Extreme makeovers of the bulldog kind
By Gina Spadafori
May 18, 2007
Yesterday Dr. Patty Khuly of Dolittler wrote about surgery that can help bulldog breeds breathe easier. See, these breeds — they’re called brachycephalic – are darn cute, with their punched in faced, but the design is not one nature would have chosen. The dogs have difficulty breathing, don’t cope well with heat and humidity and have a harder struggle with obesity because exercise is difficult for them.
People tend to think that’s “just the way they are,” but Dr. Khuly writes about a surgical fix that can make life a lot easier for these pets:
To properly care for a bulldog, soft palate resection is perhaps the most necessary procedure, dramatically improving their comfort level. When dogs can’t breathe well because this long, droopy piece of surplus flesh clogs the opening to the larynx, it’s a must. If it’s not removed, the fleshy soft palate gets ever-droopier as they age, worsening their respiratory symptoms.
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Yesterday, my cousin’s Frenchie (Hugo) was neutered, had his teeth cleaned and got his soft palate shortened. I did the first part, a technician did the second part, and I imported my boyfriend for the third. He’s a vet surgeon—and you should know that a specialist should always perform this procedure unless a GP is specifically trained for it and takes on many resections every year.
By the time he woke up, Hugo was feeling pretty groggy but his breathing was markedly improved. His typical rasp was gone and he seemed minimally put out by the whole thing. (There’s something to be said about a gentle bulldog demeanor, here. They recover very well from anesthesia—with careful monitoring to ensure their airways aren’t clogged by their large tongues and other tissues upon awakening.)
If you have a bulldog, you should know that you almost certainly need this procedure. Even vets don’t quite “get it.” To be sure, it’s not cheap, but our planet’s “free” oxygen?…it’s priceless.
Probably would be better if breeders also started selecting away from physical extremes and more towards good health and comfort for these dogs. (Bulldogs — the English type most think of when they hear the word — are so unnatural they have to give birth by C-section.)
Dr. Khuly is a bulldog fan, by the way, although her breed of choice is the French bulldog, like the one pictured above.
Thank you, Gina, for that closing comment! If dog breeders really do what they do for “the love of the breed,” then why do some morph their breeds into creatures not designed for long, healthy, productive lives?
Coming up with veterinary procedures to combat the damage helps the animal, but it doesn’t really solve the problem - namely, the judges, breeders, and fanciers who forget to consider sound physiology as they decide how a breed should look.
I’m thinking here about the bulldogs who can’t give birth, as you noted - plus the collies with heads so narrow their brains don’t develop, the Pekes with eyes so bulge-y they literally pop out of their sockets under anesthesia, GSDs who can’t help but slink because their back legs are shortened to the point of disfigurement… okay, you get the idea.
I *love* purebred dogs, and most breeders ARE responsible about the soundness of their dogs. But it makes me so sad and so angry to see dogs doomed to lifelong discomfort or worse thanks to someone’s preconception of what they ought to look like.
Comment by Laura — May 18, 2007 @ 4:04 pm