EDIT 10/25:

on 8/15 my 8-month-old Corgi puppy Vega was diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia by her PCP. After taking her home her breathing got worse and she was admitted to the dog ICU for 3 days, receiving oxygen, fluids, and IV antibiotics.

A few days after discharge she had to be readmitted for another 2 days as she'd declined again. After the 2nd ICU discharge she was followed closely by her PCP, who is wonderful.

10/6 she had another follow-up at the dogtor where I was told her lung xrays looked "great" and we could stop her nebulizer treatments and aggressive antibiotics. At this appt, her PCP was on vacation and the practice owner was the one seeing her.

Yesterday (10/24) she went back to the dogtor, simply because her eyes looked a little glassy and she'd coughed twice. She saw her PCP this time, and after xrays etc I was told her aspiration pneumonia had likely NOT been fully cured, was back, and was worse. At this point we need to do a tracheal wash under sedation so cultures can be done of whatever is causing this infection, and the abx can be narrowed down. however she has to be off abx for 4-6 weeks. so we go back in 2 weeks to do that, along with bloodwork and more xrays. she'll be back on albuterol breathing treatments in the meantime.

this has been 10 weeks and $8,500 at this point. the visit in 2 weeks will be approximately $3,764 for the tracheal wash, repeat xrays, and labwork.

She is so sweet and goofy. She's 18 lbs but the boss of my other 100+lb dogs. She jumps on her hind legs when I come home from work. She loves murdering her stuffed lambchop, and barks at you if you stop petting her.

she is still literally a baby and i cannot give up on her but i also don't know how I'm gonna keep dropping all this money. i drained my retirement for the icu stays.

ORIGINAL POST:

Friday 8/15, my 6 month old Corgi puppy Vega just seemed a little more tired than normal. We thought it was from being extra playful earlier that day. On Saturday she'd developed a cough but was still overall herself. By Sunday she wasn't eating or drinking as much, was sleeping more, and we could hear fluid in her lungs when she breathed. We borrowed her brother's albuterol nebulizer and it helped a lot.

On Monday 8/18 her regular vet did ultrasound/xrays and diagnosed her with regular pneumonia. Her temp was normal, but her oxygen was low so Vega got a steroid injection, was in an oxygen cage for a bit, and then got discharged w/ antibiotics (doxy), oral steroids (prednisone), and albuterol. When we got home I did the albuterol tx (treatment) but her breathing got much worse. I texted her vet a video and they called back, telling us to go to the emergency vet for overnight hospitalization.

The emergency vet immediately took her into the back and put her into an oxygen cage because of how hard she was working to breathe. After reviewing her records and xrays, they revised her diagnosis to aspiration pneumonia, likely just from drinking water. Vega now had a temp of 103.9. Since she was quickly getting sicker, the doctor wanted to switch Vega to a more broad-spectrum antibiotic (amox/clav) via IV/IM.

Vega stayed in the ICU that first time from Mon 8/18-Weds 8/21 in an oxygen cage, and got IV/IM antibiotics, nebulization & coupage (a physical therapy technique to loosen mucous from the lungs), and injectable pain & nausea medicine. She also got IV fluids & electrolytes as her potassium was low (2.9, normal is 3.5-5.8) and abnormal potassium can cause cardiac arrhythmias. She discharged late Wednesday evening.

Thursday was okay but overall better. Her appetite was still poor but she was eating. She was still low energy - she would have to rest halfway up the deck stairs after going potty, but she did play with a toy for a few minutes.

Friday 8/22 she crashed hard. She wouldn't eat anything. When water was dripped on her muzzle she wouldn't even lick it off. She did nothing but lay in her bed. She was breathing hard again. We took her back to the emergency vet and she was readmitted to the ICU on oxygen.

The ICU team did more xrays and said her pneumonia has gotten worse, though that's typical for pneumonia. Her temperature was 103.9 again. They did labs and put her back on IV fluids. Her doctor added a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. This is 3rd line treatment for aspiration pneumonia as it's pretty harsh and can cause teeth and joint issues, but the xrays showed that the amox/clav needed extra help.

We visited her in the evening on Saturday 8/23 and her doctor thought she wasn't ready to come home yet. After seeing her, sadly we agreed. Though she was weaned off the oxygen, her respiratory rate was still 60 (normal is ~25-30) and she had minor grunting while breathing. They recommended at least one more night with IV fluids/meds, nebs and coupage, and constant eyes on her.

We picked Vega up at noon on Sunday 8/24. We go back in a week for a recheck and xrays.

Her doctor said if god forbid there's a 3rd hospitalization we'd be looking at a CT scan and a bronchial lavage (sedating Vega, collecting a sputum sample from the alveoli in her lungs, and then washing her lungs out with sterile saline).

Some of you know that at the end of 2022 my first corgi Remy had to be unexpectedly put to sleep because when I took her in to the emergency vet for sudden breathing difficulties they found a cancerous tumor. It was either liver or splenic, and had been silently growing undetected until it started compressing her diaphragm (hence the breathing difficulty). The vet cried with me as she said there was nothing to be done, and if it was her dog, the kindest thing would be to give her mercy. That was the hardest, most unfair animal death I've ever experienced and I've always felt like the universe stole my Remy from me. I hate to ask, but I will not let the universe take Vega too.

The visit to her PCP on Mon 8/18 for the first set of xrays etc was $620.86. The first ICU stay from 8/18-8/20 was $3,177.62. When we took her back for the second ICU hospitalization, we paid $3,658.45. The total paid so far has been $7,456.93.

Before all this happened, I just paid for orthodontics to fix my malaligned bite (my enamel is jacked up and it was causing cavities), I just made my first tuition payment of the semester, and Vega got spayed a month ago. My savings has not yet had a chance to recover from all of that to take on such an unplanned vet bill. I am currently ignoring a broken filling, a broken windshield, and the textbook I need to buy for said class. I cannot pick up overtime at work because I am still on orientation. I am going through my house and putting anything of value for sale online. I am doing what I can on my own to cover this as I hate to ask for help, especially financially. But she is just a baby and I cannot give up on her, especially over a freak accident.

Anything helps. Thank you.