Quote Originally Posted by yllwb572002
Catlady711,
Thank you for your help we had the puppy at the vet on the 25th so if I do not see any improvement by tommorrow I am definately going to call back the vet. As far as the food goes he came home with the same food that they were feeding him so that cannot be that. We notified the breeder and i believe that they do offer to reimburse you some but i'm not to worried about that we just want a healthy dog They also said we could bring him back and pick another, boy are some people so insensitive like after losing one dog was not enough they want me to take another away from my kids!! Thank you for your help i'll keep you posted.
Judy
I was glad to read your last sentence. I've lost track of the number of times people buy puppies from breeders, and then are all so willing to take them back for trade-ins even after months. One can only imagine what happens to retread puppies in these pet shops.

Zithromax is an extremely effective drug for upper respiratory infections. Sometimes it takes 2-3 days before its full benefits are felt. It can cause diarrhea upon prolonged use, but in general has a very low incidence of side effects.

As Catlady points out Kennel Cough is a combination infection. Kennel Cough is a very good illustration of how virus and bacterial infections can interact. Viruses prefer healthy hosts, as they need healthy host cells to replicate in. Bacteria usually gain a foot hold in hosts whose immune system has been slightly suppressed due to a recent illness. Thus for Kennel cough you start with a Virus, which creates a situation for a secondary infection to occur via the resident Bordetella in the nasal passages. If left untreated the dog will usually recover from the virus infection, but then can develop pneumonia from the follow up bacterial infection. The idea of the Zithromax is to suppress any secondary infection from the bacteria, allowing for a quicker recovery.

It just could be that your puppy is still fighting off the virus side of the infection. It may still have a fever which would cause it to be anorexic. If the puppy is not drinking, then definitely get it back to the Vet for subcutaneous fluids. As long as the puppy is not in respiratory distress, then the Zithromax is doing its job. If your Vet detects possible pneumonia problems then s/he has the option of trying another antibiotic such as Clavamox. My little cyote received Baytril which was also very effective, but not recommended for puppies - something I found out after the fact.

Your plan should be to get the puppy back to the Vet ASAP if it has not consumed water in the last 24 hrs. Dehydration can be a serious problem in puppies. If the saliva in the mouth appears like mucus strings then the puppy is already dehydrated, and needs medical attention. The Vet can then judge whether to continue on the Zithromax, or try another antibiotic.

P.S. Mine didn't take to the robotussin too well. I had to mix it in with some milk plus honey, and then he sort of drank it.