Reverse sneezing sounds like choking and dying but isn’t

so, what’s going on?

 

What is reverse sneezing?

If sneezing is forcefully expelling air out through the nose, then reverse sneezing is forcefully sucking air in through the nose.

The sound this makes is definitely disconcerting, especially if you’ve never heard it before and can prompt panic. But don’t! This sounds bad but really isn’t.

Reverse sneezing occurs when something irritates the soft palate or throat (ie the pharyngeal area) and triggers a type of spasm. During the spasm:

  • your dog extends his neck out (or sometimes curved downwards)

  • he takes a big forceful breath in (expanding his chest)

  • the force of the breath pulls the trachea inwards making it a bit narrower (and air movement through something narrow is always louder than something wide)

So you see an odd breathing position and hear a horrible honking kind of noise as your dog kind of sneezes inwards. Watch a video here.

Cats don’t usually reverse sneeze. If your cat is doing something similar, you should have him checked out for asthma.

 
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What causes the irritation?

Lots of things can irritate the throat and trigger the spasm. Common ones include:

  • food or water (ie eating and drinking)

  • getting really excited (and panting)

  • exercise

  • pulling on the lead

  • air particles/irritants (eg pollens, dusts, perfumes, smoke, chemicals)

  • allergies

  • post-nasal drip

  • inflammation (eg upper airway infections)

  • a long soft palate that sometimes gets sucked back into the throat (especially in dogs with shorter snouts like Pugs, Frenchies, Shih tzus, Boxers)

In general, we see reverse sneezing more commonly in small breed dogs than large ones.

 
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How is reverse sneezing treated?

Reverse sneezing rarely requires treatment.

The spasm is over once the sneezing stops – this may take one sneeze or lots. But it does stop.

Ways you can help stop a spasm sooner include:

  • picking him up and changing position, head down or head up to help shift the soft palate

  • getting him to swallow (and clear the irritation) by massaging his throat or blocking his nostrils

  • distracting him (with food or a toy)

  • pressing down on his tongue (as long as you won’t get bitten!) to make him take a mouth breath and helps open up the back of the nose

If you don’t want to do any of these, that’s okay, the spasms settle.

 

Lots of dogs reverse sneeze intermittently their whole lives. If it happens constantly, we might want to have a look at the throat and the back of the nose. This requires a general anaesthetic and a small flexible scope. In some cases, we might trim the soft palate if it’s too long.