throat injury/infection?

[Belleview]

Hi all-

 

Throwing this out for any ideas-

 

My old girl, Tess, a very fit 12 yo, is having a real ordeal with a throat injury/infection. History- Last Sat (8/23), she & all the rest of the dogs had their weeking "bone day" as in everyone gets a big beef knuckle bone, I sit in the yard & read for an hour or so while the gnaw on them. 7 bones go out, 7 bones come back. Sat. evening, Tess was slow to eat her supper. Since she's usually a speed eater, I checked her mouth, worrying about finding a broken tooth. I noticed a laceration above one canine & was *hoping* she didn't fracture the tooth above the gumline, but she didn't mind me fussing with the tooth, so figured it was just a sore gum issue. The following day I was called out of town on short notice. At the last minute, I took her with me just to keep an eye on her. Over the next two days, she seemed less and less comfortable eating, even soft stuff, and starting coughing/gagging when she tried. Some stuff went down, but alot blew back up. I was in no-vet no man's land, so had to make a hurried trip back to have her seen by my vets. They x-rayed her throat & didn't see any obstruction. Thought she may have had something stuck which dislodged & her symptoms were from residual discomfort aggrevated by the coughing/gagging. Put her on antibiotics and a cough suppressant. I thought she improved slightly, however, it may have been wishing thinking, as within a day she was back to gagging & coughing & refusing food even tho she clearly *wants* to eat. Back to the vet, who did a endoscopy. They found nothing stuck in her throat, but said it was super red & irritated & her larynx was like "mincemeat." Added Pred. to list of drugs. Two days later & I'm still not seeing much improvement. She is actually eating soft food, but is still having violent and obviously painful gagging/choking episodes. Heading back to the vets today. We're going to try something else, tho not sure what that will be.

 

So, dog friends, anybody have any ideas? (BTW, I've seen her mouth toys and such, so I'm sure her tooth/gum issue was a red herring.)

 

Lori Cunningham

Belleview Farm

Milton, PA

[Sue R]

Lori - I have no advice but I sure wish you and Tess the best at finding out the problem and being able to deal with it so the old girl can get some comfort (and nutrition). What a worry for you both!

[urge to herd]

I second Sue's words. I hope you find out soon, what a worrisome thing. I wonder if she somehow injured the muscles/smooth tissue that actually do the swallowing, or the base of her tongue?

 

Good luck to you both,

 

Ruth n the BC3

[mbc1963]

That's tough. I wonder what could have cut her up so?

 

My sister's dog once had very similar symptoms. When SHE turns down food, you know something's wrong. Sunday, we took her to the e-vet, who said it was probably something similar to a cold, and prescribed doggie pain relievers. By Monday morning, the poor thing had a huge swollen mass on the OUTSIDE of her neck - my BIL pressed on it, and it burst open, oozing blood and pus. She went back to the e-vet, where they put in a drain and put her on antibiotics. Whatever had been lodged in her throat had apparently caused an infection big enough that it actually passed through her entire neck to the outside of her body. Yeesh!

 

Hope you have a less dramatic situation. Wish you knew what was in there that's making her so uncomfortable.

 

Mary

[Belleview]

I think the culprit in Tess' case had to be bone relalted as the cause & effect seems too tight to ignore. The vets say there may have been something missed on the x-ray that was dislodged when they inserted the scope, so I guess we'll never know for sure.

 

Just spoke with two people MDs who suspect that if the injury to her larnyx was as nasty as the vets described that it may just be such a super-irritant that she may continue to have these symptoms until some actual healing happens...which I would guess is being hampered by the coughing. Vicious circle. As I mentioned, she's on a cough suppressant tablet....anyone use anything else interesting for coughing/throat soothing purposes?

 

thanks for the well wishes.

 

Lori

Belleview Farm

Milton, PA

[juliepoudrier]

Lori,

I don't have any useful advice, but I hope Tess makes a quick recovery!

 

J.

[books]

Could your vet mix her up something with lidocaine to take before eating. Some sort of cocktail? I know that in the hospital, we often gave something similar to patients with severe reflux.

[Belleview]

Good call! That's pretty much what we tried yesterday. Put her on a jazzed up suppressant with some anesthetic qualities...I don't know if it contained lidocaine, but it seemed to make her more comfortable. Had a good night, so I'm hoping things are on the right track with my old girl.

 

thanks.

 

Lori Cunningham

Belleview Farm

Milton, PA

[Indydog]

years ago I threw a stick in the air and Indy tried to catch it. He yelped and spit out blood. The stick stabbed him near the little punching bag thingy. I took him to the vet and the vet said that it should heal on its own. And it did and now we have a no stick rule regardless of how many stick he brings to me. During his injury, I added water to his food and made sure it was soggy before giving it to him. Good luck and hope Tess heals up soon.