Another Soft Palate Question

[Skye2]

Hi

I am asking this question for my mum (she is 70) and has a 6 yro Cav. She is getting increasingly concerned with his snoring at night and he seems to wake up panting and breathless. She has to get up with him in the middle of the night and sit with him on the couch until he is okay and then they both go back to bed. After reading peoples posts i was wondering whether it is his palate. She has her local vet and they just seem to fob off her questions so i thought i would ask the DOLers and she what they think. Mum is anxious about consulting another vet but i suggested maybe another vet might feel a bit more confident about looking at his palate. She lives in Bowral. She is a pensioner and can't drive but i said that I am happy to take her and the dog to an appropriate vet that is experienced with this. I usually see Rob Zammit and thought about asking him when next I am there.

Is soft palate surgery usually a day only procedure (she would hate that he would have to stay in overnight)?

What does surgery involve? Is it similar to a human tonsillectomy? Any ideas of the costs? (approximate of course). If nothing is done is the dog likely to get worse as he gets older?

Thanks in advance for any info especially any Cav people

[Genghis Kahn]

You really need to find a vet who understands brachy breeds. I had my pug done about 18 months ago. The vet will need to sedate your cav to be able to look at the palate as it can't be seen just by looking into the mouth. If necessary then your cav will need at least a day at tghe vet and possibly overnght depending on hour he responds to the surgery. He will be sore for a few days afterwards and will need soft food until his palate heals. There should be a noticeable improvement in his breathig straight away. Good luck and hope this helps. all up Missys surgery was about 1100.00 all but 100.00 was covered by my insurance.

[puggy_puggy]

It can involve anything from soft pallet resection (they cut the excess soft pallet out), larangeal saccules resection (they remove saccules) to stenotic nare resection (they widen the nostrils) or all of them at once. A good vet who is confident in their surgery skills, has the correct equipment and enough competent staff should be able to do the surgery.

Most vets/surgeons/specalists like to keep the dog in overnight for monitoring as the great risk of this surgery is swelling and bleeding leading to inability to breath. Saying that the one rescue pug that I have had done was able to be sent home the evening of the operation.

If a dog really does have 'Brachycephalic syndrome' then it is only going to worsen over the years leading to the throat tissue becoming more and more inflamed and thickened making it harder and harder to breath.

Cost is approximatley $1,000 to $1,500.

If the dog in question is overweight they need to lose the excess weight and quickly.

[Skye2]

Thanks for your replies. My thoughts were it would get worse with age. He has lost a little weight recently but I think could do with another kilo or two off. I think I will follow up on a few vets mention in a previous thread on this issue. Thanks again