Bella has a Collapsed Trachea...does your Yorkie?

[miabellaamoure]

Originally Posted by dwerten

I agree with vet as you do need to get under control then taper back but your goal should be every other day as not good to give steroids daily

do you live near garden grove? as dr dodds is there and she does all blood work and titers for me and she is excellent with blood work.

I will let you know as i am in ventura county - i have heard of a good surgeon in san diego from someone on here llcornell - maybe pm her as that hospital will have a good internist i am sure - also dr dodds will know the best internist as well in orange county ---www.hemopet.com or hemopet@hotmail.com

I'm centrally located between Garden Grove or San Diego so, I'll check out both and see what I can come up with.

My mind tells me that our Vet see's Bella's prognosis & treatment as just keeping her as comfortable as possible without a lot of heroics. The realization of losing Bella sooner than I had ever dreamed of has also made me think a lot about how I wouldn't want to make the rest of her life miserable either with procedures that while they may extend her life, the process to get there & the quality of life she's left with after may be questionable.

So...I'll take it one day at a time and right now my goal is to make her feel comfortable & loved for whatever time we have together. She was my very first lil' Yorkie-girl and will always be my special Bella-Boo whether she's here or somewhere over the rainbow!

Okay, (slap-slap!) that's the end of that pity-party...we're back on Team-Bella!

[llcornell]

I just sent you a PM. I hope things are going well.

[Yodi]

Sorry to hear about Bella
I have a new 2 m old yorkie.
I have had her for just 1 week.
And she started coughing and sneezing.
I took her to the Vet. and he put her on Amoxicillin.
Now she has the poops. He also gave her some cough med.
He said if that did 'ent help her she may have CT.

Do you or anyone else on this web know a vet in San Antonio Tx.
That mostley deals with Yorkies and this type of problem.

Thanks

Yodi
God Bless all the sick animales

[miabellaamoure]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Here you go :

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...d-trachea.html

[and thanks to Dwerten for finding these videos ]

This is for you, Yodi...just click on the link above to hear the different coughs!

I'm sorry that you're little one is not feeling well! I would recommend starting a thread about your little one in the
"Sick & Injured/Emergency Talk" forum, like I have done with Bella & her CT.

There are many helpful people here on YT and I'm sure they'll be able to point you in the right direction while answering some of your questions, too.

Please keep us posted on your little one!

Hugs!

PS... to Yorkie Talk where of course,

[YoRkiE Te aMo]

ask your vet if you could use Hylands childrens 100% natural cough syrup with honey ...
collapse trach can be caused by the tube they put in the throat for anesthetic on small breeds...
try to keep them calm and relaxed to avoid excitement
it is the dew in the morning and nite that causes irritation
daytime walks are best and of course a harness not a collar.
veggies are great as snax
and you can do several things to stop it
try to get her to lick you...
massage the throat area...
lift the lips to get air from the sides of the mouth in
and most can live a pretty normal life like over 12 years
and that is without meds

[miabellaamoure]

Thank you for your thoughtful suggestions...

Originally Posted by YoRkiE Te aMo

ask your vet if you could use Hylands childrens 100% natural cough syrup with honey ...

Bella is taking ValTurbogesic (cough suppressant) & Temaril-P (antitussive/steroid)

collapse trach can be caused by the tube they put in the throat for anesthetic on small breeds...

Bella's only surgery was when she was 4 months old to be spayed...I wish I could remember if she did the reverse sneeze or honking back then!

try to keep them calm and relaxed to avoid excitement
it is the dew in the morning and nite that causes irritation

I definitely agree about the "dew" because her worse times are in the wee hours of the morning!

daytime walks are best and of course a harness not a collar.

Bella has only worn a harness but, right now she's on restriction from walks till she's under better control (per her Vet) and when her weight comes down a little more. As of today, she's actually lost 1/2 lb since starting Canidae-Platinum...YEH Bella!

veggies are great as snax
I haven't ever been a big "snacker" but, when I do, it's always things like Carrots, Pea's & Edamame

and you can do several things to stop it
try to get her to lick you...
massage the throat area...
lift the lips to get air from the sides of the mouth in

I have tried all of the above and more & unfortunately without any luck...I just sit with her till it's over and try to keep her calm

and most can live a pretty normal life like over 12 years

I'm hoping for at least this but, am realistic, too and will be happy with whatever I am blessed to have with Bella.

and that is without meds

I can't even imagine "no meds" but, I would be thrilled if that could be the case for Bella but, due to the severity of her CT...I'm not counting on that...just yet anyway

Again, thank you for your input...me & Bella-boo really do appreciate it!

[smartpuppiepets]

I am so sorry about your baby...
I will be praying for you !

Hope she gets better soon !!!!

[Yodi]

Originally Posted by miabellaamoure

This is for you, Yodi...just click on the link above to hear the different coughs!

I'm sorry that you're little one is not feeling well! I would recommend starting a thread about your little one in the
"Sick & Injured/Emergency Talk" forum, like I have done with Bella & her CT.

There are many helpful people here on YT and I'm sure they'll be able to point you in the right direction while answering some of your questions, too.

Please keep us posted on your little one!

Hugs!

PS... to Yorkie Talk where of course,

Hi

Hope Bella is doing better today.
As far as Miss. Lillie goes she is still on her meds.
You are right I hear her makeing more sounds in moring.
As you know she is just 2m. old .
Breeder feels it is just a cold.
So how long does a cold last for a Yorkie??????????????????????
When she went to the vet she received the Bordetella shot.
It was about 4 days or so that she started the cough.
One of the other members on the forum told me you can get Kennel cough from this
shot. So at this point I don't know what she has.
I feel like I need a vet. who just deals with Yorkies and there problems.

[miabellaamoure]

Originally Posted by Yodi

Hi

Hope Bella is doing better today.
As far as Miss. Lillie goes she is still on her meds.
You are right I hear her makeing more sounds in moring.
As you know she is just 2m. old .
Breeder feels it is just a cold.
So how long does a cold last for a Yorkie??????????????????????
When she went to the vet she received the Bordetella shot.
It was about 4 days or so that she started the cough.
One of the other members on the forum told me you can get Kennel cough from this
shot. So at this point I don't know what she has.
I feel like I need a vet. who just deals with Yorkies and there problems.

I just sent you a PM

[miabellaamoure]

The frequency of Bella's coughing/honking jags have noticeably decreased from like 50 a day to maybe 25-30 and she's almost sleeping through the night, too! I'm attributing this to the steroids finally kicking in...Thank God!

Best of all...she has lost 1/2 lb since starting Canidae-Platinum...and her little face actually looks slimmer to me, too...is that possible?

Go Bella Go!

[llcornell]

Im glad to hear things are going better

[delicatepuzzle]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Here you go :

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...d-trachea.html

[and thanks to Dwerten for finding these videos ]

Thank you for reposting those. My Princess Ella has been coughing/sneezing/making noises that scare mommy. And none of those sound the same. The kennel cough sounds like the poor cute little bulle was coughing/choking on his/her mucous. I felt sooo bad. Is the reverse sneeze an ok thing? Or can it eventually lead to CT?

[delicatepuzzle]

Originally Posted by miabellaamoure

The frequency of Bella's coughing/honking jags have noticeably decreased from like 50 a day to maybe 25-30 and she's almost sleeping through the night, too! I'm attributing this to the steroids finally kicking in...Thank God!

Best of all...she has lost 1/2 lb since starting Canidae-Platinum...and her little face actually looks slimmer to me, too...is that possible?

Go Bella Go!

I'm so glad to hear this. Man but I thought my big boy Versace was safe from these ailments. DANG IT!!! He is 10lbs but man I thought his "teapot" status would make him hearty. I guess everyone can be prone to anything.

[miabellaamoure]

Originally Posted by delicatepuzzle

Thank you for reposting those. My Princess Ella has been coughing/sneezing/making noises that scare mommy. And none of those sound the same. The kennel cough sounds like the poor cute little bulle was coughing/choking on his/her mucous. I felt sooo bad. Is the reverse sneeze an ok thing? Or can it eventually lead to CT?

I found this explanation to your question regarding, if Reverse Sneezing leads to CT...the answer I believe is NO but, please read below the link for yourself:

http://www.vetinfo.com/drevsnz.html

"...the condition referred to as inspiratory paroxysmal respiration, or reverse sneezing, and collapsing trachea syndrome are totally different conditions.

However, I think that the symptoms of these conditions are very similar in some cases, though. Especially in dogs with severe coughing episodes associated with the tracheal collapse, which can look a lot like the extreme inspiratory effort that is typical of reverse sneezing.

There are other reasons for confusion between these conditions. They both occur most commonly in small breed dogs and it is likely that there are a number of dogs who have both conditions. Tracheal collapse can be aggravated by any other condition affecting the respiratory tract, making it possible for a dog with reverse sneezing to develop tracheal collapse symptoms over time.

I think that there are probably a number of causes of reverse sneezing and that many cases occur for no discernible reason. According to the "Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine" by Ettinger and Feldman, swallowing stops attacks of reverse sneezing. This source says that reverse sneezing may be controlled by massaging the pharyngeal area or briefly closing the dog's nostrils. Several of my clients have mentioned that their dogs respond to rubbing of the upper neck region, so this advice may be useful. Reverse sneezing is a problem of the pharyngeal region.

Tracheal collapse is a problem that occurs because of improper formation of the tracheal rings. Weakness in the tracheal rings leads to a condition in which the trachea collapses, either during inspiration or expiration, depending on the location of the problem in the trachea. This is highly irritating to the dog and coughing results.

Reverse sneezing tends to start at an early age and to be a persistent problem. Tracheal collapse may cause some symptoms at an early age but in most patients there is a gradual increase in coughing over time and it may reach a point in which there are coughing episodes that last for several minutes and do resemble reverse sneezing. Severe tracheal collapse symptoms are more common in older dogs."

Mike Richards, DVM 10/26/2000

Just because dogs who do have CT & may also have displayed RS'ing, does not mean that RS'ing progressed into CT just that the two existed but, not really related symptoms.

In the end...I personally believe that the only way to truly know if you're dealing with CT, is via an X-Ray by your Vet.

Jo Ann

[miabellaamoure]

Well...we just discovered a lovely side effect of the cough suppressant that Bella is taking for her CT:

excessive thirst & increased urination

Starting yesterday...my floors have been bathed in pee-pee...ick! Rarely do I ever have a Piddle Pad out unless I may be out of the house and I'm not sure if I'll be back in time for the girls to go potty.

Well...poor Bella sometimes can't even make it to the pad in time and lucky me plants my unsuspecting foot right down into the yellow-puddle...surprise!

Well...seems like a call to the Vet is due in the morning to see if this is more than just a side effect or a warning sign of something related to her kidneys. Hope not.

ps. Fortunately, we just pulled up all the flooring in our house this weekend as we're preparing to have wood flooring installed in a couple weeks. So...Bella has some time to still have a few more accidents and then I may have to segregate her to a part of the house that can withstand puddles for easy clean up till this side effect passes.