Intermittent hooting

[Peachyqueen]

My little old dude pretzel is 6 years old. His molars overgrew and trapped his tongue, so he had a dental procedure where they put him under anesthesia.

The procedure went great, however, his back teeth are all totally flat and his incisors got a trim because there was a crack spreading toward the root apparently so they're a little short. He can't eat on his own yet, and probably won't be able to for another week or 2, so I've been feeding him critical care for over 3 weeks now, every 3 hours give or take. I'm exhausted 🫩

Anyway, when he came out of surgery he had crackly breathing. They said it was probably nothing to worry about because anesthesia can do that and it should go away. It did.. for a day. He was on bactrim, that didn't seem to make a difference at all after 5 days. He was seen for a 2nd opinion and got x-rays the other day. Good news is his heart looks normal and well. The lungs look pretty good too. But he has some inflammation in the bronchial area. They said it could be an enlarged lymph node pushing on the airway but with the timeline of the hoot/crackle breathing and the surgery, we assume it's a URI and moved to doxycycline.

All in all he seems great. The only symptom he's had at all has been the hoot/crackle sound but it's intermittent. All day and almost all night long, he sounds great with a tiny wheeze you can only hear if you put your ear to him. But for about 2 hours a night from around midnight to 2a he's consistently hooting and you can hear it very clearly. Then a few hours pass and he sounds good again. It's really strange. No eye or nose discharge, no full fur, eyes are bright and alert, but he does look a bit hunched most the time. He's been on doxy for 2 days today and his poops have gotten super soft and mushy, he's taking benebac and poop soup from his healthy brother 2 hours after every anti biotic.

I guess I'm just looking for anyone with a similar experience. It's just strange to me that he only sounds like that for about 2 hours of the day, it's hard for me to tell if antibiotics are helping or not considering he has almost no symptoms to monitor!

[ItsaZoo]

Is there anything he does that time of day? A place or position he sleeps in, or is he trying to eat and getting hay seeds caught in his nose? The antibiotics can give him nausea, which might be the reason he’s kind of hunched over.

It sounds like you’re doing everything right. I hope you see some improvement and he can start eating on his own soon.

[Peachyqueen]

I have had him in an open box for about 6 hours at night with slits all over for ventilation next to my side of the bed so I can wake up and feed him at night. The box has 2 hand towels and a microfiber bath mat on top for warmth and some hay. He doesn't touch the hay but likes to lay in it. I'm wondering if it's the hay, maybe dust? That's about the only time we hear him actively hooting or anything. I know the box isn't ideal but it's been the easiest way for me to wake up and care for him and get a little sleep between feedings.
I'm going to switch it up a little bit tonight and really air out the hay and add more ventilation to see if that helps. If no improvement, I will try to just sleep in the living room and keep him in his cage to see if that makes a difference.
I'm glad to hear I'm doing thing right, I just want my boy to live a long happy life with me!

[Lynx]

You definitely are doing things right.

Your considering the hay as a possible irritant is reasonable.

[Peachyqueen]

Update:
I made the room a slight bit warmer and put in less hay, the hay was left outside the pigloo (he liked to sleep in the hay) and for 3 days I have not heard any hooting. He also seems more active and sassy, so it seems like the doxycycline has been working. But this morning I heard him very softly hooting for about 10 mins or so and I'm hoping he's just still healing up but it's so odd that he only periodically hoots!

[Lynx]

For a person of great curiosity and lots of funds, it is possible for a veterinarian to use a small camera on a flexible tube down the throat to see if there are any irregularities that might perhaps cause or contribute to the described raspiness you hear.