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2nd update on George - tracheal collapse

george108

george108

Well-known member
Hi guys, just to keep ypu informed about George and his gagging/choking. After having him on medication the vet suspected tracheal collapse and brought him in for an x-ray. It was confirmed a few days ago that he is almost at 50% tracheal collapse and his heart is slightly enlarged and he has some fluid on his lungs. He is being referred to the vet college in Dublin for further investigation. My partner and I are heartbroken. We are worried sick about him and what the outcome will be. If anyone has any experience with these symptoms I would be very grateful to hear: good or bad. Also I don't want to alarm anyone but when this was first happening everyone told me it was fine. My partner was being told by everyone with a dog just to ignore it. My gut instinct was to get him checked out (praying that everyone was right). I would never take for granted that a dog choking is a "trait" or a reverse sneeze or "oh don't worry about it, my dog does it all the time." I just pray to God that he'll be ok. We rescued him in November and we have a wonderful life planned for him. I hope we can get to do all those special things.
 
I'm so sorry to hear this. George is so young.

Unfortunately reverse sneezing is extremely common and the symptoms are the same, but most of the time it is just reverse sneezing.

Your case is alittle like that of my late mum. She had the common symptoms of flu and bronchitis, but actually had lung cancer.

Let's hope that the vet college can sort him out.
 
Yes Barbara the symptoms do appear to be similiar. George "honked" a few times which led me to believe there was more to it. Sorry to hear about your mum. My partner lost both parents within the space of a year. Heartbreaking time. As much as I love life, it can be so cruel.
 
george108 said:
we have a wonderful life planned for him. I hope we can get to do all those special things.
Click to expand...

My heart goes out to you. We are currently on a emotional roller-coaster ride with our Blenheim boy. Issues are different in our Blenheim but life threatening just the same so your comment above really rang home.

Our little Ruby girl suffers from BOAS. I don't know if it's the same thing as George is suffering with. You can read up on BOAS as well as other maladies associated with Cavaliers here; http://www.cavalierhealth.org/brachycephalic.htm

Her symptons were not the same. She didn't have the reverse sneezing or choking. Rather her breathing was raspy, even at sleep. She also seemed to have a hard time catching her breath when excited. Thankfully her BOAS was diagnosed as "mild" at this stage. We are following our vets advice with regards to getting some weight off of her, watching her level of physical strain, excitement, etc. which is really helping.

We are not pet professionals of any kind, just pet owners that, like you, have to rely on the advice of others. That's where the frustration level really seems to escalate at times due to the varying opinions on certain issues.

Hoping for the best for George and the people that love him.

Good luck.
 
Doggydad, thank you for your kind words (and others that have posted, thank you). So sorry to hear about Ruby. I'm filling up reading your post. Hopefully as her symptoms are mild, she'll make a full recovery. I have read the link that you posted, and others, hundreds of times trying to make sense of it. As George is a rescue dog I have no idea of his life and health before we took him. I don't know how long he has this problem. I don't know how fast it's progressing. I don't know if it can be treated. One thing I do know is that whether he lives for another day or another 10 years, he'll receive more love than he could ever imagine. Thanks again and hugs and kisses to Ruby.
 
Hoping everything is okay with George. It did sound like more than just a reverse sneeze and I'm so glad you went with your gut that told you something was wrong. Praying everything is okay!!
 
I hope that George will be alright and that the problems are manageable.

This must be a very difficult time, you're in our thoughts. :flwr: :flwr:
 
I am so sorry to hear how poorly George is at the minute :( These are very tough little dogs though and I hope they can get to the bottom of it all for him and you.

Do they know what has caused the symptoms or problem in the first place? Could it have been something viral? Or do you think it has a genetic cause?

I do understand how you feel about George and your words 'We rescued him in November and we have a wonderful life planned for him. I hope we can get to do all those special things.' That's exactly how we feel about Charlie. These rescuse are so darned precious.

Really good luck at the Vet college. will you let us know how you get on? We'll be thinking of you and George and crossing fingers and paws for you :hug:
 
Thank you all so much for your kind words. Maxxs_Mummy the vet said he's not sure what the cause is although he did say it could be genetic. His heart is slightly enlarged and I did read somewhere that that can be a cause. He sneezes quite a bit in our house so I need to also get him checked for allergies in case that's irritating the trachea. The good thing is that he seems in great form apart from that. He's eating with no problems and the tail is still wagging 24/7!!! He's still snoring and farting and doing all the things we love about him!! I will definitely keep you informed as to how he's doing. I find the support of the people on this site a great comfort. Thank you all once again.
 
Sorry just want to add again that if anyone has had a dog with any of these symptoms I would love to hear from them. How quickly 50% collapse can progress? etc etc. Thanks again.
 
That's great Barbara. Thank you so much. I've looked online but I just keep finding the same information. I'd be interested in knowing best/worst case scenario with almost 50% collapse.
 
I am so sorry to hear about George I donnot know anything about that but wish that things go on OK please keep us informed ----Aileen
 
the poor lil man! i really hope that george gets better soon and that u get to follow through with all ur plans!!
 
I am so sorry to hear this news about George. I was hoping when I read your original post that it was just the reverse sneeze. I have never had a rescue, but would love to one day have one. Like Donna said, there is just a special place in my heart for these babies. I follow all the posts on the rescue dogs very closely. I'm a sucker for a happy ending and I always want that to be the case with the rescues. I so admire the folks who take a rescue, there's a special place for you all in heaven, I think. Praying that Charlie has his happy ending. I just know he will. Hugz :hug: and prayers from Lily and I.
 
An enlarged heart is likely to exacerbate a collapsed trachea, but doesn't cause it. Unfortunately heart enlargement is common in this breed due to MVD so you are probably seeing MVD symptoms (as mentioned in my PM) and these have brought on the symptoms for the collapsed trachea, See the first link below.

Looks like addressing any allergies would be very important. Also not smoking in the house, having him as lean as possible, even a bit underweight, and treating the MVD symtpoms if possible/necessary.

Really hope this can be managed easily by medication. There is a surgical option.

You may find a specialist gives a different grade for the collapse than a vet. Often vets give a wrose analysis than a sepcialist will (this is common for higher grade heart murmurs).

Tracheal collapse:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=1527

Also:

http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_trachealcollapse
http://www.amcny.org/owners/infosheets/tracheal.htm
http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dtrachea.html
 
Thank you all so much for your posts. We're all praying for George. It's the not knowing that is so hard. We have no idea what they are going to say when he goes to the vet college.

Karlin I will definitely look into any allergies he may have. Neither myself or my partner smoke and no visitors smoke in the house. He is slightly chunky so we are reducing his food a small bit. At the momemt we're not walking him as he gets so excited over different things and we don't want to bring on any attacks. I bring him almost daily to my sister's large, secure garden where he can have fun with her little dog.

Even though we're worried sick we still have moments where we laugh. Two nights ago I got really upset thinking about it and went to the bedroom to shed a few tears. My partner knew what was going on and was in the living room with George. When I got hold of myself and came back in, there was George sprawled out on the couch snoring his head off!! Not a care in the world!! All we could do was look at each other and laugh!
 
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