can post op surgery of the elongated palate caused
Bulldogs World Forum Archives
These archives contain a copy of the contents of the old Bulldogs World Forum for reference purposes.Posting is disabled in the archives.
Click here to visit the active Bulldog Forum
can post op surgery of the elongated palate caused
Submitted by deanna2007 on April 20, 2010 - 11:27pmthe dog to breath like he's congested when he sleeps? When Boo sleeps it seems like his nose is stuffed and breathe like he's congested with a cold. Never had this before the surgery. I called the vet and he said that before i don't hear it is because he probably breathe out of his mouth, well i never seen him sleeping with his mouth open so i dont know. He was sleeping alot and not much of an appetite since he's on the cisapride so i took it off for one day to see and he was back to his normal self, playing and eating on his own, but then he regurgitated in the middle of the night again. The vet said the cisapride does cause some neurological problems and some leg cramping which i've seen him limping and then i massage for it to go away. As much as I don't want to give this med to him, but it helped him from regurgitation and then we will see if he continues to regurgitate in the next 2 weeks. If so then there are 2 options for the surgery, one is to make tighten up the sphincter or do the fundoplication. I've read on both and there are risks to it, i just hope he gets better and don't have to do this surgery.
Dee
he's 3 and the vet said to give him time, seems he is doing bett
i guess his palate is healing. he didn't actually regurgitate the past 2 days, he swallowed it down. and yes, i've read about the tightening the sphinter that it could be tighten too tight that the dog can't swallow and if they do the fundo, there is chance of gas and bloating. at least the sucrafate helps to coat his esophagus so there is less of an inflammation.
Cerenia
Cerenia is used for acute vomiting and motion sickness (primarily). It is being considered almost a wonder drug for dogs that get car sick. It is one of the few meds developed for dogs (most meds used on dogs are actually people meds--cerenia is for dogs only--not people.) However its use is restricted to 2 doses for car sickness (1 dose daily for 2 days.) and a maximum of 5 doses for acute vomiting (1 dose daily for 5 days.) The difference in length of time is that a much larger dose is used for motion sickness. Reglan or cisipride however is for reflux type vomiting and can be used for a very long term.
Miriam Olesen
http://www.omegabulldogs.shutterfly.com/
Dee--how old is your boy?
Based on my work with infants (especially preemies) and children usually reflux improves with age. Fundos are done only in the most severe of cases. I would give the condition more then a month for improvement. As I mentioned before--in babies a fundo is only done with a g-tube placement. Once it is done there can be other complications. I am not saying that this is the case but...UC Davis is a teaching school and they may be more willing to do a procedure based on the educational value. Before contiplating that procedure I would want several"second" opinions.
Miriam Olesen
http://www.omegabulldogs.shutterfly.com/
Surgery was done on 11/23
His palate was shortened and both saccules were removed. He has GERD his sphincter doesn't close completely so stomachs acid shoots up on his esophagus causing him to regurgitate. He was on cerenia when his local vets couldn't figure out what was wrong and that didn't help because he wasn't vomiting but was regurgitating. Long story short I took him to uc Davis vet and they said that he was regurgitating and when they did the endoscopy they found out about his reflux and sphincter not closing completely. So now he is on meds to help control the reflux & make his sphincter stronger. If after a month he still reflux then either they tighten the sphincter or do the fundoplication.
Thanks for this info
Possibilities
Could be that your dogs airway is irritated from the endo tracheal tube that was placed during the surgery...could be that your dog is coming down with kennel cough from exposure at the hospital during surgery. The worst option would be that the vet removed too much tissue during the soft palate resection which can result in unsolicited vomiting continuously. If too much tissue is removed the "gag reflex" is gone and the dog will just vomit rather than gag. How long ago was the surgery?? Cerenia is the drug of choice for preventing vomiting these days.
Meds
Dee--I read your post below re: elongated soft palate surgery. Many of my dogs in the past had the surgery done by Dr. Butchko. With his experience I feel he is a specialist when it comes to Bulldogs. My feeling is that most short-faced breeds--not just Bulldogs--would benefit from the surgery and at one time Dr. Butchko's fees were so reasonable (as in cheap) I had it done if there was the least minor symptoms. I am not so quick to have it done now. Dogs were all off meds within a week and back to normal diets and routine within 2 weeks. You could almost see the improvement within a day. As to the meds you have mentioned--cisapride does come in a liquid. Prilosec does not but can be bought over the counter. Both cisapride and metoclopromide (reglan--also comes liquid) were both used frequently on preemies or for reflux in the pediatric patient--reglan always seemed more effective. Reglan has the added benefit besides controlling vomiting/reflux in also helping the stomach to empty faster. I cared for lots of babies that have had fundos--I would NEVER consider such a treatment in a dog. A patient that had a fundo could no longer reflux(or vomit) and because of this had to have a g-tube. Other meds to consider--instead of prilosec: tagamet (also over the counter in pill form but does come liquid) Has to have a time interval between cisopride or reglan. Carafate coats the mucosa of the GI tract from beginning to end. Best if given as a slurry or liquid (pill dissolved in water.) The thing is, if you feel that your dog is having some kind of reaction to a med there is usually a different med that can be tried that may not cause the same negative reaction.
Miriam Olesen
http://www.omegabulldogs.shutterfly.com/
metoclopramide might be a better choice
then cisapride
Miriam Olesen
http://www.omegabulldogs.shutterfly.com/
Sometimes the negative reactions to a medication
lessen over time, so I would agree with the vet, to give him a bit longer with the cis/////.
Could it be that he has some congestion just from the change in weather, and perhaps having house heat going now where it wasn't a month ago? Try to evaluate whether he would benefit from a little added moisture to the air such as with a humidifier. You can purchase an inexpensive one in the kids are of WalMart, etc. and be sure that the "steam" is not pointed directly at him, but just in the room where he sleeps. I know it says to put cool water in it, but I use warm-not-hot water because I don't want to lower the ambient temperature in the room.
Reglan is not over the counter--a script is required
nm
Miriam Olesen
http://www.omegabulldogs.shutterfly.com/
is reglan prescibed or can i buy it otc?
cisapride was given to him to empty the stomach faster by making the sphincter stronger very similar to reglan. i will be sure to call in and ask. they suspect that he might have a hernia with all the regurgitation, but when they did the endoscope, they couldn't find any hernia.
thank you so much for your help.
thank you, i will look into this and ask the vet
about this medication. thankyou.
dee
Just had the same done...
Our 10 month old English, Winston, just had his soft palate done 11/24. They kept him overnight the day of surgery to administer antibiotics and monitor any adverse reactions. When we picked him up he was only to be on pain killers for the next 5 days. He was a noisy sleeper before the surgery and the first week but now we barely hear him snoring at all. The surgery did seem to help him. No more throwing up when he starts to play rough or eat & drink.