We have an 8yr old yorkie who has had a collapsing trachea for about 3 years..and progressively gotten worse. In April of this year, we felt we had no other option but to have the stent placed. We had the procedure in April 2010 and have used drugs to keep him calm during his recovery...His cough was only occasional throughout the summer, until about a week or so ago when he began to cough and "honk" again. We took him back to the vet who did Xrays and said the stent still looked good, but now the cervical area (above the stent) is starting to collapse. This will require cervical rings to be placed with a more extensive surgery.
We are still trying to decide if we should have the cervical rings placed--but do not regret the decision we made for the stent. The stent placement cost about $5K total- which gave us 5 happy months with Nikko.
Good Luck. |