“Case of the Month” – September 2023

Andy and Kim Brocchini, along with their adult son Will, came across a scene no pet owner would ever want to find – their dog Whitney, a 3-year-old Yorkshire terrier/poodle mix, floating unresponsive in their swimming pool. Will had brought his dogs over to visit that day, so there were four other dogs in the yard, all much bigger than Whitney. In the commotion, they think she was accidentally knocked into the water.

Normally a good swimmer who knows how to get out of the pool, Whitney was most likely caught under the bigger dogs.

“We’ve had to come to her rescue before,” said Andy. “So, we don’t typically let Whitney out with the bigger dogs unattended. We thought she was inside, but she snuck out unnoticed.”

Will was the first to see the situation and immediately dove in to get her out. Andy has been an EMT/firefighter with the City of Sacramento for nearly 30 years. He has performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on humans hundreds of times throughout his career. By chance, he researched how CPR is performed on pets just a few months earlier after another one of their dogs was having trouble breathing due to a collapsed trachea.

“Whitney had no pulse when Will pulled her from the water,” Andy said. “She was not breathing, and her eyes were open and fixed – totally unresponsive.”

The two performed CPR on Whitney for 10 minutes before she took a breath, aspirating blood but still unresponsive. Will quickly retrieved the car, and they frantically drove Whitney to the nearest veterinary clinic, where she was diagnosed with noncardiogenic pulmonary edema (fluid in lungs) and aspiration pneumonia/pneumonitis. While the clinic was able to stabilize her, the damage to her lungs would require Whitney to receive continued intensive care and hospitalization beyond what they could offer, so she was transferred to UC Davis.

“I went to our fire station and got oxygen and a dog mask, and we gave her oxygen all the way on the 45-minute drive to Davis,” Andy said. “The team at UC Davis took her immediately and got to work.”

Whitney was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and treated by Dr. Karl Jandrey, a board-certified critical care specialist, along with the 24/7 team of technicians and veterinarians in the Emergency and Critical Care Service. Upon initial examination, Whitney was found to be in significant respiratory distress but, thankfully, did not require mechanical ventilation. X-rays showed extensive inflammation and bruising in her lungs, as is typical from both drowning and receiving CPR.

To improve her lung function, she was maintained in an oxygen-rich environment for six days.

“I was practically crawling inside that oxygen cage to be with her and comfort her when we were allowed to visit every day.” said Kim.

Throughout the week, she gradually improved. Follow-up x-rays showed about an 80% improvement, and an arterial blood gas analysis showed that her lung function improved to nearly 95%. This allowed her to slowly be weaned off the oxygen to room air.

“The team in the ICU did phenomenal work,” said the Brocchinis. “We are so grateful for the way they treated us and Whitney. We were so impressed with the level of professionalism, the equipment, the facilities – everything was top notch.”

The UC Davis veterinary hospital opened a new ER/ICU just four months ago after an 18-month renovation.

With regular visits from the Brocchinis, some favorite snacks from home, and around-the-clock care from the technical staff, Whitney’s spirits improved greatly, and she was allowed to continue her recovery at home.

“I really appreciated that Dr. Jandrey called every day to give us an update,” Kim said. “He even came in on his day off to discharge Whitney and see us.”

“I think he has a little crush on my dog,” she jokingly added.

At a 5-week recheck examination, the Brocchinis reported that Whitney’s activity level and appetite gradually improved week-to-week to a near normal level by the final week. Dr. Jandrey found her to have a normal physical examination, and x-rays showed great improvement with only one small scar on her lungs from the ordeal. Her lung function was 100% normal once again. Dr. Jandrey recommended that Whitney continue her return to normal activity and be challenged to get back to fun activities.

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Basic CPR for pets is covered (at 19:15 and 1:02:08) in the video of this First Aid for Cats and Dogs lecture presented by UC Davis.

Please discuss CPR and water safety with their veterinarian at your pet’s next annual wellness examination. They will be able to provide the best tips and resources for online or local training courses.