Elongated soft palate operation

Hi,

I was wondering if any of you have the experience of your frenchbulldog having the operation to shorten the soft palate? My Frenchbulldog had this operation two weeks ago on the suggestion of our vet. She was all ready under anaesthetic having her spay op done. I hadnt noticed her being any more snorty etc then other frenchbulldogs but I decided to take the vets advice in case it proved she needed the op and she would have to go under anaesthetic again. So far I am not happy about the results, I was told to wait a little longer for full results. I suppose I am getting a little impatient as I hope I haven't put her through this procedure for not good results, so far she chokes on her food, heaves more and now snores a lot more then before as well!
Thanks for any info on your experience!
Carla

Sorry your baby is still having problems. I have never done a Frenchie, but have had an English Bulldog that had this surgery and they had no problems after the surgery. They could eat better and they still snored, but not as loud as before, and we could tell they could breath easier. I hope your baby gets better soon.

Hi Carla.... our boy, Cheli had this procedure done. He had very bad apnea, snoring and a little issue with eating, but since the procedure he has been great. We actually had to have it done a second time due to the scar tissue causing more apnea. However, for both the healing time was well over 3 weeks before we notice he was not swollen or sore from the surgery. Give him another week and see how he does.. also, is Frency a barker? If yes, that can be part of the problem.

:welcome3: to FBN

It was done on one of my EB's & she still had the same issues. She had a very rough recovery. I would give it time & do everything the vet tells you to do. It is a major surgery & like people, every dog heals differently.

Hello!

Thanks a lot for your responses!
Frenchy (I actually named her Frenchy, not imaginative I know but hey ho!) it will be three weeks this Tuesday that she would have had the op, I had a feeling I was being a little impatient so I will give it till then and make a follow up appointment with our vet if there is not any improvement. Poor Cheli had to have it done twice! eeek I didn't give this a thought, I hope Frenchy doesn't but at least I know this may be a possibility for her.
Frenchy is not a barker (thankfully)
She has made a full recovery from her spay op which im so happy about and glad its out of the way.
Thanks again to all of you that have responded, much appreciated and will keep you posted on Frenchys recovery,
Carla

Carla said:

Hello!

Thanks a lot for your responses!
Frenchy (I actually named her Frenchy, not imaginative I know but hey ho!) it will be three weeks this Tuesday that she would have had the op, I had a feeling I was being a little impatient so I will give it till then and make a follow up appointment with our vet if there is not any improvement. Poor Cheli had to have it done twice! eeek I didn't give this a thought, I hope Frenchy doesn't but at least I know this may be a possibility for her.
Frenchy is not a barker (thankfully)
She has made a full recovery from her spay op which im so happy about and glad its out of the way.
Thanks again to all of you that have responded, much appreciated and will keep you posted on Frenchys recovery,
Carla

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keep us posted on the Frenchy... also would LOVE to see some pictures

The recuperation time from palate surgery depends on the amount of tissue removed--more tissue, longer recuperation. Also, doing surgery with a laser shortens the healing time.

Alice Kable said:

The recuperation time from palate surgery depends on the amount of tissue removed--more tissue, longer recuperation. Also, doing surgery with a laser shortens the healing time.

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Yes I was going to ask if it was done by laser or not, that can make a huge difference from what I've been told.

Hope Frenchy feels better soon!


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How are things going, better I hope!

Hi All,

Frenchy's op was not done by laser, I didn't realise that was an option actually. By seeing the before and after pics the vet showed me it looked like a lot of tissue was cut away. I am happy to say that Frenchy is a lot better now she took quite a bit longer then the average time to recover from this op, having said this I do not see a brilliant improvement she is now back to how she was pre op. As I didn't see any of her symptoms previously as excessive compared to other French bulldogs I will not jump into further operations unless I feel it is 100% totally necessary as the recovery was horrible and the cone collar was also horrible.
I know in the future she will need knee surgery as she has a slippery knee cap on one of her hind legs and I am dreading this already, its at grade one at the moment and apparently when it gets to grade 3 or 4 she will need a op. Also it can be common to have the same problem in both knees but luckily she has only one knee with it.
Thanks for all your concerns and advice! Carla

Everything I've read and been told is that laser is the way to go if you can find a surgeon who utilizes one. I was told to consider it when my boy was a pup but he doesn't snore and eats well. His little nostrils are tiny but it doesn't seem to interfere. I am a dental person and understand the importance of having this done but I am not trusting of the advice so far. I paid a surgeon to take a look when I had my Frenchie under anesthesia for eye surgery but he was only 4 or 5 months old and they told me I should probably do it but when he was older, yeah, that's cuz he's not grown nor developed before then and in fact may never snore because he'll grown into his soft tissue. I'll know when I look myself on the day he decides I can look into his mouth without ten thousand head shakes. That's an extremely invasive surgery so I'd say 2 weeks isn't enough time for good healing if he didn't have laser. I hope it works for you because I know how stressful it is to care for the little fur sickies. I think it's easier when it's a child because they can talk to you. I can't take that E-Collar, that's much harder on us humans than on our pets!ray2:

Carla said:

Hi All,

Frenchy's op was not done by laser, I didn't realise that was an option actually. By seeing the before and after pics the vet showed me it looked like a lot of tissue was cut away. I am happy to say that Frenchy is a lot better now she took quite a bit longer then the average time to recover from this op, having said this I do not see a brilliant improvement she is now back to how she was pre op. As I didn't see any of her symptoms previously as excessive compared to other French bulldogs I will not jump into further operations unless I feel it is 100% totally necessary as the recovery was horrible and the cone collar was also horrible.
I know in the future she will need knee surgery as she has a slippery knee cap on one of her hind legs and I am dreading this already, its at grade one at the moment and apparently when it gets to grade 3 or 4 she will need a op. Also it can be common to have the same problem in both knees but luckily she has only one knee with it.
Thanks for all your concerns and advice! Carla

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Sorry it was such a bad experience... hope Frenchie is doing well. Cheli is doing good to, but he still snores and has some apnea my vet told me both with Cheli and my EB... the surgery only 'helps' make it easier for them, it does not eliminate the issues. Just something to keep in mond if he did not let you know that.

My Ollie had it done with a laser by an orthopedic surgeon. He was under getting his broken elbow fixed and a neuter so needless to say he was quite sore. But he did heal quickly. The laser was definitely the way to go. I'm glad your little one is better! No differences that I have seen. Snores a little and he did throw up a couple times after surgery. But he's all good now. That was about 7 weeks ago that he had surgery.