How to Handle Aspiration Pneumonia in Young Puppies

Getting Veterinary Care

Contact your vet immediately. When a puppy inhales anything other than air (like water or food) into its lungs, it is called aspiration. It leads to aspiration pneumonia—a bacterial infection in the lungs which can quickly become very serious. When you notice signs that the puppy has inhaled food, liquid, or medication, such as milk running out of your puppy’s nose, visit your vet right away. Other symptoms of aspiration pneumonia include: Open mouth breathing Noisy, wet breathing Blue gums (normal gums are pink) Weakness Panting Coughing (may have a wet sound to it) Fever Lethargy

Have your vet examine your puppy. Your vet will examine your puppy and run different tests to confirm an aspiration pneumonia diagnosis. During the physical exam, your vet will listen very closely to your puppy’s lungs to detect abnormal lung sounds. The diagnostic tests your vet may perform include: Chest x-rays Blood work Pulse oximetry, which measures the amount of oxygen in the blood

Allow your vet to administer supportive therapy. If your puppy’s aspiration pneumonia is severe, your puppy may need to be hospitalized so your vet can start immediate supportive therapy. Supportive therapy will not cure the pneumonia, but will help your puppy feel better and get stronger. Examples of supportive therapy include: Oxygen therapy to raise low blood oxygen levels Medication to make breathing easier (‘bronchodilators’) Intravenous fluids to rehydrate your puppy Anti-vomiting medication

Let your vet start antibiotic therapy. Antibiotics will be needed to treat the bacterial infection caused by the aspiration pneumonia. If your vet obtained a fluid sample from your puppy’s lungs, they will prescribe an antibiotic to target the specific type of bacteria in the lungs. If obtaining a fluid sample wasn’t possible, your vet will probably prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic, which will target a wide range of disease-causing bacteria.

Caring for Your Puppy at Home

Continue with antibiotic therapy. The bacterial infection in your puppy’s lungs may take a long time to clear up. When your puppy is strong enough to go home, your vet may prescribe a few weeks’ worth of antibiotics. To ensure all the bacteria are killed, give your puppy the full course of antibiotics, without missing a dose. Do not stop antibiotic treatment if your puppy starts looking and feeling better. If you stop the treatment early, all the bacteria may not be killed. The surviving bacteria could multiply and become resistant to other antibiotics.

Take your puppy for frequent rechecks. Your vet will probably want to see your puppy regularly during its antibiotic treatment to make sure the aspiration pneumonia is getting better. During these rechecks, your vet will take chest x-rays to look at your puppy’s lungs.

Manage your puppy's megaesophagus. If your young puppy has megaesophagus, it can frequently regurgitate its food. By accident, it can breathe this food into its lungs, causing aspiration pneumonia. After aspiration pneumonia treatment at your vet’s office, care for your puppy at home by properly managing its megaesophagus: Have your puppy eat and drink in an upright position. Keep your puppy upright for 20–30 minutes after it finishes eating and drinking. Add water to your puppy’s dry food to help it go down the esophagus more easily. Give medications as prescribed by your vet.

Preventing Future Aspiration Pneumonia Problems

Tube feed your puppy carefully. Improper tube feeding, by overfeeding or putting the tube down the trachea instead of the esophagus, can lead to aspiration pneumonia in young puppies. If you tube feed your puppy, doing it correctly can prevent another bout of aspiration pneumonia: Make sure no air bubbles are in the milk formula. Before inserting the feeding tube, measure it from your puppy’s mouth to its last rib. Place your puppy on its side to do the measuring. Slowly thread the tube over the puppy’s tongue and down the throat. Run your thumb and index finger along your puppy’s neck to make sure you can feel the trachea and the feeding tube. Do not hold your puppy by its abdomen after the tube feeding.

Use caution when giving liquid medications. When giving oral liquid medications to a puppy using a syringe, it can be easy for that medication to end up in the puppy’s lungs, causing aspiration pneumonia. To prevent aspiration pneumonia when giving liquid medication: Hold your puppy’s head in your non-dominant hand and the syringe in your dominant hand. Place the syringe in your puppy’s mouth and angle it to the side. Do not angle it toward the back of the throat—the medication could end up in your puppy’s lungs. Slowly empty the syringe. Place just a few drops in your puppy’s mouth at a time, giving it time to swallow and breathe.

Correct your puppy’s cleft palate. If your young puppy has cleft palate, it will likely need surgery to prevent aspiration pneumonia from happening again. During the surgery, your vet will close the opening in the top of your puppy’s mouth, lessening the chance of liquid or food going into the lungs. Surgery could also be needed if your puppy breathed a foreign object into its lungs. If you decide on surgery, your vet will take special precautions to ensure your puppy does not accidentally breathe anything into its lungs before it has fully woken up from surgery. Surgery can be expensive. If you have financial concerns, discuss these with your vet when deciding on whether your puppy should have surgery.