Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome

Meet Marlo

Marlo is a two-year-old gentlemanly French Bulldog, who first visited us in October last year with a problem.

Marlo is a brachycephalic dog, which means he has a short nose. Other brachycephalic breeds include Pugs, Boxers and Lhasa Apsos. Although that gorgeous squashed face makes hearts melt, it also makes brachycephalic dogs prone to Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome, a group of symptoms caused by having a relatively small airway. Pooches with this syndrome can have signs like snoring, increased effort when breathing, loud breathing, coughing or gagging, reduced tolerance to exercise, and reduced ability to tolerate heat.

To help make Marlo much happier and more comfortable, Dr Abbie and Dr Rachele performed surgery to remove some of the excess tissue hindering Marlo’s breathing.

Surgical treatment

Before the anaesthetic, Marlo was placed in Mosman Vet’s brand-new ICE oxygen unit to make sure he was getting the optimum amount of oxygen into his system to make the anaesthetic process much smoother.

Once Marlo was anaesthetised, Dr Abbie and Dr Rachele widened Marlo’s nostrils and trimmed his soft palate to give more room for air to pass down his windpipe. In Marlo’s case, he also had everted laryngeal saccules – an area of soft tissue next to the entrance of the windpipe,  which had flipped the wrong way and protruded into the airway. These  were removed as well.

In this photo is a before and after picture of Marlo’s nostrils during surgery. The nostril on the right has been widened and a small suture is put in, while the nostril on the left has not been widened yet.

Recovery

As Marlo gradually woke up, he was again snuggled up in the ICU oxygen unit – the most comfortable recovery any brachycephalic pooch could dream of!

Marlo went home that evening with anti-inflammatories and pain relief. A few weeks later, Marlo has made a full recovery and is able to  run around and enjoy life to the full.