Waka – A two year old Huntaway working dog presented to our Otorohanga clinic with a harsh hacking cough and was finding it hard to bark and run without getting out of breath quickly. Waka normally loves herding the sheep and zooming around the farm, as a young dog he has lots of energy so naturally his owner was concerned about him.

When listening to Waka’s breathing with a stethoscope, the lungs sounded clear, but the trachea (windpipe) sounded harsh.

We sedated Waka so we could have a good look in his mouth/throat. Straight away we could see his epiglottis (this is the part that covers the trachea when the animal swallows and when it is open this allows air to pass from the mouth into the trachea) was swollen on the left side and covering over 60 percent of his airway. The left tonsil was also inflamed. No wonder poor Waka was so out of breath!

A needle was placed into the area where a fine needle aspirate was taken.  This sample was examined under the microscope, where a lot of inflammatory cells and bacteria were seen.

This gave us a likely diagnosis of an abscess, possibly caused by eating bones that injured the throat on the way down.

Waka was prescribed antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and made a full recovery. He is back out on the farm chasing sheep and cattle, barking freely!