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Laryngeal paralysis

7K views 30 replies 9 participants last post by  jeff t. 
#1 ·
I am pretty sure that my 14 year old pringer spaniel is showing symptoms of laryngeal paralysis. I have no experience with this but will be seeing my vet.

If you have any experience with this I would like to hear about it.
 
#5 ·
My vet says there seems to be 2 kinds of LarPar. One is the more aggressive, younger onset variety for which you consider surgery. The other is the "senior LarPar" which she feels all dogs have to some degree.
Basically same as what mwk56 said. Also, if he is choking on his food you might consider moistening it.
My almost 16 year old golden has it, too. She's not progressing very quickly, so we think it's classic senior onset.
 
#8 ·
His voice became hoarse this last week and a half. I had him to the vet on Wed. and asked about the voice change but he did not show any other symptoms for my vet but my vet told me what it might be. At the time I didn't recognize any difficulty breathing. By Thurs. night he was snoring loudly while sleeping and when I took him for a walk, he was breathing and making a lot of noise. This lasted through the night and had my son got pretty concerned. When I read up on this on the internet, I became more concerned. The description sounds horrible. Today, a colder day, he seems a little better.

My vet will be away for a week. When she gets back I would like her to see him and observe the symptoms, do tests, and get a diagnosis.
 
G
#9 ·
My vet took heart and lung xrays so while Bear was under he scoped him. He is doing better since the weather is cooler , he was having a hard time in the heat and humidity. Yahoo has an LP group, you may want to check it out.
 
#11 ·
My vet also did heart and lung xrays to rule out anything more serious.
The thing that would concern me with your boy is the sudden onset. My girl's was much, much slower, over the course of several months.
 
#13 ·
The sudden onset also bothers me. However, my vet did say that sometimes we don't take notice of subtle changes along the way so that maybe it was not so sudden. Now today the breathing is not noisy. I have much confidence in my vet. I have used her since she started in the area which is about 30 years ago. I will let her know all of my concerns but it is not so easy when the dog doesn't present any symptoms when in the vet's office. He was there for his Adequan shots.
 
G
#19 ·
Great idea. I did that once my dog limped at home but became so excited at the vets he showed nothing, so I recorded it on my phone. Im surprised your dog shows no signs at the vet mine gets worse with any excitment even just the jingle of his collar or trotting across the yard.
 
#23 ·
I have a 8 yr. old yellow lab that was diagnosed a few months ago with Laryngeal Paralysis. Does anyone know of a excellent vet surgeon to correct this problem? I live in North Carolina. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It's heart breaking to watch this once vivacious dog have such limited activity because of his breathing and coughing.
Thanks in advance.
 
#28 ·
Could you be specific and does this apply to all veterinary schools or just the one you attend?
Hey Doc, nice to hear from you. The biggest con I've been informed about in terms of any surgical procedure at a teaching facility is the time spent performing the procedure. For instance, at DVSC up there a TPLO procedure (not prep time but actual initial cut to closure) is substantially less in duration than at a teaching facility. While there are exceptional surgeons on staff at a teaching facility as well as excellent up and coming residents, time is still much longer in duration. This leads to elevated risks, such as exposure to potential secondary infection as well as prolonged time under anesthesia. I love my school, I've given them a chunk of change here as of late with my new dog as well as the c-section I just paid for on my old dog, but when I get out in the real world these factors are something I'll be having to weigh in cases of referral. I think there are more personalized pros and cons for each establishment but there are several factors such as those just mentioned that apply across the board. Professionals in the setting of teaching hospitals and referral hospitals alike usually have the animals best interest as a top priority. Still though, in certain situations (teaching is a prime example), there may be extra risk involved. Just my take, I'm not yet a professional.
 
G
#24 ·
Surgery is not an option because of other health issues my dog has including cancer. He is on meds for his lungs but now that its hot he is gagging/coughing alot due to the LP. We keep him inside and as calm as possible. There is a good LP group on yahoo just google it.
 
#26 · (Edited)
I recommend Dr. Kieri Jermyn at the soft tissue service at NC State Vet school. We interviewed two surgeons at the Vet school and based on those interviews, and the input of a friend who is a graduate of the vet school we chose Dr. Jermyn to perform the surgery on our 12 y.o. Diesel. His surgery was a complete success and allowed him to have a good quality of life for several years before succumbing due to other illnesses.

I think it is important to find a surgeon who sees LP cases all of the time and has performed the corrective surgery many, many times.

Such is the case with Dr. Jermyn. Here is a link to her contact info

With warm weather on the way, it becomes more likely that a breathing crisis will occur. Now is the time to get a consultation IMO.
 
G
#30 ·
To you have had the surgery what was recovery like any complications? Was he in alot of pain, how long did recovery take? & does your dog have to eat soft foods forever? How old was your dog? My dog is bad to the point my vet will only see him at 7:45 am for a visit must be in and out before the heat. He is not allowed out in the day and has a sedative I can give him if he gets to excited and has trouble breathing. He is 12 1/2 . His heart is slightly enlarged and has some lung issues. He was diagnosed to years ago wth a soft tissue cancer so I have to weigh everything before surgery but if left alone he will die I dont think he will make it through the summer when we reach 120 and very high humidity even in the house. So I have to make a decision. I have talked with a surgeon no one in my town can do it so its Phoenix or San Diego which will be a 3 hour trip one way. (Thanks)
 
#31 · (Edited)
Diesel did not appear to be in any pain the day after surgery, and his breathing was dramatically improved. Recovery for us consisted of altering his diet for a period of a few weeks. I stopped feeding kibble and fed him chunks of refrigerated, high quality canned food. I phased the kibble back in after a couple of weeks. My biggest fear was aspiration pneumonia and I watched him like a hawk for changes in his respiration and took his temp every day for a few weeks so that I would catch pneumonia problems early. Fortunately, he never had pneumonia. He developed a cough that I feared was pneumonia, but it turned out to be congestive heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy. Still, he had a great time with us for an extra couple of years that he would not have had without the LP surgery.
 
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