Hello,
I adopted a 10 month old Shih Tzu last Thursday the 16th named Dexter. He came home from the pound with Kennel cough and 2 medications. The first day or two he was completely lethargic, was not very interested in food or water (although he did drink and would take some bites randomly of turkey or chicken), would sleep all day and had a bad wheeze/cough. We immediately took him to the emergency vet at 11pm after he started acting limp when we would pick him up and they diagnosed him with secondary pneumonia.
$1000 later and after they injected him with fluids and took xrays, blood work, etc, they sent him home with another medication and a cough suppressant and told us to sit in the shower and let him inhale the steam twice a day for 10 minutes and then pat his chest for another 2 to try and get him to cough the stuff up. Although he was coughing less after we would give him the medication, he seemed to get worse in general over the next few days and I ended up taking him to the vet again yesterday.
The vet said he should be hospitalized and supervised in 24 hour care, but because (and I feel completely horrible for saying this) we had very limited funds, the next best thing was to keep him there at the vet that checks on him 2-4 times a day and he is hooked up to an IV for medication as well as a fluid pump. I want to do whatever I possibly can to help Dexter and am painfully worried about Dexter. He's been in the hospital for 24 hours and they say he's still not wanting to eat, although he is much more alert and wide-eyed. He doesn't have and never has had a temperature, which they say is good, but I cannot stop thinking about the possibility that he might not make it.
The vet still has to call me to let me know if he is able to come home today, but if not, he will come home Sunday because unfortunately that is what we can afford. I would be devastated if I couldn't afford to give him the care he needs, but the vet said this is a valiant effort and if he is not better by Sunday anyway, he probably won't get better without intense and extremely costly treatment. I just thought I'd reach out to a forum that may have had similar encounters and if anyone can take Dexter's situation into account and give us some hope/insight/etc on what to expect and even though I know it is case dependent, what the chances are he'll come home soon and healthy.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your advise and guidance!! Wishing everyone a happy holiday and wishing Dexter a Christmas miracle!!!