Reverse Sneeze/Harsh Inhale/Allergies

[Laura and Angus]

Hi everyone!

Last night Angus did this sharp intake of breath thing - in my google and DK searching it seems like other people have experienced this with their dogs. Has anyone seen a vet about this issue? We're wondering if Angus may have seasonal allergies - mine are incredibly awful right now and he's been more itchy and got an eye infection just in the last few weeks. Then last night he did this harsh inhale sound - kind of like a reverse sneeze, but no snort. It sounded like if a little kid is crying for a long time and gets those hyperventilating hiccup things. He only did this for a short time and he was fine over night. He did it again a few times this morning, but then stopped.

I saw other DK folks post about this same issue. Has anyone spoken to their vet about this? Is it caused by allergies? Just trying to figure out what course of action...of course if it continues when I get home from work, I'll likely be taking a trip to the vet anyway.

Thank you!

[Laura and Angus]

Oh! also, along the lines of anti-histamines..any thoughts on how much to give? I take Zyrtec myself, so I can give Angus one of those pills a day too?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The dosages are different for people and for dogs on some of them. Somewhere in the Health group we have a discussion showing the dosage amounts for some of them, or you can do an online search.  I know that JD's Claritin dosage is 3x the human dosage, but when we tried Zyrtec, it was the same as for humans, so I'm not sure. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Just checked, the dosage of cetirizine for dogs is 1 mg per kg of body weight. 

[Laura and Angus]

Ah! Okay thanks for checking. So Angus is about 55lbs (~25kg), so that'd be about 25mg. I believe I have 10mg pills. I assume you mean it's 1mg per kg of body weight per 24 hours, yes?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes. So you could try 2 and a half pills per day. 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Wally has been doing the same thing for the past couple of hours, though he does not seem to be in any sort of distress. It happened right after we came inside, following a very active zooming-around playtime in the backyard. Did anyone ever figure out what caused this unusual type of breathing with their dog(s). He is not doing a reverse sneeze, but rather has been taking a few quick inhales, much like has been described by others as sounding like a child trying to catch her breath after crying. We were supposed to go out tonight, but have decided to stay home to observe and react, if necessary. I should add that this has happened before, but never lasting more than an hour or so.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If it continues, you might want to have the vet take a look. I wonder if something could have gotten into his nose or his throat. 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Thanks, Karen. My guess is that he breathed in something from the yard while running around with Charlotte like maniacs. After a few hours of it happening, he is now breathing normally. We ended up staying home and having our friends come here for dinner instead of us all going out. Better safe than sorry . . .

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad he's better now. 

[Laura and Angus]

I agree with what Karen said here. Angus still gets these occasionally, but we really only see it during allergy seasons when he gets overly excited. The vet felt it was allergy related and recommended we use benadryl totreat allergies. I should also say that Angus has many other symptoms of seasonal allergies...he and I are sadly both allergy sufferers. However, his reverse sneeze fits or whatever you wanna call them never really last longer than a couple minutes at most. Sounds like Wally may have inhaled some kind of irritant. Worth a vet check to be sure.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Finn does this from time to time --  I mentioned it at our annual exam and our vet didn't seem concerned since all else was normal. He said it might be a slight respiratory or temporary throat irritation. He's never done it repeatedly though over a short time so if Wally's symptoms continue,I can see why you would be concerned.