My Nellie is Retired

[Sookie]

My beautiful girl Nellie, Hekan's Wait 'Til The Sun Shines, was diagnosed last week with a collapsed trachea and enlarged heart. She has five points but, of course, I immediately retired her from showing and will not be breeding her. She is only a year old. I noticed that she was making the honking sound when she played with my other Yorkies and immediately took her to the Vet. He also diagnosed an enlarged heart (xray confirmation).

I am heartbroken. I will get her spayed as soon as I feel comfortable with that - I need to look into alternatives to a tracheal tube. The collapse is pretty far down and quite severe - especially for such a young dog.

I had such hopes and dreams, but I love her so much and will do whatever I need to do to ensure she has a happy life.

[carmen in nj]

oh, girl so sorry...wishing your girl the best ... and a full recovery ...

[manolos mom]

I'm so sorry! You should send Ladyjane a PM. She had one of her rescues that had a severe collapse trac. She may have some tips for you. I know she spent many days and night at the vets. Good Luck and God Bless.

[chattiesmom]

Susan, I am so very sorry to hear your heart breaking news regarding Nellie. I will keep her in my thoughts and prayers.

[gemy]

Susan I'm very sorry to hear this news. I hope that you are able to find a treatment plan that will work well for Nellie. Such devastating news.

[lisaly]

Your love of your baby shines through in every word you have written. I am so sorry to hear your sad news. One of my little ones had a collapsed trachea from the time she was very little. If I can help in any way, please let me know.

[bjh]

I am so sorry to hear about your girl's problems. My advise would be to get more than one opinion. I have a friend that had two pups that were diagnosed with collapsed trachea but as it turned out they had both got into something that was on some used paint brushes and the substance on the brushes caused their trachea to swell. They both eventually got better.

Also, I had a bitch once that after having pups started retaining fluid in her abdomen. The vet said she had a enlarged heart and he drained the fluid twice. She was put on medication. After several months she made a complete recover and with a followup to another vet we discovered she did not have a enlarged heart. The vet thought it might of been something hormonal that cause the fluid retention. Anyway we had her spayed several years ago and she has not had any problems since.

Since this seems to have come on suddenly I am just wondering if it could of been caused by something environmentally and not something genetic. I pray she makes a full recovery and does not have any serious problems with her condition.

[Sookie]

Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts.

I have had three confirmations of her condition, three different vets none of whom know the other. I am currently talking to chiropractic vets to see if they can do anything about a subluxation of the spine she also has and which I neglected to mention in my original post.

I will continue to do whatever I need to do for Nellie to keep her as comfortable and healthy as possible.

I welcome all your comments and suggestions. Thank you!!

[bjh]

It sounds like you are doing everything you can to help her. I pray she does well with whatever treatment she gets.

[Tae1107]

Sending thoughts....

My Cupid was diagnosed with a collasped trachea at 6 months old..also very severe and far down....he ended up getting the stent put in as he was not responding to any medications, and could not even eat the day before he went in for the stent.... it has been over a year and he is doing well...of course the stent was a last resort as it does not "fix" the problem forever as eventually I guess the stent can wear out....his stent is fine though and has not weakened at all....

Did your vets suggest any medications?

[Sookie]

Originally Posted by Tae1107

Sending thoughts....

My Cupid was diagnosed with a collasped trachea at 6 months old..also very severe and far down....he ended up getting the stent put in as he was not responding to any medications, and could not even eat the day before he went in for the stent.... it has been over a year and he is doing well...of course the stent was a last resort as it does not "fix" the problem forever as eventually I guess the stent can wear out....his stent is fine though and has not weakened at all....

Did your vets suggest any medications?

He mentioned steroids as a short term option only since they can create problems of their own. I have to keep her weight down and from getting too wild (not easy as she is still very young). The heat and humidity will come with more issues.