Flip's Permanent Tracheostomy Success Story

This is Flip, a miniature rat terrier, and her veterinarian, Dr. Leslie Johnson of Quailwood Animal Hospital in Tifton, Ga. 

Flip is 8.5 years old, and she has always had assorted health issues.  Nonetheless, she is a very happy (and spoiled) pup, and she is a member of our family. 

When she was a young puppy, she started having issues with anxiety, and at the slightest bit of excitement she would lose her breath and begin vomiting.  None of the vets knew what it was or how to treat her, so she went along the next few years having what we referred to as "attacks," and we slowly began learning how to help her out of them, but we couldn't totally prevent them.  We also learned that if we avoided things that excited her, like letting her ride in the car or chase squirrels, she didn't have as many spells. The vet prescribed Valium and Benadryl for her to take when we suspected the onset of an attack.  Sometimes it helped. Sometimes it didn't.

As she got older, she began having more of these spells.  Things that didn't phase her in the past began to exhaust her.  She couldn't even go up and down our front porch steps without getting anxious and having to throw up or deal with her airway constricting. The sequence of events usually went a little like this: she would begin panting as if she was hot (even in freezing weather), then her airway would slowly begin to constrict, then she would begin throwing up, then her tongue would turn purple/blue, and at times she would even pass out and urinate on herself.  These spells became very severe as she got older, and with each one, we feared that we would lose her.  She has been rushed to the vet more times than we can count.  They would typically just sedate her in order to let her body regulate itself, then send us home again.  No one had answers.

A few months ago, I heard of someone who had a dog with an enlarged heart who had similar symptoms as Flip.  I decided to take her to the vet and have some heart tests run. Sure enough, all of her issues were related to her heart, but we still didn't have a valid diagnosis.  The vet told me that when she became anxious or excited, her heart would work very hard at beating and pumping blood to her body.  It was overworking itself, enlarging, and pushing on her lungs and her airway.  This is what caused the constricting, and this is what would make her throw up and pass out.

 We had to sedate Flip as soon as we arrived because the car ride had made her so anxious that she began having an attack almost immediately.  The vet knew this was getting very serious, and she offered some pretty scary options.  I could put Flip to sleep, send her to a lab hundreds of miles away for research, or try out a procedure called a tracheostomy.  She offered to perform the procedure at a very reasonable price, and I agreed to go home and learn more about the procedure and report back to her with my decision.

I was walking out the vet's office door with Flip, prepared to go home and do some research about the procedure online, when she began to have another very violent attack.  I rushed back in and Dr. Johnson suggested that we go ahead with the tracheostomy in order to save Flip's life.  Of course, I agreed.  I had no guarantee that she would survive, but I had faith in the doctor's knowledge that she knew what she was doing (even though Flip was her first real tracheostomy surgery).

About 30 minutes later, she called me in to see Flip.  I was an emotional basket case, but for the first time in years, I saw a dog with a pink tongue and gums who was breathing perfectly clear.  It was amazing.  She had to stay the night with the vet, but I was able to take her home the very next day.  Here she is the day after her surgery:

The absolute worst part was taking care of the wound.  At times, it was very bloody and full of mucous.  She also had stitches for about a week, and we had to be careful around those.  We had to keep a scarf around her neck when she went outside to potty to keep the area clean.  I had to use saline solution, baby wipes, and q-tips, and I had to clean it many times a day.  Luckily, my family and I were able to care for her 'round the clock.  The vet advised us not to leave her alone because she could very easily get choked and be unable to breathe without our assistance.  We had to stay on our toes and listen out for her day and night.

The first month was very hard on all of us.  We did all we could to take care of her.  Some days were good, and some days were very bad.  We were all sleep-deprived due to the fact that Flip would wake up several times during the night to use the potty (due to medications), and sometimes she just couldn't get comfortable and would toss and turn.  

She had two very bad attacks after the surgery, as well, and we were almost certain that the surgery was  a mistake and that we were going to lose her because of it.  I was angry at myself for weeks for even allowing it to happen.

FINALLY, Flip began to feel better. She finished what seemed like endless rounds of antibiotics and pain medications, her wound healed (she will always have a little hole in her throat, though), and she began to sleep through the night again.  She also started doing things she hadn't done in years.  She's been chasing squirrels, running up and down steps, doing laps around the yard, and playing with her toys.  She is like a puppy again, and I credit it all to her doctor and this surgery.

She is truly a little trailblazer, and I am so thankful that she has made such an amazing turnaround.  

I was only able to find one blog online about a dog who had a similar procedure.  I realize this is not a surgery that happens every day, but I want to put it out there if there's a chance that it will give one family the answers they need to help a furry family member.

Flip's surgery was performed on October 22, 2013, and here she is in mid December of 2013, feeling wonderfully!

March 30, 2015 update:
We lost our sweet Flip on February 9, 2015 due to complications with her heart and kidneys. She lived a long life of nearly ten years and we miss her daily. This blog has reached people all over the country and her story has helped four other families, that I know of, make the decision of going through with this procedure. I know for a fact that it gave her a wonderful year and a half that she probably wouldn't have had otherwise. I wish we had done it sooner. Please feel free to contact me even though she is no longer here with us. I love knowing that she is still making a difference, and I'm happy to help.
I can be contacted at carly.fortson@gmail.com