mackbob
New member
Hello all! Bob is now 16 months old and just had his palate trimmed as his nares were fine. Surgery went great and I brought him home yesterday afternoon. He's high as a kite on doggy morphine (lucky him!) and thankfully recovering just fine. They required him to sleep there in case of complications as they have a Dr. and nurses on staff 24/7.
The decision to do this surgery was a tough one and something I would love to hear others opinions on.
First off, Bob had no problems breathing on a day to day basis. He never vomited food, water or regurgitated. He's a mild snorer and a grunter but it's his sound and I love it. I actually felt sad at the thought of not hearing that anymore! But when Bob gets hot... it's a very different story. An example, one day I took him to the beach in Carmel, Ca with my sister and her dogs and his bro. And it was around 80 degrees. He went from 0-10 (10 being burning hot) in about one minute as soon as we stepped on the beach and he wasn't even running around. And getting him to cool down took 30 minutes. Just watching him, I knew this couldn't be good for his heart among other things. Or mine!!
I assumed in some ways that it was the dogs that were rasping and gasping 24/7 that really needed this surgery. I was always hearing things like "that's just how bulldogs are" "you can't do this and that with bulldogs" "bulldogs can't take heat" "bulldogs can't breath well" "bulldogs sometimes vomit their food and water" "bulldogs don't live long lives" - it's almost like all these statements were of acceptance. Why? Why can't bulldogs breath well? Why do bulldogs have such a short life span? I'm supposed to accept that? No chance.
I brought up the palate reduction to his regular vet when he was getting neutered at 8 months (I wanted to wait longer but he was cryptorchid aka one testy wasn't dropping) and he said it was too early--but i think that was just his opinion and some might disagree. Anyway, last week I took him to a board certified surgeon in Orange County. I love this particular doctor. He's honest, super conservative and incredibly skilled. I'm in LA and I drive over an hour to see him. He had repaired both of Mack's cruciates (bobs brother) after he tore them one after the other. And he chose to do the more conservative surgery and Mack is 100% healed. He was also the only one to accurately diagnose my Ex-boyfriend's EBD's orthopedic issues and insisted that surgery wasn't the answer. Anyway, needless to say I totally trust this guy and wanted to know what he had to say.
First, he said that an elongated palate is confirmed under anesthesia but all EBD's have one otherwise they wouldn't be EBD's. He said it's just the severity that differs. He said to me that if Bob was to lose a little weight it would help a lot. I asked him if I should wait and then see, and he surprised me with his answer...
He said "I wouldn't. There is no english bulldog that won't benefit from a palate reduction. PERIOD." This usually soft-spoken surgeon was suddenly unusually passionate about this particular statement. He went on to say "Regardless of the degree -- the abnormalities of the airway pathology progress with age with brachycephalic airway syndrome." He went on to explain that the palate starts to droop as the dog ages (same reason people snore more when they age) and the symptoms become much more pronounced. But by the time it's OBVIOUS that the surgery is necessary and the dog comes in for the procedure, much of the damage has already been done. Not only the impact on the heart, but the trauma on the larynx and the trachea has caused the tissues to thicken and even further narrow the respiratory passages and surgery cannot reverse that. So while it helps and they can breath better, the prognosis is way more guarded. In other words, they'd be more comfortable but it's not necessarily adding on any years to their life span because the negative pressure it takes to breath has made it's mark.
So i agreed to do it the following Friday. But then I started freaking out. What if I was doing something too aggressive? What if there was a complication during surgery over something elective? I wouldn't be able to live with myself. And I didn't want his little sounds to be gone etc. My mind was spinning. And mostly, he seemed fine most of the time! ....It was only when he was hot. Was i really going to risk this?
So i flaked out on my Friday appointment! But then my logic kicked in... when it's warm and I see how hard he is trying to cool down to no avail... it's a different story. So i read everything I could. Every single study done, every report, you name it. And I came to the conclusion that his doc was right. And regardless of what any doctor was telling me, doing this surgery made logical sense in my mind. So Bob had it done this last Wednesday. His insurance covers this btw!
He's still snoring a little (it was always pretty minimal) and he still sounds the same with his little grunts. THANK GOD! I would love to hear what others think about this issue. Thanks for reading my long post!
The decision to do this surgery was a tough one and something I would love to hear others opinions on.
First off, Bob had no problems breathing on a day to day basis. He never vomited food, water or regurgitated. He's a mild snorer and a grunter but it's his sound and I love it. I actually felt sad at the thought of not hearing that anymore! But when Bob gets hot... it's a very different story. An example, one day I took him to the beach in Carmel, Ca with my sister and her dogs and his bro. And it was around 80 degrees. He went from 0-10 (10 being burning hot) in about one minute as soon as we stepped on the beach and he wasn't even running around. And getting him to cool down took 30 minutes. Just watching him, I knew this couldn't be good for his heart among other things. Or mine!!
I assumed in some ways that it was the dogs that were rasping and gasping 24/7 that really needed this surgery. I was always hearing things like "that's just how bulldogs are" "you can't do this and that with bulldogs" "bulldogs can't take heat" "bulldogs can't breath well" "bulldogs sometimes vomit their food and water" "bulldogs don't live long lives" - it's almost like all these statements were of acceptance. Why? Why can't bulldogs breath well? Why do bulldogs have such a short life span? I'm supposed to accept that? No chance.
I brought up the palate reduction to his regular vet when he was getting neutered at 8 months (I wanted to wait longer but he was cryptorchid aka one testy wasn't dropping) and he said it was too early--but i think that was just his opinion and some might disagree. Anyway, last week I took him to a board certified surgeon in Orange County. I love this particular doctor. He's honest, super conservative and incredibly skilled. I'm in LA and I drive over an hour to see him. He had repaired both of Mack's cruciates (bobs brother) after he tore them one after the other. And he chose to do the more conservative surgery and Mack is 100% healed. He was also the only one to accurately diagnose my Ex-boyfriend's EBD's orthopedic issues and insisted that surgery wasn't the answer. Anyway, needless to say I totally trust this guy and wanted to know what he had to say.
First, he said that an elongated palate is confirmed under anesthesia but all EBD's have one otherwise they wouldn't be EBD's. He said it's just the severity that differs. He said to me that if Bob was to lose a little weight it would help a lot. I asked him if I should wait and then see, and he surprised me with his answer...
He said "I wouldn't. There is no english bulldog that won't benefit from a palate reduction. PERIOD." This usually soft-spoken surgeon was suddenly unusually passionate about this particular statement. He went on to say "Regardless of the degree -- the abnormalities of the airway pathology progress with age with brachycephalic airway syndrome." He went on to explain that the palate starts to droop as the dog ages (same reason people snore more when they age) and the symptoms become much more pronounced. But by the time it's OBVIOUS that the surgery is necessary and the dog comes in for the procedure, much of the damage has already been done. Not only the impact on the heart, but the trauma on the larynx and the trachea has caused the tissues to thicken and even further narrow the respiratory passages and surgery cannot reverse that. So while it helps and they can breath better, the prognosis is way more guarded. In other words, they'd be more comfortable but it's not necessarily adding on any years to their life span because the negative pressure it takes to breath has made it's mark.
So i agreed to do it the following Friday. But then I started freaking out. What if I was doing something too aggressive? What if there was a complication during surgery over something elective? I wouldn't be able to live with myself. And I didn't want his little sounds to be gone etc. My mind was spinning. And mostly, he seemed fine most of the time! ....It was only when he was hot. Was i really going to risk this?
So i flaked out on my Friday appointment! But then my logic kicked in... when it's warm and I see how hard he is trying to cool down to no avail... it's a different story. So i read everything I could. Every single study done, every report, you name it. And I came to the conclusion that his doc was right. And regardless of what any doctor was telling me, doing this surgery made logical sense in my mind. So Bob had it done this last Wednesday. His insurance covers this btw! He's still snoring a little (it was always pretty minimal) and he still sounds the same with his little grunts. THANK GOD! I would love to hear what others think about this issue. Thanks for reading my long post!
I believe he'd do it for me! 
