My goodness that so similar, who would have ever suspected a feather? These little down feathers are so tiny, where does it go though, not in their lungs, or do they somehow get it out, but because it's wet it's not noticeable?

Just saw this thread. How scary for you and Marcel!! I am glad you are both doing better!

Omg Ann, I am just now seeing this. I experienced something very similar the other day with Lilly. It started out as a "reverse sneezing" episode but she wouldn't stop. I was horrified. Everything that I usually do to get her to stop wasn't working, I was crying but still trying to stay calm so I wouldn't make her nervous. Her body got so stiff. Finally, I kept screaming for my mom and she came in and helped me calm her down then she was fine. I didn't pay attention to her nose to see if it was dripping or anything but as soon as I read your post I was like... OMG cus it sounds EXACTLY what I went through with Lilly. :confused:

I'm so glad he's ok though, bless his little heart.

How scary!!!!!!! I'm so glad Marcel is okay! Sending hugs....

oh no! I'm sure you were scared to death! I'm so glad Marcel is okay!! and I sure hope that doesn't happen again. I'm so sorry you and Marcel had to go through that :(

Just checking in to find out about Marcel ..... How is he doing? Hope all is well.

Connie, this sounds the same! I now think it was it was a little down feather. Does your sister have a down comforter, down pillows? Dena brought this up to me first and the more I considered it, I really think this is it. Because a fluffy feather could at first occlude the airway, then as it becomes moist - you can see how it would eventually let the air back through, eventually.

That's what I'm wondering too. There is a chance they could cough it up and swallow it, or it could move farther up and swallow it. Or, it could stick in their throat a while (but they'd probably show irritation signs, i.e. coughing). But, they could aspirate it (not to be gross, but have you heard of humans ending up in the hospital from aspirating their own vomit? So, you can inhale bad things). And the lungs can get rid of some things, but I doubt a feather. I emailed my sister (who is a doc) and I'll see what she says about aspirates. I'd think a respiratory infection would soon follow if he did aspirate the feather.

Wow! This is freaky. Mia had an episode just like that with the runny nose, stiffening up, and short breaths a couple of weeks ago. She does do that reverse sneezing when she gets excited but this was different. Of course I freaked out a little and told hubby to grab her. We checked her mouth for objects - nothing. We talked very calmly to her - it continued, so hubby put his mouth over her nose and mouth and gently blew - I think he had to do that twice. She started to calm down but her breathing was still a little hard for a few seconds, we comforted her and she was fine after that. We were more upset than she was - although I could see that the episode upset her. We don't have any down in our pillows or comforter - so that would be out for us. It happened about 4:00 in the morning. I think it was like when we miss a rhythm in our breathing and we get scared and grasp for air. I think who ever said the reasoning for the nasal drip is because she couldn't breathe through her mouth and then the fluid went out her nose - like when you swallow funny and it comes out our noses. Anyway, just my opinion. We just had both kids to the Vet yesterday and heart & lungs check out fine. I pray it doesn't happen again because it was scary!!! I did feel like she was going to have a heart attack just trying to breathe - and then I would have had one!!!

So happy that Marcel and the others are ok, too.

omg!!! I am so glad marcel is doing better! Just reading that had me frantic feeling. So do you think it was a feather?

Stopping by to see if everything is ok with Marcel. Certainly do hop things went well last night.

Oh my goodness.:(

If that happened to Ellie I don't know how I would even stay calm enough to find a vets number.

After reading all of this, I will be afraid to leave Tricksie alone.
She tore up my feather pillow but guess she didn't swallow any.

OMG how scary! I am so glad Mr. Marcel is ok now-but I would have FREAKED out and gone right to the ER vet too!!! Sending prayers that whatever it was doesn't return!

He's doin' good :). I do think he remembers being "scared" at night, bc he slept on my neck ALL NIGHT long last night, lol. He is still getting some nasal dripping, which is a little strange, but nothing excessive - just a little bit. I guess I'll keep an eye on it and if it continues it'd make me think maybe the feather/puff is still in his airway somewhere (?). But, he's acting totally normal!! :)

I haven't read through all the posts yet (so maybe somebody has said this already?), but my Lily (kitty cat) has asthma, and the vet can hear her restricted airways when we just go in for a checkup. She is breathing fine when her hears that, but I am able to hear her wheezing out loud when she is running around playing and stops to take breaths--I can put my ear to her chest when she's wheezing and hear it in her lungs too.

I'm thinking it's not asthma, but the dryer sheet/lint makes sense....weird that it would happen way later though. Someone else posted that it happens to their dogs everytime they're around laundry so she keeps them away from it.....just got me thinking that maybe they're allergic to whatever she uses as dryer sheets or laundry detergent or fabric softener. (The longer laundry is left out--hanging, folded, whatever--those scents dissapate.) Do you think Marcel could have been into something like the dryer sheet from earlier in the day instead of sleeping?? And then came to you when he couldn't breathe? I don't know....just a thought....that's the only thing that makes sense to me right now. I'll keep reading....

(I teared up when I read your account of what happened. I'm SOOOO glad he's better and hope it NEVER happens again!!!!)

Thanks for your thoughtful post :). I think that Marcel inhaled a down feather or puff into his airway and that this almost totally occluded his airway for good while :(. I think when the feather/puff finally became "wet enough", he was able to breath again. It was so dang scary - I've never seen anything like it before (even during his worst reverse sneezing episodes).

wow, poor little Wylie... such a precious baby!
d

aw
 

my yorkie is at the vet for the day for the exact same symptoms you described :( I can sympathize with how scary it is :( I was definately speeding through town--couldn't get him there fast enough! Now I'm just waiting for the vet to call with diagnosis and treatment plan.

Glad the lil bug is ok! :)

Was at ER at 2:30
 

Please let us know how it goes.

Experiencing something similar if not the same
 

Hi everyone,

I am a new yorkie mom. My little guy is almost 6 months old and recently I have noticed the same kind of wheezing. Reading through all the replies it is probably making more sense to me what happened last night. I have a down comforter and as always there are little fluffies floating around on the hardwood floor regardless of how much you vacuum. Last night he was so restless and wheezing like crazy. It scared the crap out of me. Also I noticed when I get home he is excited to see me and starts wheezing. Is this normal? I have a vet appt next week and will definitely mention this. I was in her office this Monday and she said the lungs sound good.
Should I be worried? It is exactly the same way some of you describe it. As if something is stuck and he is trying to inhale it back inside but no discharge from the nose.

As I am writting this I was thinking of calling my vet now just to check but I remembered that he also scratched himself a lot. Could it be allergies? He is transitioning from RC to Wellness if that helps any cause I read here a lot about scratching from RC.

Please any further info would be appreciated before I run into vet's office and probably realize he is picking up the comforter fluff.
Thank you!!

Hello Ann, I have had several events like this also recently....I am new to the site and figuring everything out, I do not see dates at this moment, but wondering if Marcel has had any more events or issues? Pamela and Hummer

Almost had a heart attack when I saw this thread in new posts, until I realized it was from 2008. Geez. We don't want precious Marcel to ever be in ER.

I do remember this event though, and got rid of my down pillows after. So we all learn something here, even years later.

It took me a min. to realize that this was an old thread too! Very good to know because I have a pet Dove and wouldn't know the symptoms if one of my dogs were to get ahold of a feather. I try to keep seed and feathers out of reach but never thought about pillows or even comforters. Good info for others that have birds and those that walk their dogs too!

Welcome to YT :) I'm sure that Wylie's Mom will be posting shortly. Now that everyone is going to see Marcel at the ER but you will get the hang of things. ;)

Almost had a slight coronary when I saw this thread pop up bc it brought back such memories :p. But no worries, my heart is healthy!

Marcel has had some odd/weird breathing issues over the years, but not quite like this one I described that night, which was really severe. I had him scoped bc we suspected inverted nares, elongated soft palate, brachycephalic (bc Marcel has such a flat/short face/nasal area) or some other mysterious anomaly. And of course, they found absolutely *nothing*, which on one had is great...but on the other, no explanation. We have now chalked it up to his allergies - that perhaps his throat/respirations get irritated if/when his allergies act up/ or have breakthru allergy symptoms.

So, I'd be asking your vet about the possibility of inverted nares, elongated soft palate, laryngeal spasm (long shot/rare), and brachycephalic syndrome (especially if your kiddo has a flatter-than-usual face/nasal area // short nose).

Please keep us posted!

PS. have you reviewed our thread in the Library comparing reverse sneeze vs kennel cough vs collapsed trachea...if so, you may want to see if it sounds like any of those too.

I must learn to look at the dates of threads
 

I read almost the whole thread... freaking out for Ann before I noticed it was from 6 years ago (before I even became a yorkie mom!!!)


To have a laugh ... at my expense not Ann's of course... Remy did something like this in the middle of the night. I jumped up and tried to pick her up... she fell over.. I tried again, I was crying and Remy was crying. I then realized after a few minutes she had her hind paw stuck in the hair of her ears... that is why she was falling over. I untangled her... and she kissed me and went to sleep.

The sad part... my dh slept through the whole ordeal... me crying, shouthing to get ready to go to the ER... all of it. **sigh**

OMG, what a scare!! And lol (not at your expense) that it was a stuck paw...I laugh bc that would be exactly me "OMG let's head to the ER by helicopter!"...:D. Thank god though, that it was just a stuck little fur paw.

Just read your OP and it does sound like Marcel got a bug or something lodged in his nasal passage or airway until all the adrenaline of the stress he was under unable to breathe and your rushing him to the vet allowed enough of the swelling around the area to subside and permit it to pass.

Something like that happened to my little Jilly when she got the bitten off, knotted end of a tiny rawhide chewie stuck in her throat, blocking her airway, which began to swell and close around the knot. She literally was taking the tiniest, grasping of breaths, scratching crazily at her head, nose turning in circles, going wild for breath and then, getting very tired and still as I spoke to the vet to fine out what to do. Finally, on the way to the vet, Jilly stopped breathing, went limp and I held her in one arm and breathed for her and drove, crying and praying out loud, knowing she could die any second.

By the time we pulled up to the vet's office, she was breathing on her own again. The knot had dislodged and passed on through her. She was monitored, treated with anti-swelling meds, given an IV mostly TKO I imagine, kept under observance and we went home that next day with her just fine and on Benadryl. No more chewies for her except very occasionally and unless I was holding them for her, watching everything.

Life with these little ones is very scary at times and it helps to live very close to an OPEN vet, with the driving instructions committed to memory or a map at hand because you never know when you might desperately need one.

Omg I got so sick reading this post before seeing the date. Phew. I am so glad crisis was averted. In Jeanie and Shinjas cases, too lol. All I could add to this is....yet another chance to advocate having an epipen for emergency use. Now, epipens could be really dangerous if used improperly, but in these situations of the passageway being constricted, the epipen would help in several ways. It is a single-use, pre-measured amount of the drug Epinephrine.which is used in the treatment for anaphylactic shock. It's a bronchodilator (opens up the bronchi in the lungs- helps you breath easier) and it is a vasoconstrictor (narrows/constricts/shrinks the blood vessels and arteries). These help to lessen or eliminate the swelling in the throat that can cause airway blockage and lead to death.

Luma, my little allergy baby (she is doing very well lately) was stung about 2 years ago, on her tongue, by a wasp and nearly died in my arms as we sped and cut through terrible traffic. I ordered an epipen from my vet before we left the office that day. I will never leave it to.chance again. That pen stays in its designated spot in the house and I never leave the house with Luma without the pen. They are kinda expensive and they expire, but its so worth it! If your dog has severe allergic reactions please asl your vet about an epipen!!

Infomercial over, lol. But seriously, its a life saver.

P.s. Idk if Marcel's situation was an allergic reaction or mot though, so do be careful. It is intended only to delay the symptoms of a severe allergic reaction.

poor baby, that is scarey for you and him, hope he is better