Acupuncture for Collapsing Trachea?

[RemydeHaviland]

Update

Remy saw the internal medicine team at Davis on Jan 24th.

Their assessment - airway disease, specifically airwave collapse and bronchitis. Esophagus is fine. Heart stable. Multiple xrays demonstrate the trachea is narrowed. There is a crackling sound detected in his lungs. Two new meds prescribed: Flovent inhaler and Theophylline (bronchodilator).

The Theophylline seems to be making a difference. It is a pill given twice daily. The Inhaler is another story. It is a human inhaler and I have to give him the propellant with a mask on - that has to stay over his nose and mouth for 30 seconds / 8 complete breaths. Let's just say this is going to require some adaptation.

As far as diagnostics... they did not do a fluoroscopy. We did discuss it. The docter said the number of xrays clearly showed her what was going on with the trachea so she did not need additional assessment of that and the fluoroscopy would not help to further assess the lower lungs. As a result it was her opinion it would not offer any new info.

They could do a bronchoscopy - it would be to confirm the lung diagnosis and to determine if there is mucus. If this were to happen it would be at a future date - requires special scheduling. They did indicate it would be risky given his age, and it requires anesthesia for about 30 minutes.

We are going with meds in the near term to see if we can cut the coughing down about 50%

Bottomline, the unfortunate fact is that he is old. At 14 1/2 this is a disease for which their is no cure or silver bullet. We are at symptom management / mitigation. Hoping these two new meds have a demonstrable impact.

[ladyjane]

Thank you for the update!

Yes, it is true that a flouroscopy is not needed if the collapse shows on an xray. I believe I had noted that previously. The only time it is really needed is when a dog has symptoms of CT and it does not show on xray.

Did you ask about Lomotil? Someone else posted here recently about CT and their pup was put on it and it is helping him.

Yes, 14 1/2 is getting up there. I do hope he is comfortable with the new meds.

[Britster]

So sorry you are dealing with this too! It was a nightmare with Jackson too last year. Cough got so bad and I just felt awful for him -- he was otherwise acting normal.

Our regular vet started with an x-ray and a round of doxycycline to rule out infection. The Doxy seemed to help at first. Vet warned me doxy has anti inflammatory properties though so it could have just been that helping, not necessarily killing infection. Cough came back with full vengeance and our vet tried Jackson on theophylline but he had every side effect -- diarrhea, hyper, anxious, panting, etc. We stopped that. He mentioned prednisone and the Flovent inhaler but he was hesitant to do pred because of his pancreatitis. I asked him to prescribe Lomotil based on research I did and he did prescribe it, but it gave Jax weird poops. We got the inhaler RX and then we got squeezed into the specialist who had a cancellation.

She did a fluoroscopy and saw no signs of Collapsing Trachea or lower airway. They did a tracheal wash under mild sedation and a culture came back and grew 2 types of bacteria -- both resistant to doxy and clavamox. So we did a round of marbofloxacin which really seemed to help and she felt comfortable doing a round of prednisone. His pancreatitis was not affected and I am so glad I did it because it really calmed down the inflammation. We then transitioned him onto the Flovent Aerodawg inhaler and I think it really helps. We also have hydrocodone for bad nights, as of now it seems to work on an as needed basis, but I know eventually I may have to give every 8 hours.

I am sorry you went/are going through as well. I didn't know bronchitis was such a thing in older dogs, but my vet said he sees it often enough. His own 13yr old Pit bull dog is actually on an inhaler as well.

The specialist also ended up doing further testing from his bloodwork and urine results and found he had excessive protein in urine and diagnosed him with PLN which he now takes 2 meds daily for. These seniors are tough.....

[RemydeHaviland]

Hi Brit, oh my - Jackson and Remy seem to have some similar symptoms. Remy just turned 15 yesterday. It seems like yesterday we met at the dog park in Annapolis, but in reality it was years ago!!!

From your note, I see you also did the doxy, I thought at first it helped but ultimately no long term improvement.

Remys current daily meds include:
1/ benazapril for his heart function (which has remained stable for last three years)
2/ theophylline for lung function
3/ The Flovent inhaler which does seem effective, if hated (!)
4/ pneumotrophin- a holistic treatment for lung function

At this point we feel he is relatively stable and there has been some reduction in the coughing - fewer episodes and severity seems to have lessened

A few lifestyle adjustments have been made as well. He loves eating / drinking from the raised bowls and I think it aids swallowing. He has lost weight and is around 8.5 lbs ( this is due to me making a food change). Finally, I changed out all of his bedding and that seems to have helped at night. I was thinking dust mites etc may have been causing some respiratory issues and new bedding is certainly easy to accomplish.

Long story short I feel he is doing well right now. Best wishes to you and Jackson!!! Our super seniors certainly keep us on our toes.

[RemydeHaviland]

A follow up on this thread, and a note to Brit and anyone else dealing with similar circumstances

Please look into and consider allergies triggering respiratory issues. I raise this because we recently moved (sold our home in California) and purchased a home in St John, USVI. Remy has been here with me on the island since October and his coughing has essentially disappeared. His CT still results in a symptomatic cough - when excited or after he eats. Otherwise, no coughing. I have a vet here who saw Remy when he initially arrived (she was
Able to observe the coughing) and I have consulted by phone with our other vets - they are all quite amazed - and they are now all saying perhaps allergies were the root cause.

The current thinking is a respiratory irritation / allergen that was present both in NH and CA but is not here. Now the speculation is underway as to what it was. When we return north in April I will be intrigued to see if the coughing reoccurs - and if so there is little doubt it is some allergen.

For us, this has been quite a remarkable shift. And Remy is feeling so much better. He sleeps, is really active and it is a tremendous relief for us to see him feeling better. I have curtailed all medicine except his Benazapril (heart).

Food for thought for anyone else who has a dog suffering in a similar manner.