Hi Molzy,
Notice any changes with switching to a harness? May still be a little early — I hope it is helpful for Quincy. I don’t even have Casey wear a collar for his tags — they are all on his harness. The food I fed to him never irritated him, just the treats. Quincy seems to have more damage to either the trachea or esophagus (or whatever causes these unfortunate spasms). I fed him grain free kibble (alternated between Orijen, Taste of the Wild, etc) mixed with Kirkland’s premium wet. However, Casey has recently developed a series of other health concerns so I am transitioning him now to commercial raw. I am hoping to learn enough to go the homemade route but for now, that’s what I’ve been feeding. Honest Kitchen certainly seems like a very good food choice for Quincy especially considering you can make it pretty soupy if nec.
I have not found a single person whose vet was able to diagnose this condition. Casey’s first attack was at 4 months and I ran over to the vet thinking he had something stuck in his throat. She insisted (even though my gut was telling me she was wrong and I told her as much) that frantic grass eating was nausea and he likely had something stuck in his stomach, even though it couldn’t be seen in an xray. $1,100 and an overnight stay for nothing. A few days later, I was walking him and my neighbor said, “I think that collar is bothering him” and I realized that may be the cause.
I don’t have any other real hints except during vet appts., remind your vet and techs that he has some kind of real sensitivity around his trachea. Casey is feisty and they would restrain him around the head (as well as other areas), which is pretty common. One visit he was gulping for a month afterwards. Now I tell them not to hold him there.
Anyway, keep me posted with how he is doing!
