Before you read further, please know that Bootsie is FINE. She sure did scare the heck out of me, though!!
This morning started as most mornings here do. I sat on the sofa slugging down a lot of caffeine. Bootsie was laying peacefully in front of me on the floor. She looked so cute! She had her little paws out in front of her, and she was cleaning and inspecting them very intently.
Quite unepectedly, Bootsie stood up, and began to do something that I have seen her do many times throughout her life. I had heard of something called a "reverse sneeze" and believed this came closest to describing what I had witnessed her doing.This time, however, was different. It didn't stop, and seemed to continue on and on. I couldn't understand it. From my perspective, it looked like Bootsie was choking. This was so much more severe than any other reverse sneezing episode I'd seen before. Her little body seemed to struggle to inhale. It was as though she were trying to gag, throw-up, and breathe, and finding it impossible to do any of the three.
I scooped Bootsie up in my arms, and honest to God, I ran to the car with her and tore out of here to get to the vet.
I made pretty good time, getting there in less than 10 minutes, (but that's to be expected when you're going 50 down a 35 mph street with your hazard lights on)! I still had Boots in my arms, and I had my window rolled all the way down. The air hitting her face seemed to help, and by the time we were about halfway there, the episode seemed to have passed. I could've turned around and drove back, but thought I had better have her checked anyway.
Thankfully, this morning was not the typically busy morning at the vets, and we were seen immediately.
Here's what the vet and I suspect happened:
Before Boots had laid down to clean her front paws, she had been outside running around in the backyard. The yard maintenance crew had been here (at an unGodly early hour, I might add) and the grass was freshly mown.
We think that Bootsie had probably inhaled a few blades of grass that had been stuck to her paws while she cleaned them. Also, Bootsie has an elongated soft palate (upper part of mouth), and this contributes to her having more trouble breathing when a reverse sneezing episode comes on. There's also a slight possibility that Bootsie may have been having a petite mal seizure.
The vet checked Bootsie's sinuses to make sure that she didn't have a blade of grass lodged up there, but it looked fine. He checked her heart amd temp, and they were within the normal range. Eyes and ears were checked, too. I learned that Bootsie has cataracts in both her eyes. The vet wanted to know if I'd noticed Bootsie stumbling into things when she walks, but truly, she has not. She seems to see perfectly well, and this surprised him. (I have to read up on this, because I don't know a lot about cataracts in dogs). As for Bootsie's ears, lol, well, they had some wax inside, so Boots got to go in the back and get a inner ear wash! lol! (For those of you who have tried doing this to clean your own ears, you know what it feels like, lol! Poor Boots)!
I took my wet-eared Bootsie home, and now here we are, trying to relax!
Here's a link about reverse sneezing in dogs. Have a look at it. It's pretty interesting.
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