Gagging, and Retching.

Question
Hi,

I have a 10 week old male Chihuahua puppy, he weighs a bit over 1 lb.. For the last 2 weeks he acts like he's going to throw up. He will make a dry heaving sound and motion about 4 times, then a gag at the end. Nothing at all comes out of his mouth. He does this 4/6 times a day. He is negative for any intestinal parasites, and has no known health problems otherwise. When I asked the vet about a collapsed trachea, he didn't seem to think that's what it was. He said he could have a sensitive gag reflex, or irritants getting in his nose and throat. I've read the symptoms of reverse sneezing, and it doesn't sound like that's what it is either. They are keeping a watch on it for awhile, if it doesn't stop they'll do an X-ray. He does this mostly at rest. His heart and lungs sounded fine too at his last vet visit, which was a couple of days ago. Do you have any idea what could cause this?

Answer
Doesn't sound like reverse sneezing to me at all either, nor does it sound like a collapsed trachea, sounds like you've covered everything. Are his tonsils swollen at all? I have seen little tiny toys like this gag when they had a bit of a sore throat. And of course, are you sure he didn't get anything stuck in his throat by chance? An x-ray will rule that out. Also what size is the kibble you're feeding him? Sometimes with these ittybitties dog food will kind of hang around in their throat and the bits will cause them to gag until it's dislodged. Just a thought :) If you THINK that could be it, try feeding him smaller amounts more often. Make sure he's getting plenty of water too.
Keep me updated
Cindi