Anyone know anything about Pulmonary Fibrosis?

M

Mikos_Mom

Forums Enthusiast
First of all.... Hello!! I've been away for ages - what's kept me busy and the changes that have taken place will have to be saved for another thread.

Miko, who will be 3 on the 21st of July, was at the vet today. I took him in because he has an inflamed nostril and some green discharge from it. He hasn't had a cough and his appetite is fine. (he's been a bit subdued, but it's also been around 85 degrees here all week, so I attributed his lethargy to the heat)

The vet looked at his nostril and listened to his chest. He heard some crackling, so he did chest xrays (also did a cranial xray to rule out foreign body in the nose). The results from the radiologist came back inconclusive. There's inflammation in the lungs (pneumonitis) - which could be viral, fungal, bacterial, parasitic, etc.. but he's also saying that there's possibly Pulmonary Fibrosis.

I've googled PF and it's positively scary... but seems a bit unlikely. #1. Miko's not old (usually effects older dogs) and #2. he's not a Westie (sometimes it's called Westie Lung Disease). The part that has me a bit freaked out is that I saw Miko's chest xrays and they look a lot like the photos online of chest xrays of dogs with PF. (characteristic "donuts" and fibers heading every which way)

Has anyone heard of a sheltie having PF? ... Or a 3yr old dog having PF?

Thanks
Andrea & Miko
 
Sorry, I can't help you. I haven't ever heard of a sheltie with Pulmonary Fibrosis. I do know about it in people and it does seem surprising to me if you think the inflammation is only recent. It seems awfully fast for scarring to occur when he doesn't have a chronic lung condition and in the absence of a seriously acute inflammation. So unless he's been hanging around a lot building sites recently I would question the diagnosis too. Remember radiologists do have to cover all bases with their report back to the vet. Heck one time I had an radiologist say I had a brain tumour - I shouldn't have read the report before the neurologist saw it, got myself into quite a state for nothing.

But it is important to treat the pneumonitis first. In humans they'd do a blood test to see if the underlying cause could identified, not sure if similar tests are available for dogs. I'd forget about the fibrosis issue until he's feeling better and then follow it up. Xrays will be clearer anyway without an underlying inflammation as will any other symptoms.
 
Mikos_Mom said:
First of all.... Hello!! I've been away for ages - what's kept me busy and the changes that have taken place will have to be saved for another thread.

Miko, who will be 3 on the 21st of July, was at the vet today. I took him in because he has an inflamed nostril and some green discharge from it. He hasn't had a cough and his appetite is fine. (he's been a bit subdued, but it's also been around 85 degrees here all week, so I attributed his lethargy to the heat)

The vet looked at his nostril and listened to his chest. He heard some crackling, so he did chest xrays (also did a cranial xray to rule out foreign body in the nose). The results from the radiologist came back inconclusive. There's inflammation in the lungs (pneumonitis) - which could be viral, fungal, bacterial, parasitic, etc.. but he's also saying that there's possibly Pulmonary Fibrosis.

I've googled PF and it's positively scary... but seems a bit unlikely. #1. Miko's not old (usually effects older dogs) and #2. he's not a Westie (sometimes it's called Westie Lung Disease). The part that has me a bit freaked out is that I saw Miko's chest xrays and they look a lot like the photos online of chest xrays of dogs with PF. (characteristic "donuts" and fibers heading every which way)

Has anyone heard of a sheltie having PF? ... Or a 3yr old dog having PF?

Thanks
Andrea & Miko
Click to expand...

I've never heard of it before, but our forum member named Tagg is a westie breeder. You might want to try sending her a PM and see what she thinks.

I hope Miko is feeling better soon!
 
Thanks everyone... I'm still waiting to hear back from the vet about the blood test results. Hopefully that will shed more light on the situation.

It did really seem weird to me seeing as he hasn't really been coughing at all. The whole thing started with his nose. I noticed that he had some discharge and that the one nostril was getting red and more and more inflamed. Also, the skin around the edge of his nostril has gone a bit hard and discoloured. ... I was a bit surprised that he didn't even mention DLE (discoid lupus erythematosus) ... Without the presence of a cough, and the fact that he's a sheltie... I thought for sure that's what we'd be talking about.

The vet's in surgery at the moment, so I'm waiting for a call back. I'll post update once I've heard back.

Thanks again!!
 
FINALLY heard back from the vet...

UGGGHHH!! $620 later and I don't know anything more than when I took him in. :mad:

The blood work all came back perfectly normal (I guess that's a good thing!). Radiologist report talks about "possible" pneumonitis and rhinitis. There's absolutely NO obvious answer to what's happening with his nose. :(

He's on antibiotics, but wouldn't his blood work show elevated white cells if he had an infection? If there's something fungal going on, would that be evident in his blood work?

Grrrrrr!!!.... My regular vet has recently closed down due to illness... This is the 1st and LAST time I go to this new vet.
 
I echo Corbinam. Vets can be very helpful, and can save our pets lives. But they can also be a total pain in the hind end.:mad:

Praying that Miko is better soon and you have more information on his condition.:hugs
 
Oh man, this is so familiar - not being able to find out exactly what's going on with your dog! From my own personal experiences, don't freak yourself out but be prepared with a list of differential diagnosis and then rule them out one by one (and of course, be prepared for the worst of it!).

I hope at least the antibiotics work and Miko feels better soon.
 
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