Increased "reverse sneezing" - video added

[starhorse]

In the past week or so, my dog has had 1-2 episodes of what I believe to be “reverse sneezing” each day. I looked at videos online, and I am fairly sure this is what it is. I also read several articles about tracheal collapse, and it does not appear to be this, although I know they can manifest similarly. She is a 13 year old mutt, about 45 pounds. Pretty healthy otherwise, although getting slower and more easily tired in her old age.

A spoonful of peanut butter will cure her “sneezing” fits every time.

Prior to this, she’d have an episode maybe once every 6 months.

What could cause the sudden increase? Could it be something else that I should be looking into?

I will be calling our vet tomorrow, but in the meantime, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!

ETA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brf07nYge3s

Went to kitchen immediately after this, spoonful of PB - no more noises.

[pony_baloney]

It looks like reverse sneezing to me.

I don’t know why they would increase. My senior rescued dog had them quite often when I got her in April; now, hardly ever. I’m sure her diet is much different than it was before I got her. Has anything changed with your dog?

[french_fry]

My fosters seemed to have more reverse sneezing in the early spring and early fall due to pollen or grass or whatever allergens the changing seasons brought.

[starhorse]

[QUOTE=pony baloney;8839915]
It looks like reverse sneezing to me.

I don’t know why they would increase. My senior rescued dog had them quite often when I got her in April; now, hardly ever. I’m sure her diet is much different than it was before I got her. Has anything changed with your dog?[/QUOTE]

Not that I can think of.

I hope it’s just allergies or something causing it to happen more. Poor thing looks so confused.

[Simkie]

My one and only experience with kennel cough presented with reverse sneezing. Perhaps a possibility?

[jetsmom]

has heart been checked? Congestive heart failure can cause fluid in the lungs, that can cause coughing/reverse sneezing.

Or has she figured out that reverse sneezing = yummy peanut butter.

[shayaalliard]

mine does it more when there is pollen, as well as when i use smelly cleaning products or perfumes. My vet was not concerned about increased reverse sneezes, as long as there was no coughing.

[Garythesquirrel]

My beagles do the reverse sneezing thing once in a while.

Recently my oldest one was doing it frequently throughout the day. Turned out she had a small piece of food in her nose and there’s been no problem since.

I had another beagle with fairly bad allergies and she would reverse sneeze a few times a week but otherwise was healthy. When it started to be more frequent she went back to the vet. Turned out she had squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsils that had spread to her sinuses. We had to have her euthanized 9 days later.

I really don’t want to alarm you but I would take the dog to the vet just to be sure everything is okay.

[starhorse]

Thanks for all the thoughts. We called the vet and they didn’t seem alarmed but said to call back in a few days if it is still happening.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this but my dog had a run-in with a skunk shortly before this started. I wonder if that irritated her nose/throat?

[S1969]

[QUOTE=starhorse;8841647]
I can’t believe I didn’t think of this but my dog had a run-in with a skunk shortly before this started. I wonder if that irritated her nose/throat?[/QUOTE]

Oh definitely. If it was a close call, the oil can really irritate eyes, nose, throat. Not to mention it obviously just smells bad - and think x1000 for a dog.

I’ll be interested to hear if it changes. Unfortunately, skunk spray takes a long time to dissipate. If you don’t get a lot of improvement, I might have the vet take a look up there and make sure it’s not something else (seed, thorn, etc.)

[Townsend]

Just a quick note - if you are feeding peanut butter as a “cure”, please check the ingredients to make sure there is no xylitol in it. As you may know, xylitol is very toxic to dogs, even in very small amounts, and it is turning up more and more in peanut butter…

[Cita]

Okay, so… I feel like this is one of those things that shouldn’t be possible… but I think my dog may be able to reverse sneeze on demand. I used to feed him treats to cure the fits, like you do with the peanut butter, then I noticed he was doing it more and more often… near me… when I was at the dinner table… and not so much near anyone else.

It is POSSIBLE that he is trying to con you out of more peanut butter!

Definitely not a bad idea for a vet check, and any irritants like dust, pollen, furballs, etc. can also exacerbate it. But also, dem dogs be sneaky

[starhorse]

We have gone 2 days with no fits, so there is some improvement, at least

Poor stinky, sneezy dog!

[Magicboy]

My corgis do this in the spring…allergy irritations, I think

[toady123]

The one time my dog had this, it was irritation from what we suspect was an environmental irritant. They put her on an anti inflammatory (I think!? Or an antihistamine I can’t recall) for a week and she’s never done it again.