help with trachea problems

by Krista
(Utah)

Our pom has always coughed a bit, but we went on vacation 1 1/2 years ago to Mexico and took her with us. She got real sick, and could not stop honking and had a hard time breathing. She was very scared, which made the problem worse. When we got home we took her to a vet that came highly recommended. He at first started her on steroids, (she was 10 at that time) and he suspected that she had cushing disease along witha collapsed trach, so she had 2 things going on here. The cushings and the steriods made her nervous, urinate often, and she did not act like herself at all. We stuggled with this for about 6-8 months. He wanted her to loss weight, and that was impossible with the steriods. Cushings also makes them hungry all the time, and that is a side effect of the steriods also. She was a mess.

Then he talked to us about trying a expensive medication that he used to use when it was more affordable. It is the med that they use on transplant patients to help them from rejecting their organs. Cyclosporin was started. It is a liquid, very easy to give. They started her on it along with her steriods for on month, then weined her off the steroids, and only on the Cyclosporin. I have looked at lots of forums and never seen this treatment. It is amazing how well our dog is doing. It has been 5-6 month now. She plays, and acts like she has her quality of life back. We really thought by this time we would have to have her put down because she really had not much quality of life. She is really good, and for now I feel this drug has been a really good thing to extend her life, and she is happy.