Romeo gagging/choking ordeal...

[erikajoy]

Last night around 7:30 me and my family were sitting around the table playing a game when all of a sudden I heard Romeo gagging like he needed to throw up. I went over by him and was checking out what happened (sometimes he drinks water too fast which causes this so I wasn't too worried at first) . It seemed as if something was lodged in his throat and he couldn't breathe.. I tried sticking my finger in his throat and getting out whatever it was but I couldn't feel anything. I tried other methods that I had read online and he still kept gagging. I called the emergency vet and they recommended I come in so they could make sure his airway was clear. He was laying down by my dad but would kind of cough/gag every 30 seconds. When we got into the car he stopped gagging so often and was doing it about every 7-10 minutes. Right before we got to the emergency vet (It is about an hour away) he had stopped.

They checked his vitals and the vet came in and felt his throat and couldn't feel anything in it. Romeo did not gag or choke the entire time she was there but a few minutes after she left he did it again. She came back and said we could take an xray to make sure nothing was caught in his esophagus. I said yes. She took him back and took the xray and couldn't see anything in his esophagus.. but said we could take it a step farther and have him take some barium and she would check his stomach and could see his esophagus better. I said okay. They went and did this and could not see any blockages. The barium went down to his stomach normally.


She says she thinks he swallowed something soft or cloth and it could not be seen on the xray because it wasn't solid. She gave us some medicine to soothe his throat incase whatever he swallowed caused irritation. We left and Romeo has been acting like himself.. he's eating, wanted to play fetch, and wasn't acting lethargic.


The problem is last night after we got home he was still gagging/coughing every once in awhile like he had something stuck in his throat. He did it a few times throughout the night and once this morning. I gave him the medicine to soothe his throat.


I'm just wondering what you guys think of this? It does not sound like a "honking" caused by collapsed trachea (I searched this on youtube). I also do not believe it is kennel cough. He isn't around any other dogs and I'm sure the vet would have said something about this if it could have possibly been that.


It just sounds like he needs to get something out of his throat. I'm wondering if whatever he swallowed just irritated his throat or maybe if he has some hair or string caught in his throat?


Please let me know what you guys think.

[mimimomo]

Maybe it's just reverse sneezing...Momo does that when he eats or drinks too fast.

[erikajoy]

I know, and Romeo does that too when he drinks too fast but he doesn't just do it randomly throughout the day when he's just sitting there or sleeping..it usually only happens after he drinks.

[mimimomo]

Momo loves playing w/his ball & my long hair gets on it. He swallows it sometimes (if I don't catch it 1st & wash it) & he will make these strange noises like there's something stuck in his throat. It goes away in the morning, but he'll poop out my hair! I have to pull it out along w/his poopie! I'm an obsessive floor cleaner now, I see my hair, I pick it up right away.
One time, he was making those noises again & I opened his mouth, my hair was half way down his throat! I pulled it out, like 2" came out.

It really helps if you get it on video & show your vet. My vet knew right away that it was reverse sneezing & told me not to worry.

[yorkietalkjilly]

My Jilly once choked on a chew bone tied end she bit off and it lodged in her throat, cutting off her airway to just gasps. Her trachea began to swell around it and eventually she stopped breathing in the car on the way to the vet but I was able to breathe into her nostrils and apparently get some air in. But by the time we got to the vet and I sat her on the exam table, she was acting almost normal and the vet said the adrenaline of the choking and fighting to breathe and rushing her out into the cold night air and the harried drive to the vet, plus her own saliva and its enzymes, helped the swelling subside and softened the big end of the rawhide that was stuck so that it finally slid on down the trachea into her belly. She was checked out thoroughly and we were at the vet for hours while she was under observation but after we got home, she occasionally would cough and hack from the injury to the tissue of her throat.

Maybe your little one swallowed something that scratched the throat tissue but the excitement of going to the vet and the scents and presence of other dogs and cats around could have supressed him noticing the discomfort until he got back home.

My Tibbe is the same way. He recently began coughing, rasping and hacking badly every two hours or so one day and I took him to the vet where we had to wait 2 hours to get worked in as it was the day before Christmas Eve and unusually busy for some reason - and he never coughed even once - not once at the vet the entire time we were there; and yet he was doing it so badly at home that morning and early afternoon it got scary. Sure enough, after getting his medicine and coming home, he started back coughing badly again, though the antibiotics eventually cleared it up. But he gets so excited when we go to the vet, whatever is bothering him just seems to become secondary until we are home again.

If he keeps doing it, maybe you could video it for the vet if it doesn't go away.