Reverse Sneezing

[arasara]

Hi guys - I have a question for you all.

I have a reverse sneezer on my hands -

I know this topic has been covered many times before and the advice I have been given so far is to calmly tilt the head down and it will stop. I have also heard of some people covering their nose so they have to breathe out of their mouth.

Sometimes these two work but what happens when you have a "severe" reverse sneeze? Kosmo doesn't do it too often, but every once in a while he will get really excited and it will start a reverse sneeze. Tonight it happened and I first tilted his head down. It ceased temporarily and when I let him go it started up again. Then I tried blocking his nostrils (is this even something people do?) and again it ceased but only temporarily. No matter what I tried doing as soon as I stopped he would be fine for a few seconds and it would start up again. I didn't know what to do so I picked him up and started massaging his neck so that he would yawn and it would force him to take a breath from his mouth. This is the only thing that worked for me in our situation tonight.

Has anybody else been through this? When you have one that does it a few times instead of just once, what are the steps that you take to stop it? Again, is blocking their nostrils even ethical? I would FREAK if someone covered my nostrils.

Thanks in advance! :flwr:

[Cathy Moon]

Sara, if he's doing that a lot, I'd ask the vet to look at him. It may have something to do with the length of his soft palate back in his throat. Or it's possible his trachea may be part of the problem, too.

I know what you mean about covering the nostrils!

I gently tip India's head down first - just doing that does open her airway (and she may open her mouth on her own!), but I have also covered her nostrils with her head tilted downward to get her to open her mouth and breathe through her mouth.

[Kingofthehouse86]

I don't know how, but ever since I read the about how to stop the reverse sneeze, for the time being, I tilt his head...but lately when King starts he looks straight at the floor and this makes it stop...usually it does sometimes he starts again...but I don't know what made him do that, but it makes stopping it better for me..

You guys wanna hear something funny, King was with my bosses maltese (who also does the reverse sneeze) who started to sneeze then, King started almost right when the maltese started...I thought it was kinda funny...

[GusWilson]

When Gus was 7 months he was doing it a lot. Especially in the mornings when we would come out of my room and he would see my roommates dog, Moe, his little pug in crime. I would try to tilt his head, but mostly I would just try to calm him and he would stop on his own. Now he almost never does it.

[Karlin]

What Cathy said. :thmbsup: Some dogs can have a more serious problem with this and you need to have him checked by a vet to be sure.

I tilt AND cover the nostrils -- that has always been the advice I got from longtime cavalier owners.

[Barbara Nixon]

Mine do it rarely, but I cover the nostrils or gently rub the throat or both.

[Sally]

Pixie does it a lot....especially when I come home after work (even if Shay's been home with her all day) I tilt her head, cover her nostrils, rub her chin and throat, even open her mouth occasionally...sometimes just giving her a hug will calm her down enough. It's funny sometimes I come in and give her attention (no snorts), then go to pet one of the cats and she'll start snorting....almost like on purpose to get attention...(I know it's not really.) The vet says all is ok with her palate and trachea...she's just a big snorter.

[Lisa_T]

Holly does this from time to time, but I wouldn't say frequnetly. I think she had a bad bout of it today. I was working, so a friend popped in to check on them, and then went out again. At that point, Holly was her normal bouncy self. When she came back, Holly was much more subdued- she wouldn't leave her crate, which is unusual, and had to be physically lifted out. She cuddled happily but quietly for a while. Greeted me pretty much as usual- and then subdued. We thought she was sulking because it's finally dawned that Chloe's for keeps, but then we had three or four reverse sneezing bouts pretty much one after the other. They really terrify her, and I wonder if she'd had a couple of bouts while no-one was here, and had to ride it out herself since there was no-one to do the nose thing. That was explain why she looked so sorry for herself.

..and now she's back to her normal happy self, having actually given Chloe a run for her money where dinner was concerned! :D

[Cathy T]

Jake rarely does it and when he does it scares him to death. He'll run and throw himself into my lap. Shelby used to do it a lot...but not much anymore. When she does Jake will go over and nose her to be sure she's alright.