06/14/2025
WARNING!!! MEDICAL PICTURES AND VIDEOS!!! Meet Lilly. Lilly first came to us as a daytime emergency in respiratory distress. Like the majority of english bulldogs, french bulldogs, boston terriers, pugs, brussels griffons, shih tzus, and other short muzzled breeds, Lilly was born with congenital breathing issues. Her major issues included; excessive cartilage in her nose, elongation of her soft palate, and her extremely inflamed tonsils. Combined, these sites were blocking her air flow, thereby keeping her oxygen levels low and making it hard for Lilly to get rid of body heat (think about that in this Texas weather!).
We all know those dogs that everyone can hear breathing from any room of the house and that snore worse than most grown men. While cute, these traits typically signify extreme respiratory problems that can lead to heat stroke, collapsing trachea, early onset heart disease, and sudden death.
Two of our doctors have attended advanced training by board certified surgeons specifically to help patients like Lilly. After stabilizing Lilly and sending her home on strict rest, Lilly came back in to us for a BOAS (brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome) surgery. As you look at Lilly's nose at a younger age before surgery, although it looks more open than many bulldogs out there, look at the pink cartilaginous area inside of the nose that narrowed it to almost nothing. Video one shows us opening Lilly's nose with electrocautery which cuts tissue and cauterizes blood vessels as it goes. Video two points out her extremely large soft palate that we later removed. We apologize for not having video three showing removal of her extremely swollen tonsils but that occured after addressing her soft palate. However, we do have a picture of Lilly sticking her tongue out at her surgeon and a picture of Lilly one week post-op at home enjoying some indoor sunbathing (still in moderation Lilly)! Her owners specifically asked that Lilly's journey be relayed to others because they now know how crucial addressing these issues really is to a dog's well being. We're so happy for Lilly and her family!!! Please let us know if you have a furry friend with these issues that you would like to have evaluated for a possible BOAS procedure. Have a great weekend everyone!!!
