Q: I am writing to you because I have a question about my 4-year- old dog. He is a mix between a toy poodle and a Pomeranian.
Sometimes he has what I guess you would call dry heaving. I will be playing with him or sometimes it happens when he just sits around. He starts coughing and I don’t understand why this happens. When I say that he dry heaves, it’s just like when humans do it.
Nothing comes out of this mouth and he can’t seem to catch his breath. I try to calm him down by gently petting him and when I do that sometimes that seems to help and other times I just have to let it pass.
What causes his behavior and can it be really harmful? Can I do anything else to stop it from happening?
A: It sounds like your dog has what is called collapsing trachea. It is seen in older toy breeds usually. The exact reason behind why this happens is still unknown. Some theories include a congenital condition in small breed dogs, obesity, degeneration of trachea and chronic bronchitis.
A collapsing trachea is stressful for both owner and pet. The episodes do tend to get progressively worse in frequency and severity with time. I have never heard of a collapsing trachea causing a death directly but as the disease progresses, the quality of the animal’s life is directly affected.
There are some medical options for prevention and treatment of this condition.
One thing to do for your pet to try to prevent collapsing trachea is to try to limit his exposure to airborne allergens such as dust and pollen. These can start a coughing reflex that can lead to an episode. Try to limit the length of time that you play together and don’t play too aggressively. This will only make him breath harder.
A very important preventative is if he is overweight you MUST take some weight off of him. The bigger he is the harder it will be for him to breathe.
Practice good dental care. Can you tell by now that I love dentistry? I think I could work in animal mouths all day and never bat an eye.
To hear my drill in the morning, it is almost as good as coffee. But, by practicing good dental care you reduce bacterial contamination to the upper airway region.
Also, try to keep your pet well hydrated with fresh water and broth if needed. Vaporizer treatments followed by gentle tapping on the chest can help to clear respiratory secretions that could trigger an episode. You could do this weekly if needed. And lastly as a preventative measure, vaccinate for kennel cough. It can help.
As far as treatments go, your veterinarian could first rule out bacterial contamination with tracheal washes and cultures. If bacteria are triggering the episodes, giving the appropriate antibiotic will help. Also, your veterinarian may reduce airway inflammation with steroids if indicated. Oftentimes owners are instructed to give daily until improvement is noted then continue with treatment every other day.
There are medications that help to open airways and these are often helpful. Lastly, cough syrups or oral pills may be needed to control a cough that can potentially trigger an episode of tracheal collapse.
For now, I think you need to visit your veterinarian and see if his condition really is tracheal collapse and then try some preventative measures at home.
If indicated, you will get some medication as well to help him. Also, I would not stop picking him up to calm him, as it does help. Good luck to you both.
Send questions for Dr. Allison Dascoli to “Ask the Vet,” Charleston Daily Mail, 1001 Virginia St. E., Charleston WV 25301 or e-mail them to [email protected]. Comments or suggestions can be submitted the same way.
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