Albert... aka ZITHROMAN!!!!

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J

jennifervb

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2007
Messages
2,237
Location
California, U.S.A
Albert has been on meds for the last 4 months due to myco based respiratory issues.

The Baytril, Aminophyllin and Vibramycin have been keeping things in "check" but not improving his condition.

On Friday, Dr. Richards decided that it was time to pull out the Zithromax.

His breathing is still labored, but it appears as if it is much better than it was! :bunnydance:

I'm still really pleased though. He's only been on Zithro since Friday and I'm already seeing an improvement. :wink:

Albert has gained almost 50 grams in the last 6 weeks and Dr. Richards is enthralled. He lost weight, when this whole thing started, because he was using too much energy to breathe.

I mixed his meds in with soy yogurt and then gave him more yogurt with olive oil, crushed up teklad blocks and oxbow and he inhaled the entire thing. Let's face it... 4 servings of "doctored" yogurt in one day is a lot of food!!! :D

Of course Buddy had his little dish too... just without the meds. :wink:

So now my little Zithroman is bouncing all over the place. He's managed, on more than one occasion, to send Buddy hightailing it to the top of the skyscraper because he is a lazy little pilfer unit and doesn't always like it when Albert popcorns all over him. :laugh4:

Albert will be two in October. :bunnydance: :cheeky: :bunnydance: :cheeky: :bunnydance: :cheeky: :bunnydance:
 
Great news for Albert!!
Another thing you might consider is adding prednisone, only if he regresses. It seems to help a lot with respiratory inflammation.
 
The joy of Zithromax was short lived.

Albert has taken a turn for the worse. He was not active during play time today. He got his Zithromax at 5:30. At 7:30 I called the vet and then gave him Baytril with no improvement.

I have just returned from the vet with Vibramycin and the Aminophyllin and had to force feed it to him.

He is not gasping but his sides are heaving something fierce.

If he has not improved by tomorrow morning, I will have to consider having him euthanized. I do not want my boy to suffer. :tearful:

Buddy is tending to him. Pray that my boy pulls through. My precious little man. I hate to see him like this. :sad3:
 
Thanks so much for the support everyone and thank you, Dee, for the prayers. :hugs:

Albert made it through the night and is feeling better today.

He is still a little labored but not at all as he was last night.

I had to finger feed him his yogurt this morning and encourage him to eat everything, but he was a sweet little man and did so. He ate his fruit and teklad block as well so I'm satisfied.

He is not out of the woods yet but I am hopeful. Last night was bad and I didn't see a lot of sleep. At one point, Albert was lying on his side with his mouth partially open and I was sure that he was leaving me. I propped him up in my arm, under his favorite square of fleece, and gave him a crafty spray of Albuterol. He was not enthralled but it was necessary. The doxy and aminophyllin still needed time and I wanted to keep him as comfortable as possible.

I know Albuterol tastes vile but hey.... it works so the little dude needs to just suck it up.

Please continue to keep my boy in your thoughts and prayers. I will keep you updated. :love6:
 
Aww your poor sweetie. Sending healing vibes. Could he be allergic to the Zithro? I had a rat who seemed to get better after a few days then went almost lethargic every time I dosed him with the the Zithro.
 
I was going to mention that...a reaction to zithro perhaps?
Was this downturn a shock or had he shown signs of it before? I would also consider adding prednisone to his med list. It might relieve a lot of lung pressure.
 
I just asked about the pred and was told that they don't generally prescribe prednisone for something they have diagnosed as a bacterial infection.

I was also cautioned about using inhalers because they are steroid based and some animals do not respond well to them.

I'm not as concerned about this because Debbie D recommends Primatene Mist in her Health Book and that is also a steroid inhaler. It may not pack the punch that Albuterol does... but it is still a steroid inhaler. :D

Whatever the case, my boy was better this morning and I don't really care what it took to get him there. I will be careful in the future, but I didn't have many options last night at 10pm. My boy couldn't breathe. That is all that mattered to me.
 
jorats said:
I was going to mention that...a reaction to zithro perhaps?
Was this downturn a shock or had he shown signs of it before? I would also consider adding prednisone to his med list. It might relieve a lot of lung pressure.
Click to expand...


The downturn was a shock to me, Jo. I didn't see anything coming. On Friday morning, he was grand and on Friday afternoon... he was not.
 
I pulled him off the Zithro and got him back on the Baytril, Doxy and Aminophyllin on Monday night.

He still isn't doing as well as I would like.

He eats most of what I give him (now mixing the meds with organic baby food for a change of pace) but I am concerned.
When I left the house this morning, he was hanging over the upper level. His breathing was labored.

Usually he improves within a couple of hours of receiving his meds, but it still doesn't make things easier. I don't think it's normal for Albert to be struggling like that when he is getting the meds every 12 hours. You would think that the meds would cover him through to the next dosage.

I just contacted the vet and asked about trying Gentamicin in place of the Doxy. Gentamicin is the #1 choice in Debbie's book and at this point I want to try everything possible to help my boy before having to make the decision to help him to the Bridge.

These are hard times for my little man and those who love and cherish him.

Nothing is more repulsive than Myco. :redhot:
 
It's definitely a hard battle. It would be great if Gentamicin works. Poor little guy... they have such huge hearts but such terrible lungs.
 
Albert was put on Bactrim as a fourth antibiotic. He can't stand it! :laugh4:

Nevertheless, he is doing much better today.

He played in his laundry pile yesterday and stuck his nose into Buddy's gonads. :shock:

This morning, he refused to eat his Bactrim. It took me two tries to figure out that the Bactrim was the reason he would not touch his baby food.

He was mortified that he wasn't getting breakfast so he jumped off the desk and came into the kitchen to stand on my toes. :love6:

I gave him the Baytril, Doxy and Aminophyillin in one dish with baby food and he inhaled it in the middle of the kitchen floor. :laugh4:

I was then faced with the problem of how to get the Bactrim down his throat.

Soy yogurt, rice milk, and honey-roasted peanut butter did the trick on that one. He didn't eat all of it, but he did get most of it in. I'm not as worried about the Bactrim intake as I am about the other three.

I think I will go buy some frosting to mix the Bactrim in with. He is only on it for 14 days so I want him to get the most from it.

I'm still really cautious about his condition. I know how fast they can deteriorate after "bouncing back" and I don't want to get my hopes up too high.

Nevertheless, I'm tickled that my little guy appears to be feeling better. His sides are heaving much less than they were and I am now busy trying to keep him from crawling under the door into my pantry. :bunnydance:
 

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