My Papillon's tongue turns blue with tracheal collapse. Is she suffering?

Poor girl. Collapsing trachea is easily diagnosed with a chest radiograph (x-ray). I would request this test to be done. The vet can also assess Princess's heart to make sure she doesn't have underlying heart disease. If she does have collapsing trachea as the underlying cause, then she should be started on medicaitons (cough suppressants, potential steroids, bronchodilators, etc) to take at home to possibly help with this. However these will only provide some relief. The only way to provide a more effective treatment for this condition is surgical correction of the section of collapsed trachea. Here is more information on tracheal collapse in pets. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1527 I hope that you are able to get Princess some relief soon. Best wishes and take care.

What a sweet girl! I'm sorry the two of you are having go through this. Tracheal compression would most likely lead to a cough, which tends to be sort of honking sounding cough. If there were to be compression very high on the trachea/at the larynx, that would likely cause a persistent almost sucking noise with each breath. This is also quite distressing, and you would be able to tell that Lupita was working too hard to move air. Dogs often start to look cyanotic when this happens, meaning their tongue appears almost blue in color. Fortunately the trachea within the neck has quite a bit of wiggle room side to side, so its unlikely that Lupita's current issue will obstruct her airway. I hope thats helpful! Good luck with her! Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Bambi. I'm wondering if she has something like a collapsed trachea causing her breathing issues. You see problems with breathing in the condition with excitement and exercise, and it does worsen over time. This can explain what is going on with her. Without seeing her in person, I can't say for certain this is the cause. I recommend having her seen by a vet in the morning. The vet can diagnose what is causing her problems, and can discuss treatment options with you. If she does have a collapsing trachea, treatment options include medical management or surgery. I hope this helps!

Poor Luna sounds like she isn't doing well at the moment. I would take her into the vet first thing in the morning. Her quality of life does sound poor at the moment, and maybe putting her to sleep is the best option. But discuss it with your vet first, they may have additional ideas as to how to make her quality of life better. I would be prepared, however, that it may be time to let her go. I hope this helps.

I would recommend contacting your Vets office to discuss the new symptoms. New medications can take a while to adjust to and your vet may be happy just to continue to monitor but if there is any weakness or shortness of breath an emergency check up would be recommended to rule out other complicating factors such as a respiratory tract infection or drug reaction

Hello and thank you for your question. I hate it that the medications are not providing cough relief for your dog. In my experience, if these two medications are not stopping the cost of a tracheal collapse patient, then surgery should be considered. there are so many great surgical methods and treatments now for collapsing trachea. One of them being a mesh wire coil that can be placed in the trachea to keep it dilated without the possibility of collapse. These are usually performed by surgical specialists and your general veterinarian may have to refer you to one of them. I urge you to make an appointment with your local veterinarian to discuss possible surgical options for your dogs condition. I hope I have helped.

If her gums and tongue turned blue (cyanosis aka cyanotic), this is a sign of not getting enough oxygen. This can come from a heart problem, a tracheal issue like tracheal collapse, a severe allergic reaction, poor pulmonary perfusion (pneumonia, cancer, fluid around the lungs, etc) and much more. I would strongly recommend to take her to the vet for an exam to see if they can figure out what caused her to be cyanotic and hopefully prevent it from happening again. Lack of oxygen can be fatal if not immediately treated. I hope this helps!