I have a Welsh Springer Spaniel who has Laryngeal Paralysis. This means that he larynx or windpipe is partially paralised and her breathing is very noisy. She is likely to need a tie back operation to help her breathe and I would very much like to hear from anyone who has had to undergo this operation with their dog and how it went.

Sue & Waggydog

Hi Sue, my Irish Setter Bailey had this operation in 2007. He was just turned 11 years old at the time.

He's always had it, but we just lived with it for as long as it didn't restrict his lifestyle. Yes he had noisy breathing when he was out running and he had a high pitched squeaky bark, but it wasn't until he was 11 that it began to be a problem. In quite a short space of time he began to have problems breathing when he was just walking on lead, and his cough got much worse. There were a few times when he was on the point of collapse.

My Vet referred him to another vet for surgery because it's quite specialised. It was a great success and he's still going strong at almost 13 years old now. I'm glad I went ahead with the op, although I was naturally very worried at the time. Baileys breathing isn't noisy at all now, and he has no bark at all just an annoying hoarse whisper.

The operation cost £1200, but it was money well spent.........we weren't insured.

Dawn R.

Hi Sue

I have had four Afghans have tie back surgery between the ages of 7yrs and 11 yrs old.  All recovered well and as Dawn said they could no longer bark but managed a "Huffing" sound.  All mine were done at a university hospital as it is very specialised surgery.

Sue

Thanks Dawn. Thanks for your reply. Scarlet too has always been a noisy breather but I am finding it hard to know what impact it is having on her. She is noisy when she lays on her side and does not want to walk so far or run too much but then she sees some rabbits and charges off, although far less that she used to. Can you also tell me if Bailey can eat and drink OK now, I have read that there are risks after surgery?

Thanks

Sue

Hi Sue, there is a risk of inhalation of food and/or water, but Bailey has never had anything like that. Luckily he hasn't had any adverse effects at all.

Dawn R.

Hi Dawn, sorry to pump you with questions, but as I am sure you know very little out there regarding this condition, most of my doggy friends have not heard of it. What I would be nterested to know is how Bailey behaved on walks when you realsied it was a problem. How far could he walk and if the breathing was noisier in certain positions. We have been to see a specialist with Scarlet who has confirmed the diagnosis but when we saw him in December he felt that her condition has not yet progressed to the stage where he would operate if it were his dog. Well that was 6 months ago and the weather is warmer and I feel that Scarlet has deteriorated, but it is so hard trying to assess how back it is now. Is there a marked change in her ability to exercise since the op?

Thanks and sorry for all the questions.

Sue

Hi Sue

I have several friends who own dogs with LP, many have had the tie back operation with the only side effect being loss of voice.  Aparently there's a high risk of inflammation after surgery but given the correct drugs this can be minimised.  I also believe swimming after surgery can be dangerous.  The factors my friends considered were the age of the dog, and how successfully the condition could be maintained by purely monitoring exercise.  They were all referred to specialists for the op.

Hope this helps

Susie

Hi Sue, I remember that Bailey, was noticably worse in warm dry conditions. He sounded like he had something stuck in his throat. He kept doing that throat clearing cough.

When he had got to the point where something had to be done, it was in July 2007. He deteriorated over the space of two weeks, to the stage where he could only manage short walks on lead then got very very out of breath. We had to stop to allow him to recover enough to get home. He was close to collapse a couple of times. He'd take about an hour to settle his breathing down after a walk. During this two week period we were already seeing the vet and trying different tablets but I knew they weren't going to work, and that the tie back operation was the only thing that would help him.

He had his operation on August 6th 2007, aged 11 years and 1 month, and has been great ever since. He was kept on lead via harness, not a collar, for about a month or six weeks but got back to full exercise after that. He has arthritis now and doesn't get about very well any more but his breathing is completely normal. He's coming up to 13 now.

Dawn R.

No experience myself, but my hairdressers parents had the operation done on their old Labrador who has recovered exceptionally well. My Vet carried out the procedure so didn't need a specialist and I know that it wasn't horrendously expensive for them. I would suppose it could depend on how good the Vet is.