stuffed up or irritated nose help
 

My 6 yo yorkie started out with making a noise through her nose like it was stuffed up,, before she eats she does this also and seems like she is eating fast and not breathing,, the first visit the vet said she had an a bad tooth causing infection which would explain junk in her nose,, sneezing discharge sometimes, she also said that she was not feeling her breath through her nose enough,, also she did a nasal exam and nothing there,, so after 1st visit tooth pulled and put on antibiotics and temperil-p for irritation ect. a few later I noticed it again , not as bad but still there, now I'm told she noticed a elongated soft palate and that is why,, she is 8 and never had allergies and has tried all of them recently,, I'm afraid to keep having 1000 dollars spent on nothing getting better,,, I do not understand how the soft palate can make her nose plugged or irritated,, its not a backward sneeze my other dog does that one.....she seems fine , just anxious and does this nose , gag ,runny thing a few times a day,, help!!!!!!

Hi and welcome.

ESP (Elongated Soft Palate) can cause sooo many issues in the immediate surrounding area bc all those structures around it have been compensating for years now, to accommodate the irregularity in the palate. So yes, ESP can result in stuffy breathing issues and more.

But, this could also be a combination of allergies too. Just bc she's never had allergies doesn't mean she can't develop them at any time, any time at all. Right now, pollens are RAMPANT so if you're seeing espeically difficult breathing right now, it could very well be allergies. Does she chew/lick her paws at all..??? If yes, that's a cardinal sign of allergies.

For how to approach allergies, read this: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/die...tart-here.html

Welcome to Yorkie Talk. I'm sorry you are going through this with your girl.

One of my friends on Facebook has a Yorkie boy with an elongated soft palate and allergies. He has respiratory problems on and off. I will ask my friend what meds and treatment her boy has had.

I have been unable to get in touch with the friend with a Yorkie with similar issues. If I recall correctly, he has been treated with prednisone and Benadryl. She also cut his long coat, gave him a short puppy cut, to reduce the allergens he was picking up in his hair.

How is your baby doing?

My friend got in touch with me and shared this about her boy. She also said I could share her email address with you if you wanted to talk to her. Private message me if you would like that.

Here is what she wrote:

"He was diagnosed with Lar-Par...short for laryngeal paralysis...very similar symptoms... very uncommon in toy breeds...they are unclear what caused this, but it's not genetic in his case. I only know of one other Yorkie with this, but it can happen with an injury and we suspect whiskey may have damaged his larynx several years ago during a weekend of him coughing continuously...like he had kennel cough....


Whiskey was in full coat and we took him to the vet on that Monday. The vet dug around for ten minutes and finally found the cause...it was several long hairs that he swallowed from the corner of his mouth that was still attached, but so well hidden because they wrapped around a back tooth!



The 5-6 hairs were about 5 inches long and when she pulled it from the corner of his mouth, the end he swallowed was very knotted


The irritation from the hair he couldn't cough back up along with the coughing had caused major inflammation that he had to be treated for (steroids and antibiotics)



Oh, and also around the same time, he ate beads off my flip flops! All these are just suspected causes that could have damaged his larynx. It was initially thought he had a tracheal issues, but further testing proved otherwise and then a routine teeth cleaning finally verified Lar-Par.


If she hasn't done this, I advise her to get a second opinion and possibly have simple x-rays, check for an enlarged heart, and scope if neccessary to make sure the diagnosis is correct.


Oh, please advise her to watch her when she eats. I had a Yorkie with a slight cleft pallet...with him and whiskey, we were advised special diets and be very careful with drinking water... any coughing, excitement, or heat can bring on rapid breathing that will cause inflammation and in a worse case scenario, aspiration...leading to pneumonia. With whiskey, I alternate with Benedryl and Tem-P only when needed (trips and during a crisis) so the meds continue to help him..."