My Pom has had a collapsing trachea since she was a puppy. She is 10 now and it has gotten worse. She was recently diagnosed with a murmur too, I don’t remember the details of grade or even what side it was on but can get that info if it is helpful. When first diagnosed we were advised to avoid the surgery if at all possible. Is that still the train of thought? I am going to talk to my vet about additional medication options tomorrow but am thinking a specialist may be in order. But maybe not if we still want to avoid the surgery. Thoughts? My gut wants to put her in the car and take her to New Bolton but that may be the horse person in me!
You’ll get much better feed back than mine but I do remember the vet I worked for here that was a specialist did a CT surgery on a 14 year old lab with numerous issues and it was a rousing success. I think it will be good to explore the surgery options if it’s really starting to bother her.
Poms are pretty tough-I hope she does well, one way or the other!
Thank you! I have been doing some research and it sounds like the life expectancy is about 2 years max after the surgery so if she does need it I would like to hold off a while. A ten year old Pom is way younger than a 14 year old lab or even a 10 year old lab.
One thing I have seen is recommendations to keep her quiet, ie no playing and running around. That is one thing I am not willing to do long term. I would rather short her life than take away all her fun. I will let you all know what the vet says tomorrow!
I had a tracheal stint put in at UT vet school in Knoxville in an adult boxer. After the initial problems during the healing (side effects of the antibiotics) she had no more tracheal problems. She lived for 4 more years and died of a brain tumor that had absolutely nothing to do with the tracheal problem. I would do it again in a heart beat!
That is a great testimonial, thank you! Was that something your vet did or did you go to a speciality hospital like New Bolton?
I don’t understand why life expectancy is only 2 years after a tracheal stent? We do them, and aside from one silly pom who needed his replaced at just over 2 years, they all have done well. The actual stents can fracture, or bend - which is probably what you are referring to with the 2-3 year life expectancy. That’s not of the “dog”, but the average time at which a stent may need to be replaced. However, its not saying that at x miles, you must replace the stent. Some last a lifetime, some don’t. Some owners elect not to replace it and euthanize their dogs, but many whose dogs are otherwise healthy will choose to restent if it should fail.
Yes, specialist is absolutely in order if you have not already seen one. There are many ways to medically manage, but some require stents. There are different types as well, intra and extraluminal. Definitely get an apt with a specialist, they will give you all the options 
Regular vets will not do stents, and not all referral hospitals will either.
Its always best to medically manage, but when it comes to the point where you fear your dog may become in distress - then its likely time for further action. We have seen some dogs come in blue, where we have had to intubate and put on a ventilator for a few days while keeping them in an induced coma. Steroids reduce inflammation and they go home like nothing ever happened. Its crazy.
What medications is your dog currently on? I would bet that a specialist would give you a few other options to try medically before requiring surgery 
I’m not in the inner loop but I have never heard the two year limit either…
That’s good to hear. I am just repeating what I read during my searches but would be thrilled if that weren’t the case.
Im wondering if that was “average life after stent”, rather than life expectancy. Remember that most dogs are in their later years when they get stents, so 2-3 years could be normal life expectancy.
I wouldn’t think a 4 year old dog who had a stent would have the same “life expectancy” than that of one who is 12.
And yes, as stated above they can brake down, which is why its generally a last resort/quality of life type of surgery. When they brake, they are very very difficult to remove, often you have to scope and restent. There are always complications that can happen, but hospitals who are used to doing these procedures are often well aware and can troubleshoot them confidently.
Haven’t heard back from the vet yet. I talked to the tech and asked what the next step was. I don’t know if there is more they can do or if it is time for a referral. Hopefully I will hear tomorrow.
Finally called the vet back today and they apologized for not getting back to me. Anyway, I got what I wanted from them which was a determination of whether to let them do further diagnostics or just go straight to a specialist. My fear is the specialist would want to repeat whatever they did. They agreed and said it was time to move on with her.
So my gut says take her to U Penn but I don’t know if that is just habit from being a horseman for so long or if that makes sense. Any thoughts on teaching hospitals vs private hospitals? Here is where we would go if we didn’t go to Penn. http://cvrc.com/ For the record, I have had amazing luck with New Bolton over the decades so obviously I like their teaching hospital but I don’t know if that automatically equates to their small animal hospital.
I work for a private referral practice, however a lot of the staff with us have also worked in teaching hospitals.
About half the specialists here were “teachers” at the teaching hospital.
I wouldn’t rule a teaching hospital out completely - yes, it is less experienced vets working on your pet however they are under the direct supervision of very qualified vets. In addition, most of the teaching hospitals have anesethologists on staff to mind the anesthetic rather than a a technician.
Either way, there are pro’s and cons to each. Private may be more, but generally they do try to keep in it a relative ballpark with a teaching hospital. Go with your gut, because then you wont have regrets. Good luck and keep us posted
Thanks, she is going to the University of Pennsylvania a week from Thursday. I couldn’t get past the decades of miracles they have performed for my horses so we are going to give the small animal version a chance to do the same.
Wow, did she give us a scare last night! She woke up at 3am and was honking and honking and couldn’t seem to get her trachea to open. I finally blew in her nose a couple of times figuring it couldn’t hurt. Not sure if that is what did it or not but she is fine now.
Glad she’s ok-it’s scary when they do that! My little dog does the reverse sneeze routine and something that really helps her is to lift up her front paws so she’s standing on her hinds and just rub her belly, calm her down.
Hope yours is better soon!
My Chihuahua does the honking/snorting thing about 2-3 times a day, lasting 30 seconds to 2 minutes at times. I have always been told as long as it doesn’t become more frequent, I shouldn’t concern myself with a surgery. How often does your dog have this happen that has made you consider surgery?
Also, my Chi was just diagnosed with a heart murmur this year. She will be 8 in a few days.
50 times per day? I am not necessarily considering surgery but the time has come to find out what our options are. Hopefully they will find it isn’t that bad and can suggest different medications to try.
Macy told Santa she wanted her trachea to stop collapsing for Christmas!
Macy is the pom on the left in the above pics. It just occured to me that there were two poms! The one on the right is one of my clients. I took him to see Santa and printed out the pics for his owner as a gift for when she gets back from her trip.
cute poms!!!
