Odd Breathing

[Guest Amy_Bee]

Wondering if anyone else has had this experience. For the past few days I've noticed that Gretchen will occasionally have bouts where her breathing becomes odd. She breathes in in quick bursts through her nose a few times and then stops and breathes normally. Then she'll do it again, almost as if she's having trouble getting air. Then she'll breathe normally. This happens a few times in a row, and then all is normal again. This happens once or twice a day that I've seen, though it might happen more often. It's not "reverse sneezing," as she's always done that and I know this is different. She always looks nervous when this happens and licks her lips a few times.

 

Gretchen had a check up just a few days ago, before this started, and the vet said her heart sounded great.

 

Then other thing is that she's been a lot more itchy lately, and the vet did say her skin looked dry. Not sure if this is related. Could it be allergies? I just hope it's not something more serious, but any ideas would be appreciated.

[Sambuca]

It sounds like reverse sneezing. Look it up on Youtube. It's usually harmless although I unfortunately found out that it could mean they have nasal worms. Has she has a fecal recently? It could be allergies. Maybe some pollen got up there.

[Guest Amy_Bee]

It doesn't sound like her normal reverse sneezing.

Would it be safe to try to give her Benadryl to see if that makes a difference?

[Sambuca]

benedryl is safe, but I can't remember the dosage. You can try searching the forum for it.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Here's the dosage recommendation for benadryl:

 

1. Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) is administered at a dosage of 1 milligram per 1 pound of the animal's weight 3 times per day (i.e. every 8 hrs). An example: a 30 lb dog should be given 30 mg of this medication three times per day.

 

2. Dogs are categorized by three weight class categories; the med is taken 3 times daily, every 8 hours:

 

30 pounds and under pets: 10mg

30-50 pound pets: 25 mg

50 pounds and over pets: 50mg

 

Be certain the only active ingredient is Diphenhydramine. You don't want to give one of the variants with pain relievers.

 

And if your dog is on other meds, check with your vet.

[silverfish]

It could be allergies. They (and we!) can display all kinds of odd symptom with allergies.

 

However, there are other things it could be, including nasal mites. It could be a fungal infection - which my vet tells me is more common in dolichocephalic (long nosed) dogs. It could be polyps, or a tumour. Or she could have snorted something up her nose and be unable to dislodge it.

 

Jim, our first greyhound, did this. He was sniffing around outside on one of our walks when I saw one of those wild barley grass seeds shoot up his nose - I had no time even to tug on the lead to interrupt the process. He did something similar to a reverse sneeze all the way home and part way through my phone call to the vet (who sounded very depressed about the prospect of trying to remove it from a greyhound's nose!) then suddenly gave a huge inward snort, gulped two or three times, and it was gone! He'd managed to suck it out and swallow it!

 

If it's something that big and irritating, the snorting would be continuous, but if Gretchen has snorted up a crumb or something it might give the same symptoms.

 

All the same, if a Benedryl doesn't work like magic, I think I'd take her along to the vet.