[lisaly]

This is so heartbreaking and I am so sorry. I have a lot of experience with collapsing trachea, but there are different degrees of collapsing trachea. I can only go by what I know from my own experiences. I wish I can offer you more than this. My little girl, Ashley, had a collapsing trachea for years, and it caused her heart to enlarge. We discovered her heart when she was ten years old from doing x-rays prior to her yearly dental. She had no symptoms and the results of her echocardiogram were pretty good, so her doctor felt it was her trachea that caused her heart to enlarge. She was like your little girl. She had symptoms of a collapsing trachea, but it didn't seem to interfere with her leading a happy life. It created problems with her heart and also caused her to take in too much air into her belly, which gave her gas pockets. We treated her heart with enalapril and when she was 16 with herbal remedies that her doctor developed. I'm not trying to promote herbal medicine, but I know it worked for Ashley, not only with her heart but with her trachea. Ashley was extremely difficult to give pills to, and herbs are not the easiest thing to give a dog that's willfull. When she was 14, she had a bad flare up with a lot of inflammation when she was coughing a lot, and it took a lot to break that cycle. Ashley never got to the point where she her breathing was labored. She was active until a couple of days before she died and was still walking a couple of miles a day. I think gradually increasing her walking helped her a lot. I went from carrying her most of the time to her walking most of the time if I let her. She would have walked longer if I let her. She died right before she would have been 17. She simply lapsed into a coma while in my arms. Ashley's sister, Gracie, had major issues with her trachea all her life. Surgery was not recommended for her. As with Ashley, I took a lot of precautions with her. I carried her almost all the time when walking and kept ice on me at all times. If she got too excited, her trachea would start to close and her temperature would start to rise. That's why I needed the ice. Except for the times when she would have these problems, which was often, she ran around and played all the time. In the summer, when she got too hot (we always kept her in air conditioning), she ran to the back door to let me know she needed to go out. She would then run to the pool and hop into the first step of our pool. Gracie jumped out as soon as she was cool. She was the funniest little girl with the biggest heart and personality. She was very tiny, which meant there were many added precautions with her. She needed her teeth done twice a year, but it got to the point that her doctor thought it was too risky to put her under anesthesia. Prior to this, it was much more difficult for him to do her teeth and I know he was not able to use a tube with her. She lived to only 9.5 years old. She didn't have to deal with illness before her death. She was running around happily the day before and it was sudden. Though I knew she might not recover from one of her attacks, I wasn't expected it at all. It wasn't an acute attack that caused her death, but I think she got herself so revved up the day before that it was probably a strain on her heart. My heart is breaking for you. I know how difficult it is when you love them as much as you do your little girl. I wish I could tell you more conventional medicine that worked for my girls. I'm not suggesting you use alternative medicine, just telling you of my experience with Ashley. I've put a couple of links. One is a 5 minute video of our vet discussing alternative therapies. It's very interesting and heartwarming. Another is a link to herbs he has developed. Ask your vet what he thinks. These can only be gotten by a veterinarian, and I'm sure there are other alternatives to these herbs. I so hope things get better with your little girl, and I will be praying for both of you.

TODAYShow.com - The 'Miracle' Vet
Healthcare for furry friends - Bing Videos
White Crane Brand Herbal Supplements - Holistic Veterinary Medicine