Worried about Zachary again.....what do you think? Advice

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#1
Okay I know if its not one thing its another. Zachary coughs/chokes a lot. And the vet has been treating him for allergies but I don't know the meds never seem to help.

Now when he is on leash he gets excited and starts pulling and I wonder if he is hurting himself and his throat.

He seems to every few hours act like he is going to throw up and starts having a deep raspy cough. He seems to wake up in the middle of the night and do this a lot too.

Could it just be his allergies or could something else be going on?

Could it be that he is hurting himself when we have him leashed up?

Also we tried to get him a harness but he is too big for the small size and too small for the medium size (he slips out)

I'm just a little concerned....we will take him to the vet if we have too but this has been going on for the last 8 months or so....and we've been to the vet several times.


I know my parents poodle suffers from what seems to be a collapsing treachea.....hopefully its not that....Though their dog is 6 and has never been treated for it.

Anyways could it just be his allergies (they diagnosed him with respiratory allergies) or is he hurting himself or could it really be something else
 

Fran101

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#2
Poodles and bichons, malteses and some others, especially short nosed breeds, have what is called a reverse sneezing, it really does sound weird but its pretty common
YouTube - Dagny Reverse Sneezing

What breed is zachary? that might be it
 
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#3
Poodles and bichons, malteses and some others, especially short nosed breeds, have what is called a reverse sneezing, it really does sound weird but its pretty common
YouTube - Dagny Reverse Sneezing

What breed is zachary? that might be it

Zachary is a Minature Poodle but they don't have those squished faces....I had a shih tzu that had reverse sneezing....totally different thing than this.

It sounds like he is choking and sometimes he does throw up.....

Totally different thing.

I will add it sounds like when he is pulling too hard on his leash but this happens pretty much anytime....on leash or off
 

Fran101

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#4
Zachary is a Minature Poodle but they don't have those squished faces....I had a shih tzu that had reverse sneezing....totally different thing than this.

It sounds like he is choking and sometimes he does throw up.....

Totally different thing.

I will add it sounds like when he is pulling too hard on his leash but this happens pretty much anytime....on leash or off
Its also VERY common in toy poodles, my miniature poodle does it. On leash or off, or even sometimes if he gets too excited and yes it does look likes hes choking and occasionally if he ate something will throw up, we took him to the vet and he said it was reverse sneezing after observing him ect..
my advice to you would be to get a vets opinion about it if your worried


Collapsed Trachea vs. Reverse Sneezing
 
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keep in mind I might be freaking out about nothing but with all we've been through with him healthwise I'm going to worry about everything....he was so sick for so long


We are constantly at the vet with him and they said they still think its allergies but none of the medicine they gave him helped.


At first I thought it was related to his tummy issues
 
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Its also VERY common in toy poodles, my miniature poodle does it. On leash or off, or even sometimes if he gets too excited and yes it does look likes hes choking and occasionally if he ate something will throw up, we took him to the vet and he said it was reverse sneezing after observing him ect..
my advice to you would be to get a vets opinion about it if your worried


Collapsed Trachea vs. Reverse Sneezing

Shoot.....I read that thing...it does sound like the trachea.

How do they check that and what happens after that if that is it?
 
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FluffyZooCrew

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#7
I'd have zachary checked by a vet, to ease your concerns. If the vet suspects a trachea problem, they can do an x-ray to take a look.

As far as walking him, try an adjustable harness. They are completely adjustable and will fit properly when adjusted accordingly. He may be pulling too hard and choking himself with the collar, which can also lead to trachea problems later down the road.
 
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I'd have zachary checked by a vet, to ease your concerns. If the vet suspects a trachea problem, they can do an x-ray to take a look.

As far as walking him, try an adjustable harness. They are completely adjustable and will fit properly when adjusted accordingly. He may be pulling too hard and choking himself with the collar, which can also lead to trachea problems later down the road.


That is the type of harness we tried......the adjustable.....the people at the petstore were running around like crazy trying to find one that would fit but he is built wierd you know....not like most poodles and his legs are crazy long.....but we tried 3 different brands of harnesses and all adjustable and then the store said he would not fit in any


Again I've had him checked out by the vet about this several times and they say it must just be another allergy attack but the meds just don't help at all.

I'm starting to worry because he finally was starting to do better but now it seems every few hours he starts choking.

After eating, after drinking, after running and playing, going out to go potty (he is leashed for that), he wakes up coughing....

The vet says allergies....but wouldn't the meds help
 
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FluffyZooCrew

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#9
How long his legs are have nothing to do with fitting the harness. One side goes around his chest and back, the other side goes around his neck...

I have 15 dogs in the house, all have adjustable harness. Everything from a 4 pound dachshund puppy to a 100 lb pit bull and everything in between. I think the store just didn't know how to adjust it properly.
 
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Yeah but the issue is his weight fluxes and at the time the small harness fit too tight on his chest and the medium harness on the smallest adjustment he slipped out of. The medium harness is actually what our Terrier mix wears and we tried hers at the smallest setting (she has 2) and he got out and almost got hit by a car.

And both petstores refused to sell us the small one (but we tried Sashas puppy one and it was too small for him)
 
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#14
You can always try a Puppia harness.
What is that?


We are actually having a harness specially fitted and made for him....but the man that does it hasn't been well so there had been a bit of a wait. My grandfather had his dogs made through this guy and he is getting Zack one too. Its actually made with the softest leather that it feels like cloth but its durable

He actually is making it from the leather.

We are thinking of getting him one that fits like a shirt with velcro as well.....Addies seemed to fit him. Since we can't wait forever for this fancy one
 
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FluffyZooCrew

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#15
Have you ever just went to Petsmart or Petco and tried a harness on him? I've never heard of a pet store *refusing* to sell someone a harness... I mean, he's just a poodle, I can't see it being that hard to fit him in a harness. And different brand harnesses have different adjustment sizes, so you can try them until you find one that fits...
 
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Have you ever just went to Petsmart or Petco and tried a harness on him? I've never heard of a pet store *refusing* to sell someone a harness... I mean, he's just a poodle, I can't see it being that hard to fit him in a harness. And different brand harnesses have different adjustment sizes, so you can try them until you find one that fits...
Thats where we went to Petco and Petsmart.

They wouldn't sell us the smaller one they said he was too big and then they proceded to demonstrate (all the while calling my male poodle a She and saying he needs one the size of my female Terrier mix referring to her as a he)

I'm still upset about that....

But they wouldn't sell us the small one.....and they tried on the medium size one and said he needed that one....well we already had that one for Sasha (she has two) so we gave him that one and tightened it up as tight as it would go and he still managed to slip out.


But my concern is not the harness because its not only walks its pretty much all the time he coughs like this.

when he gets excited, eats and drinks, wakes up in the night once or twice a night coughing......it seems like the smallest things trigger him to start coughing

But the vet swears up and down its just allergies (they havent done any tests or x rays or anything.


Like I said maybe I'm paronoid but he has been sick so much that every little thing scares me.

I'm so scared of losing him
 
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FluffyZooCrew

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#17
Then I suggest taking him back to the vet, or a different vet, and getting a second opinion. They don't do x-rays for allergies, but they will if they suspect something else. Dogs cough for a reason, so I'd suggest x-rays to see if he may have a trachea condition, or some other condition that could be causing the constant coughing. In the meantime, him yanking himself on a collar when he walks isn't going to help his trachea.
 

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On the harnesses--look at some of jessie's picture posts. She uses Puppia harnesses on her Chis and i have always heard that those are the best, most comfy harnesses for little dogs.
 
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FluffyZooCrew

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#20
I agree, I am going to get Gage a puppia harness soon. He's tiny, and I think he'll look adorable in one. :D
 

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