horsemadelsie
Well-Known Member
Bit of a long story, but I really need some help choosing the best course of action. Before anyone asks, I have discussed this with my vet.
My JRT is 9 years old, and for the last few months I have noticed that she makes noise when breathing lying down. She doesn't always make the noise, and it doesn't seem to bother her at all, even though she is a nervous dog. It sounds a bit like she is snoring, but it happens when she is wide awake, and she has never snored before in her life (she sleeps right next to my bed and I am a light sleeper). She is completely fine when she is up and moving- she competes at grade 6 KC agility, with some 1st and 2nd places this summer, so she clearly is not struggling to breathe! I never hear the noise when she is standing or sitting, even when she is out of breath from running.
The vet has examined her throat as much as he can, and cannot see or feel anything wrong. He gave us some anti-inflammatories for a week in case her tonsils were inflamed with a minor virus or something, but these made no difference. He advised that if I was still worried the only thing to do to investigate further is to knock her out and scope her so they can see if there is anything there too small to feel, they would have to have her in for the day.
My problem is, is it worth putting her through it? She is a very nervous dog, panting and shaking violently when in sight of the vets, and she hates strange people, even when they aren't vets. She has been gradually getting better the last 6 years, but progress is painfully slow. She seems fine and happy in herself, and has not got worse in the last 2 months. Do I want to put her through such an ordeal and risk increasing her fear (she was only bad at the vets when she was last knocked out, when she was spayed at 1 year old). But then a little voice in the back of my head says what if there is a problem, and by catching it early the prognosis would be so much better? She's my dog of a lifetime, what if I left it and it was the wrong decision?
My vet says only I can make the decision, as I know her best, but what would you all do?
My JRT is 9 years old, and for the last few months I have noticed that she makes noise when breathing lying down. She doesn't always make the noise, and it doesn't seem to bother her at all, even though she is a nervous dog. It sounds a bit like she is snoring, but it happens when she is wide awake, and she has never snored before in her life (she sleeps right next to my bed and I am a light sleeper). She is completely fine when she is up and moving- she competes at grade 6 KC agility, with some 1st and 2nd places this summer, so she clearly is not struggling to breathe! I never hear the noise when she is standing or sitting, even when she is out of breath from running.
The vet has examined her throat as much as he can, and cannot see or feel anything wrong. He gave us some anti-inflammatories for a week in case her tonsils were inflamed with a minor virus or something, but these made no difference. He advised that if I was still worried the only thing to do to investigate further is to knock her out and scope her so they can see if there is anything there too small to feel, they would have to have her in for the day.
My problem is, is it worth putting her through it? She is a very nervous dog, panting and shaking violently when in sight of the vets, and she hates strange people, even when they aren't vets. She has been gradually getting better the last 6 years, but progress is painfully slow. She seems fine and happy in herself, and has not got worse in the last 2 months. Do I want to put her through such an ordeal and risk increasing her fear (she was only bad at the vets when she was last knocked out, when she was spayed at 1 year old). But then a little voice in the back of my head says what if there is a problem, and by catching it early the prognosis would be so much better? She's my dog of a lifetime, what if I left it and it was the wrong decision?
My vet says only I can make the decision, as I know her best, but what would you all do?
The vet wasn't sure if there would be anything to find or not- obviously if there was something found on a scope then it would depend what it was as to the plan of action/prognosis etc. If there was nothing found then we would leave her as she is, just raise the issue again if there were any changes or if she was struggling with breathing at all.