My Little Girl, Roxie, had her teeth cleaned & Now Has Difficulty Breathing?

[Susan Marie]

Hello Everyone!
My name is Susan Marie & this is the 1st time I am posting, so please bear with me. I have always had just Yorkies all my life since I graduated from University many, many years ago. My last 2 yorkies lived so long. Mandy was 19 years old & her daughter was 21. But as you know, there is NEVER a good time when you hold them in your arms having to say goodbye.I became so depressed the last time I had to go for counselling. Roxie, is my little Angel. She is 7and a half, born on March 21st. She weighs 4 pounds.When she slept, I could never hear her breath. She never snored & slept soundly. In March, I took her into her Vet to have her teeth cleaned. She had one small tooth extracted which I questioned because I could not see a cavity,However, the Vet said that although one would need a magnifying glass she could see a tiny pin sized cavity at the tip of the canine tooth. That evening, Roxie fell asleep beside me on our bed. (I had a carpenter make tiny stairs for her) and she has a few night lights as well as leaving the upstairs light for her.In any case, Roxie was snoring so heavily & it concerned me but I thought that perhaps it was the anesthetic wearing off which also scares me in these little dogs. For the next 2 nights Roxie continued to snore & she had trouble breathing. I massaged her throat gently & took her in to see her Vet. Her vent thought she had developed asthma & started her on Puffers But I questioned that. I asked her how can Roxie develop asthma only since she's had her teeth cleaned & the veterinarian said well perhaps you did not notice it. The Puffers did not help. I took her back once again, & this time the Vet thought that she had inflammation in her throat & put her on Prednisone.I did not want to put her on this strong steroid & I must admit that I waited 2 days so that I could read up on Prendisone & it's side effects in Yorkshire terrier's. I fed Roxie & gave her half the dose recommended. She does not take to any kind of medications very well. Over a three day period, I noticed that she became lethargic & very thirsty but what concerned me is that she was quite uncomfortable when I gave it to her.She just could not settle down. Again I took her back to the veterinarian & she suggested that we put Roxie on a course of antibiotics because she could have a infection. She has been on Clavamox, 20 mg, but I lower the dose bc it upsets her tummy even with food. It is day 4 & I have seen no therapeutic benefit at all. So here is what I think has happened & would love any feedback from you.
Could it be possible that when they intubated Roxie, that whoever did it was rough & perhaps damaged two of her esophageal rings. You know they're just made out of cartilage and she's such a tiny dog. And when she's breathing especially when she falls asleep it collapses & that is why she is having difficulties in breathing. When she has these attacks I can feel a little hard ball in her throat & I tried to put my baby finger into the side of her mouth but it was closed tight. The mass I feel disappears when her breathing is back to normal .I don't know what else to do. If I lost her I think I would have to say goodbye to the world as well. She is my everything & I don't know what to do anymore? I obviously don't sleep at night because I am so worried about her breathing. Thank you .I'm very sorry for such a long message but I'm hoping that someone somewhere out there may know what is wrong with my little Roxie Rose Thank you, Susan Marie:

[Maximo]

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. Sorry to hear Roxie is having difficulty.

When Max has had anesthesia, he has sounded raspy for a few days after. He did not have trouble breathing, but his throat was definitely irritated from the intubation. This is common in both dogs and humans.

Are you sure she is having difficulty breathing, or is she coughing and reverse sneezing? Max had a throat irritation once that made us think he was choking. We took him to the ER because he was gasping, coughing and struggling. It was scary, but turned out to be a raw throat. A round of antibiotics cleared it up.

Predinisone does usually cause an increase in thirst and urination. Some dogs will even lose control of their bladders or pee where they would not normally. Most dogs are perfectly safe with using steroids especially short term, but my Teddy was an odd ball and stopped drinking, so he had to be taken off of it right away.

I'm never excited about medications, but we cannot fear them. Not using medications when necessary puts our dogs at greater risk than any potential side effect of a med.

Giving a lower dose than prescribed also means the meds likely will not work.

I do think it is odd that a vet would think a dog suddenly developed asthma immediately following a procedure with anesthesia.

[Yorkiemom1]

Welcome to YorkieTalk.....I wish your baby was feeling better! When our little ones are not feeling well or some symptom has appeared that was not there before, it is of great concern to us....I am very impatient and I want answers NOW! I can not rest until I can get definitive answers/explanations and can see results with treatments being prescribed. I will go along with a treatment plan for a short period of time, but if I do not see results quickly, I start looking for another solution or at least encouragement from another qualified vet, that what is being done for my baby, is a correct course of action. That being said, I have a fantastic vet that sees my dogs, and then I have a couple of back up sources....GulfCoast Vet Specialist, and also A&M University Vet School.

If I were in your position, I would go for a second opinion from another very qualified vet. Not that what your current vet has said or done is not correct, but for my OWN hyperactive mind, wanting to be absolutely certain that I am doing what is right for my baby. I saw "Georgia Vet Specialist and Emergency Care" there in Atlanta....have no idea if that is close to you....they have excellent reviews from what I could see.....if you can get to a vet school where you are, they usually have the best vets on hand, plus they have the best up to date equipment to diagnose ailments in animals....I always like a second opinion if I have any question about what is or isnt being done for my pup.....that way, if for no other reason, if something SHOULD go awry, I dont beat myself up for the rest of my life, guilty I maybe did not do all I possibly could have done.

I will say that I also have a pup that had a surgical procedure done, and the breathing tube that was inserted for the surgery, irritated her throat and it seemed like it took months for her to get over that raspy breathing issue she developed at night as she slept....in her case, it did eventually resolve, but I really did not like that result from a surgical procedure and I changed vets. Please keep us updated on your baby and what goes on with you and your baby girl...welcome to the "family"!

[Susan Marie]

Thank you so very much in sharing your story with me about your dog who was also intubated. That is just terrible, it is unacceptable. Poor little guy. This is been going on since June 2015 for Roxie and it is far too long. I have decided to take Roxie to a new doctor. My little Yorkie, my little girl is not a scientific experiment where all these different kinds of medications are being used on her. I love her so much as you do yours. As far as specialists go at Christmas, I lost my mother and father and my sister on Easter Monday. It was all too much too soon. Roxie would just stare into space and she kind of frightened me a bit.She would stare and stare and I thought that she was having abense seizures. I even took a set of videos of her episodes with my iPad. I ended up taking her to a veterinarian/neurologist and they did an MRI and a spinal tap on Roxie. They found that Roxie has a watery tumor behind her left eye which is not operable. However, after I paid the $8000 that it cost, the neurologist went on sickleave and I never even got a phone call or Report from her. I called for up to seven months and was told that the veterinarian/neurologist was having personal issues. Not my fault nor Roxie's We live in Ontario Canada and I am fed up with The quality of service there is for our little loved ones. I even called Roxie's Vet who was the referring veterinarian and she said she could not help me get the records from the Neurologist??? I must admit that the Prendasone was helping a little bit on day 4 but when I gave it to her, she was so sick to her tummy. She would walk and turn around, not able to get comfortable. That was difficult for me to watch. I tried to hold her which she usually loves but she wanted down. And when I put her down she just walked in circles I did purchase saline solution for babies that comes from the sea. I have the tiniest little dropper that I was given as a sample for a serum. I cleaned it and boiled it so it would be sterile. If I put one drop of this salt solution into each nostril it seems to help. But this cannot go on and I am taking your advice and getting a second or third opinion . Thank you so much for your help. I don't know what to do anymore. Roxie is so tired during the day because she's up all night not able to breathe properly. Many thanks to you! All my love to your little babies!! Kindest regards, Susan Marie

[lillymae]

Was this a recent dental ? If yes then just give it a few days as often anaesthesia can cause this for a bit. Did the vet close the hole where the canine tooth was removed ? if not then this could be the problem as saliva gets directly into the sinus cavity & causes noisy breathing. Keep check on the hole if there is one as it can cause other problems as well. My vet always closes the hole from canine removal, by doing a little skin flap over the area.

[Susan Marie]

Originally Posted by Maximo

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. Sorry to hear Roxie is having difficulty.

When Max has had anesthesia, he has sounded raspy for a few days after. He did not have trouble breathing, but his throat was definitely irritated from the intubation. This is common in both dogs and humans.

Are you sure she is having difficulty breathing, or is she coughing and reverse sneezing? Max had a throat irritation once that made us think he was choking. We took him to the ER because he was gasping, coughing and struggling. It was scary, but turned out to be a raw throat. A round of antibiotics cleared it up.

Predinisone does usually cause an increase in thirst and urination. Some dogs will even lose control of their bladders or pee where they would not normally. Most dogs are perfectly safe with using steroids especially short term, but my Teddy was an odd ball and stopped drinking, so he had to be taken off of it right away.

I'm never excited about medications, but we cannot fear them. Not using medications when necessary puts our dogs at greater risk than any potential side effect of a med.

Giving a lower dose than prescribed also means the meds likely will not work.

I do think it is odd that a vet would think a dog suddenly developed asthma immediately following a procedure with anesthesia.

Hi, thank you. No, it's not. Reverse sneezing. Although when she gets excited she reversed Neeses five times as bad as she used to. All the problem is in her nose and in her throat. She had this procedure done in June and it was a tiny front tooth that was extracted I have taken her to a specialist but the vet keeps on suggesting all these other things that Roxie does not need. I had very good that is Saint Catherine's Ontario when Roxie was born But I moved. However, I am going to take her back there again because I'm suspecting that her trachea is collapsing from being intubated. Every time something goes wrong with Roxie this Vet incubates Roxie. Thank you for your thoughts! Susan Marie

[Susan Marie]

Originally Posted by Susan Marie

Thank you so very much in sharing your story with me about your dog who was also intubated. That is just terrible, it is unacceptable. Poor little guy. This is been going on since June 2015 for Roxie and it is far too long. I have decided to take Roxie to a new doctor. My little Yorkie, my little girl is not a scientific experiment where all these different kinds of medications are being used on her. I love her so much as you do yours. As far as specialists go at Christmas, I lost my mother and father and my sister on Easter Monday. It was all too much too soon. Roxie would just stare into space and she kind of frightened me a bit.She would stare and stare and I thought that she was having abense seizures. I even took a set of videos of her episodes with my iPad. I ended up taking her to a veterinarian/neurologist and they did an MRI and a spinal tap on Roxie. They found that Roxie has a watery tumor behind her left eye which is not operable. However, after I paid the $8000 that it cost, the neurologist went on sickleave and I never even got a phone call or Report from her. I called for up to seven months and was told that the veterinarian/neurologist was having personal issues. Not my fault nor Roxie's We live in Ontario Canada and I am fed up with The quality of service there is for our little loved ones. I even called Roxie's Vet who was the referring veterinarian and she said she could not help me get the records from the Neurologist??? I must admit that the Prendasone was helping a little bit on day 4 but when I gave it to her, she was so sick to her tummy. She would walk and turn around, not able to get comfortable. That was difficult for me to watch. I tried to hold her which she usually loves but she wanted down. And when I put her down she just walked in circles I did purchase saline solution for babies that comes from the sea. I have the tiniest little dropper that I was given as a sample for a serum. I cleaned it and boiled it so it would be sterile. If I put one drop of this salt solution into each nostril it seems to help. But this cannot go on and I am taking your advice and getting a second or third opinion . Thank you so much for your help. I don't know what to do anymore. Roxie is so tired during the day because she's up all night not able to breathe properly. Many thanks to you! All my love to your little babies!! Kindest regards, Susan Marie

Dear Lily May..sorry, I cannot see your post I am so new. Roxie had her procedure in The beginning of June 2015. It was a small front upper canine. She did not stitch it. I looked at the area and it has healed but to my amazement, it is quite big. What should I do? I think I need to take her to another Vet. Now I am concerned. I have her on clavamox, day five and she woke up during the night not being to breath again. Thank you Susan Marie

[lillymae]

Is there an open hole there or has it healed closed ? if it's an open hole I would go to a doggie dentist for a second opinion. When the hole is left open food & other things can get straight up into the sinus cavity & cause infection & other issues & is why the hole should always be closed when a canine is removed.

[lillymae]

How is your pup doing now ?