My dog has a mucocele. How to tell if she's having breathing problems?

Question

Lupita has a submandibular salivary gland inflamed and has been on antibiotics for the past two weeks. She has no signs of improvement and her afollow up appointment is in two days to decide if surgery is necessary which I’m guessing will be the course of action. She shows no signs of having trouble breathing however the mucocele is now firm instead of soft and it’s close to her trachea. How can I know if she is having trouble breathing? What should I look out for before her next appointment? Pet's info: Dog | Chihuahua | Female | spayed | 4 years and 3 months old | 6 lbs

Stacey Anstaett, DVM · Accepted Answer

What a sweet girl! I'm sorry the two of you are having go through this. Tracheal compression would most likely lead to a cough, which tends to be sort of honking sounding cough. If there were to be compression very high on the trachea/at the larynx, that would likely cause a persistent almost sucking noise with each breath. This is also quite distressing, and you would be able to tell that Lupita was working too hard to move air. Dogs often start to look cyanotic when this happens, meaning their tongue appears almost blue in color. Fortunately the trachea within the neck has quite a bit of wiggle room side to side, so its unlikely that Lupita's current issue will obstruct her airway. I hope thats helpful! Good luck with her! Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

My dog has a mucocele. How to tell if she's having breathing problems?

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