My Akita dog just got pneumonia from crop dust?!?

[melensdad]

The real farmer (I am only a hobby farmer) who harvested the soybean field that borders my property raised up all sorts of dust. That is common during the harvesting of soybeans. He harvested the field a few days ago.

Last night Misha, our aging Akita, who is taking prednisone (an immuo-suppresant drug) started coughing during the night. Took her to the vet this morning and I was more worried that she had something caught in her throat than anything else. They kept her for the morning to run tests and did some x-rays, etc. Turns out that she has pneumonia. As she is an old dog (11.5 years in a breed that often only lives about 10-12 years) she spends most of her days resting inside. This a dog who used to love being outside, now goes out, does her business, and comes back inside without prompting. So we couldn't figure out how she could have gotten pneumonia.

Turns out that crop dust is a major cause of the condition. There are other causes, but none of them seem to make sense. So we, and the vet, high suspect that crop dust from the soybeans may have caused this.

So, if you live out in the farmland areas, and have a older dog, it might be something to watch out for, or simply be aware of.

Prognosis for Misha's recovery is very good.

Just posting this FYI.

 

[KLB]

Thanks. I would have never made that connection. Our dogs are starting to get into double digits, so we will have to watch out in the future.

I'm glad the outlook is good for Misha.

 

[melensdad]

Thanks. I would have never made that connection. Our dogs are starting to get into double digits, so we will have to watch out in the future.

I'm glad the outlook is good for Misha.

Thanks Ken.

We honestly thought that she might have had something stuck in her throat.

She started coughing in the middle of the night (1am). Just a couple coughs every 10 or 15 minutes. Almost like a dry heave but not as intense.

My wife started looking up the causes and the only one that fit was crop dust. Bizarre thing is that the crop dust this year was probably the least amount I've seen, perhaps because of wind, weather? But again, she is now taking a low dose of an immuno-supressent this year for arthritis so that may be a contributing factor.

 

[Baditude]

I used to breed Akitas for the last 20 years, great dogs. I wish you well

 

[melensdad]

Vet says she should recover.

I posted this because I was not aware that crop dust could cause pneumonia.

Figured others who live in the boonies should be aware of this, it's a problem every time they harvest soybeans because they kick up a cloud of dust. Corn is not much of an issue.

 

[geronimojoe85]

Poor puppy.

 

[melensdad]

Poor puppy.

Misha had a pretty miserable night last night. I got up at 04:30 with her and gave her another antibiotic, figured it wouldn't hurt to give it to her a few hours early. She can't get much rest becuase of the coughing. My wife thinks she is doing better. I think she is doing worse.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I'll keep Misha in my thoughts and prayers! Hard to see our "fur kids" not feeling well.

 

[singlestacksig]

any fine dirty dust can cause it.. road construction, crop dust, so on..

 

[THE BIG SITT]

Pics of the pup? We have an akita/husky that we are quite fond of.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Aww, hope she gets better soon. Most likely a particulate thing; I get that myself. I'm coughing right at the moment in fact. Metylprednisone is actually a steroid. I've had a pantload of it injected epidurally in my spine. It does suppress immunity, but it promotes healing.

 

[Snapdragon]

Crossing fingers for a full recovery.

 

[stephen87]

Not what I was expecting from this thread. I was expecting a thread full of fart jokes and comments.

Either way, best of luck with the road to recovery.

 

[melensdad]

Pics of the pup? We have an akita/husky that we are quite fond of.

She is much better this morning. Coughing has subsided pretty dramatically and she is slowly getting her energy back.

In our research we found that this very often affects puppies too. And apparently is fatal if untreated.

As for a pic, how about a winter picture from her enjoying the snow: