Dear Dave, I know what you're going thru, on June 7, I had to do the same to the love of my life, my little Fabio....he would have been 5 years old on July 6. He suffered from a congential defect that first appeared at 2 years old.....a collapsing trachea that usually only sounded horrible when he was excited or going for a walk....he honked like a goose...
I was advised by several vets that the operation to correct this has a very low success rate and eventually another part of the trachea breaks down...
It ended up as 'extensive cervical tracheal collapse' with him gasping for air....
He's now resting in peace in the back yard and no longer suffering