Choking sounds
 

I gave my Yorkie a small piece of raw hide. Since then he chokes and gags then spits up watery white liquid. He settles down for a while then it starts all over again. What can I do to help him?

Well, if he is strangling on a piece of raw hide, you will need to get him to a vet that can get it out of his throat....

IF it is caught in his throat, and IF it is high enough that it is just choking him right now, maybe the vet can get to it thru his mouth and pull it out..... be advised it could easily go further down his throat, where he wont be able to get his breath around it and then he will indeed choke to death.....If it were me, I would go ahead and get my emergency credit card, get my pup, and head for a competent emergency room before he strangles to death. If it turns out he is NOT strangling on "a little piece of rawhide", then at least you know your pup wont be choking to death on "a little piece of rawhide". If your baby gets through this with nothing more than a huge emergency vet bill, please dont be giving your baby little pieces of rawhide....strangulation death is about all that is good for.

Choking
 

Take him to a vet, he sounds in big trouble. The rawhide is obstructing some part of his system and needs removing ASAP.

How is this kiddo today, any better? If not, he truly needs to see a vet...

I agree with above members, choking sounds like it's stuck, I would get this baby to the vet if he's doing this today.

Rawhides are on the dangerous side, especially for this reason of being a choking hazard to some pups. Take him to the vet asap, hope all is well!

Rawhide
 

Wondering how your baby is today, hope he is better and the rawhide piece has left him. Very scary thing to happen. How big of a piece was it that you gave him? Might help others here to know this. Thank you.

Wicket the Yorkie
 

Wicket is much better today. We did end up going to the ER vet today. He got real lethargic and did not want food or even much loving. Worried us and we both were up with him all night. It wasn't the rawhide. It was bronchitis. What we thought was gagging was really coughing. Vet said he probably got it from the animal services place where we got him on Tuesday. You know basically kennel cough and we were grateful that it wasn't pneumonia. Two shots, two x-Rays, antibiotics & cough pills and $450 bucks later. We're home and he's doing great. Sleeping w hubby as we speak. Thank you so much for the advice thru this site. No more raw hides for him. We didn't realize how dangerous those could be until this happened. After posting, Wicket seemed to be ok. Then as night came on his coughing got worse. First thing this morning we were at the ER vet. I've told you the rest.

The piece of raw hide was about two inches.

Wicket
 

Thank you so much for your update. So glad that he is feeling a little better today. Poor baby...and you...as it is always concerning when our babies are sick. Do you think it was the stuck rawhide or a bug that caused the bronchitis?
Could be the rawhide just made it worse when it got stuck?
Anyway, it seems that rawhide is not too good for small dogs.
Hope he continues to get better, but he should after all the meds and ER treatment! Yes these babies can get expensive with vet bills. You might want to consider pet insurance in case he gets into trouble again. Good luck and thanks again for letting us know how he is doing.

Addition!
 

I know you said that the vet thought it was a bug he caught, but it seems strange that the symptoms came after eating the rawhide?
By the way did you retrieve the rawhide or did it just get processed by the GI system?
I tried to edit it the original, but ran out of time!

Wicket Update #2
 

The X-rays showed inflamed bronchi pure and simple. We could see it. There was nothing in his throat or intestine like I had feared due to the raw hide. He had been sneezing some since he got home with us but we didn't think much of it and he'd been coughing but we didn't know it was coughing. He is so much better. Now. Eating, playing, etc. thank God!!!

Wicket
 

Thank you. It does seem the poor guy was getting sick when you got him. The X-rays told the story! I am amazed that he has improved so much since he was diagnosed and treated. You must be so happy and relieved to see him playing and eating now. WTG Wicket, keep up the good work and hope you all sleep better tonight :)

Napped a lot today in between outside trips and playing a little. He's tired from it all. I think we got it in time. We've been thinking about pet insurance since we got him and have gotten aw few quotes. What's your take on that? Most have quoted $30-40 per month.

Wicket
 

Yes he probably does feel tired as that disease does take a lot out of him. He also may have effects of all the meds he was given. But he seems in very good shape and progressing nicely.
I have really found insurance worth it. You need to get it as early as possible before he gets the dreaded 'pre- existing' condition!!
There have been threads on here on the subject and it can be a complex mess to delve through. I have Trupanion with zero deductible and it pays 90 % of covered items. The main problem for some is that the deductible is for each condition rather than per year. As I have zero deductible I don't care. I am very happy with them and have only had one premium raise in five years. They do not increase due to the dog's age, only vet costs in one's area. Another good one I have heard is Healthy Paws. They are good as the deductible is per year not health event. You have to look carefully at coverage and such things as hereditary disease coverage etc. and have to compare apples with apples. The above insurances do not cover routine vet visits or care, such as flea meds etc, shots....
But there are some insurers that do cover such things.
There are web sites that show comparisons and that helps.
Good hunting!