# My Shorkie nearly choked to death, recovered but with some issues.



## kovacs32 (Jul 19, 2009)

I know its long, but please read!

So about 4 days ago I was working when my Girlfriend had called me and was hysterically yelling on the phone, and all I could understand was that the dog (7 month old shorkie named Daisy) was not breathing, and might be dead. I jumped on my truck and made a 10 minute drive in under 4 minutes, during this time by girlfriend was trying to get an end of a small knot raw hide end out of the dogs throat (she choked on it). My girlfriend noticed right away when she heard the dog making gasping/coughing sounds that something was not right.

She saw Daisy lay over on her side and begin to what she figured was die. My girlfriend opened her mouth and saw the raw hide piece lodged in the deep back of her throat, she tried desperately to use her pinky to sweep it out but just could not because the hide had swollen in the throat. She noticed daisy was wheezing out of her nose trying to get air into her lungs. At this time the dog appeared to go unconscious ( eyes appeared rolled back, and there was no body movement, no pulse). My girlfriend (who is certfied in CPR for adult, and infants) was now trying to save the dogs life, she checked her throat again and noticed she could not see the raw hide anymore ( either got swallowed, or pushed down when trying to get it out) so My girlfriend began to administer Infant CPR (2 breaths, and 15 small compressions with fingers) which she had done for a few minutes before i arrived at home.

She rushed out to my truck and i saw the dog in her arms, (motionless, closed eyes, appeared to be lifeless) So i headed for the nearest animal hospital which fortunately is only a block and a half away. By the time we ran Daisy in and explained to the vet what was going on, she was awake, and infact when she was set on the table she began wagging her little tail.

So, the vet gave her a physical exam and said everything appeared to be okay now, other than some swelling in the throat and a slight fever. He gave us meds to help pass the raw hide chunk through her system, and a shot to help cure her fever. Everything has been going well with Daisy since this happened, she plays, runs, and eats well. However she has almost stopped drinking water all together, we have been watering down her wet food, and finger feeding her drops of water. Also, we noticed she occasionally has a reverse sneezing/coughing. We are very concerned she may be getting pneumonia as a result of the choking/CPR.

Can someone please give me somne advice on what i should do? I dont have a whole lot of money to drop on anorther vet visit, but i will if i have to,

thank you,
Ryan


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## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

I'd take your dog's temp, and if it is still higher than normal, bring her back to the vet. I'd also feed her "gruel". Soaked or canned dog food for a couple of weeks. Choking can cauuse throat soreness and make them more likely to choke until the swelling goes down.

If her temp is still high, or her breathing seems "wheezy", definitely take her back to the vet as aspiration pneumonia is a definite possibility. A course of antibiotics would be necessary.


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## kovacs32 (Jul 19, 2009)

Heres a pic of our Daisy


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## Binkalette (Dec 16, 2008)

My mother in laws dog choked on one of those little knots once too. They were able to get it out themselves.. but how scary! I'm glad your dog is okay too!Tell everyone you know that if they are going to feed rawhide, be sure to stick to the ones with out the knots on the end... It would be even better though to tell them all to just avoid it all together. Some dogs like my Zoey can have a rawhide roll gone in less than five minutes.. and that can cause intestinal blockages. Scary stuff that rawhide.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

I'm so sorry about this happening, that must have been terrifying for all of you! I too would recommend seeing the vet again if you are concerned about pneumonia (temperature, fluid in the lungs) but it's very possible if she does not have those symptoms that she simply has a very irritated throat from the trauma of the choking. If it were me I'd take her for a checkup even if it meant having to budget everything else very carefully for the next little while...but that's me, I'd feel better knowing she was okay.


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## adya (Jul 18, 2009)

kovacs32 said:


> I know its long, but please read!
> 
> So about 4 days ago I was working when my Girlfriend had called me and was hysterically yelling on the phone, and all I could understand was that the dog (7 month old shorkie named Daisy) was not breathing, and might be dead. I jumped on my truck and made a 10 minute drive in under 4 minutes, during this time by girlfriend was trying to get an end of a small knot raw hide end out of the dogs throat (she choked on it). My girlfriend noticed right away when she heard the dog making gasping/coughing sounds that something was not right.
> 
> ...


I don't like strange risky sounds nowhere.Bring her to vet.Pneumonia(by aspiration)can kill very easily.(people & animals)If it's nothing,OK! At least you will be in peace.Which you don't have now.GOOD LUCK!!!!Keep in touch!


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## kovacs32 (Jul 19, 2009)

well we went ahead and took her into a animal emergency clinic on Sunday so we could make sure everything was okay with Daisy. The listened to her heart and lungs, gave her a thorough physical exam and took her temp. everything was normal, and so they took An Xray of her entire body and it showed no abnormalties. So they perscribed us Carafate Oral solution, to help ease any irritatrion/swelling in her throat. She seems to be don fine but she still refuses to drink almost ANY water from her bowl anymore, the only way we get her hydrated is waterin down her wet canned food, and she doesnt mind gettng water dribbled from a syringe, and she licks ice cubes.....we cannot figure out why she refuses to drink from her water....does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,
Ryan


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## DogPaw (Jan 11, 2009)

What kind of dish are you using? Our EB is not a big drinker. Never has been. I think your dog should be fine and will drink when she gets thirsty. As for the reverse sneezing, our EB has done this since she was a pup. She is now 5 years old and will do it once in awhile. It does sound scary tho, when she does this I just rub her throat and and talk to her quietly and that seems to help.


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## Labsnothers (Oct 10, 2009)

As long as you are getting some water into her, I would give her another day or 2. 

Check http://www.doctordog.com/dogbook/dogdehyd.html I am not sure how reliable that site is, but I think I have seen the same advise elsewhere many times. I really don't trust much on the net but www.avma.org 

If she flunks the test in the link or doesn't start drinking more, I would get her to the vet before the weekend.


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

It's possible that the bowl is deeper than her throat position can comfortably allow her to drink. You can try putting the water in a shallow dish or give her a "cage waterer" like used in guinea pig and hamster cages to see if she'll drink more. Her throat has incurred a lot of discomfort through this whole thing and she may have developed a fear of the bowl because of previous pain..even if she's feeling better she may remember it and avoid it accordingly.


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## kovacs32 (Jul 19, 2009)

Thank you everyone, I'm going to try some of the advice givin and see how it works out these next few days.


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## misty073 (Mar 31, 2009)

Maybe she isnt drinking because she is getting all the water she needs now (or so she thinks) from the watered down food and syringe. My cat is just recovering this week from a full urinary blockage and is not drinking any water from his dish, But I am watering down all his food with water and chicken broth (and he is eating wet food now instead of dry) and the vet said its fine he is not drinking because he is getting it from the food instead. I just keep adding to his wet food even when he drinks the liquid out and leaves the chunky stuff.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Sassy gets all her water from her watered down food and her daily subcutaneous fluids. She will not drink water and before she started subQs she was dehydrated as she couldn't take in enough water fed twice a day. She now gets fed thrice a day. I give her water to the amount figured on this little calculator and her nose is wet, her gums are pink and wet, she pees plenty and her fur goes back into place when ruffled. Her neck skin is so loose and heavy it goes back into place no matter how dehydrated she really is.http://www.mycockerspaniel.com/h2o.htm


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## Spoiled Mutts<3 (Nov 30, 2009)

Ahh yes, the rawhide. My dog had a couple close calls with the knot but she managed to puke it up. 

As for Daisy, definitley take her into see a vet she could very well have pnemonia which needs to be treated ASAP expecially since she's only 7 months.

Let us know the outcome!
I hope she gets well soon.


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## Dog_Shrink (Sep 29, 2009)

Something that would concern me is the possibility of a collapsed or partially collapsed trachea. Yorkies are prone to this genetically and if she already might have had a soft trachea further damage caused by the lodging rawhide could have caused a partial collapse. I'm not sure if this would turn up on xray since the trachea isn't a hard bony type substance but more like cartlidge.


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