My Partner and I got Maxi in 2018 when he was 2 years old. He was not desexed and it was evident after a few days with him that he had airway issues. His nares were almost completely closed and he would shake the walls with his snoring at night. He was vomiting up to 5 times per day normally immediately after food. He couldn’t walk very far without tiring or vomiting. These issues made us worry about his quality of life, as it was clearly affecting him 24hrs a day.
We did our research and read about airway surgery as an option to improve his life, and we decided that this was his best option as he is getting older and some things we were scared were going to cause him life long issues.
We took him to Melbourne Bulldog Clinic as we wanted a vet with knowledge about the breed. We were given a wealth of knowledge, to understand what was going on with him internally and how airway surgery would help him, we were given so much time to ask questions and really get to the bottom of Maxi’s main issues.In March of 2020 we drove Maxi to the vet bright and early for his surgery. We were called multiple times during the day to let us know how he was doing, as we were both evidently stressed during the day. He had his nares widened, shortening and thinning of the soft palate, a tonsillectomy, laryngeal saccule removal, and was also desexed as well.
We were also informed post surgery that he had a stage 2 laryngeal collapse which unfortunately can’t be operated on. We understood to expect something like this, because he is an older dog and the knowledge about his prior issues.
When we went to pick up him up he had an attitude (as frenchies do!) about us leaving him at the vet, but it was the best thing we have ever done for him. His first day at home post surgery he was very lethargic and would still vomit up his food, which we were assured was normal post op, when the vets called to check on him. But by day 2 he was back to his normal self! We were told to expect a longer recovery as he was an older dog, but we were so shocked as he was wanting to run around and wouldn’t tire as quickly. The vomiting completely stopped and it gave him a new lease on life.
6 months post surgery he is a completely different dog. He has a lot of energy and loves playing fetch for as long as he can. He stops and smells everything on his walks, and is an all round happy dog! We are so proud of how far he has come and are glad he is going to have a healthy and enjoyable life!
