I am a worry-wart dog momma. I think it is a true blessing
that God saw fit not to give me human children, as I cannot rest easy when
there’s the slightest thing wrong with my fur-babies. For example, the last few
days, Chase has been gasping intermittently, scaring me to death every time. I’m extremely thankful for the greyhound
community, as they are such experts and so willing to help any time help is
needed. Last night, I sent out a frantic plea on Greytalk (a group on
Facebook), and within minutes people responded, telling me that it sounded like
Chase was reverse sneezing. In this situation, dogs intake air rather than expel
it; their body goes rigid and their eyes bug out. It looks like they’re choking
or having a seizure or may die any moment. I looked up reverse sneezing and found it to
be a common phenomenon among some dogs and not life-threatening. It has many
causes, some of which could be seasonal allergies or nasal mites. There are
more ominous causes, too, but we won’t talk about those here. (Link below shows a greyhound reverse sneezing).
I was relieved. I made Chase take some Benadryl, and we all
went to bed. Even so, the very idea of nasal mites or something worse prompted
me to call the vet today and make an appointment. Sometimes it’s worth the
money of a vet visit for a little piece of mind.
Am I the only
neurotic dog-mom out there?
Our corgi does that reverse sneezing. Until I found out what it was, it too scared me. Glad you were able to figure out what it was for your dog! Yep, I think we are a bit neurotic with our corgi, but that's because he's a cancer survivor (treated for lymphoma), has diabetes as a result of treatment of lymphoma, requires 2 shots daily, has a sensitive stomach, so we are always concerned on how the piles he leaves in the back yard look like, etc. I was the same with my kids before they were raised; a sneeze and it seemed like we were in the doctor's office.
ReplyDeletebetty
Betty, that is wonderful that your corgi is a lymphoma survivor! We lost our little dachshund mix, Tessa, to the disease in November. It was excruciating for us to lose her. Ugh. By the time she was diagnosed, the disease was advanced and had spread. Because she was an old girl, we chose not to do chemo and treated with steroids and painkillers until the time had come to make the choice to put her down. Horrible. My mom had a Chihuahua with diabetes and had to do the shots. We do love our pets! Anyway, kudos to you for seeing your corgi guy through his time of need!
DeleteIt's nice to see another human being out there who doesn't have children! I have a stepdaughter, but it's not the same as being a full-time mom, especially now that she's 14 and we only see her once every month or so. I've had two dogs and, yes, they get my full maternal instinct. My Shelby is the center of my attention too much of the day. The other day she was acting slightly differently than she does normally--pacing a lot and standing by my husband all the time. I was about to make an appointment, but I didn't know how to explain her symptoms! The next day she was back to normal. I'd never heard of reverse sneezing, but both of my dogs have done that. Seems kind of like they're wheezing! It was always brief or I, too, would have been freaking out! My first dog had allergies and the vet had us put half a Benadryl with his food once a day. That seemed to do it. It makes them super sleepy, though.
ReplyDeleteStephanie, likewise! Sometimes I feel like an oddball and/or outcast in the circles of life due to being childfree. I mourned it for a long time, but now my husband and I are truly enjoying life with our dogs. And yes, the Benadryl does make them sleepy. Sometimes that a good thing. Ha! What kind of dog is Shelby?
DeleteI've never heard of reverse sneezing! I'm a neurotic mom concerning all kids AND animals. :)
ReplyDeleteL--now you'll know what it is if your dogs ever do it! It's really frightening, but apparently it's not life-threatening! :)
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