Posts: 2,490
Threads: 222
Joined: Dec 2005
I highly doubt it's VOG.
Personally... I'd think it will go away on it's own. Possibly there is a plant that blooms or spores in the air that the dog needs to familiarize with. Once it adapts to the new air and all the plants with it... 6-12 months it will be fine.
That's my thoughts and how I would approach it. If after a year the dog was still hacking and wheezing; obviously hawaii isn't the place for it. Try keeping the dog OUTSIDE. Maybe it's something in the house. I bet with some cool breezes and clean out door air it would get over it's problems rather quickly. Try going for walks daily and see if it doesn't clear up in a few weeks.
Good Luck!
Posts: 785
Threads: 6
Joined: Apr 2012
It sounds very much like an allergic reaction - although Puna is beautiful and green, the high rainfall makes it home to a variety of molds and fungi which are endemic to the rainforest. When I was living in Lower Puna, unless it was very dry weather, I felt like I was suffering from a low-level asthma condition: bronchial congestion, dry cough, wake up every morning with congestion in the lungs and head. Vog can also cause those symptoms, but with normal trades, there's almost no vog in the area. There was no way, short of stripping the house of the carpets and drywall, and pressed wood, etc. which hosted the mold, and then run continuous dehumidification, that I could get rid of the mold - and since I was renting that wasn't an option. I had to relocate to a higher and drier environment where the more toxic molds don't seem to thrive.
You might try letting the dog sleep in a room without carpets and, if you can afford the electric bill, run a dehumidifier during the rainy season.
Posts: 261
Threads: 94
Joined: Feb 2012
How old is your puppy?
We're all here, because we're not all there!
We're all here, because we're not all there!
Posts: 358
Threads: 8
Joined: Jul 2012
Sorry about your suffering critter. If it's making your dog sick, imagine what it's doing to you!
Nothing left to do but
Smile
Smile
Smile
Nothing left to do but
Smile
Smile
Smile
Posts: 2,979
Threads: 177
Joined: Aug 2006
I rarely even notice its presence, except through my sense of smell. When it smells like BBQ and it is 3:00 a.m., I know it is Kilauea. I have only had a physical reaction to it once. That was when we had that very odd mixture of moorish fog and vog awhile back. It lasted for several days and affected my singing voice so I no longer ran through the fields with a handbasket singing "the volcanoes are alive with the sound of muuuuuuusic". It passed pretty quickly and I was able to plank with Jillian Michaels pretty quickly. Look! Whale! Thar she blows!
Thinking of taking my girl to Waikablowa or to Hawi for a day or two to see if it's the vog or if she is allergic to the field of marijuana growing wild behind me.
No carpets here. Hardwood floors. Hmmmmm....maybe I'll check to see if there is anything underneath the house: pirate's booty, dead cats, new horticultural arrival from Micronesia. tile to replace the tile the messed up tile guy broke when he "fixed" the tile, eerie artifacts from previous owners, now departed.
I'm tellin' ya, the vog hasn't affected me at all! I'm coughing because I'm not used to this particular brand of diet tonic water.
Posts: 6,214
Threads: 354
Joined: Feb 2006
Maybe she is allergic to BUNNIES....
Posts: 14,079
Threads: 424
Joined: Aug 2012
No disrespect intended -- I hate to see any living thing suffer. That said...
Every time I see the topic for this thread, I think
"Wouldn't that make an awesome country-western song?"
(Maybe with a bit of ukelele, for that "Hawaiian cross-over"...)
Posts: 2,979
Threads: 177
Joined: Aug 2006
She's not actually suffering. I'm suffering watching her. It's more like she is uncomfortable and puzzled and is starting to miss a few cues. Her breathing is rapid and shallow so she never really draws a nice deep breath. I think that throws her off mentally and it makes her a little tired.
I haven't seen a bunny around here since 2010 or so.
Country and western songs don't actually sound like that anymore I don't think. Kitty Wells is dead. Country and western songs today neither sound country nor western. No one with an accent like Loretta Lynn's could make it today. "Well ya say I'm made just to FIT your plans but does a barnyard shovel fit your hands? Cause if your eyes are on me....you're lookin' at country". --Loretta.
Gonna take her to Waikablowa and get her some fresh air.
Posts: 1,059
Threads: 97
Joined: Mar 2009
I'm still betting on the humidity. It's really bad in the summer/last few weeks. If it's still here in the winter, then I think the mold theory is a good one. I hope she feels better soon! Poor baby. (and the dog, too)
Posts: 96
Threads: 6
Joined: Jan 2007
As a dog lover, so sorry about your dog. It of course could be anything including the vog which has affected me as well. But are you giving your dog heartworm medication (Ivermectin)? Any dog here not given that can become very sick and there will be weakness and coughing and it will kill them. This is a disease contracted by mosquito bites. It can be prevented. Hope this helps.
Aloha,
Sherry
