Bad news from the VET

[YorkieGuru]

Took Louie (my 1 1/2 yr old) to go get neutured yesterday. As he was under, they asked me if they could pull some of his baby teeth that didn't come out. So I gave them the O.K..
I also had an appt to get Elle's shots done when I picked up Louie. As she gave her the shots we talked about Elle's coughing not getting any better. They had diagnosed it as kennel cough. She has had it since the day I brought her home. She is 5 months old now. She told me that she is leaning now towards collapsing trachea. She messed with her a bit and got her to cough by pressing on her throat. After doing research, I agree with her theory.
Then after checking her over some more, she discovered she has a slight problem with luxating patellas. She said we need to watch this and make sure it doesnt get worse or she will need the surgery.
Now it being the 2nd day of Louie's surgery, he is now throwing up and not feeling good. He just looks so sad. I hate to see him like this but I know he will get through this.
I hate getting bad news, specially when it concerns my babies.
Question....should I contact the breeder and let her know Elle might have the collapsing trachea? Cause isn't it inherited?

[Lacy's Mom]

Sorry, for all the bad news. Surgery isn't always necessary for the luxating patellas if it is just a slight problem.

Many lead fairly normal lives with collapsing tracheas. Just limit excitement, keep her warm and don't let her put any xtra weight on. No one really knows if it is inherited or not, but suspect it probably is. It can be caused by injury. The luxating patellas are the same, maybe hereditary, maybe injury, maybe diet?????? I know I would appreciate a call if any of my babies were diagnosed with any conditions that may be hereditary. A good breeder will use the information to produce healthier pups and not breed the parents together again, especially, if others in the litter are affected.

I would call the vet on your little boy and make sure they think that is normal.

[Lacy's Mom]

Just reread my post - correction - with collapsing trachea you should keep them cool, not warm.

[yorkiemalt]

Luxating patellas are a genetic defect. The problem is that the gene is recessive. You should most definitely contact the Breeder.

Luxating patellas can be aggravated by injury but caused by....no. That would be a dislocated knee that could be reduced back into place and would stay there if there was NO luxation.

I have to ask.....luxating patellas caused by diet? NEVER heard that in my life.

[peanut]

My morkie was diagnosed with both since age 1, he is 9 now and he does fine, no surgery or anything, he gets excited is when its the worse....

[SJK1113]

I'm sorry for all the bad news. I definitely would call the breeder. Good luck! I hope your baby is feeling better very soon!

[Connie]

Boy oh boy...you have a lot on your mind! I'm so sorry about the possible diagnosis of collapsed trachea and also the lp. I hope and pray her problems will not worsen. She's very young to possibly have that collapsed trachea and I didn't know that could be hereditary, but I know the LP is! I think you should call your breeder and let her know what's happening. I also feel so bad to hear Louie is throwing up. Probably give the vet a call...poor little guy! I'll say a prayer for both your babies and best wishes to you!

[nafretiri]

Can you clarify.... did she have the cough for 5 months? Letting a cough go more than a week in these little guys will cause a collapsed trachea. Every time i fly a dog in from a foreign country, it gets a little cough from the dry air on the airline. I immediately start the clavomox and tobutrol so that I don't end up with a collapsed trachea. The patella, definitely call the breeder. Even if it is an injury caused luxation, most of us will not breed those parents again.

[Patti]

When i got Calli at 9 weeks she had Kennel Cough and gave it to my then 8 year old pom. It took 3 months for Cali to get over it an longer for my Pom. But they both recovered. I have had 2 Yorkies with collapsed tracheas live to 13 years of age with no problems other than coughing when excited. I would have her rechecked in a few months it may well be the kennel cough has not completelt recolved. I would let the breeder know.

[YorkieGuru]

[QUOTE=nafretiri]Can you clarify.... did she have the cough for 5 months? Letting a cough go more than a week in these little guys will cause a collapsed trachea. Every time i fly a dog in from a foreign country, it gets a little cough from the dry air on the airline. I immediately start the clavomox and tobutrol so that I don't end up with a collapsed trachea. The patella, definitely call the breeder. Even if it is an injury caused luxation, most of us will not breed those parents again.[/QUOTE/]

WELL, she has had her cough since the day I brought her home. She didn't start coughing til that night. We took her to the vet the next day for her puppy check and to ask about her coughing. They diagnosed it as kennel cough. She has been to the vet about 6 times trying different things to clear it up. nothing has worked, so this last time I took her in, she told me about the trachea. So then I started thinking. She was able to make her cough by pressing on her throat, and such. She is trying her out on steriods (spelling) to see if that helps. She coughs when she gets excited, when she drinks water, and if it's cold. Somedays it is worse than others. But she coughs every day.

Patti, I sure will wait a lil longer to make sure it isnt kennel cough. I just figured with all the medicine she has been on, it would have cleared up by now. I might have them run some tests to make sure it is a collapsed trachea. I think I heard you can do some xrays and that might show if it collaps.??? I don't know.

I will def. let the breeder know what's going on then since you all think I should. I don't want anything in return, just want to make her aware so she can watch her lines. I love this dog and will do anything to make her better.

Her patella is a slight problem. It's not at a point where it requires surgery right now. She just said to watch her weight and excercise of jumping off high things. I don't let her jump off anything like the couch. So I'll just have to keep her by my side more. Boy, wont my hubby love that....LOL

Thanks everyone for some great advice. I truely appreciate it!!!!

[TatumsMom]

Originally Posted by yorkiemalt

I have to ask.....luxating patellas caused by diet? NEVER heard that in my life.

Maybe it's not CAUSED by diet but my toy poodle had this in one leg and we noticed a huge improvement once we put him on a diet and he got back down to a reasonable weight. When we lived next to my grandparents, my grandpa would feed him anything and everything he wanted and by the time we moved away when the dog was about 2 years old, he weighed about twice what he should (should have been only about 7-8 lbs). He would have a problem with his knee joint popping out of place all the time but after losing the weight, he rarely had an episode. Maybe that's what the poster meant by "diet"??

[Breny]

I have a Yorkie boy who had luxating pateelas in both his rear legs. We ended up having surgery on both legs at the same time. He then ended up chewing all the stitches out of one of his legs (it was horrible!).

But the vet ended up goping in a SECOND time and doing a nother surgery on both his legs again. He is fine now. He's 3 years old now and runs around like nothing. Although it seems to never fail that he's always wacking his poor little knees on the steps! I cringe everytime!

But he's doing real well. I do know surgery isn't always needed. My Rogan was in pain and I think it was the right choice for him. He's my big Yorkie. 14lbs, puchased from a big time BYB. I remember they had all kinds of Yorkies running around in a fenced in area. I know better now. He's huge, his ears never stood up ,and then he had the knee issues. But he turned out to be the best dog I ever had! Spoiled rotton!

Good luck with yours...I hope she's well soon

[kaymo]

Bentley has a grade 1 luxating patella. It didn't appear until he was about 7 months old. Our vet said it wasn't necessarily inherited since he likes to jump alot and he never had it before then. He also said it's so common in this breed and unless it's a grade 3 or 4 and the dog is in pain the dog should not have surgery since arthritis will set in. Just something to think about. I would probably add some glucosamine and chondroitin supplements to his diet or find a good quality dog food that has that in it. We did that and Bentley hasn't had a problem yet and he's 2 1/2 years old. You might want to limit his jumping, too.

[rosesmom]

Oh it's so sad you are going thru all this at once. I'm hoping things are better today for all of you.

[ilovelouie]

Im so sorry to hear that you and your babies are going through all of this. I hope all is well for you real soon. I too have a little boy named "Louie", who was about 1 and a half at the time that we got our little girl "Bella" (very close to the name "Ella") LOL. Bella also had kennel cough when I got her, but was well again within the first month home. Now she is making this sort of snorting honking weird noise that I hope is not collapsed trachia. I heard that it sounds like it is something called reverse sneazing, which is really quite harmless. Sounds like we have quite a bit in common. Good luck to you, Louie , and Ella.
Kisses and hugs from Louie, and Bella