Well, it's been over a year that Stella has been breathing well, and not requiring anything more than her weekly lemons after any kind of playing or running around. She just finished her 3rd heat cycle, and we also just switched her onto a new food, both of which may have contributed to her recent trouble. Really not sure, it could have just been one too many runs through the house with our other dog Rufus. Either way, it was upsetting to have to see her so uncomfortable.
She had been seeming slightly lethargic and snotty for a few days, and Thursday morning at about 2:30 a.m. - she woke us up with short quick breathing, and sitting up in the bed, always a clear indicator she was having trouble breathing. We saw the warning signs, especially the short, quick shallow breaths.
We brought her into the bathroom, got the steam going, and grabbed the lemon halves. She was not feeling well enough to play her normal lemon bitting games, so we had to hold her and squeeze the juice into her mouth, much to her dislike. Eventually, it started to work, and a few phlegm blobs came up - grand total had to be about 1 1/2 pounds of the thick white mucus. After about an hour, we got her to calm down and go to bed, breathing much better, and clearly feeling better.
However, as of Saturday evening, she is still requiring lemon, still spitting up considerable phlegm, and still sounding very gurgly, but feeling much better. We are keeping an eye on her, giving her lots of rest (no playtimes, walks or rough housing), feeding her wellness canned food, and hoping everything clears itself up on its own in the next few days or week.
I will post an update to let everyone know how she does, we are optimistic, diligently giving her the lemons, and glad we didn't have to take a trip to the vet or god forbid the emergency vet clinic where they really cost a lot! Send Stella your good thoughts, and keep me updated to your bulldogs as well! My best to all of you who have written me over the past months, hope your bullies are doing great!
