Uh Oh!! I think Tazz is sick!!

[always quiet]

Tazz, the Pomeranian we adopted from the local shelter last Sept. seems to be sick! He was fine all day yesterday, then last night around dinner time, he started to cough. At one point, he coughed up that icky foamy white stuff. He is still coughing this morning. It's odd though...if you massage his throat when he is coughing, it stops it. I have no idea whether he ate something he should not have and it's stuck in his throat or what. Aside from the cough, he is not acting sick...he has already eaten his breakfast this morning. It's just with hearing about this "dog flu" on the news recently, I don't know what to think!! I called the vet clinic at the shelter we got him at (since his shot records are there) and for some reason, they are closed until further notice. Their recording gave me the number of another vet in the area. Hopefully, they can get him in today.

 

[airhead]

There is a dog virus that is spreading. The sooner he's treated the better.

 

[chrissyk]

Call you regular vet asap and see if you can bring him right in. What if it's the dog flu??? They need to treat that immediately if it is. I hope that Tazz will be OK.

 

[always quiet]

We're back...turns out that the clinic he normally goes to currently has shorter hours because they are down to 1 vet. I went in actually before they opened (no appts. there....first come/first serve) so I was the 2nd patient. The vet was really good with him. Lungs are clear, no fever, but just in case "anythings brewing", Tazz came home with an anti-biotic. A big part of the reason he thinks Tazz is coughing is that there is TOO MUCH Tazz!! My poor little puppy needs a diet!! He wants me to find a low cal/high fiber dog food and instead of doggie treats, give him fresh vegies (Tazz happens to love carrots and lettuce and normally mouches off Thumper ) More exercise too. Guess who'll be walking him around the block?!!

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Awww...glad to hear Tazz is okay. Something has to be going around my cats are acting strange LOL. Of course, the one it could be because he can sense we are going away soon.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

How about this?
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/RedCalDog.html

I have my puppies on the regular stuff. It is available at PetCo.
I hope your Pom feels better.

 

[chrissyk]

We're back...turns out that the clinic he normally goes to currently has shorter hours because they are down to 1 vet. I went in actually before they opened (no appts. there....first come/first serve) so I was the 2nd patient. The vet was really good with him. Lungs are clear, no fever, but just in case "anythings brewing", Tazz came home with an anti-biotic. A big part of the reason he thinks Tazz is coughing is that there is TOO MUCH Tazz!! My poor little puppy needs a diet!! He wants me to find a low cal/high fiber dog food and instead of doggie treats, give him fresh vegies (Tazz happens to love carrots and lettuce and normally mouches off Thumper ) More exercise too. Guess who'll be walking him around the block?!!

Try "Spot's Stew". We buy it at Whole Foods/Wild Oats, and one of our cats loves it. They make it for dogs too. It's a balanced diet that is a lot of veggies and some meat. It sounds like what they are perscribing for Tazz. Hopefully there will be a little less Tazz shortly

 

[minnie56]

That Tazz will feel better soon and be half the Pom he is right now before long as well!!

One of my kitties is a little on the 'chubby' side, okay...she's FAT, in fact we call her Cathy Caboose..anyway, she was sick about 2 years ago with a cough. Scared the daylights out of me as she began to struggle for her breath. We had many middle of the night trips to the Emerg Vet as well as in the day. After multiple antibiotics she improved and it seemed it had been a resp infection and most likely viral. But it always is a wise Mummy that has it checked out to be sure!!

Hope the days ahead bring lots of improvement!

 

[allie&mattsmom]

Aww I'm glad to hear Taz is okay. Our lab Jake is a bit heavy too. He is such a pig and could eat all day long! We have him on Science Diet reduced fat food and we give him a can (sometimes two) of green beans a day. We get the 12 packs of beans at Sams Club. Our vet said carrots would be good also but Jake spits them out. Jake loves the green beans and they have no fat so maybe that would work for Taz.

 

[always quiet]

I've been doing lots of research on brands of dog foods, trying to find what the vet was looking for. In all the brands I checked out, most of them only had 1.5% - 3% of fiber. High fiber was something the vet was important for him. Purina One Weight Control has 5%. Looks like that might be the best choice. They even have a canned variety of it with the higher fiber content.

Something else I found interesting. We got Tazz at the shelter and his "tag" said Pomeranian. While he looks like one, 2 things always struck me as different. First is his size. He was 10 pounds when we got him (he never was a "pocketbook puppy"). His features are larger than the traditional Pom. Also, his coat is different. His fur is so much thicker. When I saw Tazz next to a Pom in Petsmart last week, he was comical...he was HUGE next to the other dog (he is 17.9 lbs right now ). I asked the vet his opinion and he said looking at his structure and his coat, he seems to think he is a mix between a Pomeranian and a mini Chow. Personally, I think he looks like an Ewok!!

 

[always quiet]

Here's a shot from Tazz this summer..........tough life he has!

 

[allie&mattsmom]

Tazz is adorable. Does he actually get in the pool and swim?

 

[always quiet]

Tazz did go into the pool...unfortunately, he was "bottom heavy" and that part of his body would sink! He loved laying on the floating when the kids were in the pool with him. He'd float there for hours.