What do you do if your dog has a piece of grass stuck in your throat? Here’s the Answer

What you can do to help

If your dog has something stuck in their throat you can try these steps to help remove the object:

Try to remove the object by hand: immediately open their mouth to take a look at the entire cavity. See if you can remove the object by hand. Much will depend on what type of object has been swallowed. Sometimes you cannot remove the object yourself, and the dog will require veterinary attention. It is not advisable to remove objects with sharp points or edges, such as splintered bones or scissors, as you could hurt the dog. Likewise, if you feel any resistance, stop at once as you may do more damage by trying to remove the object yourself.

Use gravity: you can also try use the help of gravity to get your dog to cough the object out by themselves. If you have a small dog, you can hold them head facing down and pat their back as you would do with a human choking. In the case of large dogs, raising their hind legs can be a great help. If your dog is too large or heavy, dont try this as you could injure yourself and the dog.

Heimlich manoeuvre: place yourself behind the dog, either standing or kneeling. Wrap your arms around them and and support their legs with your own legs. Apply pressure behind the ribs, inwards and upwards, so that they start to cough or retch. The more they salivate the better, as this will make it easier for the object dislodge from their throat and slide out.

Visit the vet: finally, even if youve managed to remove the object through either of these techniques, you should go to your vet to assess any internal injuries and possible treatments. Swallowing a foreign object can cause your dog serious digestive problems, even if they do not choke on it. Therefore, the final and most important step is to take your dog to the vet for a check up.

Important! The Heimlich manoeuvre can be useful if your dog has something stuck in their throat, but it can be dangerous if the coughing has a different cause. Be careful not to exert too much pressure or cause any trauma. Those with dogs who may have a higher chance of choking should consider doing a canine first aid course to be well prepared to help their pet.

How to tell if a dog has something caught in its throat

Its not always possible to keep your eyes on your furry friend at all times. While we try our best to control our dogs diet, they are well known for their ability to ingest unexpected foreign objects. A busy house offers many different possible choking hazards, but a walk in the country has its own choking risks. Objects that can cause obstruction in a dogs throat include toys, pieces of food, bones, plant matter or anything else they find difficult to swallow or digest.

You may not know the exact cause, but you will notice signs that something is wrong. If your dog has something lodged in their throat, the most common signs include:

Gagging sounds

Excessive drooling

Repeated swallowing

Vomiting or regurgitation

Restlessness

Pawing at the mouth or throat

Hacking cough

Apathy or listlessness

Loss of appetite

Trouble breathing

The nature and severity of these symptoms will vary and depend on the object that is stuck in the dogs esophagus. Coughing is often among the first signs. While dogs may cough, vomit or show the other symptoms on this list for different reasons, it is always a good idea to rule out esophageal obstruction, that is something stuck in their throat.

Another important thing to keep in mind if you are trying to determine whether something is stuck in your dogs throat is to consider the breed. Some dog breeds are greedier than others or anatomically more prone to choking. Among the naturally gluttonous breeds are Labradors, Golden Retrievers and Beagles which may be more likely to eat something they shouldnt and end up choking.

There are other dog breeds which are more likely to suffer problems related to choking. These are known as brachycephalic dogs and include breeds such as Bulldogs, Pugs and some breeds of mastiff. Due to breeding for certain aesthetic traits, these animals have an elongated soft palate, narrowed nostrils and a reduced trachea. This means that they have shorter throats which often leads to difficulty breathing. This causes them to make wheezing sounds even if they are not choking, and experience airway obstruction even without swallowing foreign objects. While we may love individual dogs in this breed, there have been many calls by veterinary experts recommending that we stop encouraging these types of breeds due to the risks they pose to a dogs health[1].

Other Causes of Coughing in Dogs

Coughing is a common symptom observed in many respiratory diseases in dogs. It is usually triggered when there’s some degree of inflammation along the lining of the animal’s upper and lower respiratory tract. In dogs, several health conditions can result in coughing.

The most common cause of coughing in dogs is a respiratory infection. There are generally 2 types of respiratory infection in dogs – bacterial and viral. Several bacterial infections like Mycoplasma sp. and Bordetella sp. (Kennel cough), and viral infections like Canine Distemper Virus both cause persistent coughing in infected canine patients. Though both types of respiratory infection have similar symptoms and presentation, differentiating between the two is important for successful treatment and control.

Inflammatory diseases are also a common cause of coughing in dogs. Chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, and allergic bronchitis can cause persistent coughing in dogs in varying degrees of intensity depending on how severe the condition is.

In cases of inflammatory respiratory diseases in dogs, the lining of the respiratory tract produces a mucous discharge that further irritates and partially blocks the airways. The location of mucus accumulation is usually associated with the segment of the respiratory tract that’s affected or inflamed. Aside from the apparent irritation from the disease, dogs with inflammatory respiratory disease also cough in an attempt to remove the mucus discharge building up in the airways.

This mucus build-up, when located around the laryngeal area, is the most common cause of post-tussive retching in dogs. Mucus build-up in the larynx causes further irritation on the respiratory lining and partial obstruction of the airways, and dogs will attempt to cough and retch to remove the mucus from their throats.

In some cases, mucoid or phlegm-like vomit is expelled during post-tussive retching. The vomit may appear colorless in inflammatory respiratory diseases or can have a tinge of green in color in cases of respiratory infections. In most situations, however, the mucus is too thick for the dog to cough and vomit it out. This can look like the dog is trying to remove something stuck in its throat.

Post-tussive retching in dogs can be caused by several conditions, and a proper diagnosis is necessary to determine the underlying condition. If your dog has been coughing and retching and appears like it’s trying to remove something from its throat, regardless of how frequent or severe the signs are, it’s best to bring your dog to your vet for a proper assessment.

Additionally, signs of systemic or severe illness such as weakness, respiratory distress, decreased appetite, and lethargy will also warrant an immediate veterinary visit. As mentioned, some cases of post-tussive retching in dogs may need prompt veterinary intervention and can be fatal if left undiagnosed or untreated.

Dog swallowed something stuck in throat – Vet Advice