- Joined
- Jan 6, 2011
- Messages
- 571
- Reaction score
- 1
I was hoping you guys would be able to give me some insight into a situation with my dog. Here is the story:
I own a black lab named Kingston. He is just about to turn 3 and I have had him since he was 8 weeks old. I was raising him through Guiding Eyes for the Blind and I was planning on giving him up. During one of our quarterly evaluations when he was about to turn a year old, one of the officials was concerned that whenever he pulled against the collar he would cough and choke. They took him to the GEB animal hospital (I did not go because he was not mine) where they diagnosed him with a soft trachea. He was released from the program and they pretty much just handed him to me and told me not to use a collar.
I switched from collars to a harness and he seemed to be doing just fine. This past summer, however, he started to get really bad. Around late August he would start gagging whenever he even got a little bit excited. His breath would sound raspy and he would become incredibly exhausted with even minor physical activity. I was seriously considering having him evaluated for surgery (where they pretty much insert an artificial rigid trachea) but he made a great improvement. I started him on a sillica supplement around that time (http://www.horsetech.com/orthopur-si.htm) but the weather also got cooler. I do not know what the cause was, all I know is that I was happy.
So my question to you guys is if anyone of you have ever seen a case/learned in class about collapsing/soft trachea in a young dog. Most of my research online shows that it usually occurs in older, small breed dogs. I am so frustrated because I was not actually there when he was diagnosed so I wasn't able to ask any questions.
I am still considering having the surgery and I would love some insight on that as well. I think it can get worse with age and considering he is already concerning me at 3, I need to do something. I know it is usually only successful in younger dogs, so I would have to do it soon. Has anyone ever seen a surgery such as this done?
While it may not be life threatening it is a really sucky condition. It breaks my heart to see him at the dog park trying to play with the border collies and not being able to keep up for more than 30 seconds.
Here is my puppy:
I own a black lab named Kingston. He is just about to turn 3 and I have had him since he was 8 weeks old. I was raising him through Guiding Eyes for the Blind and I was planning on giving him up. During one of our quarterly evaluations when he was about to turn a year old, one of the officials was concerned that whenever he pulled against the collar he would cough and choke. They took him to the GEB animal hospital (I did not go because he was not mine) where they diagnosed him with a soft trachea. He was released from the program and they pretty much just handed him to me and told me not to use a collar.
I switched from collars to a harness and he seemed to be doing just fine. This past summer, however, he started to get really bad. Around late August he would start gagging whenever he even got a little bit excited. His breath would sound raspy and he would become incredibly exhausted with even minor physical activity. I was seriously considering having him evaluated for surgery (where they pretty much insert an artificial rigid trachea) but he made a great improvement. I started him on a sillica supplement around that time (http://www.horsetech.com/orthopur-si.htm) but the weather also got cooler. I do not know what the cause was, all I know is that I was happy.
So my question to you guys is if anyone of you have ever seen a case/learned in class about collapsing/soft trachea in a young dog. Most of my research online shows that it usually occurs in older, small breed dogs. I am so frustrated because I was not actually there when he was diagnosed so I wasn't able to ask any questions.
I am still considering having the surgery and I would love some insight on that as well. I think it can get worse with age and considering he is already concerning me at 3, I need to do something. I know it is usually only successful in younger dogs, so I would have to do it soon. Has anyone ever seen a surgery such as this done?
While it may not be life threatening it is a really sucky condition. It breaks my heart to see him at the dog park trying to play with the border collies and not being able to keep up for more than 30 seconds.
Here is my puppy:
