We have a new little yorkie pup named Turbo. Our older yorkie Maddie is enjoying him immensely for play time. Maddie is nearly 9, she has always been a loud sleeper and has made some noises clearing her throat when playing a lot. Last week she was in an awful state trying to catch her breath after playing ball with turbo. I had visions of mouth to mouth and had no idea what to cover and what exactly that would entail as she gazed at me with her big eyes. I ended up giving her some benedryl, couldn't think of anything else. She didn't take much but did calm down a bit in the kitchen and seemed to ease her breathing as she laid down on the kitchen floor.We took her to the vet last week and she said it is probably a collapsed trachea. I had already Googled her symptoms and that's what I came up with too, so it wasn't a surprise. She also told us she needs to lose weight, which we know and have cut down on her dog food for the last couple of months to no avail. We had blood work done to make sure all is ok elsewhere being that she hasn't lost weight we thought it could be thyroid or hormonal. Doc called and said maddie is the picture of health, all the blood work came back fine. So we have no excuse for her weight but us still feeding too much. Doc also suggested we exercise her moderately so she can play a bit, she does love her balli and fetch. She would play till she dropped if we let her.We have a prescription for cough medicine to administer if she has an episode, feel much safer with that. There are other steps we can take but one thing at a time. I hear the surgery isn't that great for dogs over 6 years old. Just curious if anyone here has any info or experience with this. Weird first time I have heard of it.

It's actually quite common, but the severity of symptoms vary greatly. I have only had one patient that surgery was recommended, it's pretty involved and referral to a specialist is recommended for that surgery.A huge majority of patients respond to weight loss and medications.Doug, DVM

Thank you Dr. Doug. That's exactly what our doc told us. I always appreciated your feedback!

Apparently it is common in small breeds. Both of our toy poodles have it, they may eventually choke to death but seem ok for the time being..

It's pretty terrifying for a lot of people, I think, to realize how little food a spayed, indoor, small dog needs to eat. You can round things out by mixing green beans into her food to bulk it up. If she turns up her nose at them, cut her food back and leave some on the kitchen floor (or in her crate if she uses one) and you will probably find that after a few days she will come around. You could also soak/cook them in some salt free/fat free chicken broth to get her to try them. Once you have something to fill out her bowl with, you'll feel better about it and so will she as she trims down.

Common in small breeds. Both of our dogs have very sensitive throats. Make sure you walk the dog with a harness/leash, not the collar/leash.Weight loss should help - less fat constricting the problem area. A food I've had good luck with is Wellness Core Reduced Fat. Make sure you feed the amount for what the dog SHOULD weigh, rather than what she weighs now. IMO, the amount recommendation listed on the bag is too much. I fed 1/2 c. daily (divided into two 1/4 c. feedings) for a dog that was supposed to weigh 14 lb., so your dog should need less than that - maybe 1/4-1/3 c. daily? I supplemented with about a tablespoon of no-salt green beans (hunger works wonders if your dog is picky) in the evening meal.

Collapsing trachea | Good Sam Community

dturm
Moderator
Feb 24, 2015
As evidenced by the responses, there are huge variation in the degree and severity of collapsing tracheas. In a huge majority it's an annoyance, but can actually be severe enough to be life threatening.

Torb works great in many of the more severe cases, it has anti-tussive (cough) properties and mildly sedates so it's a great treatment for collapsing trachea when treatment is indicated.

I only had one patient that I referred for surgery (in 37 years of practice).
luvmydogs
Explorer
Feb 24, 2015
I too was told it was common in small breeds so when my Aussie had it we were surprised. She would get into a such a coughing fit, she would literally fall over and about pass out. It was awful. We put her on Torbutrol. At the first sound of it we gave her the pills and they always did the trick. You can see a collapsed trachea in an xray. Did they do an xray? This was years ago and a much bigger dog, but you can ask your vet about Torbutrol.
beth4652
Explorer
Feb 21, 2015
Our four year old Chihuahua has had a collapsing trachea for 2-3 years. He's done fine so far. No mention of surgery.
RoadXYZ
Explorer II
Feb 14, 2015
Went to a vet yesterday to inquire about "letting go" and mentioned sometimes Petunia quivers when sleeping in her bed next to me at RV dinette, she said probably seizures .. that plus occasional choking on her dry food, hind leg problems, pain meds problems, etc., but the quivers being seizures hadn't thought of that, so have decided to help her to the Bridge in 10 days or so.

That time will give us time to decide what to do with her "stuff", buy an urn, and take pictures ... thank you CA Poppy for the kind words, support all these years, and all the advice.
CA_POPPY
Explorer
Feb 13, 2015
RoadXYZ wrote:
We have followed you CA Poppy since we rescued Miss Petunia, the Chi, and you have helped us in so many ways with your sharing. She is now refusing to go down the steps for her evening 'potty walks', and today snapped at David. But we do want to wait a couple more weeks before talking with a Vet .. just so hard to watch her coughing, and trying to get her breath, plus she is getting '*****y' and snapped at DH today. She has had a good life with us since 2006, and we need to do what is best for her. Just hope we can find a vet willing to do as we wish for her.

Thank you for your kind remarks. We have had a lot in common, since Petunia reminded me a lot of our Poquita. All I can say about "letting go" is that we have always waited too long. Of course, it wasn't always up to me. Bud had an even harder time with the decision. When it came down to it, both of our girls were in deep distress by the time it became obvious that that we had no choice. I so wish it hadn't been that way, but hindsight is always better. Both of our girls were still eating ravenously up until that final trip to the vet, but otherwise, they were not having fun anymore. Somehow, it all ends up being a reminder that we are not so young anymore,either. I wish you peace with your decision, whenever it tjurns out to be.
RoadXYZ
Explorer II
Feb 13, 2015
We have followed you CA Poppy since we rescued Miss Petunia, the Chi, and you have helped us in so many ways with your sharing. She is now refusing to go down the steps for her evening 'potty walks', and today snapped at David. But we do want to wait a couple more weeks before talking with a Vet .. just so hard to watch her coughing, and trying to get her breath, plus she is getting '*****y' and snapped at DH today. She has had a good life with us since 2006, and we need to do what is best for her. Just hope we can find a vet willing to do as we wish for her.
doxiemom11
Explorer II
Feb 12, 2015
Our smushed face Japanese Chin does this and I blow a short hard burst of air towards and into her nose like for someone who is hyperventilating. She is then able to catch her breath and calms down and breathes normally. Sometimes I have to do it twice a few seconds apart.

We had a miniature dachshund that had this - his was related to congestive heart failure.

The shihtzu we had did have tracheal collapse.
CA_POPPY
Explorer
Feb 11, 2015
I am surprised to see this thread resurrected. We lost Rosie last year, only two months after her collapsing trachea and enlarged heart and liver were diagnosed. Two vets said it was genetic and not our fault, but you know that is small consolation. We had planned a nice peaceful home euthanasia, but when it all happened, that was not to be. A visitor ringing the doorbell sent her into coughing spasms that we couldn't stop. We had to go to vet emergency at night where they did the best they could to make her comfortable and not afraid. I think that CHF is one of the hardest ways to lose a dog, since you see the fear in their eyes. I hope nobody has to go through that ordeal with their beloved pet. So hard.
RoadXYZ
Explorer II
Feb 09, 2015
CA POPPY wrote:
Emzee, we just had the diagnosis of collapsed trachea for Rosie (10 yr chi mix) today, along with an enlarged heart and liver. She had multiple x-rays and blood work which is not back yet. This came as a shock as we've had Rosie since she was 9 weeks old and the symptoms are new. She'll pant when we take her walking and have coughing fits when playing with Darcy. The vet gave us an Rx steroid for a few days to reduce swelling in the trachea and put Rosie on Enalapril for the grade 4 heart murmur. Like your vet, he said surgery isn't recommended for an older dog. Rosie also has some fluid in her abdomen that is somehow related to the heart and liver issues. The vet said all this is common in small dogs. We had Poquita 15.5 yrs so are really sad that we likely won't have Rosie that long. Got to dig out Poquita's stroller and use it for Rosie when we go for walks at the park. Darcy (min pin) still seems in good shape at age 6.

Miss Petunia, the Chi, will be 10/11 in March, and we are seeing multiple health issues, including more than normal coughing after minimal play (could be trachea), more than usual reactions to strangers/noises, even 1/2 mile treks are too much, also barking/whimpering at night, and then of course sleeping all day ... pain pills calm her down, but also reacts with vomiting after awhile, even at 1/4 pill twice a day. Yes, she is only 9 lbs. Her gums do not look good, and can see she is having some sight problems. AND bottom line simply do not have the $4K it took last year to 'make her better'. Only bring that up because it is an issue for us plus our age being in the upper 70s. And of course all this is resulting in us beginning to have slept-deprived health issues.

At what point do you 'let go' and give the little one Peace?

Maybe I just needed to write it out, and think about what is best for me & Hubby(who gets up at 1 or 2a and tries to 'settle her down' so we can sleep thru her whimpering/barking), he has even taken her outside, but that is not her problem.

Her appetite is good, and some days she eats double which makes us think of cancer .. which happened to Aka the GSD, who ate and ate, while losing weight, and test/examination/etc. results were cancer.

"Planned putting down" of previous dogs have been hard, but also easier due to they gave so much to us, we needed to give back and do what was best due to both suffering from Cancer, plus the other was having mini-strokes after losing her hearing, and wasn't right watching her go thru those.

Thank you for listening, maybe that is all it took to seriously talk with Hubby about what is right to do for Miss Petunia, the Chi.
emzee
Explorer
Feb 28, 2014
Oh Judy, so sorry to hear that. I am hearing more and more about the strollers for pups, sounds like a plan for us.

We have been monitoring Maddies eating making sure she takes her time. We let her eat alone so she doesn't feel rushed. Had one little episode, picked her up and soothed her and she seemed to calm down. Thank you to the person that mentioned that.

Thanks to all the feedback, really helps knowing you're not alone.

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Collapsing trachea

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