son) have 2 chihuahuas, 2 pit bull mixes (rescues), a chiweenie (rescue), a yorkie and Bentley the bulldog..

This is Bentley trying to play this morning with my yorkie... soo precious! Praying he has more good days like this!

No word back from his breeder yet... They have most of his records, and I've updated them on his current condition, but haven't heard a reply back from them yet...

 

[2BullyMama]

Good Morning! Thank ya'll for the ideas and support and prayers! Bentley is doing alittle better with the pneumonia! Last night and this morning he has been wanting to try and play! So I take that time and sit on the floor with him, for hrs if need be, for him to play and be a puppy and forget that he's sick. I don't leave his side, so if he's up, I'm right there with him, if he's asleep, he's usually next to me, or at my feet asleep in his bed under my desk...

The steamy bathroom we tried once, but since he can't get hot and it made him too hot and panting way more than he was, we have opted for the humidifier instead, with essential oils... has helped him alot! Oh I do believe in God working through our animals! So I can believe that with the priest! I also believe in the power of prayer, so that's why I so deeply appreciate ya'lls thoughts and prayers for him, they do help!

I will have to look up Brittmore vet to see how far away it is from me.

I'm praying that he continues to get better, over his pneumonia and then we can see how his trachea is again, if it's any better, maybe alittle better than it was with a growth spurt.. I can hope!

Like I said.. Bentley makes 7 dogs in the house... We (between me and my son) have 2 chihuahuas, 2 pit bull mixes (rescues), a chiweenie (rescue), a yorkie and Bentley the bulldog..

This is Bentley trying to play this morning with my yorkie... soo precious! Praying he has more good days like this!

No word back from his breeder yet... They have most of his records, and I've updated them on his current condition, but haven't heard a reply back from them yet...

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The look on Bentley's face (his eyes) is too funny.... almost like, are you kidding me kid! here is a link to the vet I meant, (spelled it wrong)
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...5PL1VwfEUUQZeWb33jiDBA&bvm=bv.121421273,d.dmo

 

[Whoababy23]

He's a character! Little wrinkle butt (my nickname for him) was playing and did his lunging playing and his teeny tiny baby teeth nipped me on the chin! LOL He does make the funniest little faces, and boy if you could read the "thought bubbles" above his head, I think we'd get the biggest laughs out of them! It's funny watching them 2 play.. He's 22 lbs and she's 3.8 lbs, and generally she's the one who's "the boss"! She likes to get him on his back and nibble his arm pits! He can't get her then! LOL Then when he wants to bug her, he just leans against her and then she has to wiggle her way out from under him... It's precious!

Thank you, will look that vet up.. Bentley is resting again, after his playing, so I'm letting him get some good rest, he needs it! Little wrinkle butt!

 

[2BullyMama]

He's a character! Little wrinkle butt (my nickname for him) was playing and did his lunging playing and his teeny tiny baby teeth nipped me on the chin! LOL He does make the funniest little faces, and boy if you could read the "thought bubbles" above his head, I think we'd get the biggest laughs out of them! It's funny watching them 2 play.. He's 22 lbs and she's 3.8 lbs, and generally she's the one who's "the boss"! She likes to get him on his back and nibble his arm pits! He can't get her then! LOL Then when he wants to bug her, he just leans against her and then she has to wiggle her way out from under him... It's precious!

Thank you, will look that vet up.. Bentley is resting again, after his playing, so I'm letting him get some good rest, he needs it! Little wrinkle butt!

Sorry -- obsessed..... Brittmoore looks to be about 40 mins. from Woodlands Area.

 

[Whoababy23]

I will look into the vet.. I don't mind driving him anywhere if it's in his best interest! We will do whatever we need to do to help this sweet little guy! Right now, with the pneumonia, he gets too stressed with the 30 min drive to the vet.. Once he gets over that, I wouldn't mind taking him to the other vet for a 2nd opinion.. it wouldn't hurt, never a bad thing to sometimes get a fresh set of eyes to look at something! We do it for us humans, so we should do it for our fur babies too! We will definitely be looking into that asap! Thank you!

 

[bullmama]

Thank ya'll for the support and prayers, they are greatly appreciated! I'll try to go back and answer the questions, and yes, I'll be happy to give any and all info I have to help others if they are ever in this situation as well...

1. No, his 1st vet was for his puppy shots, he was taken there when he was in distress, who then referred him to the emergency clinic. When we brought him home that evening, we immediately got online to look it up and did find a bully specialist vet in our area here in TX. He's seeing Dr. Keith French at Bear Branch Vet Hospital in the Woodlands...So we made the appointment and we've been taking him there ever since. That vet has sent off his xrays to a specialist as well who doesn't think his trachea will grow with him during a growth spurt.

2. Yes we've spoken to his breeder, before I got that last xray with the measurements of his trachea, they were surprised because they said the vet he seen for his health check to fly here was excellent, which was the day before he flew here to TX. They say if we send him back they will refund the money, but he is not medically able to fly back, it would kill him, and even driving 30 mins to the vet stresses him out, so that's not an option either, he's under strict limitations of no heat, no stress, no over playing etc. All of which will cause him to have more breathing issues. The breeder says this is the first time they have ever had this happen. I've messaged the breeder since we got the xrays yesterday with the measurements of his trachea etc... haven't heard back from them yet.

3. No we don't put any collars on him, we have a harness, which we've been using since day 1, before we knew of these issues but especially now because of that.

I'm writing the following for ya'lls info and as well as for anyone else who has/will be/or is going through this...

These are the antibiotics are baby has been on for the last month.. mind you he's been going every week for the last month, so his meds have been changed weekly basically..
Clavamox - on for 1 month, just took him off yesterday to switch to a different one.
Baytril - had to take him off of that after 2-3 days due to vomiting and pooping bad
Doxycycline - handled that one ok
Gentocin - used in the nebulizer - did really well on that

Yesterday we did the switch off of Clavamox so this is this weeks cycle of meds
Gentocin - nebulizer
Convenia Injection
Orbax...

Along with all of that, he's also taking albuterol via the nebulizer, we've done Pulmicort in nebulizer, he's taken Theophylline chews and on cough syrup as well as Children's Mucinex.. He's also been on Apoquel 1 time before and again this week for itchy spots on the back of his neck.. We live in TX, and with all the flooding and rain we've had, there's been alot of skeeter and biting gnats... we think that may be what's been biting him.

Along with that they say put him in a bathroom with a hot shower going, we can't do that, that makes him too hot so we have the vaporizer going for him. We do lemon juice to help him get the phlegm up and out.. We do the coupage to help break up the congestion in his lungs and help him to get it up and out.

We will do everything we can possibly do to help this sweet little guy out! My family is very much all animal overs.. This sweet little EB baby is 1 of 7 dogs we have in our home.. No not all bullies, but each and every one of them are precious and are my children, just have fur and 4 legs!

Our vet, the bully specialist, loves this little guy, and he's hoping for a miracle and hoping he defies the odds and proves him wrong with him saying that there's not much we can do.. That his trachea probably won't grow with him. Last week he was doing much better, was 1/2 as congested as he was before, was actually playing, was happy to see everyone at the vets (he LOVES people) and was barking for the first time in weeks, although his little voice was hoarse from all the coughing he's done, but he was barking, he was being a puppy! So the vet as well as ourselves were worried at how the change came, he was doing so well... Today he's actually alittle better, thank the Lord! He is still wanting to rest alot, but after his lunch (we had to wake him up, and it was after his normal lunch time, but he needs the rest), he wanted to play alittle, which we were happy to see him want to play! He's always giving kisses, no matter how bad he feels, he's very loving and loves people... So if there's anyone else out there that has any ideas or suggestions on what we could do to help out this precious little one, please feel free to tell me, we want to do everything we can to help him! He deserves that and so much more!!

Hi, I have seen at least 10 times over the past year similar cases to yours, I've even had messages sent to me directly because I have a hypothosis regarding the trachea.

Bulldogs can tend to have smaller tracheas than normal anyway, but with a hypoplastic trachea I have never seen this diagnosed in very young puppies (like 8 weeks old or less) or in older bulldogs (4-5 months or more). It is usually found in puppies who are 3-4 months old, and usually found with a diagnosis of pneumonia or aspiration of vomit.

Since I started to puzzle this together after the past 5 years, I am trying to gather data that relates to this. My hypothosis is that the bulldog trachea grows later. Similar to how their legs grow first and then their chests broaden over the first year, maybe the trachea doesn't grow until around 4-5 months old, or maybe older.

I have seen many bulldogs in a similar situation as yours who have survived AND are doing well today. I am hoping that I can gather data from those who were diagnosed with hypoplastic trachea will get x-rays done again after they are a year old to see if it did indeed grow.

So my whole point to this post is please do not give up, your baby can survive, and I will be praying for you all!

 

[My Otis]

Bentley, I am Praying for You Sweet Heart to get well, sending Loads of Hugs and Kisses To You, You are So Beautiful.

 

[Whoababy23]

I am hoping that I can gather data from those who were diagnosed with hypoplastic trachea will get x-rays done again after they are a year old to see if it did indeed grow.

I'll be more than happy to help with your data research. We have Bentley's xrays from his ER visit and those from taken afterwards and yes, we will be getting more xrays as he grows because I too want to know if it grows later as he is growing. Every vet visit I've had them send me his xrays and his clinical notes, for me and for the breeder, so that we are all 100% aware of his condition.

His pneumonia seems to be responding again to the Gentocin, and he's acting alittle more like a puppy, wanting to play, trying to bark (although very hoarse), he's never lost his appetite really, we just make sure he eats soft foods to make it easier to go down his tiny little throat.. He does get alot of chewy/teething rings so that he can chew, because boy oh boy does he like to chew! Silly puppy wants you to hold the toys while he chews on them, so you can be sitting on the floor with him for HOURS while he wants to chew.. I'm praying that he continues to improve and kick pneumonia's butt and then yes I pray that his trachea does indeed grow! He still sounds congested, rattly sounding noises, but nothing like he was before, thank goodness!! He still makes noises like a duck when he breathes at times.. He will be going back to the vet on Friday for his followup again, so we will know a bit more after that... His normal weekly visits to the vet, hopefully he won't be as stressed out like he was last time!

Thank ya'll so very much for the continued prayers and support for Bentley! They are working!

 

[mybrindlegirl]

I'm so sorry your sweet little Bentley and you are going through this. I don't have any experiences with hypoplastic trachea.
It is great that you are trying everything and that you found such a good vet who really cares for Bentley! Did the breeder ask in the meantime how Bentley feels now actually?
Bentley is in my thoughts and prayers.
I hope with all my heart that will happen what Lisa/bullmama described above - that his trachea will grow.
Many hugs to you and your little brave boy