Another trip to the vet...
 

Today my husband and I took Zeke to the vet. This past Monday we noticed Zeke was sneezing/coughing and right before bed he had an episode and could not catch his breath. It sounded like he was congested and trying to clear his nose and throat. Of course as a nurse, I thought the worse and assumed he had a collapsed trachea but my husband told me to calm down and that he just was stuffy. This continued all week, but not as severe as the first episode. Today Zeke seemed a little lethargic and in the afternoon he threw up three times. I told my husband we had to take him in.
So $500 later, and I am still worried. Zeke did not have a fever and had no signs and symptoms of infection. But we still had blood and stool samples taken. We had an x-ray done to make sure there was no obstruction, none seen, and since he was not sneezing or coughing at the time the vet said it would be too hard diagnose a collapsed trachea and it might be that his episode could have inflammed the area. Now we wait until tomorrow for the labs to return. The vet told us about collapse trachea and to watch Zeke carefully to see if his symptoms worsen. I'm aware that I must keep him from becoming too excited, use a harness, and keep his weight under control, but I just wish there was something more I could do. He is still eating and playing but every now and then he will sneeze/cough.
I have looked at a lot of threads here on yorkietalk.com to learn more and it has really helped.
I want the best for my baby, and I know that you all care very much about your yorkies. Is there anything else I can do?

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Am I overreacting? For all I know he could just be experiencing a reverse sneeze. Is reverse sneezing something I should be worried about?
As you can probably tell, I am a over protective first time yorkie owner.

I don't think it's possible to overeact with these little ones. Hows the weather there now. is it warm or windy. I know when I lived there one of mine would do this if the wind blew especially the santa annas or if there was a fire near by. When he gets too bad he has to take Chlorpheniramine for a couple of days. Is his nose runny or his eyes. Do his eyes look moist? one of mine was showing these symptomes and turns out his tear ducts were plugged and the vet flushed them and he's much better now. Has he had bordatella recently?

Overreacting or not, you will feel better since you had him examined. It does sound like my dogs when they do that reverse sneeze. LOL, I call it doggie hyperventillating, because my dogs do it when they are excited like when I get home from work, and that's what it reminds me of. SO, I just ignore them and they will stop, or I sternly tell them to stop and then they calm down and quit doing that. I say "they" but I only have one that does it. I swear she does it for attention, LOL. But, I do think allergies can trigger it as well.

See our Bella kinda did/does that too... it sounds like she is hyperventilating (altho our vet told us they cant hyperventilate) and it was worse when we thought she had kennel cough... but like Cha Cha said she only does it when she is excited.. and if i tell her to Knock it off and settle down she will stop... its scary tho i know!! Bella just hit the 2 pound mark (she is 17 weeks) and its scary... almost like having a newborn in the house (and im a mom of twin skin babies... although they are almost 5 now!!! hehehe)

It sounds like reverse sneezing. All of my 3 do it but Cali more than the others. Hopefully that is all it it. I always say it's better to check it out.

Hi!! I think we met at the Yorkie meet-up last weekend. I'm Davey's mom. I'm so sorry to here that Zeke is not feeling well.

I'm sure you'll feel better as soon as you get the results, so then at least you know whats going on. Davey does the reverse sneeze a lot. Did your vet consider alergies??

Thanks everyone for your support.
Zeke is still not feeling well. He is clingy and doesn't want to play. I hope the results come in soon so I can feel better. This morning he was really congested. It sounds like he has a head cold or something. I just want him to get better and be himself.
About the allergies, a month ago when i took him to the vet he was put on Hill's z/d because he had dry skin, itching, and his ears were red. So we thought he had food allergies. The symptoms havent changed too much. The weather just changed recently. It was dry and nice out but now it really cold and raining. His eyes always have a lot of moisture so there has been no change in that. He is only 5 months and weights 6 pounds. He has all of his vaccinations.
Hi Harvey's mom...he started feel sick two days after the meet up. I hope he didn't catch anything there.
Thanks again everyone, I'll post again when i hear from the vet.

Sounds like he has Bordatella.:eek:

feel better zeke:)

Bordatella is given to prevent kennel cough. It is not an illness.

Hope little Zeke is feeling better today!

There are different strains of Bordatella, and yes it is an illness. Like strep there are diff strains but all called strep. Parvo also comes in diff strains, Corona also comes in diff strains. The vets use the term kennel cough with the clients because thats the term most people understand but it is Bordatella of one strain or another. And kennel cough is one strain of Bordatella.

I stand corrected. I realize what causes kennel cough and just have not thought of it referred to as a diagnosis of bordatella.

Somehow I know you knew that, and thought you were either confused or had forgotten.;)

Feel better Zeke ((huggs))

my Daisy goes through that every now and if it is a reverse sneeze you can type online on youtube and there are some videos of a dog doing a reverse sneeze. That is how I firgured out what was wrong with Daisy. I hope that is all it is! good luck!

Or....just senile and plain crazy! :eek:

Excellent!!

Update
 

Thanks for everyones comments. they have all been really helpful! We received labs today: stool was negative and blood work all came back negative. He still sounds congested, but other than that he is fine. The vet called and said that if it does not clear then we can take him in on monday and Zeke will be given some nasal spray.
Thanks for that video, he does do that sometimes. The only signs and symptoms that I have noticed is that he seems more congested in the morning. I hope it all clears up soon.
If it turns out that he is just reverse sneezing, is there anything i should be worried about or watch out for? or is it normal?
Thanks again for everyones help. :)

Naaa . Sometimes you just have too much info in there and it all gets scrambled around. Like when someone asks you a question that you absolutely know the answer to but all of a sudden it's just not there and you find yourself just standing there with your teeth in your mouth. I think the answer is just hiding behind something else. Just stop and shake your ears like the dog and it'll come to the top. It's just overload. LoL

I will have to remember that one....although I am sure I will get some odd looks when I start shaking my head like that. :D

I need you around for every time I say something stupid. :p

Ain't that the truth!!:p

I tell people if you ever see my head going forward real fast it is my father (who passed 10 years ago) hitting me (lovingly) on the back of my head to move the information forward...Overload is a bitch!..:D:p:D

Ok, now my dogs are looking at me laughing hysterically . Some heads are cocked and some eyes looking crazy. I'm sure they all think Ive lost my mind.Maybe it's just too late and I'm slap happy but you guys are too funny.
However it is good that we can laugh about it cause what's the use in crying about it:D

Hey how is Zeke doing? It looks like some other dogs were sick from the meet up.

He is doing better but still has some congestion sometimes. he is eat, peeing, pooing, and still playing so I'm not too worried. I am leaving to Chicago tomorrow and when i come back if he is still congested i am going to take him in. i read on a reply that someone dog had caught kennel cough. since this was our first meetup. i am worried about attending any other ones. how is your puppy?

Davey is doing ok...we are dealing with allergies :(

I don't think its possible for your puppy to get Kennel Cough if he has all of his shots.

I wouldn't be too worried, especially if he has his shots.

Hope you have a great trip. I was looking forward to seeing you guys this weekend, but I guess we can see eachother in January?

Have a great trip!