COLLAPSED TRACHEA..please help!!

[elenita]

I have a small 3lb yorkie who is 3 1/2 years old. He was diagnosed with a collapsed trachea about 8 months ago. My Vet said it is too close to his heart so surgery was not an option. He has been doing ok since we took him from his owner at that time. Now all of a sudden he has been non-stop with his breathing problems. I feel so helpless. I cant put him to sleep even though he is suffering. What can I do for him? Ive read some yorkies live a long life with this disease. It has been in the high 90's this whole week where i live. I have him in the a.c. though. He started yesterday with the difficult breathing and when I got home about 9pm he was still doing it. I know if I call my Vet he will say its time to put him down. I pray he makes it til morning. Please, any advice or suggestions?? My poor Cosmo!

[Rhetts_mama]

No advice to give you. But I wanted to give you a cyber hug.

[elenita]

thanks

Originally Posted by Rhetts_mama

No advice to give you. But I wanted to give you a cyber hug.

[Ladymom]

What medications is he on?

* Cough suppressants such as hydrocodone, butorphanol, or tramadol may be handy.

* Corticosteroids such as prednisone and related hormones cut secretion of mucus effectively but are best used on a short term basis only due to side-effects potential. Long-term use may promote infection and weaken cartilage further. Inhalers for dogs, similar to what asthmatic humans use may be helpful in delivering corticosteroids while minimizing side effects.

* Airway dilators such as theophylline or terbutaline are controversial as they may dilate lower airways but not the actual trachea. By dilating lower airways, however, the pressure in the chest during inhalation is not as great and the trachea may not collapse as greatly.

In a recent retrospective study of 100 dogs with collapsing trachea, 71% responded to medication and management of secondary factors (obesity, irritants in the air, etc.

Tracheal Collapse

[mimimomo]

I don't have any experience w/CT, but have read that there are medications & oxygen treatments. Hope he'll be ok...& hope someone w/more experience can help.
Ok, good Ladymom posted.

[kdhawks]

Hoping you get some good advice. I will be thinking of sweet Cosmo and wishing him well. This is so sad.

[cathys]

Have you seen another vet, I think I would get a second opinion, maybe theres something they can try. I find it hard to believe there is no hope.

[elenita]

I was givin pills for his cough 8 months ago but never really needed it til now. I will be calling my vet asking him about all these other options. I am also going to look for a second opinion God willing he makes it, thank you very much for the info

Originally Posted by Ladymom

What medications is he on?

* Cough suppressants such as hydrocodone, butorphanol, or tramadol may be handy.

* Corticosteroids such as prednisone and related hormones cut secretion of mucus effectively but are best used on a short term basis only due to side-effects potential. Long-term use may promote infection and weaken cartilage further. Inhalers for dogs, similar to what asthmatic humans use may be helpful in delivering corticosteroids while minimizing side effects.

* Airway dilators such as theophylline or terbutaline are controversial as they may dilate lower airways but not the actual trachea. By dilating lower airways, however, the pressure in the chest during inhalation is not as great and the trachea may not collapse as greatly.

In a recent retrospective study of 100 dogs with collapsing trachea, 71% responded to medication and management of secondary factors (obesity, irritants in the air, etc.

Tracheal Collapse

[elenita]

I hope you are right. My Vet said he does not know of any surgeon who would do this surgery because of the high risk factor. It is collasped too close to his heart so I was told he would die during surgery. Now what if I come accross a Vet that would do it but he dies anyway? Im so worried that I will make the wrong decision. I am going to try medicine.

Originally Posted by cathys

Have you seen another vet, I think I would get a second opinion, maybe theres something they can try. I find it hard to believe there is no hope.

[elenita]

this is my Cosmo earlier tonight....cosmo 7-6 small.jpg

[fifeandshaffer]

my fife had ct, his dx was over 2 years ago, in ct to the degree he had 2 years is long time sure he had his bouts a bad day or 2 here and there a few trips to the vet change of meds and then he was back to himself,,, this heat and humidity is horrible. I needed to put fife 2 sleep a few weeks ago anyone who knows about ct knows its horrible to see and hear them suffer. I loved fife from the min i saw him, whne he needed his g4 lp fixed off we went to the univ of penn, when he again started to limp off to the vet again who said you need penn, he needed a new hip mind you he wasnt even 2 yet, but fix it i did, breeder didnt give a hoot told me she would exchange the dog umm no ty he is not shoes that the heel broke off of, anyway new hip both g4 lp fixed all was good for about 2 years then ct omg how awful back to the vet and another and another back to penn saw dr weiss the best in the world or top 3 in collapsed trachea, i was ready for a stent the surgery is 5k i didnt care if it was 25k i would have fixed him,but he couldnt be fixed in order for the stent to work it needs to be high up not low like fifes was, so we tried so washes and scoped him tried every drug in the previous post plus about 10 more, at first fife did well on all of them, then they stoped, so we would change tried some marax, tried holistic stuff that worked for a time too, he got it daily even if he was ok, and for most of the 2 years he was ok, its like an asthma attack once its over your fine but some of his attacks could last a few days. a light sedative helped him at times to take the edge off if people would come to visit,, fife was always a happy dpg and the excitment of seeing people over did it and he could not breath, after a while I learned what helped him and I had all the meds at home. I could pretty much do for him everything the vet could, excpet oxygen, so i got that at home too,, mind you it wasnt all the time i did not make him suffer for 2 years, well may came and the humidity in nj is awful and fife really started to change he slept under the soaf or bed he removed himself from me in 6 years he never did that,, in his last 2 weeks he had NO good days so I needed to do what was best for fife, i miss him everyday. He was a gem of a dog. If you have any questions feel free to contact me but you are pretty close to penn maybe go for a 2nd opinion,, dr weiss has left penn he is now in ny but the people at penn are the best of the best. they will tell you if the stent is possible but if it is know the rate of success is not huge and your dog will need to be on steriods pretty much everyday after the stent is placed. You can ask your vet to give you a script for oxygen, in nj you dont need a script for oxygen for a pet but they like to have it anyway, you can rent a tank or buy one i bought mine, i had a tank and a spare that i could exchange out when needed. The other thing with ct is its cumulative so once it starts to go bad it only gets worse it doesnt ever repair itself. The steroids may work for a short while, sadly they seem like a miracle for a while but in my experience it doesnt continue to work and prolonged use of them makes the need for more and more a reality. I tried it all i wish i could have done more for my fife but i did what i needed to do and put him out of his pain. All of this is just my experience with ct, but i have done tons of research and sadly even the cure of the stent isnt a great option even if your baby is a good candidate for it. im sorry for you and your baby i know how horrible it is and all the sleepless nights, i still hear that noise, in my head. my fife has been gone 2 weeks today and my heart has a big empty spot. i made a sizablke donation to dr weiss and to penn so maybe they can find a cure or a better option,, but the sad part it could be fixed if bad breeders didnt exist. I thought i had a GOOD breeder,,she represented fife as 1 thing I paid 4200.00 for him I thought i did enough research cleary i didnt, they cost of the dog was not my only factor but i thought he was quality.. my breeder/ broker went to jail so i heard, i never sued her but many others did. She sad she was a breeder she lied. I sice found out fife was born in MO in a puppy mill and my broker paid 400 dollars for him, Even with all his problems my pain and his, i dont think anyone could love me more, Im so glad for the time I had with him even if he was a health disaster. I wish the bad breeders would have seen the pain they caused me because they wanted to make a dollar.

[anniernc]

I'm so sorry for little Cosmo. My Abbey had that same problem but also had an enlarged heart and lung problems. She would seem to get worse during allergy season. At the time I didn't know there was a surgery that could possibly help and my vet didn't tell me about it either. Before we lost her she had been to the emergency vet 4-5 times (she always seemed to have an attack at night or on the weekends). Her attacks came on in a hurry and by the time we got her to the clinic her tongue would be dark purple. They would put her on oxygen, start an IV and give her something to relax her and something to help with her breathing. The night we lost her we had taken her to the emergency vet and they treated her and sent us back home but after a few hours she got worse and was having to tilt her head way up and back just to be able to breathe. We lost my sweet baby that night. After her first episode at 8 yrs old my vet told me she was "not longed for this world". It made me sooo mad because I already had the feeling he didn't like dealing with the senior dogs so I changed vets. They put Abbey on several different medications and she did live until she was 10 1/2. My heart goes out to you and litttle Cosmo but maybe trying the meds and inhalers will help. It might also help to put him on a diet if he is overweight. Abbey was overweight and they said that could make it worse.

[fifeandshaffer]

I reread your post and im not trying to say you are wrong but obvious that if his collapse os to close to his heart its risky but the stent wont work to open his up,,, Ill explain it like you have no knowlege of how it works not because you may not know but because its the best way to do it, not trying to make anyone feel ignorant so please dont take it wrong,.. ok lets think of the trachea as a straw, your cosmo and my fife had a weak straw, then eventually the weak part starts to split, now if the break is in the middle of the straw or in the top portion of the straw they can go in and put in a stent,,, think of this as a straw within a straw, so the break or bad part of cosmos treachea doesnt matter anymore. but in the case of my dog anyway his break was to low for the stent to work as the space at the bottom cant be expanded with the stent so its less about his heart and the risk as it just wont work, they make 2 kinds of stents right now for tracheas and neither fix the problem in the bottom portion. I hope this helps explain things a little better. I can say the the first time that fife was diagnosed we went home with cough meds and it was a few months before it bothered him again and many meds before he could get no air in, so maybe you can exlore some different meds,, for sure the ac is best i always kept my house on 67 when it started to get hot. Often a bath would help him or a shower,, I would stand in the shower with him that seemed to calm my fife when he first started with the honking and wheezing

[kjc]

Originally Posted by Ladymom

What medications is he on?

* Cough suppressants such as hydrocodone, butorphanol, or tramadol may be handy.

* Corticosteroids such as prednisone and related hormones cut secretion of mucus effectively but are best used on a short term basis only due to side-effects potential. Long-term use may promote infection and weaken cartilage further. Inhalers for dogs, similar to what asthmatic humans use may be helpful in delivering corticosteroids while minimizing side effects.

* Airway dilators such as theophylline or terbutaline are controversial as they may dilate lower airways but not the actual trachea. By dilating lower airways, however, the pressure in the chest during inhalation is not as great and the trachea may not collapse as greatly.

In a recent retrospective study of 100 dogs with collapsing trachea, 71% responded to medication and management of secondary factors (obesity, irritants in the air, etc.

Tracheal Collapse

Just wanted to add: Glucosamine/chondroitin supplements to help strengthen cartilage

And Ladyjane reported success with Imodium (anti-diarrheal) for CT...

[Dara311]

Originally Posted by elenita

I have a small 3lb yorkie who is 3 1/2 years old. He was diagnosed with a collapsed trachea about 8 months ago. My Vet said it is too close to his heart so surgery was not an option. He has been doing ok since we took him from his owner at that time. Now all of a sudden he has been non-stop with his breathing problems. I feel so helpless. I cant put him to sleep even though he is suffering. What can I do for him? Ive read some yorkies live a long life with this disease. It has been in the high 90's this whole week where i live. I have him in the a.c. though. He started yesterday with the difficult breathing and when I got home about 9pm he was still doing it. I know if I call my Vet he will say its time to put him down. I pray he makes it til morning. Please, any advice or suggestions?? My poor Cosmo!

sorry to hear about this...i dont know what to tell you either, but i do wish you and Cosmo the best of luck as well as a miracle.....