Tracheal Collapse
 

Has anyone had any symptoms or heard of anyone who has? Found this online and it best describes:
COLLAPSING TRACHEA -- Collapsing Trachea is a problem common to Toy Breeds. The trachea is a long tube that carries air from the neck to the chest. It is reinforced with rings of cartilage that help keep it rigid as air moves in and out of the tube. When the cartilage weakens, the trachea may collapse while the dog is breathing. While many affected dogs do fine, this isn't the case in all of the Toy's. The round cartilage rings may flatten, forcing the dog to try to breathe through an extremely narrow opening.

The symptoms of the condition---shortness fo breath, coughing, fatigue---usually appear after the age of five, although they can begin as early as birth. Generally young dogs tolerate collapsing trachea pretty well until they get older.

It has been suggested that you should use a "harness" rather than collar on this type dog [which we do but had a hard time finding one small enough for Toto]. I would be mortified if this happened ... we always have "Dr. Lucy" check it when she sees Toto. You just can't be too careful! ;)

I believe blondy was dealing with that issue in this thread:

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...cheal+collapse

bettyanne: you can get CAT (or kitten) harnesses, which are a bit smaller and they fit a Yorkie just fine. It'd be so sad to see a Yorkie with this problem!

Yes, I believe that was what happened with Biggy. Wonder how he is doing ... has anyone heard?
Thanks for the cat harness tip .... that's exactly what we did! She is getting used to it finally but I don't know if she will ever learn to "heel"!! :rolleyes:

No problem, she just probably needs to get more accustomed to it. We also have a retractable leash thing (maybe 15 feet total length). That helps, as you can make it short if you are near a street, or let it all out when all is safe. I believe Yoda didn't really get used to his harness for at least 3-4 months of constant use. Now he's a pro and drags US everywhere, whereas before he would have a problem walking in front of us...

Softest Harness
 

When Higgins was tiny, a fellow camper who breeds chihuahuas bought him two wonderful soft harnesses that are padded and use velcro to fasten them. He LOVED them. And the beauty of them was that you could just pick him right up and out of trouble with the leash since he was softly held in the harness. His first one was a very natty navy mesh and the next size she sent is black quilted fabric with red lipstick prints all over it -- really cute! When I get everything unpacked from my camper, I'll find the name of her website and post it.

Higgins now uses a regular small cat harness and a Flexi-lead that rolls in and out. He walked beautifully on his leash right from the get go, but I think that was because he had Pogo as his role model. Pogo goes right along and Higgins went right along just behind him. This sometimes let to poor Higgins either getting under Pogo's lifted leg, or getting a faceful of dirt when Pogo finished up his job with a healthy back leg digging routine. Now, when they run free out in the yard, it is so much fun to watch Higgins follow Pogo's every move. Reminds me of the Kibbles & Bits ad.

Velcro and padded sounds good, does it STAY tho, like if Higgins was going full sprint towards the street and you needed to stop him immediately, would the velcro hold? I know with the cat harnesses, there's no way Yoda will make it to the street in that situation.

We are finding that Toto walks better on the leash each time we take her out. Just spoke with the trainer and he said until next week when he gets here to just continue getting her accustomed to it .... much further back on the driveway!! :p The cat harness we found has those little plastic thingys kinda like a seat belt and it's relatively easy to put on her, however the velcro ones Higgins Mom was talking about sound even easier .... surely it would hold a 3 lb. yorkie!? :cool:

That's toooo funny! I can just see Pogo ... do you think he maybe "aims" at Higgins just a little?? :D The little ones are so funny when they first start to learn to hike their little leg!! My Amanda had a cocker puppy that once tipped over into a Spanish Bayonet in the front yard trying to hike and pee!! Poor baby .... could hear him screaming for blocks!! Never hiked there again!! :p Can't wait to see the web site with the velcro harnesses!! Hustle it up and get unpacked!!! ;)

My little Andy
 

Hi everyone,
I am new here,i went looking for a yorkie forum to help me with my sweet little yorkie Andy.
Andy is almost 6(in october) and he has started to develope the couch and choking,sometimes he throws up a white foamy vomit after he has been coughing.I am worried about hime because i had a little femal yorkie named Annie that i lost 7 years ago,she had the trachael collapse and i save her life menay time by breathing into her mouth and nose when she passed out.One day i was not home when it happened and she died,It KILLED me.I still miss her more than words can say, she was my best friend in this world.
My son's gave ma my little male Andy a year after i lost Annie.He is as different from her in personality as can be.Annie was quiet and hardly barked while ANdy is rambunctious and barks alot.I adore him!
I am worried that he is developing what Annie had and the white foamy vomit concerns me alot because when Annie died it was all over the room.
What can i do ? I don't want to lose him this way too.Please help
Nancy

I'm sorry to hear about Annie! :(

Have you had Andy checked out at the vet? Only thing I can think of is to not use a collar and instead use a harness (like for cats) when he is on a leash, assuming you haven't already done that...

Welcome, Nancy! Sorry your Andy is sick. I must agree that it sounds like trachael problems. I would get to him to the vet as soon as possible! Also, as Fasteddie said, I would never use a collar on a Yorkie but always a harness! We just use a little adjustable cat harness for Toto because she is so small and it works wonderfully! Please keep us posted on his progress!! ;)

My ANdy
 

Thank you for the replies,I will make an appointment with the vet.I hope he can do something to help Andy with his trachea,and choking cough.There wasen't mush he could do for my Annie,he gave me pills to sedate her some when he would get upset(She was afraid of storms) She would over breathe causing her trachea to collapse,Andy has also developed a fear of storms,just recently.he wasen't afraid before,so i have no idea why he is now.I did go looking for aharness but haven't found one yet.

Found this site listed at the top of the page earlier:

http://www.petcollarsandmore.com/harnesses.htm

Looks like they have some great stuff......

Nancy, let us know re Andy - yorkies are very excitable and it may be no more than that. We had a yorkie with a trachea prob, the love of our lives but he lived beyond age 14 - he was wonderful but his own worst enemy as he got overexcited etc!! Sorry to hear about Annie but glad you now have Andy! We were a year without a yorkie too like you, just had to have another and we are now owned by 1 yr old Gypsy Rose who is having a baby sis in Sept. Going back to Andy - may be worth checking he does not have a throat infection? Gypsy Rose had one a while back and was bringing up white foamy stuff. A course of antibiotics and she was fine. NOT saying that it is what is wrong with Andy but may be worth checking especially if it has only just started? Keep us posted, Luv, Ana xx

Trachea ?
 

I was so sad to read about little Annie - that really broke my heart and I cannot imagine coming home and finding your little baby like that !

When Chanel gets excited - like everytime I come home - playing in the water...etc...she does this snorting thing also -

Do I need to worry too about Chanel and her snorting ? I cover her nose to make her breath thru her mouth and am with her most of the time - but if one day I wasn't here - and someone knocked on the door or something - she could start and not STOP !!

I don't know how/why I forgot to post this.....When Higgins was a baby, he developed the cough and foamy spitup thing, but when we took him to our favorite vet in Florida, he SHOWED me his swollen tonsils! Did you know that they get "tonsillitis" just like kids do??? I didn't even know Yorkies HAD tonsils!
So, be aware of the more serious possibilities, but don't panic, and get 'em to the vet to know for sure. Higgins tonsils cleared right up with the antibiotics he was taking for coccidiosis at the time.

More recently, I gave Higgins an almond to chomp on since I was eating a handful and he was begging. SCAREd THE HECK OUT OF ME! He is ALLERGIC to almonds! Started to close up his airway! Maybe they all are. Pogo loves 'em and has never had a problem, but now I don't give Higgins OR Pogo any nuts at all. I should have known better. As Dr. Phil would say "What was I thinking??!!!"

Yup, if you aren't sure if it's good to feed your Yorkie a certain food, DON'T DO IT! :)

About snorting, Yoda does that from time to time as well, but only a few snorts, nothing major. I really haven't heard too much about Yorkie snorting being a problem, but I haven't researched it too much, either...

health info
 

That's a great resource for Yorkies and health issues. Very well put together with tons of detail!

Thanks FastEddie, I try to cover everything that I can find that affects our little yorkies. I have one that is also a LiverShut survivor, and doing very well now.

Red98vett, Maddie does the snorting too. My vet said it is called reverse sneezing. If I pick her up and rub her nose she will quit or I take her out for fresh air. Rudy doesn't do it only Maddie.............Cindy

mmyorkies ... thanks again for link to your site! I discovered an interesting thing in the "health" part! CAMPYLOBACTERIOSIS ... I had never heard that word until a few years ago! We were working in Chicago and my husband had been way out away from the city to meet with a landowner who had a dairy farm. His schedule was really hectic that day and he didn't have time for lunch so he just zipped through a "fast-food" place and grabbed a burger. Late that afternoon he suddenly became violently ill. He couldn't retain anything ... food, water ... nothing! This is really gross, but I didn't know that anyone could throw up or go diahrrea that many times ... he could hardly lay down before he had to run back to the bathroom! He was so sick that by the time I took him to the ER [about 6 AM] that he was dehydrated. This went on for days and the doctors took culture after culture and were so puzzled ... just couldn't tell me anything other than the fact that they couldn't find what was causing it! They just kept trying different medications trying to "hit" on one that worked! I was mortified ... I had never seen anyone this sick that didn't die!! As I was making arrangements to fly him home to a hospital in Birmingham [where I was familiar with doctors & reputation for success] the doctor called me ... very excited ... we know what it is!! He said they rarely see it in humans ... CAMPYLOBACTERIOSIS!!! They knew immediately the correct antibiotic to treat it with ... and right away he responded and began to improve! Later, as we recounted to the doctor [for the bzillionth time] every single thing he had done prior to getting sick ... he had met with the dairy farmer & they shook hands when he left there ... then he had that burger!! The doctor said it HAD to have come from the farmer OR a food server that had not washed their hands!! :eek: We could never know which one gave him the germ since he never had a chance to wash his hands after touching the farmer's hand! From that day forward we are never without a bottle of waterless germicide ... we have it in every vehicle, bathroom, kitchen, etc.!! ;) I cannot imagine if one of our babies contracted this nasty bacteria how horrible it would be nor how long these tiny little guys could survive!! So, everyone, wash those hands and wash them often!!! Our only problem now is VERY dry skin!!! :D

I'm sorry that your husband experienced that. There are several health problems that can be transfered to humans from dogs, just as there are many problems that humans have that our animals now suffer with. There are so many health problems, but I try to research the ones that are the most common with our little furkids.

I was amazed when I read the lady's post about ringworm ... now CAMPYLOBACTERIOSIS!! Can't wait to read the rest of the information on your site. Thanks again!

Are you by chance planning to show at Delaware Valley? I don't know if any of Ava's dogs will be there but Toto's Dad, Wyatt won something there last year!

Right now we only stay in the states surrounding Indiana. Both hubby and I work so we can't travel too far on the week-ends for shows. Wed have been in Ind, Mich, Ohio, Northern Kentucky, Illinois and Wisconsin. It is just too hard to travel long hours after the shows on Sundays.

Just wanted to add my thanks for your wonderful site, mmyorkies! It is very reassuring to have such good little dog expertise here at YorkieTalk! :D

Thanks, I know when I first got my first 2 yorkies I didn't know anything about them, and the places I found on the internet were not very warm to pet people. If you didn't show they didn't have time for you, so I started researching and I swore that I would build my site and have a list that would help pet owners, hobby breeders, and new show people if I could. It has taken a while, but it is building up and I have met many people that are friendly. There are so many more lists and forums now than when I first started looking. That was 6 years ago, and now I also show and breed.

Hi! Just found this site. My two yorkies both have this. My younger one, Zeb has had the condition since he was young and I took him to the vets panicking but he is fine and always wears an harness as this helps him. He only gets the coughing occasionally now.

My older one, Zack (Zeb's dad) started with it a couple of years ago - I had him checked over incase it was something else - he has had to wear an harness since as well.

I never realised it was a common thing among yorkies until the vet told me.