Inhaled cheese?

[roxypup]

Hi everyone- I'm so worried.Two days ago my sister was trying to teach Roxy to roll over and gave her a piece of cheese while she was still on her back and she choked and coughed on it pretty violently. That night I don't remember her caughing anymore, but the next morning and the rest of the day she kept having coughing fits. They were deep coughs and very frightning. When they continued today, I called the vet right when they opened.
The vet first noticed that a heart murmor that had been detected in the past and disapeared had returned, I guess they can come and go especially under stress. That concerned him and he wanted to take chest xrays. The xrays came out normal, but he is going to have a cartiologist double check them. As for the horable hacking, I explaied the cheese situation and he said that there is a chance that she asperated some of the cheese but he thinks it sounds more like a respertory virus like kennel cough. He gave her antibiotics and a cough suppressent and said that if the cough comes back after the course of treatment is through then it may be the cheese.
My first question is, has enyone had anything similar to this happen to their pup? Second, if she is trying to get something out of her lungs, wouldn't suppressing the cough be counterproductive? Lastly, what happens if cheese is in her lung, I know cheese can produce a lot of bactiera, and can something like cheese be absored by the body?
Thank you so much everyone!!

 

[Austin's Mom]

I don't have answers to any of your questions, but just wanted to say that I hope your baby feels better soon and that it's not the cheese.

 

[roxypup]

A week later my vet called me to tell me that a specialist looked at the xrays and there was indeed a peice of cheese in her lung that cause pnmonia(I don't know if I'm spelling that right) The cough is gone and the vet wants to take another xray when her antibiotics run out. The doctor doesn't seem too worried, I still am.

 

[Gretchen B]

I'm a respiratory therapist so I hope I can answer this question and calm your nerves a bit. People also get this, it's called "aspiration pneumonia" when something is accidentally inhaled into their lung. I think, with something like cheese, it would absorb into the body, if it was a different type of foreign body, like plastic or something, they would need to go in and get it out. That is usually done by a bronchoscopy, where a camera is put down the patient's trachea and they can find the foreign body. Usually a course of antibiotics will fix it. I'm sure she'll be just fine and the next x-rays will tell for sure if the pneumonia is gone. Hope I clarified things a little, I know it sounds complicated. Let us know how she's doing!