# Honking like she can't breathe..could it be asthma?



## kimmiek915 (Oct 4, 2005)

Hi there! I was wondering if any of you guys have experienced this before...last night, while my puppy was sleeping in my bed, she started honking and acting like she was having difficulty breathing. It actually kind of looked like she was having an asthma attack or something. Throughout the night, I think this happened about 2 or 3 times, and each episode only lasted about 3-5 seconds, but it was still very scary. Each time it happened, I didn't know WHAT to do, so I just rubbed her chest/throat and the honking just went away. I'm wondering if it was some kind of allergic reaction or do dogs have asthma too? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## lecohen (Feb 13, 2005)

Hiya,

I think this is referred to as "reverse sneezing" and is very common with dogs with short muzzles. It is nothing to worry about too much although it can be very scary.

There are lots of threads about this if you do a search.

You did the right thing to rub her throat from what I have read.

Maybe someone with more experience can shed more light for you.

:wave:


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## mytrixie (Feb 4, 2006)

Trixie does the same thing every once in awhile. From what people tell me, it is pretty common. I didnt know about rubbing her throat...I will try that....Trixie also does it sometimes after drinking her water....


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## kimmiek915 (Oct 4, 2005)

Oh, so that's what it is. My Minky is now 7 months old, and this started up pretty recently. I guess I had thought she wouldn't get reverse sneezing since she was fine the first few months of her life. I'm glad to hear that it's not life threatening though. I will definitely ask her vet about it the next time she goes in for a check up. Thanks so much for the info.!


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## kimmiek915 (Oct 4, 2005)

Yeah, all I did was rub her throat/chest gently and slowly, and she stopped honking, so I think the rubbing definitely does help.


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## foxywench (Feb 7, 2005)

vets unfamiliar with chihuahuas might not know about reverse sneezing (i found that of the 2 vets in our office the vet with chihuahuas was familiar with and comfortable discussing reverese sneezing, the other vet who has larger dogs had never heard of it and thought it was a sighn of a colapsing treachea and wanted to do a bunch of tests when i mentioned it...luckily my regular vet walked in at thatmoment and was like NO ! its nothign to be alarmed about.

we describe it as a goose with a cold...

its pretty common when the palet gets dry or misalighend, or when they drink too fast, the best way to stop it is to make them breath through their mouth. dodger i just rub his throat and it passes very quickly, ixie tends to be a lil more stubborn (i think she has taught herself to do it on purpose) as she always gets picked up and fussed for aminute when it happens.
i have to rub her throat and literally put my fingers over her nostrils so she HAS to breeth through her motuh...


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## trixiesmom (Jan 31, 2006)

that's what Trixie and Teenie were doing after we got the pup, she came with the hacking noise. The vet thought at first it was a reverse sneeze, but it kept up and it was treated for kennel cough. Evidently th e pup came with it when we got her. If it keeps up, I would have it checked. Trixie and Teenie never had the shot, because I don't let them around other dogs, so I was really surprised. We are getting the shot for all four of them next week.


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## Gypsy (Feb 13, 2006)

It sounds like a reverse sneeze to me. When allergens are strong they can be intensified. A few weeks ago Cosette was doing it so bad I thought she might have asthma, I had her to my vet and it turned out it was just because of allergies making it worse. I gave her benadryl and after a few days it was gone. She still does it occassionally but not as much as Deedlit. Deedlit has it quite often and alot of times at night. I think her circling intensifies it when she's down because she has a hard time stopping, I just pick her up and rub her throat gently until she can stop.


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## my3angels (Apr 15, 2004)

Be careful....coughing at night can be a sign of heart problems. 

I just went through this with my chi mix Kylie. She would have coughing fits just at night...two to four times a night....dry coughs like she was trying to cough up something.

The vet (who is very familar with chi's) wanted chest films and it turned out Kylie did have asthma :shock: 
Also, by listening to her lungs she could hear that Kylie was very weezy 

You do need to make sure your vet knows about toy breeds...chi's and other tiny breeds have slightly different anatomy...their hearts can appear to be inlarged on film but its normal for them...since they have such small chests to begin with.

I hope it is nothing and your little chi is just experiencing reverse sneezing, but if you see a pattern develop my advise would be to take her to the vet and get some chest films and let the vet listen to her breath...I had no idea dogs could have asthma but mine does.


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## kimmiek915 (Oct 4, 2005)

Thanks everyone! With my MInky, it's not really a cough, but more like a honking noise. It's hard to describe in words. My baby was checked not to long ago and the vet said she was perfectly healthy...and the vet said her heart sounded fine too. I'm thinking that it is reverse sneezing because she's only done it about 4 times total during the 5 months that I've had her. Anyways, thanks for your feedback, and I will definitely ask the vet about it if it gets worse.


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