Breathing or Cough Problem?
 

Hi- I've caught Watson a few times in the past week, either having problems breathing or coughing (like he's got something stuck in his throat). It looks like he is about to throw up, but nothing comes out. This lasts for about 15 seconds and I never know what to do. I don't know if he is choking on something and I should try to get into his mouth or just let him "get it up". I know this is a pretty vague description, but when he does this it also reminds me of a cat coughing up a hair ball. Like I said I don't know if it's more respiratory or something in his throat, but if anyone else has seen their yorkie have similiar reactions could you let me know what this could possibly be, thanks.

I'll wait with you for an answer, because Piper does it too, and it does sound like a cat with a fur ball.

Ladies, I would love to talk to you about this as I have a 10 yr old yorkie that has had this and other problems for about 4 yrs now and is under control.

I will PM you cause I first need to ask you more about your yorkie.

My Yorkie is doing the Same thing...help!!!

Could be reverse sneeze which is where they are taking in air but not breathing out. I just hold their mouth and nose closed for a second and it forces them to breathe out again,

I'll try that next time it happens.

Hi
It sounds like a collapsing trachea, how old is he ? does it happen when he is excited ? when he drinks water ? I have been dealing with this horible disease for 4 years with my Darla .

I have been dealing with this for 10 yrs, but in the last 5 have been the worst. The first 3 of the 5 where real bad, but the last two years have been the best.

Buffy is 10 1/2 yrs old, she has a heart murmur that was only caught at 5 yrs ago and also has chronic bronchitis top off with sinus allergies. She is on 4 diff. meds every day and is always fighting ear, eyes, nose or chest infections.

For 2 yrs the idiot vet I had for 20 yrs gave me nothing for Buffy but just told me that this was very common with this breed :mad: :mad: it took a groomer at Petco to tell me Buffy's heart murmur sound bad, and I had never to the groomer anything about Buffy's health :confused:

I asked for the name and address of her vet and when I got there the Doctor was mad at me, because of the BAD condition Buffy was in.

He told me she was so bad, that if she was a human doctors would have put her in a coma because her heart could have just stop by over working trying to breathe!:eek: :eek: :( :(

Sorry overone I get very upset when I start to remember all this and I don't like offerning help that mush for this reason, I almost lost her 3 times before her health got under some control. Lately I've been ok talking about this, even tho right now this weather is starting to bother her. It's too hot the air is very dry.

You all stay cool and safe.

new and need advice
 

I am new and came across this while looking for answers about my Yorkie (Timmy)'s cough. He was 11 weeks when I got him and right away I noticed the cough and runny nose. So I took him to the vet who said it was kennel cough. He put him on an antibiotic for two weeks. The runny nose went away almost immediately and the cough got less frequent. He finished the antibiotics and was still coughing so I took him back. He said the strains now are harder to get rid of and are taking up to 6 weeks. He put him on something differednt and again I noticed improvement but it did not completely stop. After that two week course I waited about two weeks and the cough got worse again. I took him back and the vet said out of all of the strains of kennel cough only a few are bacterial and that he might have one of the viral strains. So, he put him back on the first thing to cover the bases. I has now been about a month since the end of that cycle and it is still the same. On the last visit he talked about trachea issues, but said since it doesn't always happen when he gets excited or plays it was probably not it.It is the worst when he gets woken up or wakes up himself at all times of day and night. It also happens several other times a day during all different activities. The vet says his heart sounds good, but when I feel it beating it seems irregular. I am worried that all of this could be heart related and that he may have fluid in his lungs. When he is coughing it sometimes sounds wet and every cough ends with a gag. I am just going off of what I know about people though(I am a nurse). He is almost five months now. He has not even gotten well enough for the vet to give him his shots. I am going to ask the vet to do a chest x-ray and an x-ray of his trachea. Does anyone else have any suggestions or think this sounds familiar? I can always tell the days when he is feeling the worst because his ears drop. They have been down all day today. Sorry this is long but I am out of ideas and the vet doesn't seem to be as worried as I have become.

Miley's little episodes have jsut disappeared, I calle the vet and scheduled an appointment and then had to change it to a later date and everything is fine with her now. I had been taking ehr to work with me and she was constantly sniffing around in corners and anything she would fit her little nose in, I came to the conclusion that is was just from all the dust and possibly the temperature in my house because it had been so cold from the air conditioner. Now that she doesn't go to work and the air has been midified to fit her, all the symptoms she was having has vanished. I take her next week for another round of shots and I'm going to mention it to the vet. Also, Here is another question. I got Miley at 4 months and she had all of her shots including her rabis vaccine. Does it hurt to get an extra round since she has been at my home? Also, if not mistaken the paper the vet sent said she is getting another rabis vaccine. HMMM???

It doesn't sound like Timmy has a collapsed trachea. They usually would not appear at that young of age and collapsed tracheas (CT) produce a honking cough when excited. My 18 mth old yorkie has been diagnosed with CT. Did the xray show anything? I also think it may be an infection or a bad strain of Kennel Cough. Kennel cough can take several rounds of antibiotics before the puppy is able to shake it off. I adopted a little chihuahua who had to do 4 rounds of antibiotics before she got over her kennel cough that she picked up at the pound after they found her.

Good luck with Timmy. Please let us know how he is doing.

Timmy
 

Thank you everyone. We still don't know what is going on. Timmy had x-rays today which showed that his trachea was fine but that his heart is enlarged. I am going to be taking him to a cardiologist to see if she can figure out why. The vet today said it could be a congenital problem, but also may be enlarged from the stress of the constant coughing. If the latter is the case it should go away after the cough does. But the cough is getting worse not better. There was some clouding in his lungs but he thinks it is cardiac related too. I am going to take the x-rays to another vet that I have taken my cocker to. He has been around forver and has seen it all. Maybe he will have an idea.I also found out today that he has hook worms that they found in July but never told me the results and so now i am treating him for that. He has been on Sentinal so he said that may have already taken care of them. He has been sick from the day I got him. I am hoping that we can get him well so that we will finally be able to truely enjoy him. Right now he has so much trouble with the coughing that we can hardly walk him or play with him and he is only 5 months old.:( If anyone has a Yorkie who has had heart issues or chronic lung problems let me know.:confused:

hey everyone, my yorkie (chopstix) been doing the same thing, sounds like coughing up a furball, or coughing, or choking.

He's 1 year old now, and he used to do it when he was young, but it wasnt so often at all, probably like once every 2, 3 months.

but today, this morning, he started to do it again and it lasted longer than the other times.

He just had one awhile and he lasted pretty long.

plus, he's beginning to snore when he sleeps sometimes.

im hoping its not CT..

but when we got him neutered, the vet did a check up on his heart, lungs, etc.. and they said everything was fine. what should i do?

Wow. The hacking cough appears to be a common thing. I have the same issue. I took Jambo to two different vets and am just waiting to see if it gets better. It definitely is not constant but it really concerns me every time I hear him do it because it sounds like he has something stuck and can't catch a good breath. Often it is after a good drink of water. I will be following up on all threads concerning this topic so please everyone keep posting your experience.

following the day after, my yorkie didnt do it today at all. but he has a runny nose. thinking about calling the vet tomorrow

I send you a PM did you get it??

tye my 14 year old yorkie has had heart failure (enlarged heart) for about a year now but before that he had a heart murmur and bronchitis for 2 or 3 years.
he still has bronchitis now but with the meds he is on hes doing ok.
funny thing is the vets said he would be worse in the summer and better in the winter but with tye its the other way around i think he gets worse in winter cos the cold air hits his chest.
he did have a problem with fluid in his lungs but the meds keep his lungs clear now.
the way to tell the difference between reverse sneezing and a heart problem is with reverse sneezing the dog will lean forward with its legs kind of spread and make a honking noise and if you put your finger over its nose so they breath out of there mouth it stops.
with a heart problem the dog coughs and it sounds like we do when we cough but at the end of the cough they will yack like they want to bring something up.
other signs are not wanting to lay down and keep on walking about as breathing is easyer, blue tinge to the gums and tounge, breathing fast and using there tummy to help them breath, swollen tummy as thats were the fluid will also go, sneezing, sounding chesty, if you use an empty loo roll to listen to there chest if they have fluid you will hear a crackley sound as they breath.
if anyone wants a chat about this feel free to pm me.

Jambo's hacking has turned into a honking sound. A few nights ago he hacked up some snot. It wasn't yellow, just a cloudy white color. From hearing other people's experience, I am just concerned that nothing can be done for it. He licks his paws a lot.

Yorkie coughing
 

Our yorkie " RUSTY " unfortunately went to Rainbowsbridge a few months ago, however it was nothing to do with his cough which hw had for many years. This also sounded like a furball or to some a smokers cough.
Over the past 20 years we have had two yorkies and only Rusty had a cough.
Some years ago when we lived aboard our motoryacht, some friend several slips down had a Yorkie with the same problem.
What causes this is to us at this poin unknown, and also to many others we have talked to. We do know it is inherent in quite a number of this breed, especially after the age of 5.

Note, you can visit with RAGS and RUSTY as we put up a candlelight tribute every Monday night at the Rainbows bridge.

May the good Lord be looking over each and every little Yorkie in the world, they are all special little guys.

I just rescued my newest yorkie Mochi from a animal shleter and he has this EXACT same problem. he make s little couch noise than this weird wheeze/air escaping gagging noise. Sometimes with a tiny bit of throw up (but I think that is a separate problem from the anesthesia from the neuter he just had yesterday), usually it's just the noise and nothing comes out. This happens when he gets too excited usually or has a big toy carrying around in his mouth. Did you ever find out what this problem was?

The vets that did the neuter didn't report any health problems to me after his check out up but I am wondering if I should take him to my vet too just to be safe?

Bella has this same problem. It only seems to happen when she gets really excited and is playing but not all of the time. It only lasts for about a second or two, she does one or two coughs and then she's fine. She's 10 months old now but I noticed it when she was younger too. Seems to be a lot of babies on this web site with the same problem. I wonder if it's fairly common with this breed.

just thought i would bump this one up, as chip has the same problem, he only does it everyonce in a while, but when he does, he will do it and then he will start sounding like he is throwing up a little bit :( hope people have found a cure for it

not to alarm but this is how it started with Scruffy and congestive heart failure----He had a cough, that didnt go away, he already had enlarged heart and a murmur---but I think an x-ray would tell if there is any fluid in lungs. and then a ekg. I let the cough go for awhile thinking it was collapsing trachea--(he had cough medicine for that) but he ended up in heart failure-but he is thankfully doing fine now on his meds and never want to experience that again although.......I think making sure no salt in diet, is always good for dogs with heart conditions anyway to start. My thoughts are with you.
Vet ha diagnosed with collapsing trachea and CHF so sometimes hard to tell which is happening unless x-ray and some tests--

lastnight, chip coughed so much, he threw up :( i thought that would be the last of it, but no :( he was coughing again lastnight and this morning :( what sort of cough mimedicine did you give them? was it a special doggy medicine? or just kids one? i heard that you can give them calpol or other over the counter cough meds, but i dont want to incase it does more harm than good. cheers

I know situations like this would scare me to death thank you for posting I hope everything is resolved soon:)

Hugs
Vicki