Choking/gagging and coughing-Help!

[Bulldog2001]

My dog keeps choking/ gagging kind of coughing but more like clearing his throat OR irritation in his throat.


He was cuddled on the couch with me and then when he got up he started choking/gagging kind of hacking to clear his throat?


He had the elongated soft palate (shortened), everted laryngeal saccules(removed), thru surgery in November of last year and he hasn’t had any issues with his airway and no more choking/gagging coughing since(he was doing that daily all day and even when he eats, this was BEFORE he had his palate surgery), and the signs of needing the surgery have gone away fully since he had the surgery.

I wouldn’t think his soft palate would grow back this soon? Would it?? Can it even grow back after the surgery??


Why would he be choking/gagging or hacking to clear his throat?

He is 3.5 years old, this makes no sense why he would be choking randomly and sudden?


Does the cold weather have anything to do with this??

Any recommendations or suggestions please??

FYI he hates lemon, So I don’t want to use lemon unless it’s absolutely needed.

 

[Manydogs]

I would give him a squirt of lemon juice and see if it helps ease the choke/gag. I always told my children, if it tastes bad, it works good(for meds.)

 

[Bulldog2001]

I would give him a squirt of lemon juice and see if it helps ease the choke/gag. I always told my children, if it tastes bad, it works good(for meds.)

Thank you for your response, i appreciate it.

He hates the lemon and I worry about doing things like that I will do it if it’s not improving.

Can bad dental health cause the choking/gagging? He does have some bad teeth. And HORRIBLE breath we were just talking about when he kissed me.

 

[oscarmayer]

Getting a dental to clean and/or remove teeth has risks...with the G/A. If you think that it must be done at some point it's best to do it earlier than later. I have no idea if dental issues can lead to other things that cause coughing you see. I do know that palate surgery sometimes needs to be repeated even if done correctly the first time. Sometimes it's not done correctly. Hoping this is a temporary issue.

 

[Bulldog2001]

Getting a dental to clean and/or remove teeth has risks...with the G/A. If you think that it must be done at some point it's best to do it earlier than later. I have no idea if dental issues can lead to other things that cause coughing you see. I do know that palate surgery sometimes needs to be repeated even if done correctly the first time. Sometimes it's not done correctly. Hoping this is a temporary issue.

Thank you for your response, i appreciate it.

Rusty is supposed to get his teeth checked and hopefully cleaned on Saturday, this is anesthesia FREE dental cleaning for dogs, but if they find any issues, they won’t clean them they will tell you to get a vet to check.

The choking comes and goes, he was choking after eating his dinner last night and also reverse sneezing too.
When he does choke/coughing after that, when he breathes it sounds like there is gross stuff in there(plem or something, not sure), but I haven’t heard him do that yet today(he is still in bed, he sleeps in in the morning), I will be observing if any cough when he eats his breakfast.

I was worried that his palate could grow back, I really hope his palate has not grown, that would be very unfair for him to go thru that surgery again and also need teeth done(hopefully not).
The vet that did the palate was board certified surgeon.

 

[2BullyMama]

Try the lemon first - I get he hates it, but it works if this is just a phegm issue and it is safe. Little quirt is all he needs.

s for palate regrowth... This happen with Cheli he had his reduced twice, but it was years apart, like 4 maybe, I'd hae to check his file to see for sure, but he also hates the lemon and will run/zoomie after we do it to him

 

[Bulldog2001]

Try the lemon first - I get he hates it, but it works if this is just a phegm issue and it is safe. Little quirt is all he needs.

s for palate regrowth... This happen with Cheli he had his reduced twice, but it was years apart, like 4 maybe, I'd hae to check his file to see for sure, but he also hates the lemon and will run/zoomie after we do it to him

Thank you for your response, I appreciate it.

If he continues to choke, I will try the lemon juice.

He seems to be ok so far today, he reversed sneezing after his breakfast(for some reason he does this reverse sneeze after every meal).

How old was Cheli when he had the first palate surgery?? If it took 4 years to regrow for Cheli, it shouldn’t be Rusty’s palate yet ,since it’s only been 1 year since his surgery??

 

[helsonwheels]

Jake does that often. He had is palate done around 3yrs ago. He was at the vet this summer for eyelash laser surgery n his palate was fine. Just try the lemon squirt first. Btw, Jake does that cause he inhales his food.

 

[Bulldog2001]

Jake does that often. He had is palate done around 3yrs ago. He was at the vet this summer for eyelash laser surgery n his palate was fine. Just try the lemon squirt first. Btw, Jake does that cause he inhales his food.

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it

Next time Rusty makes this choking noises I will try the lemon squirt first.
He also inhales his food too which I think is why he reverse sneezes after every meal.

Can the cold weather cause him to choke more?

He was choking a little bit today but not much, I will keep watching him and if it continues I will use the lemon.

Hopefully the palate didn’t grow back.

 

[oscarmayer]

and will run/zoomie after we do it to him

lemon juice = "Bulldog Starting Fluid"

 

[helsonwheels]

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it

Next time Rusty makes this choking noises I will try the lemon squirt first.
He also inhales his food too which I think is why he reverse sneezes after every meal.

Can the cold weather cause him to choke more?

He was choking a little bit today but not much, I will keep watching him and if it continues I will use the lemon.

Hopefully the palate didn’t grow back.

Today was -30, trust me it will choke anyone n you’ll even bit*h about it.

Start with the basic, the lemon. And no, not cold enough where you live. Basically your winters are like zero degrees.

 

[Bulldog2001]

Today was -30, trust me it will choke anyone n you’ll even bit*h about it.

Start with the basic, the lemon. And no, not cold enough where you live. Basically your winters are like zero degrees.

Thank you for your response, i appreciate it.

Wow that’s cold!

He doesn’t do it every day, but when he does it seems like what he was doing before his palate surgery, and I am just confused and concerned. He did it a bit yesterday, however today he didn’t(yet) and he is running around right now.


Next time he does it I will try the lemon.

For the cold weather,
Right now it’s -1 to -9, we had lots of snow, and likely more tonight. He is not outside other than to potty(which he normally is outside for 30 seconds to 2 minutes cause he hates the cold and the snow and rain even with the sweaters on), can this cause him to choke?

It definitely gets really cold but not -30.

Rusty will be getting the teeth done by the anesthesia free dental service tomorrow morning, the lady is flying out from Alberta to do the dental cleaning for the dogs at my work. I sure hope they don’t say ‘take him to the vet cause we can’t do it cause something needs a vet for serious issues’.
I will update on that tomorrow, hopefully they can clean and nothing serious is wrong.

Thanks again for your response, i appreciate it.

 

[2BullyMama]

lemon juice = "Bulldog Starting Fluid"

So true it is hysterical!!! LOL

@Bulldog2001 -- Cheli was abut two for the first surgery and the second was around five years old. The first he had palate and nares done... the second was palate, nares and saccules (spelling?). Our vet will not do any of these surgeries until at least 18 months and prefers to wait till two years as long as there are no extreme issues. One of the first things he told us was since it is soft tissue it can grow and possibly need to be done again.

 

[Bulldog2001]

So true it is hysterical!!! LOL

@Bulldog2001 -- Cheli was abut two for the first surgery and the second was around five years old. The first he had palate and nares done... the second was palate, nares and saccules (spelling?). Our vet will not do any of these surgeries until at least 18 months and prefers to wait till two years as long as there are no extreme issues. One of the first things he told us was since it is soft tissue it can grow and possibly need to be done again.

Thanks for checking the age for when he needed the surgery.

Our vet too, wanted us to wait until he was 2 years old before the first surgery. Rusty was 2.5 years old for the surgery, they did the palate, nose, and removed saccules.

I didn’t know the nares can close again?


So Cheli palate took 3 years to grow back, hopefully Rusty’s didn’t already grow back, hopefully if it does grow back, it won’t be for a couple more years(hopefully it doesn’t grow back )

Thank you for your response! I appreciate it.

 

[2BullyMama]

@Bulldog2001 - sorry should have been more clear, nares didn't close, vet was very conservative with the first procedure and since Cheli was having sleep apnea issues, he wanted to open them up more