In response to Val van den Berg who asked my what the symptoms of a paralysed larynx are, here goes. Mandy started snorting whilst walking for a couple of days before the real symptoms started. On the Sunday I took to the vet who diagnosed bronchitis. On Sunday night she was having issues with breathing, her inspiration was very shallow. On Monday I took her back to the vet and advised her what had transpired during Sunday night. She was then treated for allergic bronchitis. She received even more meds and the pattern followed during the week. The nights especially were the worst. We spent the nights in the bathroom and I had put the shower on full blast to steam up the bathroom which eased her breathing. I bought a hot steam humidifier but that did nothing. She went back to the vet every day and they said I must be patient and allow the meds to start working. By this time she had seen 3 different vets. On Friday she was sitting in the garden panting with a wider than normal open mouth (apparently they do this with a paralysed larynx in order to get more air into their lungs. Friday night was the worst night and I went back to the vet for the 6th time on Saturday morning and said I wanted to be referred to a specialist because Mandy was in distress and could not breathe properly. I was referred to Dr Dave Miller at Johannesburg Specialist Vets and he was fortunately able to see us on the same day. I had taken videos and recordings of Mandys shallow breathing which I showed him and gave him a full history of Mandy. He pulled up an article for me to read on his computer and he took her away to examine her. What I read was very scary. When he came back he said that he was almost 99% sure that this was the problem but he would not be able to properly diagnose without doing a scope. He was kind enough to do it for me late on Saturday afternoon and he phoned me at 6pm to tell me that it was indeed a paralysed larynx. Dr Sarah Boyd did the operation on Monday morning. The left side of Mandys larynx was tied back in order to allow her to breathe freely. Dr Boyd said it was a text book case and the prognosis for Mandy is good. We were so relieved! There is however a chance of aspiration pneumonia if food or water gets into her lungs because the larynx is open on the one side. Fortunately she was fine. There was a 6 week recovery period where I spent most of the time on our bed with Mandy and she was able to go out to do her business but not for more than 2 minutes at a time. It was worth every minute because she is now a happy healthy little girl except for the skin allergies which we are working on the moment. I sing the praises of the Drs Miller and Boyd for what they did for my girl. She snores a little when she sleeps and can no longer growl or bark too loudly which is nothing because I still have my girl with me. It apparently is not a usual thing to happen to a Dachshund but it can happen to any dog, mostly when they are older. We are extra with Mandy because she can still develop aspiration pneumonia. After the op I was neurotic and had her at the vets almost every 2 weeks and this went on for months. Every time she was diagnosed as being healthy. I had become a bit neurotic and from the middle of this year I decided to take more of a relaxed stance with Mandy. This is a picture of my little princess. She loves being on top of the couch surveying the garden and she has a birds eye view of the front gate, so she doesnt miss a thing. She and her sister just love barking at anyone who dares to either walk or drive past our gate. Love my girls so much, they fill my life and my heart!
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:29:28 +0000
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