Collapsing trachea

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.