Oakley had been doing this weird cough on and off for awhile and being the necrotic type, I brought him to the vet.
The vet asked me to explain his cough, so I gave her by best performance of his goose sounding cough. Apparently I am not a good reenactor and Oakley did feel like putting on a show for the vet like he had done just before we left the house. She gave him a look over and hit me with the words: Tracheal Collapse.
I could feel myself getting hot.
Tracheal collapse is a chronic, progressive disease of the trachea, or windpipe. The trachea is a flexible tube and, similar to a vacuum cleaner hose, it has small rings of cartilage that help keep the airway open when the dog is breathing, moving, or coughing. The rings of cartilage are C-shaped, with the open part of the C facing upward. Between the two ends of the C is a long band of tissue- the dorsal membrane- that runs the length of the airway. In some dogs, the C-shaped cartilage becomes weak and begins to flatten outis a chronic, progressive disease of the trachea, or windpipe. The trachea is a flexible tube and, similar to a vacuum cleaner hose, it has small rings of cartilage that help keep the airway open when the dog is breathing, moving, or coughing. The rings of cartilage are C-shaped, with the open part of the C facing upward. Between the two ends of the C is a long band of tissue- the dorsal membrane- that runs the length of the airway. In some dogs, the C-shaped cartilage becomes weak and begins to flatten out.
She said his breed is prone to this, but didn’t want to give me this diagnosis right off the bat so she prescribed him some antibiotics and sent us on our way.
He seemed to be responding well to the treatment and the cough stopped. We were cough free until our friends Eron and Ashley spent a few weeks with us before moving to Mo. I thought maybe he was just coughing because he was getting lots of attention and by attention I mean Eron and Chris chasing him around the house, so I didn’t rush him back to the vet. I know, shocking.
When I came home from work the next day I noticed something catching the light on the floor in the living room. From a distance it looked like Oakley had eaten glass! Chris sometimes leaves his drinking glass under the coffee table so Oakley won’t drink it’s contents and my first thought was Chris forgot to put in the sink and Oakley got into. Before I could curse Chris out, I realized it wasn’t glass, but a clear plastic cup.
Oh God! Did he Injest plastic?! Does he have internal bleeding!? Has the plastic aspirated into his lil lungs!?
I was in full freak out mode.
I checked the house for signs of blood. none.
I checked his moth for cuts. none.
I gave him water, he drank it without issue.
I gave him a treat, he ate that without issue.
I brought him out for a walk, his energy level was fine.
He went #1 and upon inspection of #2, no blood and no plastic.
Still not satisfied, I called the vet and she told me to bring him and that we would need to order some Xrays. All I could see were $$$ but I didn’t care. If he were a human I wouldn’t have hesitated so Chris gave me the Okay and off to the vet we went.
Fortunately surgery wasn’t in his future but the X-rays proved that he does indeed show the early signs for Tracheal Collapse. I started to cry. Luckily my friend Ashley was with me and calmed me down. The vet said to mitigate the risk by keeping him calm and she told me to give him some antacids for the next two weeks to see how it goes.
Oakley was doing great and only coughed when he was playing hard at the dog park. Feeling like the worst was behind us we resumed our normal routine. My friend Kerri offered to watch him for us during Christmas and she called everyday to let me know how much fun he was having while we were gone.
It was our last day in the park when I got a text from her saying Oakley was coughing again. Thinking nothing of it I chalked it up to him playing with her big dogs. She responded and said not, he did it in the middle of the night and his episode lasted for 20 minutes resulting in him throwing up. She also said he wasn’t eating (which he can be kind of food snot so that didn’t get a rise out me initially), not drinking and didn’t want to play.
Now I was panicking. I was in Cali and we weren’t going to back until 11 p.m. that night. What do I do?
I called the vet and made an appointment for the next afternoon. I didn’t want to make my friend, who already felt horrible and responsible and did us a HUGE favor by watching him, take him to the vet. She said he def. needed to be seen but it could wait until we were back.
Our last day in Disney I was a wreck. My poor guy! Poor Kerri!
Our entire flight home I was anxious to see him. When we arrived back in Hawaii, Kerri picked us up and I could see Oakley’s carrier in the back seat.
I knew he was sick because he wasn’t even happy to see me. No tail wag. No sparkle in his eyes. He was sick as a dog. My heart sank.
All night long I watched him. His breathing was shallow and labored. I didn’t want to take him to the emergency vet because that would have been so expensive so when his vet opened at 7 a.m. I called and asked if they could see him now v at 4 p.m.
After explaining his present condition they told me to bring him asap. I didn’t hesitate.
My hair and teeth not brushed and wearing my PJs (and being braless) I scooped him up and brought him in. Luckily the vet is just around the corner from my house.
She took one look at him and knew he was sick. She took him in the back and gave him two shots of fluids, a shot with two weeks on antibiotics, a shot of Vitamin B, and a shot of antinauseum medicine. She sent us home with a slew of meds and advised Oakley to lay low (no outside and no play time).
I felt horrible asking the vet this but I informed her that my hubby and I were checking into the Aulani in two days (read I wouldn’t be able to cancel the trip without loosing my points) and we were going to board him during our stay if that was doable being that he was sick and on daily meds.
I didn’t want to ask my friend to watch him because he has already done enough for us and the vet said he needs to lay low. She was really understanding. She told me keep an eye on him for the next 12-24 hours and if he didn’t respond to her treatment we would revaluate but she was confident he would be fine.
Within 12 hours he was perking up and within 24 hours he was back in action!
Well until he had his first BM…. It had blood in it!
I was devastated. I called the vet and they told me bring in the sample.
I was going insane.
Now what’s wrong with him!?
When they took blood the other day they said there was nothing systemically wrong with him. Ugh!
I was even more distraut because he seemed 100 percent back to his normal self. He was eating, drinking and playful again. I thought we were outta the woods already.
Ay yi yi yi!
The vet called me a few hours later and said yes there was blood in his poop and they were going to treat him for colitis but not to panic because he isn’t contagious.
Colitis is an inflammation of the colon. It is responsible for about 50 percent of cases of chronic diarrhea in dogs. The signs of colitis are painful defecation, prolonged squatting and straining, flatulence, and passing many small stools mixed with blood and mucus, which is what Oakley had.
The vet said I didn’t need to bring him back in to see her and this is also common in dogs. She gave me another prescription and sent me on my way.
To make an already long story short, we were able to board Oakley and he got all the TLC he needed while we were away for the weekend.
Best part: when I picked him up from The Groom Room two days later, I got a very warm reception. Complete with a tail wag and slobbery kiss =)
