If you have a bulldog with the same challenges as Stella, primarily the hypoplastic trachea, but all breathing related issues are of interest - then send me your story! Lets help get the word out there on how to help our beautiful friends have a better quality of life! Send me a picture of your dog and his/her name, age, what the issues are, and any tips or tricks you have found that make things easier! And if you are using the lemon to help your bully - post a video!
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Hello,
ReplyDeleteI would like to thank you for publishing this blog. It has really opened my eyes in regards to the health of my bulldog Hazel.
We got Hazel Super Bowl Sunday of this year, and quite frankly it didn't take long to determine there was going to be trouble.
To make a long story short we had her tonsils removed and the soft palate resection done after two bouts of pnuemonia. Her breathing improved however the vet told us Hazel had a small trachea. He indicated that she would live a long and somewhat normal life. This was two weeks ago.
This past Sunday, Hazel started to sound very gravelly, for lack of a better word, when she was breathing. I thought this would be a perfect time to attempt the lemon game. Unfortunately I was the only willing participant, so I had just squused out the juice into a cup and shot it into her mouth with a syringe. It did cause some hacking, however she didn't bring anything up.
So another trip to the vet and he was of the opinion that there may have been some infection from the soft palate surgery and put her on some pills, who's name escapes me at the moment, to fight that off.
I guess we will see how things go, we are back at the vet on Friday to have her stiches removed from the spay operation.
I can't stress enough how happy I am to see someone address these problems in the manner you have .
I hope all is well with Stella as she is truly a wonderful looking bulldog. I suppose however they all are.
Hi, I own a French Bulldog and he has similar breathing issues. He is a very active fellow and would love to walk for miles but he just can't do it. On average he can do about half a mile without showing noisy breathing symptoms. On a cool night (like last night) he will trot for a mile.
ReplyDeleteDo you find that Stella's breathing gets noiser and noiser the longer she walks and does a squirt of lemon juice on a walk help this? Beyond helpful solutions like this i think we need to accept the real problem, which is breeders producing poor quality animals. I would be far more careful in my selection of an english or french bulldog next time.
Acer,
ReplyDeleteYes - Stella gets worse the more activity she gets, especially in the warmer weather. Lemon juice on the walk should help (clear things out), but we try to be preventative as well, and not let her get too overheated or to the point where she is really having trouble getting air. I agree the real problem is with breeders, but I honestly don't know how they would have known about her trachea when she was a puppy (except they did mention she threw up a lot - but so do many puppies). We didn't actually find out what was going on until after several bouts with pneumonia and xrays finally revealed the issue. Breeders should definitely NOT breed dogs who have been diagnosed with this issue, but I consider Stella a rescue at this point, as many breeders or owners would probably not have put up with the health problems and costs.
Thank you for this blog! Our sweet 10 month old English bulldog puppy, Westbrook, was diagnozed with the same condition Brachiacephalic Syndrome with small trachea last week and your ideas, shared experiences and feedback were all very helpful. My husband and I dropped Westbrook off for surgery this morning and are now waiting...not-so-patiently. We just want him to be comfortable and breath easily. I will keep you posted....
ReplyDeleteI have a 6 month old male EB named Houston. We found out about Huey's tracheal hypoplasia when he came down with pneumonia at 5 months. The first night my baby spent in the incubator at the hospital I sat home a worried wreck. In all my angst and fear I turned to google, which as we all know can lead to progressed angst and fear. Luckily for me I also found your blog. Reading about Stella and all the other people who share their stories gave me hope. He spent two nights in the hospital and we took him in every morning for a week and a half to get fluid injections and antibiotics. He got a little better but nothing too dramatic. Finally our doctor suggested that we give him Childrens Musinex. We did this twice a day for about a week and it did wonders. It cleared up his nose and helped break up the congestion in his chest. It cleared up his symptoms so that he could fight off the infection. I haven't tried the lemon juice yet but I have the fridge stocked for emergencies. I know we are only beginning out battle with his small trachea but for now it's nice to know that someone else has walked in our footsteps before us. I'm not quite sure how to send you pictures but I'd be happy to. take care!
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Erika and my boyfriend and I just purchased a puppy from a website called mustlovedoggies.com, well we've only had out male Artie for about two weeks and hes already had problems with pooping blood and getting a kennel cough that doesnt seem to wanna go away! We have taken him to the vet more than 5 times and he has been giving him antibiotics...anyway today he didnt want to eat or drink water...Hes getting worse and worse. Im giving him water with a dropper and he doesnt want to take his meds. Im so sad and losing hope that I dont know what to to.My baby looks so sick. And everytime we go to the vet it seems like he gets worse.
Help! any advice?