Hi All

Not sure if you have been following about my westie Hamish with lung disease but the specialist has now put him onto inhaled steroids which needs to be used through an aerochamber, he has got to have 1 puff of ordinary inhaler and 2 puff of steroid inhaler twice per day, he said that some dogs freak out when the mask goes over their face but we need to persist for around 1 week and that he should get used to it gradually, he said we must stay calm so that it doesn't freak him out and that he doesn't get too stressed. i am worried as Hamish is a stressy dog anyway and it doesn't take much to feak him out and get stressed.
I just wondered whether anyone on here had used inhaled steroids before and how their dogs reacted? Up to now he has been on oral bronchial dilators and steroid which haven't made any difference to his breathing and they now need to use the inhaled dose as he needs a much stronger dose to help control his symptoms.

Helen

No haven't used one before but why not try him with some of his favourite treats before and after use so he associates it with something he really likes :)

Hope this starts to help stabilise him and make his life a bit more confortable :)

Lucy
xx

Poor Hamish. I haven't used an inhaler but how about wiping something smelly in the mask? Some pate or peanute butter. If he was a golden some fox poo would make him dive right in. I hope he takes to it without much stress.

Haven't done exactly that but our ESS was a test dog for inhaled ventalin treatments for asthma.  Our Vet made a mask for her out of a styrofoam coffee cup and his wife, who worked in the respiratory unit of the local hospital, snuck home an unused respirator.  Our ESS accepted everything with no fuss but she was an exceptionnally easy dog to handle.  Hope Hammish accepts his as well.  Would he be better if you did it?  Can the Vet teach you how?  We had the resp. unit in our house for a few weeks while we tested it on our dog.

I'm sure he'll get used to it if you go slowly ;)  and once he realises that he'll get something really nice when it's done he''ll be ok about it.  Don't know about Hamish, but our dogs always seem to 'know' when we're doing somehting to try and help them, so he might be better than you fear?

Helen try and make it fun a game ! always used to work with Barney ....Plus a bribe or two.
                                                                                                          Good luck thinking of you both  Jill.
                                                                                   

Thanks Jill

Good idea will try it with him, phoned the vets yesterday and the inhalers are in but they are just waiting for the areochamber to come in today so hopefully when i finish work at lunchtime i can go in and collect it, he has now stopped the oral steroids and his appetite is going down hill again he didn't want his breakfast this morning and i am just hoping that this is just a 1 off but i know they said it was only the oral steroids that were increasing his appetite and that possibly this would stop once the steroids stopped, it was so nice to see him eating more when he was on them and he was starting to get a little pot belly.
Will let you know how he gets on, thank you again for staying in touch i know this must be hard for you, only just losing Barney rubble.

Helen

Hi

Just to let you all know i collected Hamish's inhalers yesterday from the vet he is on salbutamol and flixotide through the aerochamber and they also want him to stay on the oral steroids for a while now aswell, the bill was horrendous the areochamber was £90, the flixotide inhaler was £108, and the salbutamol was £30, i couldn't believe the price when they told me it is unbelievable at the price of their medication, i am so pleased he is insured otherwise i could not afford for him to be on this as these inhalers will only last 1 month at a time.
They have told me to just put the aerochamber over his face without using the inhalers for a couple of times before using the puffers through them so that he gets used to it being put over his face, i tried him last night and he was a bit weary but i praised him loads for letting me use it and then again this morning so i am gonna start tomorrow morning using the inhalers so fingers crossed, he is not that well again today didn't want his breakfast this morning and he is quite breathless and was just sleeping on his bed when i left for work this morning so fingers crossed this will buck him up a bit when we start to use it, we can only hope and pray that this works because time is now running out for Hamish and this is the last resort to try and give him a better quality of life, the vet said yesterday when i saw him that we cannot do any more for him than we have done and he said that i have done a lot more than some owners would have done so i have got nothing to blame myself for if this fails, it was nice of him to say that but you still think that maybe you could have done more for them.
Will let you all know how tomorrow goes, i am dreading it especially the first time using it incase it puts him off.

Helen and Hamish

Helen, you most certainly have done much more for him than a lot of owners would do. Really hope Hamish responds to this treatment.

Good luck with the inhalers Helen, it wont be easy but hopefully he will benefit.
You really have been very persistent and he is a lucky little boy for that.

Karen x

Were rooting  for you Helen and Hamish..... make it light hearted and fun
  Shall be thinking of you both .......Jill & Furangel(( Barney)) x

Hi

Well i bucked up the courage to start the inhalers last night and all went better than i thought it would, the only thing that seemed to spook him was the puffer sound of the inhaler going off but he breathed it in fine and was okay afterwards, i gave him a nice little treat and he was pleased, he did so much better than i thought he would as the specialist said it may take 1 week for him to tolerate the mask being on but he was absolutely fine and again this morning he has been a little angel aswell, i think probably at the moment it is where he is not well and hasn't got the energy to fight much but he seems to be staying quite calm when using it and not getting too stressed so thats the main thing.
There is no improvement at the moment but its only 2 goes so cannot expect miracles to happen overnight, will let you all know how things go over the coming days and hopefully i will have some good news for you soon.

Helen and Hamish

Good for Hamish,give plenty of treats and he should be fine.  Will keep fingers crossed this new treatment works for you. Any problems you have just pm me as before.

We're really rooting for you and Hamish, you've come so far together.

Well done you two !............love Jill

Hi

Well its a week today since we started the inhaled steroids and up to now there is no improvement with Hamish, he is still sleeping a lot and not interested in playing with his toys, i have not exercised him this week up to now but i think over the weekend i may take him out for a short walk to see how he copes as i feel if i don't take him out i won't know if he is coping any better with exercise, i will just play it by ear and as soon as he tires bring him home, i hoped that we may have seen some improvement be it just slight by now but it doesn't seem that way, i thought being on a strong inhaled dose that he may have been a bit more lively and not getting so out of breath when he exerts himself but perhaps its still early days.
Will keep you all informed as to how he gets on
Helen

Do you think that his inability to walk far may be because he isn't very fit rather than, or in addition to his health problems?  If he has not been able to exercise much due to all his health problems he may not have the muscle tone to be able to exert himself.

I wonder if starting him off with very short walks, as you would a puppy, would help him to build up his muscle tone and stamina very slowly. Obviously his breathing issues play a part in all this but was just wondering if general fitness could also make it difficult for him. A slow build up of exercise is what athletes do when they had an injury that has prevented them from training so could be the approach to take with Hamish.

Really hope you see an improvement with this wee chap in the not too distant future :)

Hi

Thanks for your message, when we saw the orthopaedic specialist with Hamish to rule out pain from the spine he said that his muscles were fine and that he didn't have any muscle wastage due to lack of exercise so i don't think this would be the reason, they seem to think his lack of ability to run around much is due to the lung condition as he will run but only for a very short period before he gets out of breath, thanks for your message though it was worth a thought.

Helen

Hi

Just a quick update on Hamish, he unfortunately is still not showing any signs of improving after 10 days on the inhaled steroid and oral steroid, i have just phoned the specialist and left a message for him to phone me as i would have thought he should have been showing a little sign of improving by now seeing as he is on a strong dose of both inhaled and oral, they said he will call me back later today when he has got chance.
He is just not interested in anything for long and just wants to lay around sleeping all the time, i just hoped by now we would be seeing something positive even if it was just a very slight improvement it would be something positive to go on.
Will keep you all posted as to what the specialist says
Helen