Chronic Bronchitis

I was in a bind with the prednisolone because every time I reduced beyond a certain level her breathing got worse and I was unsure whether the natural meds were working. Anyhow at the latest vets visit I asked if her bronchitis could have an allergic component. 'Oh yes' she said! This was the same vet who told me a year or so back that the foot chewing was 'just a silly habit'. She doesn't chew much these days but some of the fur has turned brown. I asked about antihistamines and she recommended Piriton. You can get the generic Chlorphenamine cheaply over the counter here or online so I've ordered some. Meanwhile a friend gave me some of hers (the same brand they sell in the vets!) and my what a difference. Breathing 70% better!

I don't use chemicals in the home and I vac nearly every day. I also got an air purifier. Plus I have changed her food. I think I might have to start cleaning her feet after a walk too (I've read up on how to treat paws). Has anyone heard of or used the I love dogs 'reishi with green tea immunity boost'?

http://www.ilovedogs.com/2010/03/i-love-dogs-reishi-with-green-tea/

I thought I might add that to the arsenal. You can't buy it here but I can get it shipped. Or maybe I ought to wait till I've seen another vet (have found a holistic one!).

Cheers.

PS Just in case I have to stay with steroids I gave the vets all the info about Flovent as they weren't aware! 

 I'm glad the antihistamine helped; that's great! Jessie's chronic bronchitis is caused by her allergies. She has severe environmental allergies and receives sublingual immunotherapy for them. It has helped tremendously, but not enough to control the bronchitis. I also give her an antihistamine in the summer. Sorry, but I am not familiar with the green tea product. However, you may want to try adding some curcumin to your dogs food. It is a natural spice and has anti-inflammatory properties. It has been shown in studies with humans to reduce airway inflammation;

 Curcumin attenuates allergic airway inflammation a... [J Ethnopharmacol. 2010] - PubMed result

  Fish oil is also a very good anti-inflammatory supplement.

 

tailwaggers

Just in case I have to stay with steroids I gave the vets all the info about Flovent as they weren't aware! 

  Maybe you could print this page and show it to them;

 Respiratory Drugs - WSAVA 2005 Congress

  My regular vet didn't know about it either, but an internist at the vet teaching hospital where Jessie was diagnosed with chronic bronchitis told us about it. It is expensive and costs us about $260 every 2 months, so the cost can be prohibitive for some pet owners.

 Thanks

I will look at the curcumin. Anything which lessens the dependency on the steroid. Though I am now trying 1mg every other day with further tapering if possible. I know she isn't 'cured' but the improvement with the antihistamine has been astonishing. That said I don't want her on that for long periods either. 

 

tailwaggers

. I know she isn't 'cured' but the improvement with the antihistamine has been astonishing. That said I don't want her on that for long periods either. 

Antihistamines typically aren't bad longer term - they truly aren't. They may, at some point, stop working. As for the feet -- just dipping the feets in black tea and drying on an old turkish towel when you come in from outside helps TONS. Not only does it rinse off allergens that stick, the tanins in the tea help fight the prickles they get from the histamines that dance in the paws. (which is what causes them to lick). Reisi -- it's good, but if this is an older dog you may find it increases a tendency to arthritis. Reishi has really good anti-oxidant properties, and so does green tea. To be honest -- you want to be cautious with all the immune-boosting. You *can* go too far with it. I'm not being critical -- this is the voice of personal experience (on me, not just dogs). The immune system *should* go on ... and then off ... then on to answer a threat and then ... OFF. But if we try to defeat that by boosting ALL the time that can lead to auto-immune sorts of things (which is what I did to my own self -- worsening badly a couple of auto-immune problems that simmered in me for years to the point where they are now both debilitating). I've also had a ton of experience at this point with dogs with auto-immune/immune-mediated problems and trust me, you do NOT want to go there. Try the reishi-green tea but then after a bottle or so give the body a break. Fish oil is always good (in fact, to be honest a sardine a day is an awesome way to give fish oil -- they LOVE them, it's completely absorbable and you aren't getting rancid oil, which can be a problem in capsules. I have found homeopathy to be incredibly helpful for allergies with less side effects. What modalities does your holistic vet use?

Thanks. I take the point about overdoing stuff. I have to hold back from throwing everything at her condition.

I've not seen the holistic vet yet though I understand they do the full range of alternative therapies including homeopathy. For the moment she is like a new dog on the antihistamines - though it could just be coincidence and that the other stuff kicked in at that time.  She still has occasional symptoms but the change is enough that I sometimes wonder if they misdiagnosed the bronchitis! I am cautiously dropping the pred - now down to 1mg every 4th day. The routine vet thinks she must be supersensitive to the pred but she seems that way with any med. Hence I give half the recommended dose of antihistamine. She also got a bit hyper on the Vivitonin (for bronchodilator effect) in the evenings and I have more or less stopped that. She was also prescribed Incurin for urinary incontinence and I'm not giving her that at all. The problem is lessening anyway.

So apart from the pred she is on milk thistle daily, antihistamine daily, Clear Lungs on non pred days, CQ10 gel + wild salmon oil for dogs daily and ground egg shell added to her home cooked food. Plus occasional slippery elm - I'm a bit cautious with that as I read it could interfere with medication absorption. I cook up a freezer batch of low phosphorus meals (her creatinine/urea values are a bit high) at the start of the week - boned skinless chicken thighs, minced lamb, pork, beef, occasional heart, sweet potato, green veggies, occasional rice/pasta, cooked egg white, a low phosphorus hypoallergenic mixer ..... That dog eats better than me!

For now - it all seems to be working. Hope I don't get run over by a bus anytime soon as I don't know if anyone else would go to the same lengths.