Coughing/gagging

[noopy]

My chihuahuaXminifoxy, 3.3kg (7 llbs) female 11 year old swallowed a piece of raw brisket bone on 11th january. Gagging/coughing/foaming still over night I took her to vet. X-rays later saw 2 pieces of bone in intgestine, one in opening to bowel, and aspiration pneumonia. Started on antibiotics and vet manually moves pieces of bone down to bowel and gives an enema.My dog is in the hospital on a drip at this time. Vet gives enema and my dog does huge long poo and eats it! My dog has got enlarged glands in neck, no temperature. Two days later comes home on anti-biotics, coughing/gagging persisting. Can only eat pureed chicken, no hard food at all as irritates throat. Has only ben eating pureed chicken now for past 8 weeks, to stop the coughinging whilst eating. I left this last vet as she offered little help. New vet sees my dog has disgusting rotten teethand also notices her enlarged glands so does a tooth clean, removes 6 teeth and does a needle aspirate. Results are that the glands are saliva glands and they are not infected just large and inflammed. Coughing still happening. Looks and sounds like a reverse sneezeXcollapsed trachea when it happens. Vet assures me its not a collapsing trachea and he looked down her throat under the dental anaesthetic and saw no infected tonsils or anything. Can't understand why her saliva glands both sides are going up and down. I keep hand feeding my coughing dog pureed food each day in small amounts, things seem to be getting better UNTIL a few days ago (7WEEKS AFTER THE FIRST EVENT). She has again gone down hill with ever increasing bouts of coughing/gagging and now vomiting a few times a day white frothy foam with dark brown liquid that stinks. A strange smell I have never smelt before. She can drink water and hold it down, but has now gone off her food. Looks depressed and sad. In betwen these bouts of coughing/gagging and now vomiting she sleeps peacefully with intermittently licking her bottom, which makes her cough again. She is burping all the time too. Lots of burps. What is really upsetting too is the fact that her teeth that were nice and white have now turned brown and yellow, stained to buggary after 1 month. Obviously something to do with all this stomach/throat problem, but I feel I have thrown away $580 a month ago now for the teeth. This vet says to take her to specialist for a endoscope and that is all he can recommend. I am trying to get this organised financially at the moment, butg would like some input before tomorrow or the next day when this happens. This is simply frustrating and bringing me to tears. So far it has cost me $ 2, 400 and left me pennyless. So now going to have to go for care-credit)

Edited March 7, 2010 by noopy

[persephone]

Oh, dear That sounds awful.

I have no real suggestions- other than it seems as if there may be a bit of something still rattling around in her stomach, causing constant infection/irritation?

Or perhaps hs had a cut in her oesophagus, which hasn't healed properly?

An endoscopy may well be the only way to find out

Poor little mite.

[puggy_puggy]

Bone perforated osophegus/stomach/bowels and that section is dying or dead? If this is the case you would have a very sick dog and need to do something about it vey quickly.

[noopy]

Bone perforated osophegus/stomach/bowels and that section is dying or dead? If this is the case you would have a very sick dog and need to do something about it vey quickly.

Thanks for these replys. I have been with her all day and she has finally had a third of a cup of very runny pureed chicken. I added 3/4 of a sachet of baby gaviscon powder, which the pharmacist said should be safe, hoping to try and make her feel better. However she is still sitting half upright and coughing/gagging and hanging her head looking so sad and unwell. She hasn't been sick yet, but certainly looks like it! I have been promised financial help within a few days to a week if she can just hang on, but it looks soooo bad. I am sooo scared and stressed!! I cannot get to this specialist centre any earlier than 2-3 more days time and I have to try and monitor her, keep her fluids up, try and encourage her to fight and be there. I don't know what else to do till then I am praying too.

[Erny]

I don't know what else to do till then I am praying too.

I agree with Puggy_Puggy. Sounds very serious and does sound as though it relates to perforation either from the bone or, if initial surgery involved open stomach, perhaps the internal wound has not closed? I presume xrays were done to confirm all the bone (blockage) was removed?

If it were me, I'd be classing this as urgent (especially as it's been going on for 8 weeks already and getting worse) and seeking earlier attention, mentioning that payment would be forthcoming in a few days. You never know, the specialist might find they need to keep her in for that period of time anyway.

I'm not sure why you think this is funny ..... or perhaps the wrong emoticon was used? I hope everything works out ok for your dog, poor mite .... she's been through a lot.

Edited March 7, 2010 by Erny

[noopy]

I don't know what else to do till then I am praying too.

I agree with Puggy_Puggy. Sounds very serious and does sound as though it relates to perforation either from the bone or, if initial surgery involved open stomach, perhaps the internal wound has not closed? I presume xrays were done to confirm all the bone (blockage) was removed?

If it were me, I'd be classing this as urgent (especially as it's been going on for 8 weeks already and getting worse) and seeking earlier attention, mentioning that payment would be forthcoming in a few days. You never know, the specialist might find they need to keep her in for that period of time anyway.

I'm not sure why you think this is funny ..... or perhaps the wrong emoticon was used? I hope everything works out ok for your dog, poor mite .... she's been through a lot.

Sorry that is the wrong :cry:emoticon, meant to have used There was no initial surgery, the 1st vet just did an X-Ray and saw the 3 pieces of bone and under sedation manually manipulated the two in her right intestine down toward the bowel. I have always wondered if that did any damage. From the very beginning this has not been dealt with by the two vets locally, that did the manually moving the bone thing to the teeth cleaning and needle aspirate, as neither of these things have done anything. Strangely she picked up and did not vomit for a good month or so during the middle of all these 7 weeks, but she was on anti-biotics. However, she has been off anti- biotics now for a month and this has all got worse again. You would think if there was anything inside her body rotting or dying she would have had more symptoms more often for much longer than she has. Very confusing. I have not been laughing, only typing, taking time off from my casual job and driving everybody that knows me mad with all my worry and talking about NOOPY all the time. Can see how you'd think I was laughing.

[Erny]

I wouldn't waste more time for either of your sakes. Get Noopy to the specialist - at least for the consult appointment - post haste and explain to the specialist what has been going on. The specialist will better able to determine the urgency of treatment. But waiting back at hoping that she can "hang in there" for a few days or more, isn't going to help either of you. If you've made your appointment and "a few days" is the earliest you could get in, I'd be ringing them back and explaining what's been going on over the telephone, requesting an earlier appointment.

The fact that she is vomiting and that it smells, "is dark brown liquid" and is staining her teeth indicates to me that there is potentially some bowel material coming up. I wouldn't be waiting around spending time worrying - better to act and act immediately, IMO.

No worries with the emoticon mix up. Just had me cock an eyebrow for a moment.

Edited March 7, 2010 by Erny

[cowanbree]

It sounds to me as if she has a partial bowel obstruction. Having just been through it myself I would urge you to get this dog to the specialist.

[stormie]

I'd be getting an endoscope done asap. It is possible for objects to remain in the stomach causing intermittent obstructions, or irritating the stomach.

The coughing you describe sounds like the sort of coughing you get from pneumonia - I would be having repeat chest xrays done or even a BAL - bronchoalveolar lavage.

I'd also probably suggest you get full bloods done too.

Fingers crossed you get some answers, and soon!

[OSoSwift]

I also agree, the sooner she is seen again the better.

Good luck!

[noopy]

I also agree, the sooner she is seen again the better.

Good luck!

Well, I have Noopy in the vet hospital. They were going to do the endoscope yesterday but it a part of it was faulty, so they have had to order a new piece from Melbourne to do the endoscope today. HOWEVER, the technition that took the order didn't send it express courior as he didn't know how and today she is still in hospital waiting for it to arrive tomorrow. The veterinarian did an X-Ray and found a 3cm by 2cm roundish object down the osophugus near the stomach entrance appearing to be stuck in the osophugus. The vet is very suspicious of it and thinks it is either a piece of bone or could be a large abcess. She is very sorry the part they need for the endoscope has taken this extra time. They have her on a drip with a bit of glucose and anti-biotics and tonight when I rang (they Are a 24 hour hospital) the nurse had given her a nice hot water bottle etc. The vet is very surprised Noopy has lasted this long if it is a bone (eight weeks) withouit it perforating her osophugus, and wonders how that has not happened. Then again, it may be a large abcess. Blood tests were taken and Noopy has normal white blood cell count but the cells are teaming with infection. As I thought her little body has been fighting infection big time. Noopy is also anaemic. They had her out, drip and all, for a little walk in their garden to do a wee today, and she was good. The vet said if the bone has rotted away too much osophugus it is a huge danger, other than that if it is infection it is easily treated. I have been sick with worry now whilst she is in this hospital away from me awaiting the arival of the endoscope part for the last two days. I cannot sleep properly and am not not eating well and feel absolutely frantic inside! Tomorrow, this part should arrive in the afternoon and this situation is fully diagnosed and then I have made arrangements with the vet to pay $1,200 deposit on whatever the bill will be and pay off the balance at $100 a week. They presume the bill will be around the $2000 mark. WShat is really sad is the fact that the last vet had her under anaesthetic, knowing all the symptoms etc, whilst her cleaned her teeth and didn't even whilst she was under do an X-Ray, choosing to flippintly take the fact the vet who I had seen before him, and found to be useless, had done X-rays when first seen and all was suppossed to be fine. It has been a run of bad luck, and my putting my trust and faith in two previous vets and now we arfe where we are!!!

[Erny]

Kal (my avatar girl who awaits me at the rainbow bridge) swallowed a large piece of bone once. It lodged in the oesophagus at the stomach entrance as well. Due to a calamity of errors and mishaps by the attending Vets, it was 3 days before the bone could be removed. As it could not be dislodged and brought up via the throat, open stomach surgery was necessary. But I digress .... all of that led to another bunch of dramas and several ops before I was able to get her past that ordeal. Not suggesting that this will be the case with your girl.

The bone caused damage to the nerves in that section of the oesophagus at which it was wedged and as a result, there was no muscle reflex at that point, which meant that she had difficulties passing the food down to her stomach. In itself, this was fairly easily resolved by ensuring that any food she received was mushy, so that it would slide its way down.

Not being able to eat food that would ordinarily assist in keeping her teeth clean and gums healthy, I needed to regularly brush her teeth. Again - not something that was insurmountable.

I too am surprised your dog lasted as long as she has .... 2 months and also surprised that the Vets did not take her in sooner. That would have been so painful, assuming it is a bone/object lodged there, but it is good that she is now receiving veterinary attention and will be relieved of the discomfort tomorrow.

I will be thinking of her and hoping that any complications ensuing will be minimal and easily manageable. Best wishes for her coming from over here.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Erny

[persephone]

Poor little mite

The hospital sounds as if they are a caring place- so hopefully they can do what's needed for your girl.

*fingers crossed*

[noopy]

Poor little mite

The hospital sounds as if they are a caring place- so hopefully they can do what's needed for your girl.

*fingers crossed*

Thanks guys. It is so great talking to people like minded! Finally the part was delivered this afternoon and immediately they took Noopy to theatre for the scope. Sure enough it was a piece of bone and the vet said luckily it was a flat shape or it would have caused more damage. Apparently Noopy bled very badly and that was of concern to the v et, especially as she is now anaemic, and after the surgery apparently she went into a bit of shock. The vet sounded concerned and wasn't sure how this would all pan out for the afected part of the oesophugus, and didn't give me much reassurance so I have spent 3 hours after that call driving around Brisbane crying and sobbing and pleading with the God to spare her. I could not stop crying and ended up driving into a McDonalds toilet with the worst case of dysentry. I was convinced she would now die and and I am to blame! 3 and a half gruesome hours later I arrived reluctantly home, swollen faced and also a bit embarrassed by the fast food toilet incident, and immediately rang the hospital for an up-date. Noopy had been up for a walk and was no longer in shock and looking calm and comfortable. I asked the nurse if it was normal to go into shock after surgery like that very often and she said the anaesthetic and temperature change can sometimes do that. I am worryed as her vet that did the procedure said she would like to scope her for another quick look tomorrow or the next day when I rang her after the op. If Noopy is doing better surely there is no need for that, and wouldn't it be too much after the last time? I am sitting here petrifyed something is going to go wrong and I will get a call from them tonight or tomorrow. I am afraid if I get too confident things WILL go wrong. I am just plain terrifyed! I will drive the 35 minutes in the morning to speak with the vet face to face about my concerns over another scope etc in the morning and spend this third night not resting and will wake up a mess again.

[Erny]

Sounds to me that Noopy is a real trooper - I'm so glad she came through this part of the ordeal with some improvement to her condition. The fact that she is up, walking around and is calm and comfortable is an excellent sign. I expect the Vet needs to be sure that no necrosis (I think that's the word I'm looking for .... tissue dying) develops at the part of the oesophagus that has been affected, so whilst we know that the less GA's the better and that there's always a risk that goes with them, this is likely to be one of those times where a close eye is required to ensure early medical intervention if it does occur and that might outweigh the risk of GA. I would also imagine that Noopy's blood count will have increased by that time and that consequently, anaemia might not be as much of an issue as it was at the time of this emergency procedure. But yes, speak with the attending Vet as he/she will be the best to explain things to you.

It would be silly of me to say not to worry as that is impossible, but at least Noopy is under Veterinary care - sounds to me as though she is in the right place. The place where you have her do sound as though they are giving her the best of care and are not blind to the complications that can occur in these situations, and are doing their best to guard against it.

There are many people thinking of Noopy at this time, so if good thoughts have anything to do with it, Noopy should be well enough and home with you in next to no time. You need to sleep as well as you might, as Noopy is going to need you when she comes home. For Noopy's sake, you need to stay positive. She needs those vibes from you right now, not negative ones.

Edited March 11, 2010 by Erny

[noopy]

Sounds to me that Noopy is a real trooper - I'm so glad she came through this part of the ordeal with some improvement to her condition. The fact that she is up, walking around and is calm and comfortable is an excellent sign. I expect the Vet needs to be sure that no necrosis (I think that's the word I'm looking for .... tissue dying) develops at the part of the oesophagus that has been affected, so whilst we know that the less GA's the better and that there's always a risk that goes with them, this is likely to be one of those times where a close eye is required to ensure early medical intervention if it does occur and that might outweigh the risk of GA. I would also imagine that Noopy's blood count will have increased by that time and that consequently, anaemia might not be as much of an issue as it was at the time of this emergency procedure. But yes, speak with the attending Vet as he/she will be the best to explain things to you.

It would be silly of me to say not to worry as that is impossible, but at least Noopy is under Veterinary care - sounds to me as though she is in the right place. The place where you have her do sound as though they are giving her the best of care and are not blind to the complications that can occur in these situations, and are doing their best to guard against it.

There are many people thinking of Noopy at this time, so if good thoughts have anything to do with it, Noopy should be well enough and home with you in next to no time. You need to sleep as well as you might, as Noopy is going to need you when she comes home. For Noopy's sake, you need to stay positive. She needs those vibes from you right now, not negative ones.

Thanks Ernie. It has now been a week since noopy ate food. She has been sittin g at the vets waiting for the part to arrive on a drip unnecessarily all day Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday they noticed she lost a bit of pep, and added glucose to her drip, which helped. I am worryed she is now too weak to tolerate GA's at all, especially two in a row. I havn't seen Noopy since 9am on Tuesday morning, and the vet now wants me to not come in for the next few days. I agree with that decision in order to give her wound a rest, but it is very hard to be unabale to hold and sit with your pet, especially when I thought she might not recover, and needed my comfort. So far the last two vets made the WRONG decisions and led her to this place, near death, and I am so afraid one wrong decision will do the same. Another issue is the fact this vet does not work saturday and sunday and over the weekend another vet will be on.

[Erny]

I am worryed she is now too weak to tolerate GA's at all, especially two in a row.

If it is of any help to you to know, my avatar girl (bless her cotton socks) underwent 3 surgeries - the first, she was under for 4 hours. She was in a weakened state due to not having eaten for 3 days - hydrated by means of a drip. (In her case, the reason why it took 3 days was due to Vet failure/error.) The second, she was under for 2 or 3 hours and she was in a weakened state (peritonitis). The third, she was under for an hour or so (from memory). This was all inside the space of about 5 weeks. She came through them. Won't say it was great for her and yes, it is a concern and a risk .... but the point is, she made it.

You should speak with the Vet with your concerns.

If you are visibly upset and show this to Noopy, it won't help her and sometimes it is hard for dogs to have their owners come and go - it isn't very settling. In my case, my girl came home with me each time, but as I mentioned, there was a bit of a different story with me, my dog and the Vet involved, in addition to the fact that the dogs were left unattended at the surgery over night.

Edited March 11, 2010 by Erny

[dogbesotted]

oh my goodness.. what a rough time you are both having.

listen to what enry is saying.. your pup is in good hands... and you need to take a deep breath and try toget some rest to regain strength for when Noopy comes home. Sometimes we just need to have faith.....

hugs

H

[persephone]

Well- at least Noopy has been monitored and on the drip! The drip may not be 'food', but it contains most of what her body needs to still function.She quite possibly would be worse off if she wasn't eating/drinking by herself ;)

Speak with the vet- but be guided by them..... they are the ones who have seen the damage- and who know what can occur if things are left.

Look after yourself,too! Make sure you are eating, and put yourself on the Rescue Remedy!! ;)

Hoping your little girl continues to improve.

[noopy]

Well- at least Noopy has been monitored and on the drip! The drip may not be 'food', but it contains most of what her body needs to still function.She quite possibly would be worse off if she wasn't eating/drinking by herself

Speak with the vet- but be guided by them..... they are the ones who have seen the damage- and who know what can occur if things are left.

Look after yourself,too! Make sure you are eating, and put yourself on the Rescue Remedy!!

Hoping your little girl continues to improve.

:D

Thanks guys. I can't tell you all how treat it is to come home after a hectic stressful day and find such support and words of comfort! Hectic, stressful because at lunch time my daughter and I went out to the vets and tryed to persuade the vet to let Noop come home and we would give her cool, glucose enriched water, prevent her from eating anything until Monday, and give her the antibiotics, or maybe they could giv e her the ones that are injectable and last a couple of weeks. DIDN'T work!! I was so determined to get her home in my care, even though I was worryed sick about the decision, we went out there under the guise of how much money this will end up at, and found out they hav e charged very little concerning what they have done, and the v et was willing to reduce it even more! They appeared to genuinely care about Noopy's wellbeing and that is hard to see and understand as that is not often the case where money is concerned or you are at the vets. I reassured them it wasn't them just the worry about the bill and how large it was going to get and how much longer it would take to pay all that and even if they were going to be happy with that payment situation. Yes, that was a concern, but no amount was too great to save her and no I don't care how long it takes to pay it. I wanted to know for sure that I should not take Noop home and needed to see them and hear it face to face , not over a phone. I drove away feeling sad and disappointed at not taking my baby home and also reassurred they were trying to do the right thing. The nurse said if Noopy continues to be well and on Monday is good they may not do another scope and just start her on some soft food and see how she goes eating etc for the day and if all that is fine she would come home Tuesday. I am still sitting here worryed sick about my baby girl and feeling so much more disconnected and powerless every day that is going by without being with her. I will be sleeping and worrying and worrying and sleeping and maybe trying to keep busy somehow to keep me distracted. I am lucky to have all your words of comfort.