Random choking/hacking - does it mean trachea issues?

[Lolli_lah]

She hasn't been doing this as much since I loosened her collar (I just use it for ID tags). It did have 2 fingers worth of space between the collar and her neck but I loosened it to the next hole.

Anyway, she doesn't do it constantly and there isn't actually any triggers specifically. Sometimes she just sort of does it, sometimes it's from drinking or from eating.

I don't think it's kennel cough, I did a bit of research on this. She doesn't seem sick or lethargic, and it's not actual coughing.

It's like she has something stuck in her throat and she just coughs to get it out. But not the kind of choking where your airways are almost completely shut. Am I making sense?

I researched a bit on trachael problems as I know yorkies are quite prone. I don't want someone to tell me I need to take her to the vet, because that's quite obvious and we are waiting for our appointment.

But what I'd like to know is, does this necessarily mean she is going to have trachael problems if they do the choking type thing? She doesn't do it constantly, just once or twice a day. Is it possible that she is just a pig and doesn't chew her food or swallow her water properly?

[cdawnfine]

Collapsing Trachea, Kennel Cough and Reverse Sneezing are all very similar try to find a video on line to see if you can determine which one it is. In the mean time try and take a video of your dog doing it and take it to the Vet so they can see.

[Lolli_lah]

Originally Posted by cdawnfine

Collapsing Trachea, Kennel Cough and Reverse Sneezing are all very similar try to find a video on line to see if you can determine which one it is. In the mean time try and take a video of your dog doing it and take it to the Vet so they can see.

Okay I'll try. I guess the best way to explain is that it's like she's coughing something up thats stuck in her throat. Often she does like a weird chew/swallow thing after she coughs up whatever.

Edit // okay I looked up the videos on youtube and so far it's definitely not reverse sneezing and not kennel cough. For collapsed trachea videos I seen, maybe it sounds different at different stages but so far it was more wheezing and like a honking noise in the videos. She does not do these, either.

It really does just sound like she's choking on an object a lot, she's always been drinking or having her food or a treat when she does it but it lasts such little time that I never feel I need to jump up and do the heimlech or anything, but it happens every day so maybe she just doesn't chew/swallow properly? Is that even common for doggies?

[Sweet Apple]

Okay I'll try. I guess the best way to explain is that it's like she's coughing something up thats stuck in her throat. Often she does like a weird chew/swallow thing after she coughs up whatever

Apple does this sometimes too...and you have explained it exactly how apple does it...I wondered if she was chewing on her hair on her face, but sometimes I'll take a little piece of twig or wood or something out of her mouth, when she's done that little cough/stuck in the throat thing...I'm thinking maybe she's just picking up some weird little something off the floor, then when she tries to swallow it, it kinda makes her choke...I really don't know, but I've decided to try to enjoy her more than worry about her, and just take each day as it comes...('cause I do tend to worry about her too much)

[Lolli_lah]

Originally Posted by Sweet Apple

Apple does this sometimes too...and you have explained it exactly how apple does it...I wondered if she was chewing on her hair on her face, but sometimes I'll take a little piece of twig or wood or something out of her mouth, when she's done that little cough/stuck in the throat thing...I'm thinking maybe she's just picking up some weird little something off the floor, then when she tries to swallow it, it kinda makes her choke...I really don't know, but I've decided to try to enjoy her more than worry about her, and just take each day as it comes...('cause I do tend to worry about her too much)

Haha oh yeah I worry too, but only because yorkies seem to apparently be sensitive to a lot and the whole trachea issues thing.. Its been like 6 years since I've lived with dogs and a lot has changed. But I never had a yorkie specifically.

But I had read about trachael problems and then it clicked that she chokes but you are probably right she is probably choking on a cat hair or something. We have a medium haired cat and she sheds a lot so she might just be getting some hair from the floor or something!

[Darlene68]

Bailey sometimes scratches his neck area and then makes this gagging kind of sound, I always worry about the collapsed trachea too.

[mimimomo]

It could be reverse sneezing alot of Yorkies do this: Reverse Sneezing (Pharyngeal Gag Reflex) - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!

Here's Momo doin it:

YouTube - Reverse Sneezing (Pharyngeal Gag Reflex)

I just cover his nose, or rub his throat gently to have him swallow & he'll stop. If it was collapsed trachea, rubbing the throat will cause him/her to have the attack/honking sound more.

[Sweet Apple]

Thanks mimimomo...your babies are sooooo pretty...Really makes me want to get Apple a brother or sister...And that sound is what Apple sounds like...Do they sneeze for the same reason we do...like a bit of dust or something?

[mimimomo]

Thank You for the compliment on my babies. Momo is like a Yorkie roomba...he'll lick the kitchen floor, eat my hair (& I have long hair), eat lint from the dryer. I think he has pica. It all comes out the other end, but he will make these sounds often. He'll even eat rubber bands & I've had to pull out his tootsie roll w/a long piece of some plant leaf stem.
We're very careful not to drop anything & vaccume & clean the floors often.
I've even taken him to the vet & had x-rays done when he first started doing this. There were no signs of a collapsed trachea bc that's what I thought it was.

[Sweet Apple]

had to pull out his tootsie roll w/a long piece of some plant leaf stem.
The things we are willing to do for these babies lol...Sounds like momo and apple are cut from the same cloth...I have to admit she has made me a better house-keeper, since, like you, I'm constantly picking every little stick, twig, leaf, and for sure rubber bands and such!!! Having had this discussion, it probably is just a little irritation in their throat for chewing on and swallowing strange and unusual things...They're probably all o.k., it's us that needs help

[SoCalKPK]

Okay guys, I'm really concerned about my girl Mochi. She's about 5 years old, and she's been doing this weird cough / sneeze thing for the past few days. We live in San Diego, and it's gotten a little colder here but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm just worried it's something more severe. Just FYI, she eating, running, and behaving normally, she just sometimes has that weird cough. Here's the YouTube link.

YouTube - Mochi's cough / sneeze

what do you guys think? I'm really concerned.

[Lolli_lah]

Originally Posted by SoCalKPK

Okay guys, I'm really concerned about my girl Mochi. She's about 5 years old, and she's been doing this weird cough / sneeze thing for the past few days. We live in San Diego, and it's gotten a little colder here but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm just worried it's something more severe. Just FYI, she eating, running, and behaving normally, she just sometimes has that weird cough. Here's the YouTube link. YouTube - Mochi's cough / sneeze

what do you guys think? I'm really concerned.

Sounds exactly like reverse sneezing as we've been discussing. There are a million posts and youtube videos about this and mimimomo just posted about this in this thread with a video that has example of the sound.

[SoCalKPK]

Originally Posted by Lolli_lah

Sounds exactly like reverse sneezing as we've been discussing. There are a million posts and youtube videos about this and mimimomo just posted about this in this thread with a video that has example of the sound.

Thanks guys. Just a quick update. I came home from work today, and Mochi was super excited to see me. She did the reverse cough thing, but my roommate said she hadn't done it all day until that moment when I got home. And then took her to the park and she was running around all over the place playing fetch with the frisbee and she hadn't done the reverse cough once. At this point, I'm ruling out a collapsed trachea, and am thinking she's doing it just to get my attention. My fiancée seems to think it's like when she puts on lingerie. It gets my attention.

[EllaJade]

My pup coughs occasionally too... Sometimes longer than others. I never really thought anything of it since it seems she just had something stuck in her throat (like a human gets). Next time I will listen more closely to see if it could be something serious. She is always fine though...

[Lolli_lah]

Well reverse sneezing is very easy to recognize compared to kennel cough which literally sounds more like a cough. I was at a vets office not too long ago and there was an italian greyhound there with it. I thought it was a human coughing but it wasn't, it was the doggie!

I looked all 3 up on youtube (reverse sneezing, kennel cough and trachael issues) also. It took a bit of watching of each of all 3 to really get the difference but there is definitive differences in each 3 if you listen closely. If you aren't listening for them specifically then they all can sound somewhat similar.

As many have said though, you can tell the difference between reserve sneeze and trachael problems because massaging the neck will tend to calm a reverse sneeze episode whereas it will cause trachael attack to continue more.