About twice a month, owners present patients for evaluation of weird respiratory signs, which the owners describe as anything from asthma to seizures. The owners attempt to describe what they saw, and some will try to duplicate the signs. I usually assume they are describing a reverse sneeze, but I've never been able to verify this diagnosis. Recently, one of my staff members happened to be videotaping his dog when it began a two- or three-minute episode of reverse sneezing. Now we play the video for owners when I think reverse sneezing is the problem. It is nice to have the owners confirm that a reverse sneeze is what they are seeing, though I do miss seeing people try to perform a reverse sneeze.

Dr. Jim Lane
Incline Village, Nev.