Collapsed Trachea/Heart Murmur My Yorkie was diagnosed with a collapsed trachea several years ago he developed a cough) and has been on medication for about 4 years for it. He was diagnosed with a heart murmur about 6 months ago and now his cough has gotten much worse. I'm very concerned about him. He's 14 years old so surgery is really out of the question. The vet wants to check him to see how bad his heart murmur is at this point but said to watch him until I can get him in to see them. I'm going tomorrow afternoon! Does anyone have any experience with these things? Any advice? Thanks in advance for your help. :confused: |
I would recommend a specialist, a cardiologist, to give you the most up to date and most beneficial information for your baby and his specific condition.....if you do not have a cardiologist, a vet school is the answer....This condition can be treated and give your baby a better quality of life....I would just caution you not to let a vet that has a limited scope of practice, make a life or death decision for you.... |
Thank you for your prompt response to my concern - I did take him to the vet this afternoon. He has an enlarged heart its pressing on his trachea. They think he has Cushing's, as well. His ALP was over 2000 too. The vet said that testing him for Cushing's is putting him through alot and we could do that if we wanted but there's no decisive way to no at this point if he has it or not. I said what I cared about now was his quality of life. I don't want to put him through ANYTHING that may be too much unnecessarily. She also said they could have cardiologists come and look at the x-rays and do an ultrasound for more details. She didn't say it would be diagnostic necessarily and I'm questioning why do all that. We already know he is very sick. But he seems ok as long as he's not coughing like crazy. She gave me a prescription for an antibiotic just in case he picked up something and one for Hydrocodone. So I'm just hoping... I don't know what else to do. |
Thank you for your quick response! I took him to the vet today. Didn't go very well. He has an enlarged heart that is pressing on the trachea. His ALP was over 2000 and his other liver enzymes were way up too. They think he also may have Cushing's. They gave me a prescription for an antibiotic just in case he picked up anything and one for hydrocodone to help with the cough. The vet said they have cardiologists that can look at the x-rays and do an ultrasound but there's no diagnostic info really. I don't know. The vet said the testing for Cushing's can be hard on older dogs and I told her I was more concerned with his quality of life than anything. He's 14 and I just want him to live out his life happy. He's happy now and God knows I love him and I'm dying inside. Thanks again for getting back with me. I do appreciate it so very much! |
You have thousands of "friends" here that will be here with you on this bumpy, unpredictable off road trail you are about to start a journey down.....we are all here for you, at every step and twist and turn..... |
Thank you. |
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Is your dog on Hydrocodone or is it Hycodan? Hycodan is a compound medication and you can use higher doses than straight hydrocodone. I have found this to be the ONLY thing that has worked to essentially stop my dog's cough and I've run through the gamut of drugs and options. Is your dog on enalapril or benazepril for the heart valve disease? Does he cough a lot and is the cough due to the trachea? How is his quality of life? |
No the vet did put him on Hydrocodone. We just started it today so we'll see how it works at helping with his cough. If it doesn;t work, I'll be talking to the vet about something else. We don't know if it's a valve issue. We do know it's an enlarged heart which is pressing heavily on his trachea. The vet offered to have the cardiologists look at the x-ray and run an ultra-sound. I told her we would hold off on that for now as I don't want to put him through more testing and more testing, etc. That's why we're not doing the testing for Cushing's. The vet said the testing could be intense for older dogs and he's got enough problems right now. I also told the vet what was important to me was his quality of life. I'm not going to put him through alot of things that's just going to stress him out and tire him out even more than he already gets. He has a dinosaur that's his favorite toy and usually when I pick it up he knows its playtime. He no longer chases it when I throw it, he'll take a couple of steps to go after it then go lay down. So he tires much much faster now but he's a happy little guy and doesn't seem to be in much if any pain right now. Thank you for your response to my questions and concerns. I hope your pooch gets better. It's so hard to see them not feeling well. |
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