I have not posted in a long time because Henry has been very sick and you know how that is. When your pug baby is suffering the whole world grinds to a halt and you are focused on only one thing..getting that pug well!

Our vet said that one of the lobes of Henry’s right lung was “impacted” meaning, congested with an infection. She was amazed at how perky he was in spite of serious difficulties with breathing. She said that she had seen other dogs with the same amount of impaction that couldn’t even walk across the room.

Although he was perky at moments, especially when seeing his beloved Dr. Jenny, Henry was the sickest I had ever seen him, and I really thought he might die. Even Dr. Jenny thought he might not make it the first time he aspirated (regurgitated food into his lungs). 

In a previous post I mentioned the terrible, hacking, honking cough that Henry had. That cough persisted all through the bout with pneumonia, and I am happy to announce that it is gone! 

Although X-rays showed that he had some narrowing of the trachea, it turns out that the cough was caused by the lung infection and was exacerbated by the narrowed trachea, but it was not caused by the condition known as Collapsing Trachea.

After several months of illness, a time in which he could not bark without gagging, could not roll onto his back (which is his favorite expression of contentment) without choking, and could not drink water without choking and gagging, finally, Henry can do all these things again.

Hearing him bark in the window at passers by is music to my ears! That pug can bark his little butt off and I will love every minute of it! Also, while he was sick, of course the poor little guy could barely walk, so our walks had dwindled to just going down a few houses on our street and back. Now he is back to walking our usual 4 to 5 block loop. He is a miracle pug!

Or should I say, our vet is a miracle vet!! I believe Dr. Jenny Taylor at Creature Comfort in Oakland literally saved Henry’s life. She put him on a course of antibiotics that arrested the lung infection while she did a series of X-rays and exams to try to pinpoint the source of the cough.

When she realized that he had a narrowing trachea she counseled us on how to feed him so as to prevent choking and gagging. She also advised me on some research I was doing into Chinese herbs for lung heat, and approved my going ahead with giving him those.

Finally, she decided to give him an aqua-puncture injection of Baytril into an acupuncture point (not sure which one it was)…and I am telling you, within one day of that aqua-puncture shot Henry was on the mend. All of a sudden he could breathe easier and his energy increased.

I think the combination the the aqua puncture and the Chinese herbs did the trick.