Breathing issues

cefe13

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We would appreciate your input on the following. As English bulldogs are not common here, we don't meet any other EBs for comparison.

Castor is now 18 months old; and during the last few moths, his breathing has become more strained when he gets excted and he will often throw up small amounts of white foam after play or when given treats (he only gets treats in training situations, so he is always a bit excited when he gets them).

We take three daily walks of half an hour or more, and some days we get quite far, whereas other days are really slow. Castor has the energy for long walks, but his breathing seems to hinder him sometimes. Same thing with play - he is agile and loves balls and frisbees, but afterwards he is panting very hard. Today we went to the forest, having planned a two-hour hike. Half a year ago that was not a problem, but now we actually cut the hike short as his breathing was strained. He loves being out in the forest and will gladly walk, so we really don't know if the panting is physical or due to excitement.

We will try to find a vet with experience in dogs with breathing problems for an evaluation, but we are wondering to what extent his breathing issues might be related to his age. Can this be something that will pass as he gets older? He is a very social and happy dog, and when out walking, he takes his sniffing seriously. He will check out every lamp post and every tree if we let him. We don't go to dog parks, but he meets lots of dogs on our walks, and he gets on well with everyone. He's happy and can get excited, but never dominant or aggressive. There's no humping, nor barking, just sniffing and tail-wagging, but afterwards he's sometimes almost out of breath.

We're most grateful for input!
 

tyree213

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Assuming his nostrils are open and he doesnt have stenotic nares, it sounds like its elongated soft palate. Its common in the breed and the only way to get diagnosed is he would have to go under anesthesia. It's better to get it taken care of sooner than later it does not get better with age.
 

aprilemari

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sounds like elongated palate to me as well. this is extra soft tissue that lies in the throat. it becomes inflammed and swollen in response to heat or exercise or panting (even caused by stress), which then restricts air from going to the lungs. It also flaps against the throat and causes saliva to foam up, which further clogs the airway.

A surgeon will remove the extra tissue and trim some nodules in the throat to open the airway and prevent them from turning blue. BUlldogs can overheat very easily! 3x30 minute walks sounds like it might be too much, especially if your pup can't calm down in a short amount of time afterwards.

make sure the surgeon uses isofluorane as the anesthetic, its a gas that is easily controlled and will allow the dog to immediate wake up as soon as they're taken off of it.
 

bullmama

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As an adult and time frames of playing, walking, and hiking you mentioned, it does not surprise me that he would be panting very hard.

There truly is a fine line with this breed when it comes to overheating, and what is considered normal. As my vet always tells me, my bulldogs have great breathing systems---- FOR A BULLDOG. Meaning not compared to other breeds, but compared to all his other bulldog clients he sees.
 

2BullyMama

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sounds like elongated palate to me as well. this is extra soft tissue that lies in the throat. it becomes inflammed and swollen in response to heat or exercise or panting (even caused by stress), which then restricts air from going to the lungs. It also flaps against the throat and causes saliva to foam up, which further clogs the airway.

A surgeon will remove the extra tissue and trim some nodules in the throat to open the airway and prevent them from turning blue. BUlldogs can overheat very easily! 3x30 minute walks sounds like it might be too much, especially if your pup can't calm down in a short amount of time afterwards.

make sure the surgeon uses isofluorane as the anesthetic, its a gas that is easily controlled and will allow the dog to immediate wake up as soon as they're taken off of it.

agree with April .... 3x at 30 mins a walk is a lot for a Bulldog, and also look into the palate/nares
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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[MENTION=7173]tyree213[/MENTION], [MENTION=3225]aprilemari[/MENTION], [MENTION=2]bullmama[/MENTION], [MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION]
Thank you for your input! Let me clarify that we not always walk very fast! Some 30-minute walks are actually only like half a mile (if there are lots of lamp posts and lots of dogs to talk to), but if the weather is cool and there are no interruptions, he will gladly walk much further (and pant a lot).

We have this morning talked to an animal hospital with experience in bulldogs and will book him in for an evaluation. I am most grateful for more input and to hear from those with experience in surgery as all of this worries me a lot. Thanks.
 

2BullyMama

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@tyree213, @aprilemari, @bullmama, @2BullyMama
Thank you for your input! Let me clarify that we not always walk very fast! Some 30-minute walks are actually only like half a mile (if there are lots of lamp posts and lots of dogs to talk to), but if the weather is cool and there are no interruptions, he will gladly walk much further (and pant a lot).

We have this morning talked to an animal hospital with experience in bulldogs and will book him in for an evaluation. I am most grateful for more input and to hear from those with experience in surgery as all of this worries me a lot. Thanks.


I had to have the nares/palete done on both my boys... Nitschke and my French Bulldog, Cheli. My vet told me early on in there age (like 6 or 8 months) that they would need the procedure, but he did not actually do the surgery till they were past 2 years of age. The reason for that is the tissue can contiue to grow, he stated that if their was an immediate health concern, of course it would have been done sooner, but that is the age he believes is the best time for it to take place.

They both recovered very quick, but keep in mind, this procedure HELPS lessen the stress and clears the air ways... it does not eliminate the problem or remove the breathing issues all together, it just helps lessen the restrictions that Bulldogs just naturally have due to the strcuture of their faces.

let me know if you have any specific questions ... I'll be happy to help answer and provide any info on the experience with my two boys. BTW...my girl, Banks.. never needed any of these done.
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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[MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION] thanks a lot for sharing your experience. When we've talked to the vet (probably next month) I'm sure there will be many questions. Great to know I can post them here! You say they recovered quickly - does that mean they were sort of ok and could eat within a few days?
 

2BullyMama

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@2BullyMama thanks a lot for sharing your experience. When we've talked to the vet (probably next month) I'm sure there will be many questions. Great to know I can post them here! You say they recovered quickly - does that mean they were sort of ok and could eat within a few days?

yes, you'll do soft food or bland diet for about a week... then they can go back to normal food ( ithink you do raw, right?) If so you may be able to just stay on that. The toughest part for me was with my Frenchie (Cheli), he is a barker when I get home, so trying to keep him quite when he knew I walked in was REALLY hard. He ended up tearing the stching and we had to have it re-done as it casued scaring that was blocking his airway :( he is now totally fine and doing fantastic
 

nycbullymama

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Blue had his palate/saccules done at 9 months. I want Wellie to get it done as well.
@2BullyMama I mentioned exactly what you said about waiting til they're two to the person who did Blue's surgery.

She said there's different views on this- her view is the sooner the better, since breathing becomes easier and it puts less strain on their trachs, heart, lungs.. etc.
She did say that there's one school of thought that says; if you don't do the nares with the palate, then the palate can grow back. But she's not convinced as there haven't been enough studies showing this to be case. But who knows..

Either way, because of what your vet said, and because his nares weren't done- she's going to check his palate again when he goes under for his nares/neuter.
 

2BullyMama

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Blue had his palate/saccules done at 9 months. I want Wellie to get it done as well.
@2BullyMama I mentioned exactly what you said about waiting til they're two to the person who did Blue's surgery.

She said there's different views on this- her view is the sooner the better, since breathing becomes easier and it puts less strain on their trachs, heart, lungs.. etc.
She did say that there's one school of thought that says; if you don't do the nares with the palate, then the palate can grow back. But she's not convinced as there haven't been enough studies showing this to be case. But who knows..

Either way, because of what your vet said, and because his nares weren't done- she's going to check his palate again when he goes under for his nares/neuter.

Interesting.... I love how we learn so much from each other on here.... I guess that is what my vet means by how it is impacting the bulldog at the time of the eval.
 

nycbullymama

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Interesting.... I love how we learn so much from each other on here.... I guess that is what my vet means by how it is impacting the bulldog at the time of the eval.

You know what I've learned? No one vet can say anything with certainty :( , everything's an opinion <sigh>...
 

tyree213

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Like aprilemari said make sure its isofluorane that the doc uses. Till then you should probably ease up a little bit on the walks because it does put more strain on his organs.
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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[MENTION=7457]Blueberrys Mom[/MENTION] Thanks so much for sharing this and very interesting to hear about the different views. I'm taking down notes here so that we know what types of questions to ask the vet!
 
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cefe13

cefe13

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[MENTION=7173]tyree213[/MENTION] Thanks - will write that down! And yes, we will take it easy with him. Autumn has arrived here so it's quite cool and he loves to be outdoors (unless it's raining). We live in a flat so our walks are his outdoor time, apart from the time he spends on our little balcony. But I realise he might want to walk more than is good for him, so we'll cut down on his exercise until we know if there is indeed a problem with his breathing.
 

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