Answers?

The internal medicine vet called today. That pleased me as I was feeling disgruntled that no one from that clinic had called since Lucy's procedure or after I brought her back in on Sunday. Kate's office had already called twice to see how she was doing and they were not involved with the rhinoscopy. (A loyalty booster there!)

The vet (Matt Vaughn) said she has chronic rhinitis. (A friend told me it's the same as hay fever in a person. That sounds so benign compared to the problems she exhibited.) He said there are five types of inflammatory cells. The two he expected to see in Lucy—and did—were lymphocytes and plasmacytes. But with Luce, he also saw neutrophils which usually indicate a bacterial infection which he did not see. He wanted to know how her appetite and energy levels were. I was pleased to report: good! Her nasal discharge is diminishing. My concerns are the reverse sneezing is still with us and she now is constantly clearing her throat via coughing or hacking and she still goes through periods of panting.

I asked him if the intubation could have caused this temporarily or if might have permanently injured her throat/trachea. He said no to the latter and that it is possible the balloon that is used to close off the throat (so she doesn't swallow anything) may have irritated the lining, but felt this not as likely. More probable he said was that she may have aspirated something.

He was very clear—and emphatic—if she isn't better, or she gets worse, by Monday to let him know. It may be the Piroxicam isn't her drug or that we need to put her on an additional antibiotic to clear up what ever is bothering her throat.

She has only barked a couple of times since she's been home and those are feeble, weak barks. They were followed by coughing. He kept referring to her laryngeal paralysis. Initially I thought this was simply the issue of an older dog losing its voice. Au contraire. It's a much bigger deal than I thought. A bad episode in which the dog is heavily panting may see the dog's gums turning blue from lack of oxygen. The dog can collapse and die.

Matt said he didn't recommend surgery on Lucy at this point because she is in a cool climate. He said if she was a warm climate, he'd definitely urge us to have the surgery. Here is a website that has some good information and three short audio files to hear what the stressed panting sounds like. At this point, Lucy only sounds a bit like the last black lab with a cough interspersed. Hopefully this is something we don't have to worry about with her beyond managing her activity level.

His warning, however, is well taken. We'll keep her calm and cool if possible. I didn't think to ask him at the time if she can go mountain biking. I guess we'll just have to closely monitor her.