Samie's collapsing trachea has severely progressed. I am so worried about her..
 

We have known of Samie’s collapsing trachea for quite some time. The past 2 yrs have made me very worried. Certain things effect Samie’s trachea. Excitement, walks, vet visits, irritants, yeast infection, ear infection, any type of pain or discomfort will trigger her trachea. Samie has been okay and nothing major until this morning. Let me first start by saying Samie had two bad coughing episodes during the past two weeks. We have hydromet to give her to keep her airways less irritated. Also Flovent. We started the Flovent back in July and had been giving it to her every day but she was panting so bad in her sleep that we decided to cut back on it (Flovent) She had been doing okay and I was giving it to her every now and then only when I felt she needed it. The way she panted in her sleep really worried me. I was told it was probably the flovent. So I cut back on it. Well after her first ct episode 2 wks ago I gave her the Hydromet and it seemed to help. Things have been fine these past 2 wks.
Last night -about 6 pm. She started the loud deep coughing again. (which I have noticed this cough progressing when it happens-her cough has got louder, deeper, almost like she has something stuck in her throat. Yesterday, in a period of 30 min she had coughed about 20 times. I had already given her ¼ cc of hydromet after the first cough. It only eased things up a bit. I don’t like to give this to her so I always start with the smallest dose which was ¼ cc (hydromet) after little improvement and her still coughing really bad. I gave her another ¼ cc. (this was her worse coughing episode to date) The coughing stopped completely all night

This morning however things took a turn for the worse. I could hear both dogs eating their food while I was in the bedroom getting ready for work. I heard Samie growl at my other dog (I am assuming because Sadie was trying to get at her food) when I went in to the kitchen to see what was going on I found Samie lying on her back under the kitchen table. I immediately picked her up and my first instinct was that Sadie (my other yorkie) maybe hurt her somehow fighting over the food. (my girls never fight-they play- never get aggressive with each other) Samie was very limp when I picked her up. I realized right then and there that I was losing her. I could see her breathing become very shallow for maybe 2 breaths and then all of the sudden she just stopped breathing. No breathing at all. I was standing in my kitchen stark naked holding her. Her little limp body just pressed against my arms. I am thinking she died right in my arms. After about 40 seconds - all of the sudden she urinates. It ran all down my right side, I could feel it travel down to my foot –again now- I just know that she DID- just pass away. I hear when you pass away you loose all bodily functions. And I just knew that this was what had just happened. All of the sudden she was moving. She was breathing but very very shallow. Clinching her front paws straight out and shaking them. I think to myself oh god she is now having a seizure. I put her on my bed and grabbed my robe at the same time trying to call my husband on his cell phone. I was getting ready to rush out to the house with her to the emergency vet. I was screaming to my husband on his cell phone to turn around and come back home- just crying my eyes out.
I am crying so hard right now just thinking about everything this morning and trying to write all of this. I literally cannot even see the monitor- it’s all blurry. I am such a wreck. I am so very worried about her and I do not know what is going to happen?

Ok- so now that you know all of that- I will proceed with the vet appt this morning. We THOUGHT she just had a seizure and vet wanted to do some blood work. THEN when I explained to the vet about finding samie laying on her back and how she went unconscious in my arms. The vet seems to think that samie had a ct episode so bad that she literally blacked out. Something as simple as getting worked up over her food with my other dog she says easily could have made her collapse. So we decide to do x-rays and check the trachea. Her last x-ray was taken of her trachea in July. WELL- when the vet held up the x-rays I was almost lost it right there in the room with her. (I have been researching collapsing trachea so I know exactly where I am looking on these x-rays) She said that Samie’s collapsing trachea has progressed and it much worse than it was in July. We compared July’s xrays with today’s xrays and I just stood there and looked and froze. The only way for me to describe it is to tell you that her airway passage was about ½ of an inch wide in July and today her airway passage on the x-ray was as if it was a fine line with no space what so ever. Maybe 2 centimeters wide. I was so alarmed to see the significant change in her trachea.
So now the vet is going to do some research she says to see if things have improved with ct surgery. She says when she was in vet school there was little success rate with this type of surgery. She is also going to check to see if maybe any other med’s would help her. She did say that because of where the collapse is located (in her chest region) it did not look good.

So we leave the vet- I get her into the car and I guess everything just caught up with me. I totally just start crying my eyes out the whole way home. Samie was doing okay. She was licking my face and my tears. Just looking at me as if she is trying to say – what’s wrong mommy? I just lost it. Just like I keep doing all morning long. I called in sick today just so I could stay home with her all day. I was on vacation all last week and yesterday. Today was supposed to be my first day back to work. Work would not understand me needing to be home with my little girl so I had to lie and say I was sick. Hey- whatever I got to do.

I just cannot believe how small her airway passage was today when the vet held up the xrays??? it was almost completely closed. I questioned how well Samie was doing while we were at out appt today b/c normally Samie does not do well there. And with her trachea being closed off so much I didn’t understand how she wasn’t panting like crazy and collapsing while we were there. I mean usually we have to be in and out of the vet b/c she gets too excited and the only thing we can do is get her back home to her usual surroundings and be super quick at the vet.
The vet says that somehow they comphensate their breathing. Because even the Vet said she had no idea how Samie was doing so well after seeing the xrays. Samie did not cough or anything while we were at the vet today. (she normally would get so excited her trachea would start to collapse a little and she has turned blue at the vet) today- yes she was excited.. but she did very well.

I also can’t believe that we ALMOST did not do the xrays when the vet was talking to me about blood work to determine seizure??? And then she wanted to know if I wanted to see if anything changed with her trachea by doing the xrays. I mean- we already knew of the trachea, know it has progressed by the sounds of her cough. What would we do different? So - I decided to have her do the x-rays. I also had a bad feeling. My husband and I have talked about this ct problem and we both had agreed that we did not want to put Samie through this surgery. It also financially would be so out of reach for us. I have read on line that surgery can be anywhere from $8,500.00 or more. Just because of where she is collapsing in her chest region. She is not collapsing in her throat area.

Now- I would do whatever I could do to save her life. I am just so worried because the vet also said that surgery could or also COULD NOT even be successful. I have so much going through my mind….and the scary part is I just know that we just cannot afford this. How are we going to find a way??? is all I keep thinking. Finding a way is one thing- finding out that surgery may not even work is another. My head is so foggy. I cannot even think straight at the moment.
To make things worse- we get home from the vet and apparently all the excitement at the vet triggered another attack. Within 30 min after being home she started coughing and without hesitation- I gave her the hydromet. She is sleeping next to me now soundly. But -now when she coughs -I literally freeze and get so scared.

She has not coughed since I gave her the hydromet. But I can tell she is sounding very congested. Just scary b/c all of this is going on while she is sleeping. She is as calm as can be and her trachea is not good while she is asleep. I will not have anything to post until we hear from the vet. I’m sorry this is so long. I am going to go snuggle with both of my girls and love on them. I do not know how many more times I will have to do this with my little Samie. I am so worried, so scared… I don’t even know anymore. My other dog Sadie has her protein loss problems. We got good news with her bp dropping back to normal just yesterday. We are falling so behind in debt. 5800.00 this year so far with all of the test and labs and meds we have had with both girls. I am at a loss for words. the holidays are here and we just cannot get away from vet bills. I am so worried b/c I am not ready… nor will I ever be ready to say good by to my little girls. Just so much going on with them both I am just beside myself. I know this is hard to read and I apolygize. I am not well at the moment. I can’t read through it again before posting it all. I am sorry if I sound like I am over the place. It’s probably because at the moment I am. I cannot stop crying. I am making myself sick.

I am so sorry you have to go through all of this. I will pray for the best outcome, and for your peace of mind. Sometimes we have to look at our finances, and if you can't afford it you just can't. I hope you don't lose your baby, but if you do we will all be here for you.

Your post brought me to tears. I know all too well how heartbreaking it is to love a chronically ill dog and to have to struggle with huge vet bills.

My heart goes out to you and your family.

My heart goes out to you. I hope things somehow get better for both of you.
I can't imagine going threw such heartbreak daily.
I would be crying too. I do wish I could help you but all I can do is
say a prayer for you and hope it's get's better. You can always come
here on YT and release your stress. There is always someone willing
to listen and give comfort. Know that your being thought about and
prayer's are coming your way for relief.


Hugs,

I'm so sorry. I love my babies and I just can't imagine being in your shoes. I wish I could make your problems vanish.

I am so sorry. My last Yorkie, Gracie had the severely collapsed trachea in the thoracic area too. She was diagnosed at 5 1/2 and after a year of one er visit after the other and researching surgical options I had to put her to sleep. Her breathing had become so labored and loud and she hardly moved. I also was told that the surgery has a lot of side effects and may cause more harm, requiring them to have a permanent traceotomy. Hopefully with meds you will have more time with your baby. I will keep you all in my prayers

Iam so very sorry, My thoughts and prayers are with you. hope things get better for you and your babie.

My heart goes out to you. I feel your pain in your post and wish there was something I could do to make them better. You are a good mommy to your babies and I know you are doing all you can for them. I will be saying a special prayer for you and your babies, especially Samie :hands: :hands: :hands:

Wish I could offer some wonderful advice but I'm sorry to say I can't. I can only say, I'm sorry you and you're baby are going thru this. :(

My heart goes out to you .sending prayers for your baby.

I'm so sorry to hear about your little darling Sammi. :( :( My heart is just broken after reading this. I can't even imagine the constant fear you live with, never knowing when little Sammi is going to have another attack.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your Sammi. BEST OF LUCK to you both.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your precious one...

I am so sorry that you are going through this. Words can not express, you and Sammi will be in our thoughts and prayers.

THinking of yall and sending good vibes!!

You and your baby are in my prayers. I'm so sorry.:animal-pa

OH my! I don't think we have met, but I see you live very near to me.

I also have a little one with a CT. She is a year and a half old... and she's on steroids for life, among other things. We have to be very, very careful with things she eats, drinks, and does. The things that set her off the most are dairy products, cold stuff (even water), and excitement.

I know all too well what you go through, and every time she has one of her episodes, I just want to sit and cry. I know one of these days it won't "reopen" but I don't know when. Until then, I am cherishing every moment I have with my dear Pixie.

We also have recently discussed the surgery, and my vet is very, very against it. He says the chances are so... not good... that he doesn't want to see us lose her. And even if she were to pull through, the surgery is only supposed to last for 8-10 years before it starts to "flake" and there's nothing you can do about it... so with her young age, it's just not time, yet. When it does get that bad though... we may do it. When it comes to putting her down or surgery... we may have to.

I dearly wish you luck, and if you need ANYTHING, I'm here - I live in FW.

I'm so so so sorry you are going thru this with sammie. You are going thru so much with your two babies. its heartbreaking. Tomorrow i'll ask the surgeon what he thinks about ct surgery. I don't know if i've seen him do one but it might be similar to other tracheal surgeries we've done. I don't know much else about ct to be of any help, so all i can really offer you are prayers. :(

Samie is not on any steroids. I wonder if something like that would help her. her little trachea today on the xrays was barely open. the chest area it was but it was so hard to see the opening. That is what has be so worried. she is on the Flovent (inhaler) which as I said it does make her pant really bad. At some point when we discussed allergies and meds for her the vet said that if she had something with steroids that it could cause her to pant more but that was steroids in allergy meds. Not trachea issues. Is your little on on predisone? I am praying the vet has some advice for us. She tends to be "test happy" which we learned with my other yorkie. she did so many tests on my other one. and yes it was peace of mind but a lot of it we feel was unnessary. has anyone ever talked to you about Hydromet or the FLovent? I mean- i think it "helps" her but I think she could be on something else. especially since she is so severe. i am in McKinney, I am new to the area since my husband and i relocated from up North (Ohio) but Fort Worth is about an hour away i believe. thanks so much for responding. i will try my best to keep it together. I have a pounding headache and I just talked to my friend long distance up in Ohio. And i love her dearly but she just does not understand me right now. There is no way she could... I just needed to talk to someone and she is the only one I knew that would listen to me. But that's all she could do. Listen. i will keep posting as I am able to. I have hope after reading your response. Hope that maybe Samie could be on some kind of steroid to help her. She has not been on anything like that. She just turned 9 years old in July. I guess I need to expect for the worse at this point and hope for the best. :-( ya'll made me cry after reading all of these responses. and I am crying again right now... my head is pounding and I have not eaten all day. Making myself sick over her. She is acting so normal right now I wish I could say that this morning was just a bad horrible dream. But i just can't get what happened out of my head. I just keep reliving it. Holding her in my arms, her body so limp... so...so so so.... scary.

I have worried about both of them. And I find myself asking God... "what could i have ever done to deserve this"? I have never done anything but good to anyone that knows me. And they will tell you things like "I have a heart of gold" -I have been that way my whole life. Just very caring about my family and friends and complete strangers for that matter. Always trying to give good advice when someone is down and lonely and hurting. WHy can't i take my own advice??? why am i not able to console myself through all of what's happened this past year. This has affected me in so many ways that I am ashamed to admit. But why? why do i feel this way. Why? because I am afraid to admit the love I feel for my girls. DOGS! That has got to be it. too many people (even though they know how I am when it comes to my girls...) just too many telling me that these are DOGS RENEE! DOGS! I don't have kids @ 38 and I have my own medical issues so who knows if I will ever be able to have kids. I am not getting any younger. these "dog's" ARE my CHILDREN! and I love them so so so much! I am the best mommy to these girls and they mean the world to me. Why can't i understand that they are "pets" and they are not meant to outlive us? I mean, what could their lives had been like if they were not fortunate to have us to take care of them the way that we are?

Today I got home from the vet with Samie and I just fell to the kitchen floor. My head in my knees balling my eyes out. They are both right in my face... licking the tears off my cheaks and lips. I looked at both of them and they have the cutest little baby doll faces. Both of them just looking at me like Mama whats wrong??? were here for you- we love you.
God it just tears me up. I guess this is normal based on what ya'll have said about your own personal experiences. I am so lucky to have all of you!

Pixie was having a LOT of problems at one point. We tried lots of medications, but we have settled on a combination of Prednisone and Torbutrol.

The prednisone really helps keep her from having her fits - keeps it from collapsing. The torbutrol keeps her airways otherwise unblocked and helps with the "nagging cough."
The prednisone is likely the best thing we did for her... but at the same time, it's the worst. However, it's the ONLY thing that helps her. We did the "half a tab twice a day, then drop to every day, then every other day till its gone"... for a boost, but once it's gone for more than a couple days, she immediately relapses back to not being able to breathe. The steroid itself is very bad for her and eats away at her liver, but for us it was the choice between the best of two bads. We do know the side effects of having her on a steroid permanently, and we have gotten her down to only having to take it about once every three days or so to reduce some of the long term side effects. That is something to seriously consider before putting your baby on that though. The vet suggests we do the torbutrol daily, however, she does fine MOST of the time without it. We know that we are hurting her enough as it is, so we give as little as possible if she is fine otherwise. The vet knows and understands this. If she is not panting, coughing, or showing any signs of needing the torbutrol, we generally don't give it to her.

We tried other options - we tried things to "keep her clear" like what you were describing, and we've tried just cough medicine, and that type thing... but nothing worked until we did the Prednisone. With it, unless something sets her off, she really doesn't have many problems. And we generally know when it's been about 3 days because she'll start having problems again. Then we give her 1/2 a Prednisone tab, and she's fine again for another few days.

The down side is we also know what we're doing to her by giving her the steroid... but she was having lots of very bad problems similar to what you describe, so this was one of our only hopes. I would suggest talking to your vet about Prednisone - it may or may not be right for your pup, but it may be worth a try anyway.

We keep other stuff on hand for Pixie in case we need it - I don't remember the names right off, but it's similar to what you have I believe - for times when she just can't catch her breath and such.

Hey now. I *am* a Mom of a human child... but my yorkie babies are my children also. I completely understand how you feel for them. They may not be supposed to outlive us, but they do deserve the best homes and the best moms.

Did you dog ever faint from collapsing trachea? the flovent we were told was , yes to just keep things clear. It is not a fast acting inhaler though. I guess it works over time. I just hate to see her pant so bad from it and it scares me. Then it is good that we had the blood panels done too so the vet can see her liver values. I appreciate you writing. I will let you know what the vet says.

When Gracie had it they put her on bronchodialators but they made her so restless and didn't seem to help. Now my 10 year old pom is on prednisone for her sever liver disease. She also has a bad CT which the prednisone has been helping with, she also has cushings which the prednsione is amking worse but the vet said we had to treat the most severe problem which is her liver disease. I am now cutting back on her prednisone to 1/4 tablet every third day and she has started coughing really bad again, so the prednisone definatley helped her, but we can't keep her on it indefinately. It may be an option with your baby for now. I know how you feel, I have kids and my furbabies are my family too. Keeping you in my prayers. If you need to talk pm me .

My poor husband- He is the sweetest person in the world and so good to me and my girls too. He got home from work just a little bit ago and while we were talking about today and what happened, he just started tearing up real bad. It's not often that i will ever see him cry. In fact it's been years. But today... Today we almost lost his little girl (she favors him) and I could tell by the look on his face when he got home that he was worried sick all day just as i am. To see his eyes fill up with tears just breaks my heart all over again.

Samie does not want to eat tonight. She remembers this morning, I am sure of it. Because eating was the last thing she was doing before she went down. However it is Sadie (her sister) that she seems to be afraid of. (but only when they are near their food bowls) Sadie got into Samie's food bowl and Samie growled at her. But still she does not want to eat when Sadie comes in the room. It's ok. I got her to eat and she does have an appetite. But I will not force her to eat. She had a rough day today. she is doing well at the moment. I may give her more hydromet in a while here. Her last dose was at 11 am this morning. She still has not had her full dose for the day.

It is also this wetting of the food that they are loving so much now. I am sure that this is what triggered the fuss this morning. because they never fight over food.

No, she has never completely passed out from it, though there have been times that we've held our breaths as we weren't sure. Sometimes her "fits" go on and on and she can't seem to get her trachea reopened enough to breathe... sometimes they're very brief (especially when she's on the prednisone).

It's so helpless watching them go through this. You don't really know whether to pet them and comfort them or leave them alone so they can "get over it" and hope that they do...

Well at vet visits Samie has even turned blue. Her tongue and gums a dark purple. she was blue this morning after she came to. But within 20 min she was pink again.

somehow I hit the "unsubcribe from this thread button" I hope I can still access this thread. ANyone know how to still keep it active or if I need to do anything. I clicked it by mistake.

I decided since I am not feeling well myself today, I stayed home from work. I mostly wanted to see how Samie does throughout the day so I will feel more at ease leaving her alone tomorrow. I am really starting to think that taking her for a walk (for the first time in 6 mos) even though we only went for a super short walk -maybe 6 houses down was too much for her. -she was fine while we were walking. fine when we got home, but within 30-45 min she started her loud deep cough. Once I gave her the Hydromet she completely calmed down and the coughing stopped.

Maybe my other dog Sadie yesterday knocked her on her back and she lost her breath so fast that's why she fainted yesterday. It's hard to know what happened b/c i was not in the room. I do not know exactly what happened. I know once before sadie did put samie flat on her back. Part of the reason is b/c samie thinks she is a 200 lb dog and she is not afraid of Sadie who is a little bigger than she is. It was weird the way she passed out in my arms and then awoke having a seizure though. We are also in the process of getting samie to loose weight. She is 2 lbs overweight. -when we discovered she gained so much weight and was very restless we had blood work and that showed her to be hypothrroid. she is much more herself now that she is taking the soloxine. But still we need to cut back on her food and treats to help her lose since she cannot exercise at all.

I am going to try and not re-live yesterday and take this one day at a time. I am going to ask the vet to xray her trachea in another 2 wks. this way if the walk effected her- maybe her trachea will open up more. I have been researching the flovent on line but haven't yet found anything too helpful. I read somewhere that the flovent would help with the help of a "spacer" i do not understand the spacer part. If anyone finds anything on line please forward it to me. I would really appreciate anyones info or personal experience. Means the WORLD to me. I will keep checking this thread every day and continue to post updates. The vet will be calling us this week with the results of samie's labs from yesterday and also after she talks with a specialist regarding Samie's xrays taken yesterday as well. thanks for all of your kind words and prayers. WE WUV YOU!!

I am so sorry :( I will pray for your little girl....