Puppy undergoing tests for cough

[Louise Perry]

Hello, my 20 week pup Reuben is in Langford House Vet Hospital at the moment as he is undergoing tests to try and diagnose what is actually wrong with him. Basically he had a slight cough at approx 10 weeks old that then went away. However it then came back a couple of weeks later and he has since been to my local vets practice and had weeks of different antibiotics, lungworm treatment, chest x-rays, fluoroscopy and bronchoscopy. The vets did not come up with an answer so he has been referred to local specialist hospital and went there today. (his cough by the way has got worse and now has a constant snotty nose).
Today he had another fluoroscopy which showed his esophagus to be fine - so tomorrow he has another bronchoscopy, chest x-rays and blood work. Hence they have kept him in and my house is very quiet! I hope to have some answers tomorrow but am extremely worried and wondered if anyone else has any experience of this?
I am in contact with the breeder and none of his litter-mates have reported problems at present.
Reuben has always been a fairly calm puppy but after a morning walk he is now quite lethargic for the entire day apart from maybe a little play in the evening. It is a tad worrying he is so calm for a pup.
Anyway any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

[Louise Perry]

I am not sure but hope they do anyway.

[Catherine Carter]

Hi Louise,
You must be so worried....I hope the vet finds out what is wrong and your puppy can be home with you soon! I am thinking of you!

[Louise Perry]

Thank you, it's just not the same without him

[Sue and Cash]

The poor little guy. My thoughts are with you and I hope they get to the bottom of this quickly.

[lyn hathaway]

hi louise sorry to hear about your puppy and hope he gets well soon

[Lynne Murray Hogsflesh]

Hi Louise, welcome to the site I'm sure you'll make lots of new friends on here.
I own Reuben's sister & I think I met you at the breeder's the day you picked your young man up...I thought at the time what a simply gorgeous head & expression he had. His sister is called Autumn & she is in very rude health, RUDE being the operative word! I have 4 other Irish at home & she came in & has taken the place by storm & she now rules the roost. She is never listless, has boundless energy & I wish I had half her stamina....the word quiet doesn't figure in her lexicon. Like Reuben she has a most beuatiful head & expression which I would happily post on the site if I could persuade her to stand still for long enough for the camera to focus....I think it is more likely that she will provide the cabaret in the show-ring rather than put on a professional effort! She is one of the most intelligent setters I have ever owned, only has to see one of the other dogs do something once & she figures out how to do almost imediately; the only thing which stumped her was trying to drink owater from the tap in the bathroom sink. One of my old girls only liked to drink running water in her latter years so she was 'allowed' to drink from the tap, her son has acquired the same habit & little Autumn seeing him do it tried to copy him...unfortunately at the time she was too small to reach the rim of the basin, however she kept trying week after week & eventually she had grown tall enough to reach, she was ecstatic & so proud of herself.
I am sure that your little man has just got some nasty bug which has got embedded in his system & this is what is draining his energy, once the vet's get the right medication to him I am sure he will be fine. My fingers are crossed for his speedy recovery & Autumn sends him a slobbery sisterly kiss xxx

[Louise Perry]

Wow Lynne, how great is that, Reuben has a sister called Autumn and he really will enjoy the slobbery kiss! were you the lady I saw outside the house and you said something like ' once you own a setter, you will always own setters' ? She sounds like a clever little minx! Is she quite tall, as Reuben is the size of a small pony already and weighs 20kgs.
Reuben has the most sweetest nature and my 4 yr old son adores him - just wish the two cats did, lol. he too is fairly clever and really knows how to get my attention and when he does he's straight on to his back for a tummy rub or loves a bit of back scratching.

Well the update on him for you, Barbara and the other kind well wishers is;

He had chest xrays, bronchoscopy and a biopsy from his nose today and is doing okay and still in the hospital for observation. The vet said that he has got narrowing of the airways and lots of mucus on the lungs. So they took lots of samples and did the nose biopsy to test for Ciliary Dyskinesia which is apparently quite rare. They won't have the lab results until tomorrow and I have an appointment to see the vet at 1pm. Just fingers crossed they have found the infection, give me the correct antibiotics and off home we trot!

I am trying to be positive but just keep picturing his lovely little wiggly bum happily going of out the consulting room with the nurse as his to say "ooh going anywhere exciting then". I am so looking forward to seeing him tomorrow and seeing the snakey/wiggly bum action when he sees me - in fact i will probably be wiggling my own bum in excitement too!
He has to be okay as I have so much to learn (being a novice Setter owner) and will be on here constantly asking for advice/guidance from all you lovely people. x

[Helen Moore]

Hi Louise, what did the vets say today is Reuben back at home yet?

[Louise Perry]

Hi Helen and everyone else. Well Reuben is home and on some different antibiotics, ones that they hope will cover all sorts of the difficult bugs that may not show up that easy in the lab. However they are still awaiting lab results and it may mean he needs different drugs. The results wont be back until next week and his ciliary Dyskinesia results will take up to 8 weeks. The vet is guessing that he has probably just got an infection causing bronchitis and we just need to find the bacteria responsible and hence then the correct antibiotics. Worse case scenario is a few congenital diseases (especially the ciliary one) but we wont know this for a while. I am going with the nasty bug idea!

He is a bit croaky/chesty but on quite good form as he just stole a sock from the radiator and brought it in to the Lounge to chew, haha. He is also really milking the situation in order to get lots of cuddles and fuss. Bless him as all four paws and throat area has been shaved in various locations due to all the procedures.
Lovely to have him home and he is having a real chewing frenzy due to his teething, poor soul.