Congestion in Bulldog

Question
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Followup To
Question -
My bulldog Tubby has vomited at least once every couple of weeks since he was a pup. He is now 5 yrs old and still struggles with this from time to time. However, the last couple of times, he has actually fallen over, urinated uncontrollably and appeared to be choking. (he does wretch when vomiting) After the episodes, he has caught his breath and gets right up as if nothing ever happened. My local vet felt that Tubby had an upper resiratory infection and placed him on Baytril 68 twice a day. We have been giving him that for almost 2 weeks now. Last Thurday, with our vet's advice, we cut the medication back to once per day because it made Tubby so "droopy and Lazy." On Friday night though, he did it again. Our vet requested that we once again go back to 2x per day. I do notice that he sometimes he coughs up some mucas (clear and yellow). I have also noticed that he has a runny nose but no major coughing. Today, with my vet's advice I am trying Benadryl. Have you ever had any experience with what I am decribing? Unfortunately, Tubby becomes very violent with a fear based aggression at the vet. So needless to say I'm trying to treat this symtomatically. I do have to say, lately he is so lethargic. He does not want to do anything but sleep. FYI Tubby is 5 yrs and 2 months old and weighs 70 lbs.";

Answer -
I think what you have is a soft pallet issue. He probably needs this repaired. One thing you might try is to raise his food and water dishes off the floor to a height of at least 6-8 inches. This might help, but it won't solve the problem. I don't think any type of medication is going to make this better. It's a matter of surgical repair, in my opinion.

Regarding the runny nose, dogs with soft pallet problems often have recurring upper respiratory problems, which appear to be allergies or a simple cold. It's because the dog can't cough up gunk that a normal dog can it ends up going down into it's lungs.

If there's a good Bulldog vet in your area, I would suggest you get Tubby in to see him, even if you have to tranquilize him to get him there.


I have been very reluctant to actually go in and have him scoped or even just for a blood panel. He becomes so violent at the vet. The fact is, they are probably going to have to sedate him to get anything done. I have heard that this is not a good thing for Bulldogs. Can you give me your opinion on this? Is it really that bad to sedate him?

Answer
Anesthesia is always a risk. However, I think you have to weigh the consequences of not having him evaluated. As I stated previously, you need a BULLDOG vet, one who is very experienced at sedating them AND waking them up. If you're going to do it, do it all at once.  Good luck to you.