Tracheal Collapse

Yesterday Jelly was diagnosed with a moderate Tracheal Collapse. It's not a rare condition but it is found mostly in toy breeds which Jelly is not. In hindsight he has had symptoms for quite a while. In the past few months it has developed into what you see in this video. He isn't actually coughing up anything. The tracheal walls tickle when he exhales and trigger a cough reflex. Right now he gets plenty of air though it is somewhat restricted. He has started taking a prescription strength cough suppressant alone with something to dilate his airways.

Right now Jelly is fine and can lead his normal life. The drugs should lessen his coughing episodes and except for extreme physical exertion, his breathing is normal. If it gets bad enough there are surgical procedures that hold the airway open with tubes or mesh stent.

If you want to know more about this disease check out this website. It has a better description than I can give and they have actual X-rays.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_tracheal_collapse.html

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Jelly
• cough
• Tracheal
• Collapse
• canine

[LivConnickJrFan]

My dog Mary has been doing this for many years whenever she drinks water (and then spits up a little), but only a couple of weeks ago she has started to do this more frequently. She is an 11yr old, 73lb pit bull. Years ago, 2 different vets couldn't find anything wrong, told me it was caused by her drinking water too rapidly right after exerting herself. Now it's much worse and this new vet told us yesterday it could be collapsed trachea. She is on hydrocodone for now to see if it calms it. :(

[2TheLeftOfNoWhere]

@LivConnickJrFan

The hydrocodone should help but it really doesn't fix anything. It helps Mary not pay attention to the feeling she needs to cough. Jelly has gotten better about dealing with an episode. It's just something they need to get used to. One thing I found that seems to help is petting my dog's neck as if to help him swallow something. Often he will stop the cough immediately, but not always. Give it a try. It takes their mind off it long enough they regain control.

[at1withyou]

@bj9oliverr thank you for asking. Mostly she does a short version of this dog in the video and coughs up some water after drinking it. When I see that she is starting to have an episode (not from drinking water), I will gently stroke her throat in a downward manner while holding her and quietly telling her she is okay. This seems to help because she calms down quickly and the episode terminates.

[bj9oliverr]

@at1withyou how is your chi doing now?

[LivConnickJrFan]

@2TheLeftOfNoWhere Thanks so much for posting this vid and replying to me. You're absolutely right. Funny but it is kind of a mind thing. Sometimes when she is having her coughing fits, I show her a treat and she tries to stop coughing so she can eat it. Sometimes we rub her chest and tell her "easy Mary" and she relaxes. Sometimes these things work, but other times no. She's lived with this most of her life, but what worries me is that it's getting worse. She'll even wake up at night coughing.

[2TheLeftOfNoWhere]

@dylandaking

There are a couple of surgical things that can be done that add artificial structural support rings into the trachea. The thing is it's very expensive and any anesthesia on an older dog is risky. My boy is 17 years old. He is family. I'm sure you feel the same about your pup. On the whole he is still pretty active considering and seems to be very happy. That's what matters.

[shereah]

Wow this is what my poor peanut has been doing occasionally lately.

[2TheLeftOfNoWhere]

@J0C0s123456789

Thank you. Jelly is doing very well now. He has learned how to deal with the cough and how to minimize an attack. He celebrated his 17th birthday this past February.

[at1withyou]

Thank you so much for posting this. My deer chihuahua mix started doing this and I took her to the vet who said it could be kennel cough or tracheal collapse (couldn't tell cause while we were there Pinky didn't have an episode) and told me to look in youtube for examples. Still prescribed antibiotics in case of respitory infection which is going around. I'm praying my baby gets better. Hope yours is doing well. God bless.

[greatesTXever]

aww. poor thing. scary site. i hope he is all better.