My senior dog's tracheal collapse meds aren't working. What can I do?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry to hear that your little girl isn't doing well. If she is urinating and defecating because she is losing consciousness because her airway is obstructing from the collapsing trachea, then yes, you might need to consider either a procedure where a stent is placed to keep the airway open (last resort procedure that has complications and is very expensive), or euthanasia. I would discuss with your vet about why she is urinating/defecating and if she is losing consciousness or not. Also, in the meantime, discuss with your vet about medications to try to decrease the coughing (codiene phosphate liquid, linctol, steroids possibly),but keep in mind this is not a cure, but might help slightly, but has side effects and might not help at all. Unfortunately, with severe collapsing trachea, sometimes euthanasia is the most humane thing to do. I am sorry she is so sick.

I'm sorry that Luna is having this issue. There are quite a few things that could be going on. Collapsing trachea is my best guess based on your description. I suggest you video the "coughing" behavior to show your vet. That will be the most helpful. I would also recommend x-rays of her chest as the next step. It is not a good idea to continue Famotidine for such a long time. It actually will stop the stomach from producing any acid at all which can make issues worse. If you are still doing that I would stop. ( https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/tracheal-collapse-in-dogs )

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.

First, it may take longer than just 5 days of medicine to improve. I would give the medicine a little longer to work. Second, the cough and wheezing may never go away completely. If the heart is enlarged, it could be pushing on the trachea which could be part of the reason for the cough. Also, a collapsing trachea will get worse the more excitable she becomes. If she isn't improving, I would have your vet reassess her 10-14 days after the medicine has been started. If she is getting worse, I would have your vet recheck her immediately. Your vet may want to take x-rays to see if there is any improvement in the lungs to see if the meds are helping some. They may decide to adjust the meds or add in something to help keep her calm and help with the collapsed trachea. Again, you cannot cure the enlarged heart. You also cannot cure the collapse trachea without surgery which doesn't have a great success rate. Keep a close eye on her. I hope this helps!

This is always a tough question to answer. I work for a home euthanasia service, so I face this question all the time with clients. I recommend making a list of five things Coco used to love to do, and if she is no longer doing at least two of them, her quality of life has declined to where euthanasia should be considered. Quality of life is very important in these cases. I would speak with her vet to see what they think about her quality of life. I hope this helps.

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