My puppy, a 6mo old Rat Terrier with several congenital and genetic oddities, along with being a runt, has a lot of upper respiratory problems--or at least it seems that way. He has had a cleft soft palate repair which has since ripped open about 20%. However, none of his symptoms have changed. In fact, he sounds worse and seems worse. He has a lot of nasal discharge and sneezes out huge amounts of mucus in colors from brown to yellow to clear. He paws at his head and rubs the sides of his head on the carpet when he’s having a "fit". During these fits he has trouble breathing and is runny nosed and walks around pacing and seems distressed and tense. He snorts, snores, hacks and coughs like he’s clearing his throat and like something’s caught. He gets lathargic when he has a fit and they fits happen just about every day and sometimes for long periods--most of the day. He plays and seems fine when he’s not feeling stopped up and whatever else he’s feeling when this goes on. He has also fallen out a few times over the last few months like he’s passing out but he kicks his legs. He doesn’t seem to be seizuring because he doesn’t vocalize or foam or bite down or convulse. He just falls over and kicks. I have thought it looked like maybe he was not getting enough air and started to pass out but I have no idea. The vet treated him for kennel cough and then a more persistent kennel cough and then reflux plus the repair surgery that has to be redone. The puppy eats fine and uses the bathroom fine but the nasal discharge and the seeming breathing trouble and the wheezing and sneezing and lethargy and all the other things continue nearly every day and nearly most of the day. Some days he feels okay for part or most of the day but it soon changes. He also gets shaky like he’s cold when he gets lethargic and stopped up. He also has a crooked jaw and a severe overbite causing him to be bucktoothed. I got him from a puppy mill (didn’t buy him. He was given to me because of his poor health). In the three months I’ve had him, nothing has improved. My vet says it could be anything and I’m at my wit’s end. I need a specialist and I need a diagnosis. I realize you cannot do that from this distance but do you have any suggestions as to what it sounds like it might be? He has been x-rayed and that was fine from what the vet could see. He said it could be anything from exposure to distemper as puppy to allergy to neurological. If the repair on the cleft soft palate doesn’t solve this, then I don’t know where to go from here.

If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I appreciate anything you can offer.
Sincerely,
Deborah Lemmons
Customer (name blocked for privacy)@olemiss.edu