Need Advice Re Coughing/choking Dog

[Little Gifts]

No it isn't kennel cough...

My old staffy girl has mammary cancer and the vet advised me earlier this year that it will next turn up in her lungs. Her cancer is untreatable and she hates the vet so my vet supports me keeping her happy and pain free and only making appointments when I think it is necessary. She is still very active and part of pack. Her weight has dropped and she is not as flexible but apart from that she is doing well.

My problem is that when she eats her dinner at night she has started kind of choking - a bit like if a person was eating something and it went down the wrong hole (as we say in my family). With a person you would pat them on the back and give them a drink of water and they would keep on eating. What I have been doing with my girl is pat her over her rib area on both sides until she settles down. Then she finishes her meal. It dawned on me though that I have no idea where it is best to pat a dog who might be choking. Patting her on her back/spine doesn't seem right. Obviously I am not talking about serious choking and she is not rushing her food - it's just like she needs a little help to keep it moving downwards. She choking seems in her upper chest rather than her throat area and only lasts for 5 seconds. She is always supervised while she eats.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where best to pat her? Or should I start elevating her dish when she eats? It never happens when she drinks water and never when she is eating her biscuits in the morning. Her dinner meal is a mix of biscuits and tinned (all Hills Prescription W/D). If the situation gets worse or she takes too long to get things under control I will of course take her into the vet but she is due for her 6 month check up in a couple of weeks so I want to hold off causing her extra trauma.

Thank you for any advice!

[cowanbree]

Kayla had lung cancer and in her final stages had issues with eating. i found adding water and making it a bit more mushy solved most of the problems

[OSoSwift]

I would change to feeding her just the dry food if she doesn't choke with that and I would be moving her check up forward.

[Raelene]

My dear avatar girl now 15.5 has a tumour which is pressing a little on her oesophagus. Like your girl, the prognosis isn't good but she is on palliative care and so far has been around for about 7 months longer than expected. Similar to your girl, she would sort of choke or cough and heave as if trying to release something stuck in her throat when eating. I now thoroughly soak her meal (as she has a bit of paralysis on one side of her face) and the cough/choking went away. I did also change her diet to Hills KD back in March as she did show some liver/kidney impairment, this too seems to have helped.

For all her health issues, she still meets me at the front gate when I come home from work and is still an active part of the family, such as being a part of our dog product party yesterday (she never could miss a good party with lots of visitors around).

Best wishes to your and your girl!

R