Help! My yorkie is shaking frequently and acting very strange :(

[tammyphan780]

Hi all,

So i've had my baby Cookie for about 4 months now. I started to notice that about 3 weeks ago... she had started to make this choking/coughing noise quite often. She does it when she runs (sounds like she's out of breath), during the day even when she's just doing nothing, and even at night while she's sleeping. It has gotten worst at night to the point where she has to wake up and walk out of her bed and do the choking/coughing sound. It seems like she wants to puke because she had to get out of her bed. After a week I was very worried so I took her to the animal emergency hospital. They took one fast look at her and reassured me that it was "reversed sneezing" and that puppies do this sometimes where they sneeze backwards.
It's been a month now and she does it more often than before. I'm afraid she might have allergies or maybe something in her throat or some sort of cold. Has this happened to anyone before? She does it so frequently that it sounds like she might be short of breath.

Also... yesterday she had woke up and was shaking tremendously. It's not the kind of shaking due to coldness or being scared. I waited for her to calm down, and then she started shaking her head left and right... left and right... left and right... over and over again for about 10 minutes. This worried me alot because this was VERY abnormal. She peed on the carpet and then sat on it for 5 mins (never had this happen) and I tried feeding her a treat to calm her down and she wouldn't eat the treat (also never happened before). She was constantly in the "lay down" position on the floor and woudn't get up and wouldn't follow me upstairs (which she always does). I was SO worried that i immediately went to the emergency hospital AGAIN.

Against all odds... she stops shaking on the way to the emergency hospital. I decided to take her there anyways to get some tests done to find out if she is really sick... after doing blood tests and check ups and 500 dollars later.... the doctor states that her blood test results are perfectly fine and that he couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. He "suspects" that it may be due to low sugar.

That's it?? I paid 500 dollars to get my puppy looked after and all you can tell me is that you "suspect" that there may be a lack in sugar? He sounds like he doesn't even know for sure. So i take her home... and of course she is doing the coughing/choking noise again.

Luckily the shaking and head bobbing had stopped. Now i'm more concerned about her noises she's making. Has anyone had this with their puppy? or have any advice on what it could possibly be? Maybe it's the food that i'm feeding her or perhaps something she's licked off the floor? I'm not sure but it's worrying me so much because she is only 4 months old and I really hope nothing is serious with her... she's still very playful except for the grunts and choking sounds she makes.. Any suggestions would be awesome.

And sorry for such a long story =P Thanks guys!
Tammy.

[LittleMansMomma]

I don't have any advice for you, but I'm so sorry you baby is sick. I will definitely keep you both in my prayers. I do hope she gets better soon!

Maybe some of the others will see this and have some advice for you!

[katrn]

The shaking kinda sounds like she was having seziure, did she just lay around for a while after the shaking stopped?? low blood sugar can cause seizures. I know I'm not much help, I'm a new mom with a 22 wk old. gonna bump this up and hopefully someone will know the answer.

[magsy17]

When she starts doing this (head bopping or shaking) give her some Nutracal or Karo syrup and see if that helps. The other noise does sound like reverse sneezing.

[RONLYNN]

You might want to get a bile acid test to make sure it is not a liver shunt.

[alaskayorkie]

I wish I could help, but you've done everything I would have done. All I can suggest is to see another vet -- and get the first one to transfer all the records to the new one.

I'm no expert. Things that come to mind are hypoglycemia as the vet suggested, reverse sneezing or collapsed trachea. None of them explains all the symptoms your pup is having.

Any signs of lethargy? That would back up the hypoglycemia diagnosis. But I don't think it explains the coughing.

Sorry I couldn't be of help. Definitely see another vet.

[CSRE]

Pulga does that coughing sound all the time, its like a cat trying to take a hair ball out or something. She does it when she runs, when she drinks water, sometimes when she eats, sometimes during the night, sometimes when playing.. She got tested for EVERYTHING including x-rays for any possible trachea problem and she is fine . According to out vets (we saw 3 of them, all thought i was a crazy paranoid of course ) this is a very common problem with toy breeds cause they are too small and so is their respiratory system so they often choke even when only breathing peacefully. So, as long as it passes and she is breathing ok its supposed to be "normal" and there is nothing you can really to do about it (i just try to calm her down a it until she settles down)

[Ellie May]

Even if that is reverse sneezing, no pup should do it that much. It would wonder about kennel cough or collapsed trachea.

As far as the shaking, it could be hypoglycemia.
If it happens again, give some karo sugar or Nutrical and if the shaking stops, that is probably what it is. How many times a day do you feed her?

If the shaking doesn't stop after nutrical or if she starts shaking or acting strange AFTER eating, she needs a bile acid test to check or liver shunt.

[KimluvsLexie]

I agree with Ellie May, check for kennel cough, that sounds exactly like when Lexie had it. The vet put her on some antibiotics and it was all better. Good luck with your pup!

[MyAngel]

It may be hypoglycemia. Just make sure that she has something in her tummy and even before bed time. Maybe a treat or two. Did the ER check for ear infection? It could also be kennel cough. Ask your vet about the possibility of kennel cough.

Also when she makes those noises try placing your hand over her nose for just a few quick seconds hopefully that will help to stop it. You can also gently rub her neck and body during this.

[Joana74]

Have your Vet do a Bile Acid Test to rule out a Liver Shunt. Our girl is going to a specialist to be checked out.

Head-bobbing is one of the symptoms od LS, although I don't think coughing is.

[Susan123]

the coughing sounds like kennel cough to me... The bobbing of head really can be shunt related.

[tammyphan780]

Thanks CSRE - that reassures me a bit that your pup had the same problem too and it turns out to be nothing.

And thanks everyone for all the advice!

Cookie breathes and does everything fine. It's mainly the coughing/choking sound that worries me cause even if it was reversed sneezing - i don't think they're suppose to be doing it that often. She does it throughout the day. When i went to the vet, he checked for a liver shunt and it's not. So i'm glad. I read about a collapsed treachea and thought perhaps it could be it? But i really hope not because I do not have to want to put her through surgury at such a young age.. although I dont know the exact symptoms of collapsed treachea. All i read was that they do a coughing/honking noise. I just hope she's not going through any serious problems.

I have an appointment at the vet on the 10th, so I will definitely suggest if it could be kennel cough. What exactly is kennel cough?

[tammyphan780]

Oh yes.. and to answer some of your questions... I'm feeding her basically all day. I just leave the tray of food/water there for her and whenever she's hungry she just goes to eat it. I'm not really watching how much I feed her yet because the vet says right now she is still growing so I have until 6 months to watch how often she eats. I'm feeding her a brand of food called "balanced nutrition" that i buy from a store that sells only nutritionous food and not the brand names that they sell in regular supermarkets.

And she actually did have an ear infection about 2 weeks ago. I took her to the vet and found out she had an ear infection and they gave me medication and cleaner. After a week, it got better and she stopped itching so I stopped putting medicine in her ears but the smell is coming back so I'm not sure if the infection had gone away completely.

[sadiesamie]

It could be allergies too, My Samie... when her nose is runny or her eyes are teary. She will cough. when she starts this cough... it is definitely more coughing that goes on when she lays down. like when she lays on her belly and puts her chin down to the floor in the middle of her paws. whenever she has this coughing thing that happens every now and then she is always guaranteed a cough. she puts her chin down and there she goes...
She sounds really nasally and she will snore a lot too and there it happens- she coughs and after a few coughs she will then cough like as if she is trying to get something out of her throat.

i have a video of her doing this and i showed it to the specialist and he said it could be allergies OR collapsing somewhere.. he said to keep a watch of the frequency. So i keep track on a calendar. so far she did it 3 times last month. the video is a little long.... bc I was trying to capture this. maybe there is a way to edit it, if so i will post it. her stomach also goes up and down too, like as if she is trying to work up a good cough.

When I give her benadyrl it seems to help her A LOT. She turns blue when she gets very excited (vet visits,,,after a bath when she is all wet) the specialist says it could be laryngeal paralysis. Regardless!!! I am watching her like a hawk. I am going to try to video tape her after her next bath. she does not turn blue when she coughs but she sure does when she is all wet after a bath and i am getting ready to dry her.

It makes me so nervous to bathe her- i do not put her head under water. In that past she has coughed really bad, drank or go water up her nose and she turned blue- (her tongue-the top of it turns a greyish color and the underneath of her tongue there are two stripes of navy blue! I do not wash her head every single time she gets a bath. I do it every other and just wipe her head eyes and ears with a wet wash cloth. and her baths are only every couple months. Until we can track these coughs. - we have lots going on as i have 2 yorkies. we are dealing with one issue at a time but we are also watching this. If within a couple months this gets worse we are going to do a "scope" on her.

anyway- note the way her eyes look and if there is any nasal discharge.

Samie's nose is so wet sometimes, that i will wipe it for her. :-)
We also are in the middle of talking with a nutritionist so this could all be related to food. They are currently on wellness.