Reverse Sneezing

[Kajtek]

Reverse sneezing can be harmful to the dog.

Few years ago, my girl had a huge reverse sneeze fit during morning bush walk. She kept retching and her nose was bleeding. At that time I did not know of the ‘hand-on-nose’ treatment. I stopped the fit by blowing into her nose - first aid training came handy

Now, I have a much more hygienic/calmer way of handling her reverse sneezing events that happen about 1-2 per year.

(BTW her soft palate is absolutely fine)

Edited September 13, 2010 by HonBun

[W Sibs]

Charlie shoves his nose in my hand when he has an episode... He rubs his nose against my palm and he settles down quickly. First dog I ever had with this problem and he taught me what to do. I just thought he was weird.

[poodlefan]

Opening the mouth/stroking the throat works for my girl. I don't see why you need to block air intake through the nose when the issue is at the back of the throat.

[~Anne~]

With my own dogs, I don't do anything unless it continues. Olivia, who has had quite a large chunk of palate resected already, and was reported as have lots more flesh up around the epiglottus (sp?) that they couldn't get to, reverse sneezes, gags and coughs a fair bit. It is expected though with a dog that has a wry mouth and had a very elongated palate.

I actually have a photogpraph of her surgery just seconds before the resection with the excess soft palate tied off - it was a massive amount!

[huga]

Lola used to reverse sneeze a lot before her soft palate surgery. She had a large amount removed (my vet said it's the most he's ever taken - around 14mm from memory). She does it far less now, although it still happens if she gets over excited or wakes up too quickly. She gets stressed if I try to do anything while she's reverse sneezing, so I just let it run its course.

Edited September 13, 2010 by huga

[Erny]

Opening the mouth/stroking the throat works for my girl. I don't see why you need to block air intake through the nose when the issue is at the back of the throat.

I don't block air intake PF - that's the point of my post where I've said about not blocking the nose. I don't know why just a simple matter of holding a hand even just a whisker in front of the nostrils seems to help with stopping the backward sneezing.

[wuffles]

Just got back from the vet. He said it sounds like she has some kind of foreign body in there due to the sudden onset and frequency (she is waking up multiple times in the middle of the night doing the sneezes). We are going to wait a few days to see if it gets better before we take any action.

The vet stuck his hand down her throat and blew into her nostrils and she still went straight back to him for kisses

[cavNrott]

One of my Cavaliers reverse sneezes. Stroking his throat, blowing into his nose or putting my hand on his nose doesn't stop it and he looks quite distressed when it's happening. I now put my finger in his mouth and depress the back of his tongue, that stops it immediately.

This boy has pneumonia at the moment. He's been under specialist care for 6 weeks and is just about right now. Another xray next week will hopefully show clear lungs. Strangely, since he's been on antibiotics for pneumonia he hasn't reversed sneezed even once.

I can't help but wonder how he came to have fluid in his lungs. Was it from the reverse sneezing? Is it possible that he aspirated some fluid while reverse sneezing?

[Kajtek]

Thank you for that cavNrott. I'll try your method next time it happens

[Erny]

I can't help but wonder how he came to have fluid in his lungs. Was it from the reverse sneezing? Is it possible that he aspirated some fluid while reverse sneezing?

That's an interesting thought/question. Glad your Cavvy boy is on the improve.

Edited September 13, 2010 by Erny

[wuffles]

Just thought I'd update this in case someone is searching in the future. Ava hasn't reverse sneezed for the past two nights, and she has also stopped snuffling and snorting. Still snoring a little bit but that's probably just her

The vet thinks it was probably some kind of foreign body stuck in there, something organic like a grass blade which has either dislodged itself or simply been dissolved. We're keeping an eye on her but so far she seems perfectly happy and back to her normal self.

Thanks everyone for you advice and experiences.

[sandymarj]

This thread has eased my mind somewhat. My tibbie x Ellie has been making this noise since we took her for a walk last Saturday. We were at the local park and she had been pulling on the lead quite a bit and then when I let her off I saw her eating some long grass. When I called her away she began gagging and then for the next 24 hours she was making that honking type noise on and off. It has gradually decreased over the past few days and she is only doing it when she gets really excited or runs around a lot. She doesn't seem to have any breathing difficulty and is still eating normally. I was just worried that there may be something stuck and perhaps it is some grass or an allergy to whatever she encountered in the park? Thinking I should just keep an eye on her and take her to the vet if it doesn't keep improving? Is there anything you can give them to relieve the condition?

[shepherdpower]

Several years ago, my German Shepherd used to reverse sneeze, and it did distress her, and frightened the life out of me the first time she did it - I thought she was choking. I spoke to the vet. who just said to stroke her throat and just keep her calm, and mentioned that there is no specific treatment.

Anyway, I came across the Holistic Animal Medicines site, and they sell a homeopathic product to treat reverse sneezing, which I bought and gave Jeska whenever she started. I found it really effective and recommend it.

http://www.holisticanimalmedicines.com/sto...articles_id=343