Have any of you experienced this with your pets? I have a 12 year old black lab mutt. Truly a great dog. He's taken to occasionally gagging in a weird and vocal way. They he'd be fine again for quite a while.

Last night, when he did this, he'd kind of pant and he seemed in somewhat of a respiratory distress. We had him lie down and calmed him down and he'd seem ok. But clearly, this keeps happening. Last night was much worse than normal.

Absent other factors, based upon what I'm reading HERE, I'd probably conclude that as he is very old, we should be putting him down to avoid a crisis situation and a terrible death. But I just lost my Mom three weeks ago, and I don't want to put my kids through that this quickly if he can likely get months or a year more with just this crazy sound and situation somewhat under control.

It doesn't sound like there are any medication solutions. Any thoughts, experience or advice from those who've been there done that is welcome.

First off, my sympathies on the loss of your mother. Everything that remains becomes more precious when we lose a loved one.

I am a tech here, not a vet. I do have a dog that has issues with a collapsed trachea every so often.. he will wheeze and gag, honk like a duck, but then he settles down and he’s fine. Making sure he doesn’t have a collar with leash works best for us, and just monitoring him when he gags has been working as well. I also don’t let him exhaust himself (I know that can be hard with a lab).

The other thing I would consider is kennel cough, but your situation sounds more intermittent. I don’t know if you regularly vaccinate for that, but it can cause some similar symptoms.

If you haven’t yet, bring your dog to the vet. Based on what you’ve written, I don’t believe you need to euthanize your pet and I am sure if you explain your situation to the vet, they will recognize the fact that you are extra sensitive to any health issues after your recent loss. They will also advise you on how to exercise your pet and perhaps provide medication or a technique that may help ease the situation if it arises again. Obviously, I can’t see your pet from where I sit and have no idea of its medical history, so my belief is just thin air and goodwill. Take him in and let your vet guide you. Best of luck.

Thanks irreverent! We got him a 9:30am emergency appointment with the vet. I'm thankful for that, as it's hard to get him even an "emergency" appointment sometimes.

What you described is very much what Pete has been doing. Basically, pretty much ok when he's sedate, but for an occasional "honk". Last night, he was gasping a lot after the honk. And breathing very heavy and loudly.

For quite some time, he has been very audible when walking out to pee. So we don't exercise him anymore. Just walk out to relieve himself and walk back in. Still probably a 900ft round trip, but not a two mile walk anymore.

He did calm down and sleep ok.

I'm sorry for all your family is going through. We have a 13 year Bouvier des Flanders with Geriatric onset laryngeal paralysis and polyneuropathy (GLOPP). In our experience and in my research, it seems to be a progressive issue. Keeping a dog cool, so they don't need to pant too much is helpful. I actually think my dog has had this to a degree all his life, as it is genetically dominant in Bouviers. He has had some neurologic issues for 3 years now (back end weakness). And the official diagnosis for at least 2 years.

I agree w irreverent's advice.

I hope this is helpful, and here if you have other questions

Do what's best for the dog, not what's best for you.

Bob

Vet said no need to euthanize now. She said to keep him cool and calm. And if we know in advance that he will get excited (an unavoidable car ride or something like that) she gave us some pills to calm him. She said we can use them if he gets into that state again, but they do take a while to act, so it's not a perfect recourse.

Surgery sounded pretty sketchy and risky. Even if it goes well, he then runs the risk of aspirating and pneumonia. I'm not down with that. We'll just baby him and keep him home and calm as long as we can.

She said if he starts having persistent attacks of panic, or multiple a week, that's the sign. I'll err on the side of earlier rather than too late, as best I can.

Thanks guys!

Thank you for the update! Good to hear.
There are cooling pads just for pups that struggle with heat. Maybe see what you think, and a floor fan…

I went through something similar with my old lab a couple of years back. He started gagging and had some breathing troubles, especially at night. After a vet visit, we found out it was partly allergies and partly just getting older. We started giving him Benadryl (our vet recommended it) and got a humidifier for the room he slept in. It didn't completely stop the issues, but it did help him be more comfortable. It's tough seeing them like that, but maybe chat with your vet about these options.

One of our greyhounds had this many years ago. It was very scary to watch, but once we got him diagnosed(keep him as cool as we could in the meantime), the surgery was actually decently simple(the bill wasn't) but they cut through the neck, tuck a piece of the larynx back so it is always open wide, they just said to watch when he drinks water as he could get more than he should down the pipe.

Good luck with your pup.