Question

Storm

New member
Jun 19, 2022
6
11
Country
United states
Bulldog(s) Names
Lexa
New Bulldog owner. Question on my bulldogs breathing. Ok she is 11 weeks old. She is an active playful pup. At night she gets a cough. followed by a kind hairball type hack like a cat. She is starting to make the hairball sound during the day also. She eats, drinks, and is active all day long. It has me worried. She was at the vet a week ago and she got an all clear everything is ok. But I'm still worried. A lot can happen to a pup in a week. And she goes again in a few days. Any ideas? Stuff I should be doing?
 

Bulldog2001

Well-known member
May 5, 2022
1,142
851
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
None yet
New Bulldog owner. Question on my bulldogs breathing. Ok she is 11 weeks old. She is an active playful pup. At night she gets a cough. followed by a kind hairball type hack like a cat. She is starting to make the hairball sound during the day also. She eats, drinks, and is active all day long. It has me worried. She was at the vet a week ago and she got an all clear everything is ok. But I'm still worried. A lot can happen to a pup in a week. And she goes again in a few days. Any ideas? Stuff I should be doing?


Has she been evaluated for Elongated Soft Palate???

My dog was choking like a hair ball in his throat during the day and after exercise and his soft palate is blocking the airway.
My vet considers it ā€˜Rareā€™ to NOT need the soft palate surgery on a English Bulldog or a French Bulldog.

Does he have closed nostrils??


Other elongated soft palate signs include:

-Choking/gagging
-Coughing(my dog Made the hair ball cough)
-exercise intolerance(sometimes)
-gasping for air(sometimes when severe)
-regurgitation/vomiting(sometimes)

Any of these signs??

I would get her checked for elongated soft palate.

The choking, coughing and hair ball noise during day and night was the biggest sign my dog made.

Thankfully there is a surgery for this.

I hope she improves soon.
 

Bulldog2001

Well-known member
May 5, 2022
1,142
851
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
None yet
New Bulldog owner. Question on my bulldogs breathing. Ok she is 11 weeks old. She is an active playful pup. At night she gets a cough. followed by a kind hairball type hack like a cat. She is starting to make the hairball sound during the day also. She eats, drinks, and is active all day long. It has me worried. She was at the vet a week ago and she got an all clear everything is ok. But I'm still worried. A lot can happen to a pup in a week. And she goes again in a few days. Any ideas? Stuff I should be doing?


Has she been evaluated for Elongated Soft Palate???

My dog was choking like a hair ball in his throat during the day and after exercise and his soft palate is blocking the airway.
My vet considers it ā€˜Rareā€™ to NOT need the soft palate surgery on a English Bulldog or a French Bulldog.

Does he have closed nostrils??


Other elongated soft palate signs include:

-Choking/gagging
-Coughing(my dog Made the hair ball cough)
-exercise intolerance(sometimes)
-gasping for air(sometimes when severe)
-regurgitation/vomiting(sometimes)

Any of these signs??

I would get her checked for elongated soft palate.

The choking, coughing and hair ball noise during day and night was the biggest sign my dog made.

Thankfully there is a surgery for this.

I hope she improves soon.
 

Bulldog2001

Well-known member
May 5, 2022
1,142
851
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
None yet
Also what do you feed her??

If her palate is swollen or she has inflammation, or even the surgery for the palate for example she needs a soft food which helps.

I highly recommended raw diet for her, that is anti inflammatory cause there isnā€™t all the carbs to cause inflammation.

Soft food helps for sure and helps the immune system.
 
OP
S

Storm

New member
Jun 19, 2022
6
11
Country
United states
Bulldog(s) Names
Lexa
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
Has she been evaluated for Elongated Soft Palate???

My dog was choking like a hair ball in his throat during the day and after exercise and his soft palate is blocking the airway.
My vet considers it ā€˜Rareā€™ to NOT need the soft palate surgery on a English Bulldog or a French Bulldog.

Does he have closed nostrils??


Other elongated soft palate signs include:

-Choking/gagging
-Coughing(my dog Made the hair ball cough)
-exercise intolerance(sometimes)
-gasping for air(sometimes when severe)
-regurgitation/vomiting(sometimes)

Any of these signs??

I would get her checked for elongated soft palate.

The choking, coughing and hair ball noise during day and night was the biggest sign my dog made.

Thankfully there is a surgery for this.

I hope she improves soon.
All of that sounds pretty spot on. Iā€™ll definitely ask for sure. I think that may be the issue right there.
 
OP
S

Storm

New member
Jun 19, 2022
6
11
Country
United states
Bulldog(s) Names
Lexa
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #6
Also what do you feed her??

If her palate is swollen or she has inflammation, or even the surgery for the palate for example she needs a soft food which helps.

I highly recommended raw diet for her, that is anti inflammatory cause there isnā€™t all the carbs to cause inflammation.

Soft food helps for sure and helps the immune system.
She eats what her breeder gave her. Royal Canine. I can see about transitioning her over to a softer food. Maybe itā€™ll help.
 

Bulldog2001

Well-known member
May 5, 2022
1,142
851
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
None yet
She eats what her breeder gave her. Royal Canine. I can see about transitioning her over to a softer food. Maybe itā€™ll help.

Royal Canin is not good food at all, lots of fillers and by products(human waste leftovers, not for human consumption) in it.

Lots of common allergens in it(corn, wheat and some rice and chicken-which can be in the form of feathers).

I would try either Raw diet(itā€™s soft enough that they can just swallow, and it helps the immune system).

Or canned food, which is expensive, or some people cook for the dog, but since she is still a pup, feeding raw diet(meat/organs/bone and some have vegetables), since she is a puppy raw diet would be the most beneficial cause itā€™s helping her immune system and itā€™s 70% moisture which they are not dehydrated when eating it, kibble causes dehydration in dogs that can cause kidney and liver issues even if they drank 3 cups of water after eating kibble.

And with raw diet(or even a better kibble than Royal Canin) than you are preventing new health issues, which means less $$$ at vets.
 

Bulldog2001

Well-known member
May 5, 2022
1,142
851
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
None yet
All of that sounds pretty spot on. Iā€™ll definitely ask for sure. I think that may be the issue right there.

Yes definitely recommend getting it evaluated, but they have to have light sedation to look that far down into the throat. It could be blocking her airway if she is showing those symptoms.

Definitely try soft food cause when it heals after surgery itā€™s recommended to give soft food for the first 2-4 weeks (sometimes longer- I kept him on soft food since then-raw diet) after the surgery so no kibble gets stuck in the stitches.

Keep us updated šŸ˜Š
 
OP
S

Storm

New member
Jun 19, 2022
6
11
Country
United states
Bulldog(s) Names
Lexa
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #9
Royal Canin is not good food at all, lots of fillers and by products(human waste leftovers, not for human consumption) in it.

Lots of common allergens in it(corn, wheat and some rice and chicken-which can be in the form of feathers).

I would try either Raw diet(itā€™s soft enough that they can just swallow, and it helps the immune system).

Or canned food, which is expensive, or some people cook for the dog, but since she is still a pup, feeding raw diet(meat/organs/bone and some have vegetables), since she is a puppy raw diet would be the most beneficial cause itā€™s helping her immune system and itā€™s 70% moisture which they are not dehydrated when eating it, kibble causes dehydration in dogs that can cause kidney and liver issues even if they drank 3 cups of water after eating kibble.

And with raw diet(or even a better kibble than Royal Canin) than you are preventing new health issues, which means less $$$ at vets.
Iā€™m not a big fan of royal canine. I have been looking at alternatives but was just using this to fill the gap before transitioning her over to something else. Iā€™m not a fan of chicken by product. Using every part of the chicken except the meat sounds disgusting to me. So while I was lookingā€¦ all this popped up. But yes something more natural will be definitely be the way to go.
 
OP
S

Storm

New member
Jun 19, 2022
6
11
Country
United states
Bulldog(s) Names
Lexa
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #10
Yes definitely recommend getting it evaluated, but they have to have light sedation to look that far down into the throat. It could be blocking her airway if she is showing those symptoms.

Definitely try soft food cause when it heals after surgery itā€™s recommended to give soft food for the first 2-4 weeks (sometimes longer- I kept him on soft food since then-raw diet) after the surgery so no kibble gets stuck in the stitches.

Keep us updated šŸ˜Š
I most definitely will. My nerves have been stressed to the max. She is my little cuddle bug (when she isnā€™t trying to chew on my chin). She gets so excited to see me. And when she sleeps she steals my pillow. Talk about a total turd. I canā€™t help it. I love her to death. Have wanted one my entire life. Now I got one. Pricey little princess but still my princess.
 

Attachments

  • E5191B68-F415-4C02-8B38-A0B3953CE225.jpeg
    E5191B68-F415-4C02-8B38-A0B3953CE225.jpeg
    995.5 KB · Views: 88

TxMom2

Member
May 1, 2022
89
96
Country
usa
Bulldog(s) Names
Louise and Chief
New Bulldog owner. Question on my bulldogs breathing. Ok she is 11 weeks old. She is an active playful pup. At night she gets a cough. followed by a kind hairball type hack like a cat. She is starting to make the hairball sound during the day also. She eats, drinks, and is active all day long. It has me worried. She was at the vet a week ago and she got an all clear everything is ok. But I'm still worried. A lot can happen to a pup in a week. And she goes again in a few days. Any ideas? Stuff I should be doing?
My baby, Louise started doing the hacking like a hair ball which turned into a full blown cough daily getting worse and worse and she had really fast respirations too even while sleeping. We have 2 EBā€™s around same age and my other pup, Chiefā€™s respirations were half of what Louiseā€™s were. She was around the same age as yours and she ended up having pneumonia and was on antibiotics and breathing treatments for over 3 weeks but she did recover fully and hopefully is staying on the mend. Fingers crossed šŸ¤ž
She didnā€™t run a temp, she was eating and drinking fine and was playing with Chief.

She also had lots of x-rays and it was determined that she also has hypoplastic trachea šŸ˜”

Just keep a close eye on her. Iā€™m definitely no expert as these are my first EBā€™s as well but I just wanted to share my experience. I hope it helps and please share more pics and keep us posted on how she progresses!
 

Bulldog2001

Well-known member
May 5, 2022
1,142
851
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
None yet
I most definitely will. My nerves have been stressed to the max. She is my little cuddle bug (when she isnā€™t trying to chew on my chin). She gets so excited to see me. And when she sleeps she steals my pillow. Talk about a total turd. I canā€™t help it. I love her to death. Have wanted one my entire life. Now I got one. Pricey little princess but still my princess.

She is cute!

Keep us posted on how the vet appointment goes and if her soft palate is the issue or not.
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
Staff member
Community Veteran
Jul 28, 2011
48,581
3,673
Gilbertsville, PA
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Chelios (Frenchie), Nitschke (2004-2011) Banks (2005-2014) and Lambeau (2014-2024)
Great advice and info has been given by the gang.

I love when the cuddle up like thatā€¦
 

Most Reactions

šŸ“° Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Top