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My puppy choked and passed after treats; why were there no signs?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | unspayed | 3 months and 4 days old | 31 lbs

So I gave my pup a few soft treats from Cesar… she played,acted normal, an hour later she was choking, my baby passed. The vet took out dry food out of her mouth. Why was the food dry? Did it ever got down in her stomach? Was it lodge in the air way? Was it just stuck in her throat? She was behaving normal after I gave it to her , I’m confuse and miss her. Why didn’t I see earlier signs? She wasn’t whining, coughing, sneezing. Just running around seemed to be playing at first.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Dr. Strydom, DVM

Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 11th, 2019

I'm so sorry that Cookie passed. What a shock for you :( Don't blame yourself. Dogs are very good at hiding illnesses until it's too late sometimes.

It is extremely difficult for me to comment on what happened since I was not there to see what the vet saw. I think you need to get clarification from them. If food was stuck in the esophagus that would not cause passing but if it was stuck there, she may have coughed it up and then it aspirated "down the wrong tube" (into the trachea) when she went to swallow it again.

Again, so sorry this happened but if you have questions you need to clarify with your vet since they saw it.
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