Reverse Sneezing?

[Chezzy]

Hi there,

My 11 month year old Puggle Missy seems to be having problems with I think "reverse sneezing" after doing a very quick search on the internet this morning. After cutting the grass yesterday and doing the weeding, she started making this awful noise as if she wanted to bring something up and it also looked like she was struggling to breathe. Does anyone else experience this problem with their dog and should I be worried?

Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
Chezzy.

[Leigha]

My beagle does it, my vet said not to worry about it too much.

[Chezzy]

Thanks Leigha, Does it happen a lot then?

[Nettle]

Pugs may have breathing problems anyway, and this MAY be normal for pugs, but it isn't a breed I've had a great deal to do with, so can you check with some pug breeders?

Reverse sneezing is also a symptom of kennel cough (it's often more like kennel sneeze) can mean there is something stuck up his nose or a problem with his sinuses, or else there is a fungal infection of the sinuses that manifests as reverse sneezing. So quite a choice of things it may be.

Which means to me that if it persists, I would be going to a vet with him.

[Leigha]

No, Bruiser doesn't do it often, which is why the vet said not to worry about it. But if yours does do it a bit, I would take her to the vet like Nettle suggested. Bruiser started doing it around the time we had to go in for a regular check up and I asked then. He actually did it a lot more when he was a smaller puppy than he does it now. Puppy age was a couple times a week. Now it's maybe once a month or longer in between.

[Chezzy]

Ok thanks for the advice. Will speak to the vets about it. It seemed to happen more because of cutting the grass so wasn't sure whether it was related to this. She hasn't done it at all today.

[Nettle]

See what happens next time you cut the grass.

[Doolally]

My dog reverse sneezes occasionally. The cause for him is a slightly over long soft palate, so occasionally it flops down a little bit and interferes with his breathing. Mine is a Jack Russell, but reverse sneezing can be quite common in brachycephalic (squished faces) breeds as with the shortened faces their airways are slightly compromised.
It's worth a check from your vet to ensure his heart and lungs are ok. If your's is related to cutting the grass maybe its an allergy induced thing
My dog does get quite distressed when he has an episode so I just comfort him and stroke his throat, but it's over in seconds and then he's fine again. He's had kennel cough once and because it gives them a sore throat he had more difficulty breathing properly and got a throat infection so he had to have antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. If I took him places where there were lots of dogs i would have him vaccinated against kennel cough to prevent him getting so poorly with it again

[Chezzy]

Missy is booked in to see the vets later today just to make sure everythings ok. She was doing it a lot last night so I need to put my mind at rest, bless her. The vets said they wanted to rule out kennel cough.

[Chezzy]

Update Missy! She went to the vets last night and the vet wanted to see in her mouth but she wouldn't sit still at all. Having asked the vet if it was reverse sneezing, she said that she wouldn't of thought so in Missy as she doesn't have the Pug snout and has more of a Beagle snout. Presumably the Beagle suffers with reverse sneezing episodes too!?! She said without being able to examine her properly she wouldn't rule out Kennel Cough just yet. Missy has a slight fever so she has an infection of some kind but not 100% sure its kennel cough until we go back to the vets on Tuesday. She's on antibiotics for the time being but may have to be sedated next week to see what's what if the infection hasn't cleared. What's still strange to me though is it came on literally after cutting the grass and definately sounds like a reverse sneeze and not a hacking cough. But hey I'm no vet! So as a precaution she is to stay away from other dogs.

[Leigha]

Beagles reverse sneeze. Mines been doing it since he was 9-ish weeks old. He does it less now than he used to, but he still does it. The rescue we got him from said that beagles are prone to reverse sneezing fits. He start with one, that one would finish, then he'd do it again. Sometimes it would be a chain of three or four.

[Chezzy]

I don't know what my vets are like to be honest. She definately didn't think Missy would be prone to reverse sneezing!?! Strange I think seeing as she is cross between Pug and Beagle! Hmm! Honestly don't think its Kennel Cough with her but I could be wrong.

[Leigha]

Oh, I'm not saying your vet was wrong. Just that my beagle does reverse sneeze. Thankfully my dogs have never had Kennel Cough, so I really have nothing to compare it with. Besides, it's better to be safe than sorry... so keep her away from others in the event that she really does have KC, and wait to hear for sure from the vet.

I've read (mind you this was internet reading, so take it however you will) that beagles reverse sneeze because their noses are so sensitive and something irritates them up in there causing them to reverse sneeze.

[Chezzy]

I will still be careful and keep her away from other dogs for now, but up until the weekend she was absolutley fine until I did the garden which makes me think its to do with reverse sneezing rather than KC. I could be wrong of course which is why I've taken her to the vet, but the vet completley ruled out reverse sneezing because her snout was not squished enough so automatically thought it was KC. Will see how she gets on now with the antiobiotics then if no better they will investigate further.

[Doolally]

reverse sneezing can happen in any breed of dog, although obviously more common in brachcephalic breeds. But my JRT most definitely doesn't have a squished nose, just one of those things that he has a long soft palate.

With Kennel Cough dogs are often positive for a tracheal pinch - where if you pinch their trachea they cough. Antibiotics are only helpful in KC if there is a bacterial element to it causing infection - usually its viral, like a human cold, so antibiotics won't work for viruses