Hacking coughs

– April 29th 2021

Big Steve has had a hacking cough for 2 days. He has been coughing every hour or so. However, this is not a normal cough ….. this cough sounds like a goose honk. We were not sure what to do and were worried about him. If we check his symptom online, it could be anything… it could be simple or serious. However, beside his hacking coughs, he seems like doing okay to me.

He won’t be eating as much since he is coughing, but I think he has an appetite. Although he was not eating, we gave him honey since it seems like honey soothes his throat. We weren’t sure if we should take him to vet at this point, and we called 4 vets yesterday, but they were all booked up. So we made an appointment for the next available time, which was today. So today, we took him to the vet.

The Vet told us that his heart sounds okay and his throat is not bothering him. She couldn’t figured out what is the cause for this. However, she suggested that we can still give him some medicine to treat the symptom.

“Hydrocodone/Homa (gen) 5” (1.5mg) 1/2 to 1 Tablet every 8 – 12 hours for coughing

and

“Doxycycline Monohydrate (gen)” (100mg) 1/2 Tablet every 17 hours. This is an antibiotic drug that can treat and prevent infections. 

She said if the medicine works he will get better within a week. If his cough does not get better, an X-ray might be our next option.

If I remember correctly, he started to cough after he finished his dinner that night. Did the food go to the wrong place and he tried to cough it out? Did that cough trigger his bronchitis?

Anyway, he is 17 years old and we really don’t want him to suffer. I hope these medications work for him.

Happy Birthday Big Steve – 17 years old！

On April 22nd, 2021, Big Steve turned 17 years old!! He sure is a miracle dog!! 🙂

Since the last time I posted about him, he is doing so great. Just about 5 days ago, we went to Pet Food Express near our apartment. A person working at Pet Food Express thought Big Steve was 12 years old! 🙂

Although his hind leg is bothering him, he is still walking outside (very slowly). He is still having his appetite and we are happy that he is surviving! 🙂

However, he is getting old… He can’t control his toilet, so we put him in pet diapers. We still take him out for toilet every 2.5 to 3 hours. We carry him from the 3rd floor to the dog area. We have also noticed that he sometimes aimlessly wanders, pacing around, circling the same area. He is staring at walls, trying to go in narrow places and getting stuck behind furniture, not sleeping at night…. I was so worried about this strange behavior he does and searched online to find out what is going on with him.

It seems like he is having dementia now.

I’ve read some of the website to see what we can do to treat Big Steve for dementia. Here is what we are trying to do.

1. Have Patience : We need to know that all of what he does is not his fault. We just accept what he does.

2. Exercise : He cannot walk long distances, but I always take a walk to make sure he have some exercise.

3. Talk to him and don’t leave him all day : We know that he doesn’t understand what we are saying, but just show we love him and we care about him.

4. Try to keep him awake during the day time : He will sleep at night, if he is tired, so we try to keep him awake during the day time.

There is a good day and bad day for Big Steve, and we are scared and worried each time. But he is probably being old and we shouldn’t stress out too much. We just accept what he is going through right now and take care of him.

We are so lucky to have this amazing dog! 🙂

I collected some of his video and put them together! Look how amazing he is doing!