Lurcher choking

[Lurcherowner]

At the w/e whilst driving we became aware that our lurcher in the rear section of the car was gasping for air, we stopped and quickly got to her, she was now gasping very loudly and this was increasing in volume and intensity and her entire body was pulsing violently. When I grabbed hold of her I am sure she was going to choke to death as she had stopped trying to breath and was just at the point of collapse - I was totally panicked and basically poured cold water straight down her throat which shocked her system. We got her out of the car and for the next hour or so she kept reaching and pulsing her throat as though she needed to bring some thing up.

The thing is this isnt just a one off and has happened a few times before but never to this intensity. She isnt coughing and overwise is fine. She is about 8-9 yrs old and active.

We have been to see our vet who is v good but cant really be sure what happened.

She had certainly not swallowed a foreign object or anything like that.

Any thoughts ?

[Jaybay]

I created a separate post about choking and first aid in dogs, but if you all missed it, here's the link:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1677&aid=3551

This page contains very detailed instructions of how to do the heimlich on your dog, as well as CPR.  REALLY good information there!  :-)

[ginger899]

To Jaybay: Thanks.  Good idea. Yes she does go off on one when my friend visits, as she has such a massive crush on him, and yes, he does get her excited, with the "Hey I'm Here! And I throw biscuits at you! So Come and GET IT!"  so I'll start training them BOTH!

To Ghilly: Right, thank you. I hope I never need to use it, but now I know what to do in an emergency.

[Ghilly]

You CAN do a Heimlich maneuver on your dog if necessary, I have done it on a friend's dog.  She mixed canned food with dry for a change of pace and the dog went so NUTS for it that she took huge mouthfuls of food and ended up with it lodged in her throat, unable to either swallow it down or cough it back up.  

You get over them and put your hands in the hollow between their ribs at the top of the abdomen (same place you would put your hands on a human) and do the same thing you would do to a person..  It works the same way.  

Ghilly

[Jaybay]

I honestly can't remember if I spoke to my vet about a heimlich maneuver for dogs.  Mouth-to-snout - yes.  When our dogs have choked on something they've swallowed, we just dive in with fingers and yank it out.  Luckily, it's never happened with something out of reach, so that's a great question to ask your vet.

On the treat issue, you'll have to make your friend understand that your dog must be calm before she gets a treat.  If the situation is very excited, like, "COME GET A TREAT!  GOOD DOG!  GOOD DOG!" and the dog is bouncing off the walls, of course she's going to inhale it in all the excitement.  Use the treats as an opportunity for a bit of training and have her sit-stay or lay down, and only when she is calm does she get the treat.  You want to reward calm behavior rather than excited behavior.

Keep us updated on what you find out.  What an odd case.  :-)

[Ghilly]

It almost sounds as though she is having some sort of esophageal spasm.  Jaybay's suggestion of keeping a record is an excellent one.  Get a notebook and keep a daily log of everything she eats, how many times she goes out, whether or not she is drinking an inordinate amount of water that day, etc., and hopefully if she has another one of these episodes you will be able to draw some kind of line to SOMETHING that she did or ate that day that you can use to give the vet a clue.  And PLEASE keep us posted as to what goes on with her.  

Ghilly

[ginger899]

Do you know what kind of first-aid can be done with a dog which IS actually choking? I am never sure what I would be able to do if that happened. My dog has a terrible habit of wolfing dog biscuits down so quickly (she tries to swallow them whole! especially when my friend gives them to her. I have now told him to break them into small pieces.) It always gives me the creeps when she does this, as I would be stuck if she did start choking.
Once I used the Heimlich method when my partner was choking, and it worked immediately. He said I saved his life. Is there some similar thing one can do for dogs?

[Lurcherowner]

Jaybay thank you.

The car is enclosed - so insects ruled out.

It does happen to a lesser degree when she moves after being inactive for a period, so if she is on the sofa and then gets up for a walk it may trigger a short choke but nothing like the intensity of what happened at the w/e.

I am really interesed in the mouth to snout breathing you mention, as at the point it happened last w/e then water was really all I could do and I knew I had to do something immediatly... sheer panic !

We will log the incidents - thats a really useful tip.

Thanks

[Jaybay]

Does the choking always happen either in the car or outside?  Sometimes dogs who are allowed to ride with their heads out the car window can get foreign objects rammed down their throats.  Even a small insect can cause problems due to the speed at which it gets jammed down the trachea or esophogus.

Intermittent problems are extremely difficult to diagnose - particularly when everything else seems fine.  I wonder if your dog is badly allergic so some kind of insect, and that causes her throat to swell up.  I honestly think this is unlikely as that severe of a reaction wouldn't clear up without medical help, but you never know.

Have your vet teach you mouth-to-snout breathing so you're prepared for the next attack.  It's better to use that rather than water - you don't want her breathing water into her lungs and risking pneumonia.

Another consideration would be some kind of seizure activity.  To help your vet help your dog, keep records of these episodes and be as detailed as you possibly can as to time of day, activity, diet changes, location, etc.  Whether seizures or allergies, you just might be able to nail down the trigger with excellent record keeping.