Bark changed after head injury
 

My dog had a small but substantial tree fall on her head. The wound required multiple stitches by an available Vet the same day. During the 10 days of healing she never barked once. But since the stitches and cone have been removed(at least 4 weeks now) she "Dry" gags 3-4 times a day and her bark is definatley higher pitched and weaker. Other than those 2 issues she is 100% as she was prior to the accident. Thoughts? No she hasn't been to her regular Vet yet since the accident.

Welcome to the board, b33p3r.

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have your dog back to the vet again for a reevaluation. Was her had actually pinned to the ground by the tree? Could she have injured her trachea or larynx during the accident? And did they do xrays of the neck to make sure none of the vertebrae were damaged?

What size dog is she? Was she given an anaesthetic? If so, could the tube they used have hurt her throat? If she were mine I'd have her back to the vet for a check up.

No her head wasn't pinned to the ground but she was dazed by the blow for about 10 seconds. Yes I witnessed the injury. She is a coon hound so has a long neck so I'm guessing something else got damaged. Just wondering how serious it might be. $$$ is tight and she is perfectly normal and healthy otherwise. Her status doesn't get worse but doesn't get better.
I know it sounds terrible that I'm asking here but if it was an emergency(as was the day of the accident on a holiday) I would again call vets one after the other until I found one that would take her immediately. Just looking for opinions.

Never thought about a trachea tube damaging her throat. Opinion wanted. Take her to her regular vet or consult the treating vet? I just wonder what either of them would do to fix it if possible?

Well, one of my shelties coughs and gags and just a single prednil tablet daily stops it, so that is not an expensive fix, but what Hazel suggests would probably make me ask for an x ray. I had a different sheltie(this one's mother) gagging and yes, it was her trachea, and a self inflicted injury because each time I opened the drum to get dry food out for them she would jump and try and get her head down into it. She was hitting her trachea each time, silly girl. Of course I didn't realise what was happening until she got bad.

[QUOTE=b33p3r;1034056]Never thought about a trachea tube damaging her throat. Opinion wanted. Take her to her regular vet or consult the treating vet? I just wonder what either of them would do to fix it if possible?[/QUOTE]

I would start by asking the treating vet about the tube - if an improper size was used it might have done some damage - the vet should not charge you ( or at least not full price) for a followup. 4 weeks is a bit long for her throat to stay sore from a proper-sized, properly applied, tube, I would think.

I would consider gentle chiropractic, or at least acupuncture for the area.

[url]www.avcadoctors.com[/url]