• Hang in there Chili (and Chilis mom). Just a baby - we're all pulling for you


  • thanks everyone for your kind thoughts. I just left her at another hospital which i feel more comfortable. though the 25 min trip from one hospital to the other stressed her out a bit more. She's now in icu with some more oxygen to help her. the lung test will be done today and samples will be sent out to see if she has pneumonia or maybe just allergic to something. hopefully just allergy so atleast it can be prevented than pneumonia sounds more serious. anyway, thanks again for all the well wishes and i'll keep u updated as to her condition when i hear back from the vet.


  • We are keeping you and Chili in our thoughts.


  • We got Topper at 1 1/2 years, and within 6 months he had really bad pneumonia, the vet thought he must have had it for along time. We battled it for several years, and now at 12 + he has asthma. I know of several dogs lately diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia who were really sick, not sure why, but if they vomit and inhale it can result in bad pneumonia. Good thoughts for your girl, getting the lung fluid is good, you don't waste time with the wrong antibiotics like we did years ago. This is not "normal" but not unheard of, either. Glad you got her to the vet right away.

    Anne in Tampa


  • hi,
    chilli is still hospital having the lung wash & i'll find out in a few hours how she's going. just a quick question, it might be different here in oz but what antibiotics was topper given with his pneumonia? also, how susceptible are they to cold weather. It doesn't snow in melbourne but it does get cold, now that it's middle of winter not sure if we should be keeping her inside the house / garage while we're at work rather than being outdoors. they do have a kennel, just not sure if its enough??


  • think i was meant to put a reply on this before posting


  • Here's hoping the vet figures it out soon and treatment can get started.
    Hugs and more hugs.


  • picked up chilli tonight from the hospital, the vet didn't find anything wrong with her lungs (thankfully). Not pneumonia or anything to do with bronchitis which is great news. However, they tell me that she must've had an allergic reaction to something?? Now i have to figure out what that was??? any suggestions on what basenji's maybe allergic too. The vet also said that it was like she had asthma or similar type of attack???? hmm, well have to keep thinking on what it could've been as it happen so suddenly (first time!). She seems to be back to her old self after spending 2 nights at strange place. Though she's a little bit growly towards her Saki. Am happy she's back at home and nothing too serious with her..thanks again for the kind thoughts!!


  • I would think that maybe it was some type of bug bite….


  • Have you talked to her breeder about it?


  • Maybe a bee sting?
    BaMicas mom


  • I am glad she is home.
    I so hope you can find out why this happened…


  • yeah i will contact the old owner and see if she noticed anything similar with her mum & dad. They did rule out a bug bite. Maybe an allergic reaction to some sort of pollen or something??


  • just a quick update on Chilli…after picking her up from the hospital the next night i got home from work and she was having the same breathing problem again. Not as bad as the first night, but definitely not normal. I rang the vet and quickly took her back to the hospital to get checked. I was quite annoyed as apparently the test results were not in when they discharged her (tuesday night) so coming back to the hospital on wednesday night i get told that they we're still waiting on the test results which they forgot to mention to me. They've ruled out any bacterial infection that may cause pneumonia or some bronchial disease which is good thing. Now they are saying that it definitely an allergic reaction to something they can't tell me. She's on some medication for a week to help her breath, anti histamine type and some sort of steroids to help her breathing and to settle her down. It's now Friday and she's back to normal though we're still watching her carefully. If she gets worse, which i hope not, the vet said it could be a lung infection or lung worms??? not too sure about that?? Anyway, i couldn't speak to her old owners and she didn't come from a registered breeder so all a mystery to us!!


  • A quick question and I don't mean to insult, but could it be because someone smokes?


  • yeah my fiancee smokes one cigarette a night & that's outside. Chilli doesn't normally sit with him when he does. Has this been a cause before?


  • Well, I know my b's make faces when someone comes into the house after they have been smoking..cause its still on the clothes.
    I think maybe, this might have something to do with it…maybe your b is very allergic...


  • we've had for over a year and it hasn't caused her problem. the only thing i can think of is we recently got new neighbours…and the often burn out something in their backyard..even i can't stand the stench of it. so maybe that could be it? I'll test the smoking theory this week.


  • Well, something she is breathing seems to be the issue.
    If its hurting her, I wonder what the "stuff" they are burning is doing to you 2?
    Good luck.
    You might be on the right track..keep us posted..


  • @sharronhurlbut:

    A quick question and I don't mean to insult, but could it be because someone smokes?

    I would think that would be pretty much out there for a reason… unless she already had some kind of genetic damage to her lungs to begin with.... And most dogs that come from a non-smoking home will "curl" their lips at the smell of tobacco... at least IMO....

    However the "burning" that your neighbors are doing could certainly be something that is bothering her... Can you ask them what they are burning?...

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