How to make a dog with tracheal collapse comfortable at home?

Typically, medical management of collapsing trachea includes cough suppressants such as hydrocodone, tapering doses of prednisone or inhaled steroids such as fluticasone. If Chaisey has developed an acute worsening of symptoms, thoracic radiographs and an airway wash should be considered to rule out infection. Albuterol is typically not helpful in my experience.

You may be able to use dextromethorphan depending on what she is currently taking, but you will need to contact your veterinarian for a dose. Bronchodilators may also be of benefit in treatment. Legally, we are prohibited from providing such information or telling you to give it in the absence of a physical exam and a VPCR (Veterinarian-Patient-Client Relationship).

Poor guy. If the Temaril alone is not helping him I would highly recommend telling your vet so that they can also prescribe additional medications. Tracheal collapse is often treated with several medications in more severe cases. Cough tabs or Torbutrol tabs are given to help reduce the cough. Also a bronchodilator is helpful in some pets to open up the airway just before the thoracic inlet. For now you can mix a small amount of honey mixed with water and offer that to Ferris until you an get him seen again by your vet. Honey has anti-inflammatory proerties that may be somewhat helpful. Also make sure not to place a collar on him, harness only, and try your best to keep him in a quite room with limited stimulus. I hope that Ferris feels better soon! Best wishes and take care.

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.

Tussigon (hydrocodone bitartrate) is good for collapsing trachea along with using a harness instead of a collar, as well as keeping Kasey as calm as possible. Daily VetriScience Composure chews (available on chewy.com and petco.com) are highly effective in many dogs to ‘take the edge off’ their excitability in a natural way. Tussigon contains a narcotic with potential sedative effects so not exceeding your veterinarian’s prescribed dose is important. In severe cases of tracheal collapse, surgical correction is an option. Good luck!

Hello, and thank you for your question. If Lacy is only coughing once or twice at night, you can ask your vet about trying a cough suppressant for the night time only. However, if she is coughing frequently at night, I'd also want to rule out heart disease as an underlying cause. Coughing due to heart disease often happens during rest, as fluid accumulates in their lungs when they are lying on their sides. Chest x-rays would be necessary to rule this out. For dogs with collapsing trachea that cough regularly at all hours, you can ask your vet about using a bronchodilator, and/or inhaled steroids, which get the medicine directly into her lungs where she needs it, with minimal absorption into the rest of her body, in turn minimizing side effects of steroids. Check out the Aerodawg, which is an inhaler designed just for dogs. However, as stated earlier, if her coughing is minimal, just a cough suppressant at night may be enough. In addition, switching to a harness instead of a collar can be very helpful, as it minimizes pressure on the trachea when the dog is pulling on the leash. I hope this helps, and that Lacy is doing well!

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