Foreign object pneumonia

[Scott Linden]

A little help, please. Manny has apparently inhaled a cheatgrass seed and developed pneumonia in one lobe of his right lung. Got him on antibiotics ASAP, but am wondering if anyone has read or heard about other therapies I should discuss with the vet, or had experience with this kind of problem. I've heard horror stories about inhaled awn-type seeds and undetected infections and don't want this to go sideways. Thanks.

[RoostersMom]

Scott:

Get your vet in touch with Pat McInteer immediately! Do not waste time trying other remedies - this can be a life or death situation. I've had one dog who lost 2/3 of a lung and we almost lost her twice during this "nocardia" deal, this was several years ago for us - 9 days in intensive care after the surgery before she could even go to regular care at the University of MO's vet school. McInteer is the real deal and he is an expert at treating this horrible problem. I know of 3 dogs personally this past year that developed Nocardia and all three were treated with some consultations with McInteer. He's aggressive and is really familiar with this.

Elsa

[hi-tailyn]

+1 on Dr. McInteer.

Had one of mine get it and instead of lung surgery, was able to do 3-4 mths of antibiotics, and good as new.

[Ricky Ticky Shorthairs]

Dr. Pat is the leading authority on this subject. You need to contact him. He's in Nebraska.

[BMURPH]

Agree with the others.
http://clubs.akc.org/brit/VetArticles/N ... d-Dogs.pdf
Information that might be helpful

[dog dr]

long term antibiotics and possibly surgery are about all you can do. No magic bullets unfortunately. good luck

[Scott Linden]

Thanks everyone. Waiting for a return call from McInteer. Please cross fingers.

[dog dr]

update??

[stlgsp]

I was told by someone who was at their clinic recently that Dr. McInteer has retired but the remaining doctors at the clinic use the same procedures he had been using.

Last December one of mine was treated at a local specialty clinic for a seed inhalation, and pyothorax. He had surgery to remove the abscess and part of a lung lobe and was put on very high dosages of multiple antibiotics for several weeks. He was tested for Nocardia which seems to show up often with seed inhalation and luckily the tests were negative.

[Scott Linden]

Great news - lab work indicates no infection of any kind. No nocardia, whatever caused the pneumonia was already beaten back by antibiotics by the time the cultures came back. Now, to get him back into shape in time for chukar season. Thanks for all your advice and good wishes. Dr. McInteer is retired, but his son is now at the practice and was the vet. who consulted with me. Very helpful.

[Boolywooger]

Glad to hear the good news!