# Small dog owners; must read



## Dudley Do-Wrong (Nov 16, 2014)

Do you own a small dog?  If so, this is something you need to be aware of.  Many small dogs, suffer from a genetic problem, collapsed trachea.  The problem is most common with many toy breeds, especially Yorkshire Terriers (Yorkies).

How do I know this, we had 2 Yorkies, we now have one.  I have just gotten to a point that I can discuss what happened, it was the most horrible night of my life.

As I said, we had 2 Yorkies, Maggie (female, 9 years old) and Jack (male, would have been 7 the 25th of this month.  I am going to describe what happened, hopefully my story will help save another loved one.

First, our dogs are our family, especially since out son and daughter have moved very far from home.  Maggie is the typical female, while Jack was all boy.  I often talked to Jack as if he were human, many times I called him "son".  He truly had very many traits that were very "human" and they both slept in bed with us every night.  I can tell many stories of the various things Jack did that made him so unique, so special.  But, that would not be the purpose of this post.

We had always known that Yorkies hav a problem with their trachea, Jack was no exception.  I just did not know how severe it could get.  He sometimes hacked and made a honking sound when excited, so we knew.  He would sometimes tear the stuffing out of toys and we thought that he sometimes would get some in his throat; his cough and sometimes gagging would not last long at all.  Let me make this perfectly clear, we have always, always, taken very good care of our dogs; always fed them the best foods and always taken to the vet.

During the early morning hours of Oct 2, jack woke us with some coughing and gagging.  We were not alarmed at that time as it had happened before.  But, this time his condition got worse so my wife took him to the vet.  The vet said he had bronchitis, gave us an antibiotic and something for his cough.  His conditioned remained about the same through the weekend, but we could not get him to take the pill for his cough.  believe me3, we tried a dozen different ways to mask the smell of the pill (smelled bad) but he just wouldn't take it.  So, we decided that we would take him back to the vet on Monday, I was at work and my wife called to let me know that he had gotten worse and she had to rush him up there.  he evidently had quit breathing and his tongue had turned blue.  They gave him some shots and put him in an incubator with oxygen for several hours.  They made an appointment for us to take Jack to Auburn for Thursday (Oct 9). On Tuesday (7 Oct) Jack seemed to be a lot better, I thought he was out of the woods.  He was eating better and had a lot more energy.  On Wednesday, after I got home from work, he had relapsed.  He was honking, coughing, and gagging.  I said, OK, he had been worse and we had the appointment at Auburn the next day.  Later that night, we became very concerned and tried to reach the vet.  We left messages and were waiting for a call back.  During that time, Jack quit breathing.  We administered CPR to him and frantically tried to find a vet.  We finally reached out vet and rushed Jack to his office.  There were many times he quit breathing and while administering CPR, we could hear a gasp come from him.  When the vet arrived, he immediately fed jack oxygen, his heart had stopped and the vet gave him a shot to restart his heart.  He looked down Jack's throat and it was completely closed, so he inserted a tube down his throat to get oxygen into his lungs, he had to pump his chest to get his heart started.  Jack finally started to breath on his own.  The vet put him in the incubator with direct oxygen, we hung around for a few more minutes talking to the vet, I knew that we would not be able to get Jack to Auburn the next morning as scheduled.  We said goodbye to Jack, he never regained consciousness.  The vet called us about 7:30 to tell us that Jack didn't make it. he wasn't even 7 years old.

I cannot begin to tell you what my wife and I have been going through.  I cannot even look at pictures of Jack without falling apart.  This has actually been worse than losing my parents, I don't even want to imagine what it is like losing a child.

I am 57 years old and even writing this has been very emotional.  I guess I could have made my message without giving a play by play account, but I feel like I needed to in order to convey the severity of Jack's condition.

I have since read many accounts of people who have lost their pet due to this condition.  The signs were there, I failed Jack by not being aware, the vet failed with a bad diagnosis, and now Jack is gone.  He was my best buddy, he entertained me on a daily basis, he was my son.

Educate yourself and if you love your pet and he/she exhibits the symptoms, get to a vet immediately.  tell them that you want you pet's trachea examined.  One of the biggest problems is that the procedure to correct the problem is specialized and cannot be done by your ordinary vet.

I hope this helps someone and if just one pet is saved, the Jack's death will have counted for something.


----------



## Dudley Do-Wrong (Nov 16, 2014)

It's very hard for me to talk about Jack in the past tense, I have this hope that this is a bad dream and I will walk in the house and he will be there to greet me.


----------



## Mangler (Nov 16, 2014)

Sorry for your loss bud. We have a miniature schnauzer (Max) and he has the whole family's heart. They are such a joy and losing them is absolutely horrible. I lost my 2 labs within a couple months apart. Again...sorry for your loss and thanks for informing us about the issue with the collapsed trachea's.


----------



## Horns (Nov 16, 2014)

Reading this gets me upset about my dog Squirt. She was a Jack Russell and my best dog ever. I had her for 14 years and it has almost been a year that she has been gone. I visit her grave all the time. Sorry about your loss.


----------



## srb (Nov 16, 2014)

Sorry for your loss,We have two dashounds..
Your pets are family!!


----------



## specialk (Nov 17, 2014)

thank you DD for taking the time to post, I know it's hard...I have two Chihuahua's that I have allowed to crawl deep into my heart.....I'm close to your age and all my hunting/fishing buddies poke fun at me on how foolish I am about them.  BOTH my dogs have what I called ''hacking'' fits....usually lasts a few minutes.....my vet says it some type of seizure common in small dogs...I have hunting beagles and they do it also from time to time..I will be checking more into the trachea thing though.....


----------



## Crickett (Nov 17, 2014)

I'm so sorry for your loss! He was a beautiful yorkie! 

We have a Boston Terrier(Roxy) & they are known for having breathing problems as well. They have short muzzles so that makes their airways shorter. Roxy goes into breathing fits kinda like an asthma attack almost weekly. She has done this since she was just a puppy. She's now 4 years old.


----------



## graham (Nov 17, 2014)

I have a Yorkie that is almost 15 years old. He has been doing this for several years. He has pills that we give him when he starts coughing. We were told that surgery couldn't be done if he was over 6years.  He starts coughing when I come home from work (excited to see me) but he usually calms down pretty quick. Time heals.


----------



## Dudley Do-Wrong (Nov 17, 2014)

Some can live with it, some can't; that's why a qualified vet should be consulted.  If Jack had been diagnosed correctly or if we had gotten him to Auburn, he would probably be alive today.  The procedure is about 85% successful and they live a fairly normal life afterwards.  I would have paid anything to have kept him alive.


----------



## RossVegas (Nov 17, 2014)

I had a yorkie (Clyde).  He had a rough life.  He was rescued from an abusive owner, by my ex-wife's ex-boss.  He was my ex's dog.  Somehow, I ended up with him in the divorce.  He was a good dog.  He started coughing and hacking, I put off seeing the vet for a little while.  I'd heard of the trachae problem with them, and assumed when I took him to the vet, he'd have to be put to sleep.  I finally decided that he was not doing well, so I took him to the vet.  He had congestive heart failure (CHF).  The medicines were the same stuff they'd  had my mother on prior to her passing.  When they diagnosed him, they gave him about 1 year to live.  Can't recall how old he was, seems like 9 or 10.  At about the 1 year mark, he began getting worse, the vet upped his medicine to twice a day.  We got about 6 more months.  When He got worse, they wanted him to have medicine 3 times a day.  I had to have him put to sleep.  I was single living alone, and had no way to give him medicine during the daytime.  I didn't think it'd bother me to bad, but I'll admit, I cried like a baby.  By this time, we/me had him about 6 or 7 years.


----------



## tim scott (Nov 23, 2014)

Dudley,
I've tried writing this since the first day you posted and haven't been able.... sorry in advance for my poor writing gets hard for the tears.... I fully understand your lose and anger... my girl friend and I lost our little yorky almost two years ago and neither of us can speak about her without crying. she was a rescue, that poor thing had a rough life... not so much abuse but neglect and people that didn't know how to care for a little dog..... I can't say too much cause some of them may read this.... when she came to us she only had a few tuffs of thin hair and was bright pink from the flea dermititus... she was just skin and bones very bad shape... tar soap bathes every other day along with a good diet and we got her hair back.... vet didn't think it would grow back... the little dog had also suffered an attack from two big dogs that used her as a tug of war toy.... bad scars where their teeth  had pierced her body... thankfully her new hair covered these. that girl was a pure fighter... put on a couple of pounds... all muscle and joined in her new family... a terrier cross three times her size (for them it was love at first sight) and my cat.... took six months for us to nurse her fully back to health then we addressed the not so life threatening issues one of which was her cough....  we were given pills.... none of which would she take, she'd find then if they were hidden... like above post bad smell and taste.... also were given an inhaler which did work very good.... we were told all about the trachea problem.... our vet was one that did the surgery but in our case refused because the dog was too old (8 years) and the real problem was an enlarged heart.... 
this is the important part: when they start into the trachea problem at an early age it's not noticed by anyone and it results in a lose of oxygen, this causes the heart to strain and become enlarged... their little body only has room for so much in there and the heart puts pressure on the trachea making it worse... this cuts down the oxygen even more and the heart becomes even larger etc. etc. vicious circle till the dog dies of heart failure.... your dog like mine if it had been caught five years earlier could have had surgery.... easy to say you would have spent anything but the surgery is several thousand dollars. far more than most people can afford. I know it hurts but your dog I'm sure had a good life with you and loved you as much as you loved it.... no ones to blame... it's just the way things happened, if people own or are owned by a yorky... take your dog in for at least an annual check up and have the vet watch the trachea closely if caught when they are young and before the heart becomes enlarged then maybe you can have the surgery but if found when they are older.... just care for them the best you can and give them the love they deserve..... it's hard but at that point it's all you can do.... mine slipped away as we pulled up to the 24hour emergency vet's office ,late at night.... me giving her mouth to snout breathing... I got to go... having trouble seeing the computer screen.... no one's to blame it's just genetics... be thankful for the time you had.

ps... our yorky before she died became a honest to god "coon dog" she had over 25 coons to her credit... she hated coons or anything else that would dare come into HER yard.... I'd be sleep in my recliner watching tv and she'd land on my chest, jumping up and down barking in my face.... I'd go out with her.... her tearing across the patio and yard.... she'd get right in that coons grill barking.... she moved so fast and such a vicious little bark (she was also a face biter, that's how she ruled the home) anyway she put the coons right up the nearest tree. once up the tree she'd sit back and howl like a hound (a very small toy hound) scared me to death the first time she did it but there was no holding her back.... absolutely fearless. she had both me and our other dog as back-up but didn't want any help or need it.
tim


----------



## NCHillbilly (Nov 23, 2014)

I am sorry for your loss. I get very attached to my dogs also. I lost one a couple years ago and felt pretty much the same way you do-But the line about losing a dog being worse than losing your parents, I couldn't read past that. Sorry. I would trade every dog I've ever had in my life for the chance to spend one more day with my Dad.


----------



## Dudley Do-Wrong (Nov 25, 2014)

NCHillbilly said:


> I am sorry for your loss. I get very attached to my dogs also. I lost one a couple years ago and felt pretty much the same way you do-But the line about losing a dog being worse than losing your parents, I couldn't read past that. Sorry. I would trade every dog I've ever had in my life for the chance to spend one more day with my Dad.



The death of my parents was expected, my dad suffered from cancer and his passing was actually a relief (30 years ago).  It hurt but I understood it.  My mom also suffered from lung disease and was, as she put it "sick and tired of being sick and tired".  I love my parents with all my heart, but I was prepared when they passed.


----------



## Dudley Do-Wrong (Nov 25, 2014)

tim scott said:


> Dudley,
> I've tried writing this since the first day you posted and haven't been able.... sorry in advance for my poor writing gets hard for the tears.... I fully understand your lose and anger... my girl friend and I lost our little yorky almost two years ago and neither of us can speak about her without crying. she was a rescue, that poor thing had a rough life... not so much abuse but neglect and people that didn't know how to care for a little dog..... I can't say too much cause some of them may read this.... when she came to us she only had a few tuffs of thin hair and was bright pink from the flea dermititus... she was just skin and bones very bad shape... tar soap bathes every other day along with a good diet and we got her hair back.... vet didn't think it would grow back... the little dog had also suffered an attack from two big dogs that used her as a tug of war toy.... bad scars where their teeth  had pierced her body... thankfully her new hair covered these. that girl was a pure fighter... put on a couple of pounds... all muscle and joined in her new family... a terrier cross three times her size (for them it was love at first sight) and my cat.... took six months for us to nurse her fully back to health then we addressed the not so life threatening issues one of which was her cough....  we were given pills.... none of which would she take, she'd find then if they were hidden... like above post bad smell and taste.... also were given an inhaler which did work very good.... we were told all about the trachea problem.... our vet was one that did the surgery but in our case refused because the dog was too old (8 years) and the real problem was an enlarged heart....
> this is the important part: when they start into the trachea problem at an early age it's not noticed by anyone and it results in a lose of oxygen, this causes the heart to strain and become enlarged... their little body only has room for so much in there and the heart puts pressure on the trachea making it worse... this cuts down the oxygen even more and the heart becomes even larger etc. etc. vicious circle till the dog dies of heart failure.... your dog like mine if it had been caught five years earlier could have had surgery.... easy to say you would have spent anything but the surgery is several thousand dollars. far more than most people can afford. I know it hurts but your dog I'm sure had a good life with you and loved you as much as you loved it.... no ones to blame... it's just the way things happened, if people own or are owned by a yorky... take your dog in for at least an annual check up and have the vet watch the trachea closely if caught when they are young and before the heart becomes enlarged then maybe you can have the surgery but if found when they are older.... just care for them the best you can and give them the love they deserve..... it's hard but at that point it's all you can do.... mine slipped away as we pulled up to the 24hour emergency vet's office ,late at night.... me giving her mouth to snout breathing... I got to go... having trouble seeing the computer screen.... no one's to blame it's just genetics... be thankful for the time you had.
> 
> ...



Thanks for sharing


----------



## smokey30725 (Nov 26, 2014)

Losing a pet is awful. People who are not pet owners simply don't understand. I will put another warning out there about sugar-free gum containing the ingredient Xylitol. My beagles got into my wife's purse last spring and ate a whole pack of it. We didn't think anything of it until they started getting sick and vomiting. This happened on a Thursday night. By Saturday, both were at the vet and they told us that their livers were shutting down due to the chemical in the gum, which is highly toxic to dogs. We spent a lot of money and prayed a lot, but to sum it up, I had to put our older beagle down on Sunday morning and our younger one down Monday afternoon. Hardest thing I've ever done in my adult life. My kids didn't understand and felt like their daddy had killed the family pets. I explained to them that the vet just helped them go to sleep. It's been over a year and we have been blessed to adopt two more beagles that needed a home, but my wife still cries about it at random times and blames herself. Please check and make sure that you don't have gum with this ingredient around your dogs. We learned the hard way and I hope no one else has to live this experience like we have. To say it's heartbreaking is putting it mildly. I held them both until they passed and cried like a baby both times.


----------



## Dudley Do-Wrong (Nov 27, 2014)

smokey30725 said:


> Losing a pet is awful. People who are not pet owners simply don't understand. I will put another warning out there about sugar-free gum containing the ingredient Xylitol. My beagles got into my wife's purse last spring and ate a whole pack of it. We didn't think anything of it until they started getting sick and vomiting. This happened on a Thursday night. By Saturday, both were at the vet and they told us that their livers were shutting down due to the chemical in the gum, which is highly toxic to dogs. We spent a lot of money and prayed a lot, but to sum it up, I had to put our older beagle down on Sunday morning and our younger one down Monday afternoon. Hardest thing I've ever done in my adult life. My kids didn't understand and felt like their daddy had killed the family pets. I explained to them that the vet just helped them go to sleep. It's been over a year and we have been blessed to adopt two more beagles that needed a home, but my wife still cries about it at random times and blames herself. Please check and make sure that you don't have gum with this ingredient around your dogs. We learned the hard way and I hope no one else has to live this experience like we have. To say it's heartbreaking is putting it mildly. I held them both until they passed and cried like a baby both times.


I didn't know about the sugarless gum thing; sorry you had to find out this way.


----------



## crackerdave (Nov 27, 2014)

Thanks for an informative thread.


----------



## NUTT (Nov 29, 2014)

DD
Sorry for your loss. Thanks for the warning as I have 2 Yorkies that I love dearly.


----------



## RossVegas (Dec 11, 2014)

smokey30725 said:


> Losing a pet is awful. People who are not pet owners simply don't understand. I will put another warning out there about sugar-free gum containing the ingredient Xylitol. My beagles got into my wife's purse last spring and ate a whole pack of it. We didn't think anything of it until they started getting sick and vomiting. This happened on a Thursday night. By Saturday, both were at the vet and they told us that their livers were shutting down due to the chemical in the gum, which is highly toxic to dogs. We spent a lot of money and prayed a lot, but to sum it up, I had to put our older beagle down on Sunday morning and our younger one down Monday afternoon. Hardest thing I've ever done in my adult life. My kids didn't understand and felt like their daddy had killed the family pets. I explained to them that the vet just helped them go to sleep. It's been over a year and we have been blessed to adopt two more beagles that needed a home, but my wife still cries about it at random times and blames herself. Please check and make sure that you don't have gum with this ingredient around your dogs. We learned the hard way and I hope no one else has to live this experience like we have. To say it's heartbreaking is putting it mildly. I held them both until they passed and cried like a baby both times.



Sorry for your loss.  Your just over the hill from me.  I live in Mtn View.


----------



## GLS (Nov 2, 2022)

It's not just small dogs that can develop breathing issues.  Last season my oldest Britt started forced breathing with heavy panting right out of the box.  Turned out to be paralysis of the larynx.  Rare in Britts but more common in Labs and Goldens. She eventually had to have one side of her larynx stitched to her trachea to keep the airway open.  She's doing fine now but has risk of aspiration pneumonia which is treatable.  Suffocation isn't.  Gil
ps.  Smokey that's a terrible loss.  I preach to my wife about xylitol flavored gum in the house.  One of my dogs chewed and swallowed a Lidocaine patch.  Had to take her to the vet to induce vomiting which I couldn't do with hydrogen peroxide laced yogurt which worked last time she ate a brick of fudge.  No kidding.  The size of a small brick eaten during the holiday season a few years ago.  Lidocaine can slow down the heart rate causing a heart attack in dogs.


----------



## specialk (Nov 2, 2022)

My step dad was just diagnosed w, pre diabetes and they r starting the no sugar sugar free foods....him and mom have 4 small inside dogs and i know they never use s. free stuff so i let her know.....she had no idea....that xylotoil will actual lower a dogs sugar level enuff to kill it....


----------



## specialk (Nov 2, 2022)

So sorry about yalls dogs...


----------



## dslc6487 (Nov 2, 2022)

To the original post.  I am so sorry for your loss.  To me, dogs are family.
Have always been.  Back in February of 2018, I had to put both of my dogs down on the same day, within about 30 minutes of each other.
Dixie, my feist squirrel dog had been with me for 17 years.  Hunted for 16 of them.  Great squirrel dog, best  I have ever hunted with.  Max, my beagle buddy just showed up at my house when he was only a few weeks old.  Somebody probably just dropped him off close to our house.  He was 15 years old at the time I had to put them down.  Dixie was just old and worn out.  She lived to hunt and we spent much time in the woods together.  Max was just my buddy.  He stayed in the house and went with me every where I went.  Slept right by my bed.  He stopped eating and was diagnosed with lung cancer.  After having them put down, took them to local funeral home and had them cremated.  Placed their containers on our mantle, where they rest today.  When my time comes, they will go in the grave with me, never to be separated again.  I was 74 at the time that I had to put them down.
Yes, grown, old men do cry............


----------

