Collapsed Trachea - YorkieTalk.com Forums

jrsummersill1 · 11-13-2008, 08:32 PM

Hi, I have a beautiful yorkie/pom mix. She is about 8 years old. We recently adopted her from a rescue organization. When we got her, they stated that she had a cough that had been checked by the veterinarian and that may never go away but was not transmittable. Upon reading the medical papers they gave us with her, we discovered her problem is a collapsed trachea. I did not know what a collapsed trachea was until I did some extensive research on the internet and what I have read about it has really scared me. She does cough quite a few times a day and it just breaks my heart. We took her to our vet and he did not offer us anything specifically for the cough, but did give her Temeral-P for itching and said that it may help with the cough. After 4 weeks, the itching is much better, but I do not really see any difference in the cough. Apparently itching is a problem she is prone to also as the rescue people said that she was really bad off and had almost no hair when they found her. I try to keep her from getting too excited because I know that she really starts coughing when she is excited, but she loves to throw stuffed animals and shake them. I hate to not let her have some joy in these later years of her life as it is quite obvious she was abused (her little tail has been broken, she appears to have had a few litters of puppies and she shows fear of some things). She seems to cough the most in the morning when she first wakes up. She doesn't cough at all during the night, but as soon as she wakes up around 6:30 a.m., she starts and it lasts for quite awhile. This happens everyday. I could almost set my watch by it. Has anyone who ever had a yorkie diagnosed with a collapsed trachea noticed that it was more pronounced in the morning? If so, was there anything that you could give them or do for them that helped it? If anyone has any helpful information, I would really appreciate it. This little girl is so sweet and smart that in the short time I have had her, Sunshine has stolen my heart and now I constantly fear about her condition and how badly it may be bothering her. Thank you.

dwerten · 11-13-2008, 11:33 PM

join this group CollapsingTrachea-owner@yahoogroups.com and i do not recommend ever doing surgery as not enough done to have proven results for long term

jrsummersill1 · 01-10-2009, 08:37 PM

Good news! Sunshine has not coughed in more than a month. Her new vet thinks that perhaps she does not have a collapsed trachea after all, but maybe asthma instead. This is such a relief for me.

BUT her itching is much worse. She chews and itches constantly and her skin is flaky. The vet gave her a cortisone shot, more temaril p (it is the only thing that seems to work), benzoyl peroxide shampoo and chlorhexidine shampoo. She also recommended that we feed Sunshine fruits and vegetables (except for raisins, grapes and onions, of course). I am going to try everything that she suggests as I know that Sunshine is miserable itching and scratching constantly. Can anyone suggest a good hypoallergenic dog food? We have been feeding her the red iams, but the vet thinks we should try something different. Again, your help and knowledge is appreciated.

2Parises · 01-10-2009, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrsummersill1

Good news! Sunshine has not coughed in more than a month. Her new vet thinks that perhaps she does not have a collapsed trachea after all, but maybe asthma instead. This is such a relief for me.

BUT her itching is much worse. She chews and itches constantly and her skin is flaky. The vet gave her a cortisone shot, more temaril p (it is the only thing that seems to work), benzoyl peroxide shampoo and chlorhexidine shampoo. She also recommended that we feed Sunshine fruits and vegetables (except for raisins, grapes and onions, of course). I am going to try everything that she suggests as I know that Sunshine is miserable itching and scratching constantly. Can anyone suggest a good hypoallergenic dog food? We have been feeding her the red iams, but the vet thinks we should try something different. Again, your help and knowledge is appreciated.

Ask your vet if she is a candidate for Atopica. It's been a life saver for our Paris who suffers terribly from allergies too.

TLC · 01-10-2009, 09:07 PM

IAMS is yucky food (IMO) - it has so much junky by-products and fillers.

Try Natural Balance Duck and Potato flavor - this seems to help alot of dogs here with the itching.

Also, you can add some fish oil (human kind) to her food and I also give mine 1/4 teaspoon of Oral Aloe Vera Gel (human kind from the Vitamin Shop) daily. This seems to help my girls skin issues....

Thank You for adopting this precious girl!

jrsummersill1 · 01-10-2009, 09:39 PM

We had tried Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Venison in the past as my bichon is prone to nasty ear infections and I am considering trying that brand of dog food again. The main reason we stopped using it was it is not at a store close to our home. However, I am going to make a concerted effort to go the extra distance for the health of all of my dogs.

With regard to the Iams, we started using it when a vet tech at our old vet's office insisted that it was the best food out there. She was very opinionated on a variety of issues. In any event, I will be switching.

The new vet gave us fish oil, too, for Sunshine. Thank you both for the advice.

I can tell that Sunshine has not had a happy life. I think that she may have been bred quite a bit, perhaps a puppy mill situation. When she became a problem, she was discarded. I only want how many ever years she may have left to be happy and enjoyable for her.

dwerten · 01-11-2009, 04:37 AM

natural balance fish and sweet potato or duck and potato seems to work great -- join this group Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums & communities and search allerdog. I am on this group and i have an allergy dog as well. You need to pick one of the foods above and stick to that for 12 weeks because food could be the culprit and easiest fix. If she stops itching from cortosone shot then not food allergy as steroids and atopica are for environmental not so much for food but you still need to be on a allergy free food to keep her system in better balance to handle environmental allergies. I can help a ton on this as have been going through it for 4 years. I would use Welcome to Nordic Naturals fish oil as it is the purest. Do not use cod liver oil by them as that is too high in vitamin A for this breed that is prone to liver issues.

Do baby steps. First change food immediately as that food is horrible you are feeding. See if you see a change in 2 weeks.

Do not bath in oatmeal shampoo as many dogs are allergic to oatmeal. Use a hypoallergenic shampoo instead. I like earthbath and dr bronners mild unscented baby shampoo.

Please take lots of notes, do not feed anything but diet above at all so you can do a true elimination diet for 12 weeks otherwise if you introduce to many things you will not know what works. Do not even do fish oil until 12 week trial is up for food so you can rule out food first then you can see where you go from there.

If it is enviromental and you do not want to do hyposensitization shots i recommend trying atopica as it is safer than steroids. Do not use prednisone as too many side effects and much less side effects with temaril p which is prednisolone and an antihistamine tavist mixed together.

Wylie's Mom · 01-11-2009, 07:05 AM

GREAT advice here - I'm so glad you found YT! WELCOME!

Another food to consider, if NB is tough for you to find is Wellness Simple Solutions - they have various flavors and are similar in concept to the NB allergy line. Unfortunately, BOTH brands contain flax (which makes me batty!), which some dogs cannot convert, and this then makes them...you guessed it...itchy

.

Also, I have changed from giving just fish oil to an oil that also contains borage oil - which contains GLA. Fish oil is EPA and DHA, which is great - but GLA is essential if you think you're fighting atopy (vs. food allergy). The only oil I've found that meets what I need is Ark Naturals Royal Coat - you can get it online, but it is also available at Whole Foods and other health stores. This oil contains both fish oil and borage oil & Vit A/D/E. The body requires Vit E to process fish oils, btw.

dwerten · 01-11-2009, 08:30 AM

Yep that is why i called natural balance because i want them to take flaxseed out of it as it does make dogs with allergies itchy - it showed up on both of dd blood test but i do not believe in all i read that blood can determine food allergy and can only determine environmental so i did not pay too much attention to the food part of two allergy tests we had done with different labs.

Thanks for info on the ark supplement as i have seen this at whole foods and i know it is good to use vitamin e if using fish oil. I have read on borage oil as well. I am on allerdog on yahoogroups and there are some nutritionists there that i have learned from. I just will not supplement with the fatty acids as my boy yorkie almost died of pancreatitis and i am deathly afraid of that disease but many swear by the fatty acids and it is rare to get pancreatitis with supplementation but i am just so fearful

Wylie's Mom · 01-11-2009, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwerten

Yep that is why i called natural balance because i want them to take flaxseed out of it as it does make dogs with allergies itchy - it showed up on both of dd blood test but i do not believe in all i read that blood can determine food allergy and can only determine environmental so i did not pay too much attention to the food part of two allergy tests we had done with different labs.

Thanks for info on the ark supplement as i have seen this at whole foods and i know it is good to use vitamin e if using fish oil. I have read on borage oil as well. I am on allerdog on yahoogroups and there are some nutritionists there that i have learned from. I just will not supplement with the fatty acids as my boy yorkie almost died of pancreatitis and i am deathly afraid of that disease but many swear by the fatty acids and it is rare to get pancreatitis with supplementation but i am just so fearful

Flax is in SO many dog foods - doesn't it just drive you nuts? It just makes me wonder if the nutritionists who were consulted on these dog foods (even the better ones) stay current on issues. So frustrating.

I hear you on the fear of pancreatitis

. I'm really careful w/ dosing - and even give less than it suggests. I truly try to give a dose apropos for Wylie (6 lbs) and Marcel (3 lbs) - and most bottles of supps don't even give recommendations for those weights, but it's easy to figure out.

Allergies are so frustrating - it never ceases to amaze me how many posts here are about allergies/skin/itching.

jrsummersill1 · 01-11-2009, 08:47 AM

Well, she was given the cortisone shot yesterday afternoon and I bathed her with the benzoyl peroxide shampoo last night, yet she was still itching and chewing last night and today, though not as much. She does seem happier today and more energetic. I guess that would lead me to believe that it is a food allergy. I am going today to get the nb duck and potato. My husband loves to give our dogs treats, so I am thinking that perhaps I will get the nb lamb roll and cut it up in cubes so that his treat giving nature will be satisfied while he is at least giving them something healthy. I would like to get her to a point where I do not have to give her any oral meds and only control it with vitamins, food and the proper shampoo. Thank you again for all of your help. I will keep you posted as to our progress.

stovesj · 01-11-2009, 05:04 PM

Another shampoo you may want to try is Allergroom Shampoo. This has always worked very well for me with any pet that has itchy skin. Here is a link to there website.

Allergroom Shampoo - Skin and coat treatment for pets

11-13-2008, 08:32 PM	#1
jrsummersill1 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Apopka, Florida Posts: 13	Collapsed Trachea Hi, I have a beautiful yorkie/pom mix. She is about 8 years old. We recently adopted her from a rescue organization. When we got her, they stated that she had a cough that had been checked by the veterinarian and that may never go away but was not transmittable. Upon reading the medical papers they gave us with her, we discovered her problem is a collapsed trachea. I did not know what a collapsed trachea was until I did some extensive research on the internet and what I have read about it has really scared me. She does cough quite a few times a day and it just breaks my heart. We took her to our vet and he did not offer us anything specifically for the cough, but did give her Temeral-P for itching and said that it may help with the cough. After 4 weeks, the itching is much better, but I do not really see any difference in the cough. Apparently itching is a problem she is prone to also as the rescue people said that she was really bad off and had almost no hair when they found her. I try to keep her from getting too excited because I know that she really starts coughing when she is excited, but she loves to throw stuffed animals and shake them. I hate to not let her have some joy in these later years of her life as it is quite obvious she was abused (her little tail has been broken, she appears to have had a few litters of puppies and she shows fear of some things). She seems to cough the most in the morning when she first wakes up. She doesn't cough at all during the night, but as soon as she wakes up around 6:30 a.m., she starts and it lasts for quite awhile. This happens everyday. I could almost set my watch by it. Has anyone who ever had a yorkie diagnosed with a collapsed trachea noticed that it was more pronounced in the morning? If so, was there anything that you could give them or do for them that helped it? If anyone has any helpful information, I would really appreciate it. This little girl is so sweet and smart that in the short time I have had her, Sunshine has stolen my heart and now I constantly fear about her condition and how badly it may be bothering her. Thank you.

01-10-2009, 09:07 PM	#5
TLC Slave to My Rug-Rats Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Long Island Posts: 7,247	IAMS is yucky food (IMO) - it has so much junky by-products and fillers. Try Natural Balance Duck and Potato flavor - this seems to help alot of dogs here with the itching. Also, you can add some fish oil (human kind) to her food and I also give mine 1/4 teaspoon of Oral Aloe Vera Gel (human kind from the Vitamin Shop) daily. This seems to help my girls skin issues.... Thank You for adopting this precious girl! __________________ Adopt Donate Foster www.yorkie911rescue.com

01-11-2009, 07:05 AM	#8
Wylie's Mom Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 35,889 Blog Entries: 2	GREAT advice here - I'm so glad you found YT! WELCOME! Another food to consider, if NB is tough for you to find is Wellness Simple Solutions - they have various flavors and are similar in concept to the NB allergy line. Unfortunately, BOTH brands contain flax (which makes me batty!), which some dogs cannot convert, and this then makes them...you guessed it...itchy . Also, I have changed from giving just fish oil to an oil that also contains borage oil - which contains GLA. Fish oil is EPA and DHA, which is great - but GLA is essential if you think you're fighting atopy (vs. food allergy). The only oil I've found that meets what I need is Ark Naturals Royal Coat - you can get it online, but it is also available at Whole Foods and other health stores. This oil contains both fish oil and borage oil & Vit A/D/E. The body requires Vit E to process fish oils, btw. __________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann \| Pfeiffer \| Marcel Verdel Purcell \| Wylie \| Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨°

01-11-2009, 08:30 AM	#9
dwerten BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 11,073	Flaxseed Oil Yep that is why i called natural balance because i want them to take flaxseed out of it as it does make dogs with allergies itchy - it showed up on both of dd blood test but i do not believe in all i read that blood can determine food allergy and can only determine environmental so i did not pay too much attention to the food part of two allergy tests we had done with different labs. Thanks for info on the ark supplement as i have seen this at whole foods and i know it is good to use vitamin e if using fish oil. I have read on borage oil as well. I am on allerdog on yahoogroups and there are some nutritionists there that i have learned from. I just will not supplement with the fatty acids as my boy yorkie almost died of pancreatitis and i am deathly afraid of that disease but many swear by the fatty acids and it is rare to get pancreatitis with supplementation but i am just so fearful

01-11-2009, 05:04 PM	#12
stovesj Donating YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Kenmore, Washington Posts: 3,299	Another shampoo you may want to try is Allergroom Shampoo. This has always worked very well for me with any pet that has itchy skin. Here is a link to there website. Allergroom Shampoo - Skin and coat treatment for pets __________________ JoanneGracie and Izzy Wag More...Bark Less

11-13-2008, 11:33 PM	#2
dwerten BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 11,073	join this group CollapsingTrachea-owner@yahoogroups.com and i do not recommend ever doing surgery as not enough done to have proven results for long term

01-10-2009, 08:37 PM	#3
jrsummersill1 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Apopka, Florida Posts: 13	Good news! Sunshine has not coughed in more than a month. Her new vet thinks that perhaps she does not have a collapsed trachea after all, but maybe asthma instead. This is such a relief for me. BUT her itching is much worse. She chews and itches constantly and her skin is flaky. The vet gave her a cortisone shot, more temaril p (it is the only thing that seems to work), benzoyl peroxide shampoo and chlorhexidine shampoo. She also recommended that we feed Sunshine fruits and vegetables (except for raisins, grapes and onions, of course). I am going to try everything that she suggests as I know that Sunshine is miserable itching and scratching constantly. Can anyone suggest a good hypoallergenic dog food? We have been feeding her the red iams, but the vet thinks we should try something different. Again, your help and knowledge is appreciated.

01-10-2009, 09:39 PM	#6
jrsummersill1 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Apopka, Florida Posts: 13	We had tried Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Venison in the past as my bichon is prone to nasty ear infections and I am considering trying that brand of dog food again. The main reason we stopped using it was it is not at a store close to our home. However, I am going to make a concerted effort to go the extra distance for the health of all of my dogs. With regard to the Iams, we started using it when a vet tech at our old vet's office insisted that it was the best food out there. She was very opinionated on a variety of issues. In any event, I will be switching. The new vet gave us fish oil, too, for Sunshine. Thank you both for the advice. I can tell that Sunshine has not had a happy life. I think that she may have been bred quite a bit, perhaps a puppy mill situation. When she became a problem, she was discarded. I only want how many ever years she may have left to be happy and enjoyable for her.

01-11-2009, 04:37 AM	#7
dwerten BANNED! Join Date: May 2007 Location: USA Posts: 11,073	natural balance fish and sweet potato or duck and potato seems to work great -- join this group Yahoo! Groups - Join or create groups, clubs, forums & communities and search allerdog. I am on this group and i have an allergy dog as well. You need to pick one of the foods above and stick to that for 12 weeks because food could be the culprit and easiest fix. If she stops itching from cortosone shot then not food allergy as steroids and atopica are for environmental not so much for food but you still need to be on a allergy free food to keep her system in better balance to handle environmental allergies. I can help a ton on this as have been going through it for 4 years. I would use Welcome to Nordic Naturals fish oil as it is the purest. Do not use cod liver oil by them as that is too high in vitamin A for this breed that is prone to liver issues. Do baby steps. First change food immediately as that food is horrible you are feeding. See if you see a change in 2 weeks. Do not bath in oatmeal shampoo as many dogs are allergic to oatmeal. Use a hypoallergenic shampoo instead. I like earthbath and dr bronners mild unscented baby shampoo. Please take lots of notes, do not feed anything but diet above at all so you can do a true elimination diet for 12 weeks otherwise if you introduce to many things you will not know what works. Do not even do fish oil until 12 week trial is up for food so you can rule out food first then you can see where you go from there. If it is enviromental and you do not want to do hyposensitization shots i recommend trying atopica as it is safer than steroids. Do not use prednisone as too many side effects and much less side effects with temaril p which is prednisolone and an antihistamine tavist mixed together.

01-11-2009, 08:47 AM	#11
jrsummersill1 Yorkie Talker Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Apopka, Florida Posts: 13	Well, she was given the cortisone shot yesterday afternoon and I bathed her with the benzoyl peroxide shampoo last night, yet she was still itching and chewing last night and today, though not as much. She does seem happier today and more energetic. I guess that would lead me to believe that it is a food allergy. I am going today to get the nb duck and potato. My husband loves to give our dogs treats, so I am thinking that perhaps I will get the nb lamb roll and cut it up in cubes so that his treat giving nature will be satisfied while he is at least giving them something healthy. I would like to get her to a point where I do not have to give her any oral meds and only control it with vitamins, food and the proper shampoo. Thank you again for all of your help. I will keep you posted as to our progress.