NEWS

Child tracheal tube helps pup breathe easy

Craig Shoup
Reporter

FREMONT – A 1-year-old red-nose pit bull is back to running around and playing on Tuesday after having a child’s tracheal tube removed from her throat after a bone blocked her airway.

Seven days ago, Mya, a 68-pound pit bull, was chewing on a bone when a piece lodged in her upper airway. Her owner, Steve Stevens, of, Monroeville, knew something was wrong when he saw her struggling to breathe, so he rushed Mya to Westview Veterinary Hospital in Fremont.

Veterinarian Dr. Ryan Zimmerman and his staff inserted a child’s tracheal tube, obtained from ProMedica Memorial Hospital, into Mya’s throat and said the dog’s life could have been in danger without the tracheotomy and treatment for an infection.

On Tuesday, the tracheal tube was removed for good and Mya is on her way to making a full recovery. Stevens said he never thought the man-made bone Mya was chewing could produce a sliver that would lead to an infection.

“I used to feed her these big bones all the time, and I think she caught a sliver about a week ago,” Stevens said. “She was struggling to breathe, and her neck swelled up with a large mass near her airway. We rushed her in and realized she had a cut in her throat.”

Zimmerman said Mya’s airway began to close because of the infection and that she was only able to get a small amount of air into her lungs. After inserting a tube through the airway to allow the dog to get more air, Zimmerman said the only other option was to place a tracheal tube in her throat until the infection went down.

“It’s like you and me breathing through a straw. You get air, but not enough,” Zimmerman said.

The veterinarian said he has used tracheal tubes on dogs before and has inserted a tube into a horse’s neck. He said the procedure is not common, but using tracheal tubes on dogs is not that challenging because their anatomy is similar to that of a human.

Stevens said Mya had no previous problems with the bones or rawhide chews, and her troubled breathing put a scare in him.

“She’s such a good dog. Everybody loves her,” Stevens said. “She’s part of the family.”

He said he drove more than seven hours to get her from a breeder in DePue, Illinois.

Stevens was relieved Tuesday when Mya woke up from sedation and began breathing easily, meaning she would not need the tracheal tube any longer.

Zimmerman said his only concern now is if Mya would develop scar tissue built up from the bone sliver, but at worst, she would only make a small wheezing sound when breathing while running.

cshoup@gannett.com

419-334-1035

Twitter: @CraigShoupNH