Another day, another Yorkie and another patient needing treatment with the special air.  His name was Joe, and he was a 5 year old boy.  When he first entered the clinic I thought it wasn't a dog, but a a goose making the strange honking sound.  Patient Pam carried him straight to the back, "He doesn't look good.  He's purple!"  The little guy was trying hard to breathe, "Can't......stop.......coughing", was all he could manage to get out.  Although he looked like the normal black and tan color to me, Sweet Sally must have understood the 'purple' code word from Pam because she rushed to get out the special air machine.  Mother took one look at the tiny heaving dog and put some drops up his nose followed by an orange tube that she attached to his head.  The helpers went about attaching the orange tube to the special air machine, as well as sticking one of the special little tubes in Joe's leg.  Mother started putting medicine into the leg tube and pretty soon Joe was so sleepy he was barely able to lift his head.  Finally, his breathing slowed, and his harsh honking became more of a gruff snore.
When mother was satisfied with all of the numbers on Joe's monitoring machines she went to go talk to Joe's dad.  "Does Joe have a history of coughing like this?" she asked.  "No, he's always had a problem with spasms in his throat, but we were told it was some sort of sneezing.  He's never been this bad." Joe's father answered. 
"It sounds like he's had a problem with reverse sneezing before, but this is a different problem"  mother advised.  "Joe is showing all the classic signs of a 'collapsing trachea'.  It's pretty common in toy breed dogs, their windpipes are born with weak cartilage that collapses easily.  If they start to cough, the trachea collapses, and the collapsing irritates the trachea so then they cough more; the more they cough, the more the windpipe collapses, until they're not getting any air at all.  The treatment involves getting him to calm down and stop coughing to allow the windpipe to relax and stop collapsing so much.  I've sedated him and he's already breathing easier" mother continued. 
So Joe stayed for the rest of the day, attached to the special air machine.  Mostly he slept but whenever one of the helpers tried to look in his mouth, or put the beeping machine up his hind end, the honking would start again.    By the end of the day, he'd had almost three consecutive hours without a honk.  Mother told Joe's dad that Joe should go to the overnight clinic to stay on the special air, and stay on the special sleepy medication.  "We need a good 24 hours without him coughing at all, to allow the inflammation in his trachea to calm down.  If he calms down you can take him home, but you'll need to keep medicine on hand to break the coughing cycle as soon as it starts.
Mother has always said that my trachea collapses because sometimes I cough after running a lot or drinking water.  In fact, she says that's why I have to wear a jacket instead of a collar around my neck.  Seeing what Joe had to go through, I guess I'm lucky to have a mom that knows what to do to keep me from needing the special air treatment.  Although, the sleepy haze medicine doesn't look too bad.  Maybe I do feel a little cough coming on.......