Thoat Issues Part 2

[Guest Fasave]

If you've seen my earlier posts, you will remember that my 10 year old starting snoring about a week & a half ago. The snore turned into some funny breathing issues, mostly at night or when he was resting. First I brought him to the vets for a rabies shot and mentioned the snoring. When it got worse, I brought him back five days later. At both exams, he wasn't symptomatic because he wasn't resting and in fact, quite stressed. At both exams, he check out fine but at the second, they started him on Clavamox to be sure.

 

Oops. Was trying to preview to check video link and posted accidentally. Anyway, after 4 days we wasn't better. I caught this video of him and shared it with the vet. Anyone seen anything like this? It doesn't happen all the time. Mostly at night.

 

http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k108/mel3cook/?action=view&current=avevideo006.flv

 

Long story short, the vet added Doxy and a cough supressent on Friday. I gave him the cough suppresent as soon as I got home but had to wait a few hours to give the doxy with dinner. About a half hour after dinner he drank water and had a big coughing fit and which resulted in him spitting up all the water. However, it appears that the act of spitting up the water, has cleared things out. We had a great evening an night so now I'm left to wonder if he just had something stuck in his throat. Did the cough meds make things loosen up? Did the Clavamox start working? I wish I knew because I'm thinking this might happen again and I don't want to put him on unnecessary medications. Thoughts?

Edited January 23, 2010 by Fasave

[Guest Energy11]

It might be either, an upper airway infection, causing the airways to narrow, thus, causing that sound. The sound is usually indicative of a narrowing airway (upper).

 

Because you said he seemed a lot better after hacking up the water, etc., he could have hacked up a lot of the "gunk," lodged in his upper airway. Clavamox is a very good antibiotic, and yes, it could have "kicked in," causing the mucus to loosen up.

 

Hoping he continues feeling better! Dee and The Five

 

 

[greyhndz]

I just saw this, Melissa. I'm ashamed to say that it sounds something like me after I've gulped down half a can of soda.

 

No, seriously... does this noise occur during inspiration or exhalation? It actually sounds like stridor to me, which could indicate some type of partial upper airway obstruction. Laryngeal paralysis can sound very similar, but is usually exacerbated by stress.

 

Can you give any more details? Is it clearly happening during inspiration? Does his positioning make a difference (e.g., is he more likely to have noisy breathing when lying on his side vs. as he appears in the video?

[Guest Fasave]

Love the humor. I've been telling him to stop using his Darth Vadar voice It is happening when he breathes in. Why I got so worried yesterday is that until yesterday it was really only happening when he was laying on his side. Clearly he's sitting up in the video. At night I had to keep waking him up and propping him up on pillows. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. He's remained good today thankfully, but because this isn't the first time I've seen this, I'm mostly curious where we might be headed or is this just a one off, maybe made worse by the rabies shot? Not sure.

 

Never a dull moment here. You'll love this. While I was typing this, Thunder fell off the couch. That thing called gravity is still confusing to him

[greyhndz]

ETA: this is a great example of stridor - check it out:

 

 

Oh, Thunder... do you need to wear a seat belt when you're on the furniture?

 

Melissa, this sounds like stridor, not a typical cough or respiratory infection. If it recurs, it might be a good idea to ask your vet (or one of the IM folks at Angell) if he should be scoped. Given his age, I'd think perhaps mild LP, but a fiberoptic scope would answer the question.

 

The increased stridor when he's in certain positions makes sense - I'd bet it's more to do with whether or not his neck is flexed than whether he's upright or on his side. If his neck is flexed, it tends to "kink off" the airway. It's the same way in humans -- if you've ever taken a CPR class, you may recall that one of the first steps you take is to open the airway by very slightly hyperextending the neck. Watch Avalanche closely when he starts to "roar" and see if his neck is flexed.

 

BTW - maybe Thunder would have been more appropriately named "Avalanche"...

 

 

Love the humor. I've been telling him to stop using his Darth Vadar voice It is happening when he breathes in. Why I got so worried yesterday is that until yesterday it was really only happening when he was laying on his side. Clearly he's sitting up in the video. At night I had to keep waking him up and propping him up on pillows. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. He's remained good today thankfully, but because this isn't the first time I've seen this, I'm mostly curious where we might be headed or is this just a one off, maybe made worse by the rabies shot? Not sure.

 

Never a dull moment here. You'll love this. While I was typing this, Thunder fell off the couch. That thing called gravity is still confusing to him

Edited January 24, 2010 by greyhndz

[Guest LindsaySF]

It's a good sign that he seemed a little better after coughing. Hopefully he cleared some mucus out if it's a URI?

 

I found this informative site: Stertor and Stridor

 

Fingers crossed that the antibiotics kick in and do their thing. If he doesn't improve on them or gets worse I'd want an x-ray and/or scope to see what's going on in there. Good luck.

 

 

 

~Lindsay~

 

[greyhndz]

 

 

I found this informative site: Stertor and Stridor

 

~Lindsay~

 

 

Crazy minds think alike! That's one of my favorite websites.

[Guest Fasave]

Thanks Lindsay & Jordan for the information. I've always thought Ave might develop LP someday because he's always been a little raspy and pants more than other dogs. This is good information to have for the future. He's continuing to do well this morning except a little fussy with food which I suspect is the antibiotics. Grated cheese seemed to solve it for him pretty easily.

 

 

 

BTW - maybe Thunder would have been more appropriately named "Avalanche"...

 

 

Too funny Jordan but did I mention Thunder's racing name was Blunder Thunder??? I'm beginning to think there was a good reason for this name

[greyhndz]

 

 

Too funny Jordan but did I mention Thunder's racing name was Blunder Thunder??? I'm beginning to think there was a good reason for this name

 

Oh, the poor boy! But your description reminded me of a video I saw years ago on Amer. Funniest Home VIdeos -- a cat was sleeping on top of a radiator and just kind of plopped off to the side. Simple but hysterical.

 

Ave will be fine. A few of my big boys had LP for the last few years of their lives, and besides making them roo silently (they just couldn't hit those upper ranges anymore) it made no difference in their quality of life.

 

But Thunder needs a crash helmet.