The Mystery Of The Inflated Dachshund
When your dog inflates, you waste no time getting him to the vet, who has also never seen a case of an inflated dog before.
By nowproducerdave on June 4, 2018
Many of us are pet owners, with dogs probably being the most popular. We panic about things our pets do or experience, too. Maybe there was a long day of walking or yard work or something and they’re tired. We may want to call the vet to make an appointment, because it’s “very uncharacteristic” of our dog to just lay around. Maybe they’re sick? Maybe worse! The owners of this dachshund, however, had a very good reason to call the vet.
Their little weiner dog Trevor was swelling up to quite a large size. Like, three-times the size it should be. It’s not because they were feeding it too much or anything like that either. The dog didn’t have some sort of cancer or thyroid issue, and it’s metabolism was just fine. Still, the dog was swelling, and was having breathing problems. Cue the vet, who discovered a very unusual problem with the dog. THe pup was literally inflating, filling with air, like a balloon. The dog had somehow developed a hole in his windpipe. Every time he took a breath, some of that air actually leaked into his body, under his skin. When I say he was literally inflating like a balloon, he was literally inflating like a balloon.
See also: Why “baby-talking” to dogs is actually good for them.
The condition the dog had is called “sub-cutaneous emphysema.” That’s basically just a condition in which air, or gas, becomes trapped under the skin. That’s just what the vet discovered after an x-ray of the pup. The vet had to perform a surgery, the first of that kind she had ever done. After literally deflating the dog, he was back to normal. “But now he’s back to his normal self, chasing the chickens and we wouldn’t have him any other way,” the daughter of the Trevor’s owner says. Certainly a strange condition, but we’re left curious about the method used to deflate the pup. Our imaginations are picturing an NFL official though, if you get that reference. Ahem. Check out some pictures and a little more about the inflated pup here.