How to treat German Wirehaired Pointer pneumonia? What is the treatment for dog pneumonia? The causes of canine pneumonia are divided into inhalation, bacteria, esophageal rupture, fungi and infection of the lung itself.

1. What is canine pneumonia

Pneumonia is the abbreviation for inflammation of the dog’s lungs. The lungs are the organs that provide oxygen to the body. They are mainly composed of the trachea, bronchi, alveoli and blood vessels and perform gas exchange. In order to obtain good gas exchange function, the alveoli and blood vessels are almost overlapped to facilitate gas exchange, discharge carbon dioxide from the body, and transport oxygen in the air to blood to various parts of the body.

If due to various factors, the trachea, bronchi, alveoli and inter-alveolar tissues are infected, the most direct impact will be a decrease in gas exchange function, and dogs are prone to hypoxia. If the condition is not well controlled, it often causes irreparable damage.

2. Causes of lung disease

The causes of canine pneumonia can be divided into inhalation, bacterial, immune, fungal and lung infection.

1. Inhalation: Foreign objects enter the respiratory system and cause infection. These foreign objects include vomitus and food. This phenomenon often occurs in dogs with abnormalities in the upper gastrointestinal system (such as paralysis of the throat and structural abnormalities of the esophagus). In addition, improper anesthesia handling and improper force-feeding are also easy to cause.

2. Bacterial: Bacteria enter the lungs through the oral cavity or nasal cavity, further causing infection in the trachea, bronchi and alveoli. The incidence rate is higher in working dogs weighing more than 12 kilograms, hunting dogs and dogs that exercise a lot. It can occur at any age, but it is more common in children under 1 year old, and the incidence rate is higher in male dogs.

3. Immunity: Mainly occurs in Siberian Huskies, due to congenital immune deficiency causing lung infection. In addition, heartworm infection is also a major cause.

4. Fungality: Molds or yeasts in the environment or other organs in the body enter the lungs and cause infection. Common sources of infection include Blastomyces, Histoplasma, Coccidioides and Cryptosporidium. It usually occurs in large dogs, but certain molds are more likely to appear in breeds such as Cocker Spaniels and German Wolfhounds. The age of onset is usually within 4 years old, and the incidence rate in male dogs is 2 to 4 times that of female dogs.

5. Injury to the lung itself: mainly damage to the tissue between the alveoli and the alveoli, which is the most common problem associated with canine distemper infection.

3. Diagnosis of canine pneumonia

General clinical symptoms vary depending on the cause of infection, but they usually include cough, fever, difficulty breathing, decreased activity, loss of appetite, weight loss, and yellow discharge from the nasal cavity.

1. Blood test: The main purpose is to understand blood changes and understand the degree of infection.

2. Chest X-ray examination: The chest X-ray examination shooting process should be taken when the dog is inhaling, because this has the best diagnostic effect. This test can be used to understand the basic lobe position of the infected lung (the left lung has two lobes and the right lung has three lobes). The cause of the disease can also be determined first (such as whether it is aspiration pneumonia).

3. Sampling and culture: tracheal lavage (injecting normal saline into the trachea and then withdrawing it) or bronchoscopy (endoscope), bone marrow sampling, cerebrospinal fluid sampling, lymph node sampling, etc. The main purpose is to collect the source of infection in the lungs for laboratory culture of pathogens and drug resistance tests to select the most effective drugs.

IV. Treatment of canine pneumonia

1. In fact, the most effective treatment method is to first find out the source of infection, and then give effective drug treatment according to the source of infection. Therefore, X-ray diagnosis only determines the degree of infection of dog pneumonia, and it also needs to be paired with sampling examination. Further selection of medications.

2. In addition, it is very important to replenish sufficient water, because when infected with pneumonia, the lungs need to expel these sources of infection from the body through coughing. If the water in the dog's body is insufficient, the phlegm in the lungs will be too much. Stickiness makes it difficult to pass.

3. Another treatment method is aerosol treatment. It can be used to assist with expectoration and provide medication. In terms of diet, it is recommended to give the dog easy-to-digest and high-protein food. If the dog’s physiological condition is not good, intravenous nutrition injection or gastric tube can be buried if necessary.

5. Condition after treatment

There are different therapeutic effects depending on the source of infection. For example, young puppies infected with bacterial pneumonia may easily develop chronic tracheitis after recovery. Therefore, attention should be paid to prevention. For another example, anesthesia often leads to vomiting and aspiration pneumonia. Therefore, if the dog needs anesthesia or sedation, it should first fast for 6-12 hours.

In addition, regular preventive injections and the administration of heartworm preventive drugs can reduce the chance of infection.