Ever feel like a horrible pet owner?

I've just had one of those weeks:( It started with having to give up Pickles... we decided we just couldn't do anything else to help him. Then our betta committed suicide. He jumped right out of his bowl and onto the floor in the middle of the night! We adopted Muffin and she's very sick:( But not to sick to attack the parakeet, which we had to euthanize:( :( :(

It's looking like we adopted Muffin at the very BEGINNING of her kennel cough. She's now not breathing very well, taking shallow breaths about 100 times a minute. She's only eaten once, and she's coughing and sneezing constantly. I feel so bad that there is nothing I can do!

So this has been my week dealing with pets. I feel awful, like a failure.

Can't you take the dog to the vets for treatment?

The dog was to the vet on Thursday. The vet said he didn't think she was sick :rolleyes: (I don't know what I'm talking about... I'm just the stupid owner) but that if she was it was probably kennel cough and not really anything that he could do.

I wanted to take her in today to check the lump on her face and make sure she was not going to drop dead from this, but the vet is closed. To take her in would be 75 just for the visit + extra for treatment. The vet will be open tomorrow. I'm calling in the morning.

Personally I'd get another vet. Kennel cough can be treated with antibiotics. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. :(

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Originally posted by luckies4me
Personally I'd get another vet. Kennel cough can be treated with antibiotics. I'm sorry you're having such a hard time. :(

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I would too, Cass. He doesn't sound like a very kind vet.

I agree... My dogs were all on antibiotics when they got kennel cough. Sorry you're having a rough week. :( *hugs*

Actually, kennel cough can't be treated with anti-biotics. It's a virus and doesn't respond to them at all. Antibiotics only work on bacterial infections. When my dogs had it, my vet told me he could give me medication, but it would only be to ease my mind, wouldn't do a thing for my dogs. Kennel cough is a cold and like the human cold, it has to run it's course. The symptoms can be treated. Over the counter cough syrup can be given to dogs. Make sure it has no other ingredients, just a cough suppressant. No pain reliever, decongestant ect.

Frankly, this doesn't sound like kennel cough to me. Kennel cough shouldn't affect her breathing. That sounds like pneumonia to me. I'd strongly suggest you get Muffin to a different vet ASAP!

What happened with Pickles?

How did Muffin get to the parakeet? Poor bird. :( Poor Muffin too, I hope you're able to get to a vet soon and find out what's going on with her.

Pickles started spraying this spring and never stopped, even with medicine and feliway. The thing that ended it all was a package coming from catmandu and Pickles was crazy for as long as we had him at the house. He cried continuously and sprayed and nothing could be done to calm him. We tried crating, taking him on trips, throwing away almost everything in the package... he couldn't be stopped:( I cried for three days straight.

Skittles was on top of his cage and I was trying to put him back in. He flew away from me and Muffin jumped up and grabbed him:(

Muffin coughed up something yellow and yucky today. She seems to be doing better than she was. She ate, and even played a little. She ran a little bit with Jason, too. Hopefully she's on the mend, but I'm calling a vet tomorrow first thing to make sure.

Is Pickles a cat or a dog? Did you take it to the vet to rule out a urinary tract infection. As far as the kennel cough, yes it is a virus but the antibiotics are given to treat secondary infections that might develope, which is what causes most of the symptoms, not the actual virus.

Pickles was a male cat (neutered). He was taken to the vet multiple times, tested for infection, and put on prescriptions. Believe me, we tried everything! Hopefully he will be placed in a home that won't bother him:(

Sorry you are having a bad week. :(

"Kennel Cough" is a generic term for an undiagnosed upper respiratory infection. There is no one virus or bacteria called "kennel cough"; it is a syndrome, a cluster of various virus and bacterial components.

Depending on the strains the dog has caught, antibiotics often can and do work very well - if the version of "kennel cough" the dog has caught contains bacteria. If the main component happens to be viral, such as the common bordatella virus, antibiotics will not kill the virus, obviously, but often prevent the dog from developing secondary bacterial infections and/or pneumonia, thus shortening the length of even a viral "kennel cough" battle.

I agree, however, these symptoms do not sound like "kennel cough". "Kennel cough" is most often simply a loud, seal-like cough.

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Originally posted by sirrahved
Then our betta committed suicide. He jumped right out of his bowl and onto the floor in the middle of the night!

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i know how that is! :( i had 2 bettas that did that. :( i was sooo sad!!!

I thought antibiotics were often prescribed for kennel cough, but I didn't want to say since I wasn't sure.

I never treat my fosters for kennel cough because of the reason Glacier stated. If you give them anti-biotics too much, they can build up a resistance which wouldn't be good if something more serious happened that required antibiotics.

I do know a lot of vets will prescribe antibiotics for kennel cough, but there are also a lot who don't.

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Originally posted by aly
I never treat my fosters for kennel cough because of the reason Glacier stated. If you give them anti-biotics too much, they can build up a resistance which wouldn't be good if something more serious happened that required antibiotics.

I do know a lot of vets will prescribe antibiots for kennel cough, but there are also a lot who don't.

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That's what my vet said too. He did have me check the temps of the dogs who seemed to be most affected--twice a day. Let's not discuss how much fun that process was!!! :eek: If they had developed a sudden spike in their temps, I was supposed to bring them back cuz that would have indicated they were developing lung infections. He would have given medication for that.

oh, we had two betas that committed suicide too a couple years ago. Silly fish!

You're not a horrible pet owner, though. You're a kind and loving pet owner and keep up the good work.

I'm so sorry things aren't going well right now. I don't have any words of wisdom as far as what to do, but I can share our similar experience. When we brough our Chloe (cat) home from the shelter, she looked fine. The next day, she started showing signs of being sick. She got progressively sicker over the weekend, and we really doubted whether we had done the right thing. (Her throat was so sore and swollen that she was foaming at the mouth.) After treatment from the vet, she began, slowly but surely, to show improvement. She is now a wonderful pet. All this to say, with the proper treatment, Muffin should be fine. Just be patient. (Easy to say, hard to do, I know.)

Hopefully, things will get better very soon. (((((Hugs)))))