BOAS

The breed knowledge you are looking for in your veterinarian…

We love your brachycephalic pet too but we need you to understand these breeds with squashed faces need help to breathe. These breeds genuinely need help. They are cute. They are loyal. You love them and we love them. Let’s help them together. “Normal” for the brachycephalic breed is NOT normal. Hold your fingers on your nose and try to breathe. This is what it is like for the brachycephalic pet when they are trying to breathe.

This constant suction in their pharynx and down their wind pipe leads to very severe degeneration of the larynx and airways that leads to life threatening irreversible disease. Your beloved pet will develop thickening of the palate and tissues around the larynx as well as get enlarged tonsils that will make it even harder to breathe. This worsening cycle will cause collapse of the larynx and may lead to a collapsing trachea and bronchomalacia of the lower airways causing all the airways in your pets lungs collapsing causing chronic coughing and severe respiratory disease. The constant negative suction can also cause the stomach to herniate through the diaphragm which is called a hiatal hernia. We can help with preventative surgery from sixteen weeks and we can help assessment with corrective airway surgery of the nose, soft palate and tonsils as well as the larynx if required.

What are the brachycephalic breeds that need our help? Pugs, Boston Terriers, French Bulldogs, British Bulldogs, Australian Bulldogs, Pekingese, Lhasa Apso, Shih Tzu, Shar Pei, King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, Staffordshire Terriers, Boxers, Dogue de Bordeaux, French Mastiff, Neapolitan Mastiff, Chow Chow, American Bully, American Bulldogs, Tibetan Spaniels to name a few.

Breed Knowledge

We know your pet’s breed. We deal with all brachycephalic breeds every day of the week seven days a week. We love your cute and wrinkly brachycephalic pet as much as you do and we are here to help both you and your pet. Let’s be real for a moment, they really do need help breathing. We can help you. We are very experienced at anaesthetising these breeds without problems. Dr Rob Hill and Dr Marius Louw are very experienced in BOAS surgery and assessments.

Anaesthetic Experience And Safety

We safely anaesthetise and successfully recover brachycephalic pets every day of the week. Our veterinarians are very experienced in safe induction and recovery of these BOAS pets and so are our nurses. During anaesthesia your pet will be kept warm on heated surgical tables and blankets to prevent hypothermia. They will be monitored using advanced Surgivet equipment that monitors carbon dioxide levels, oxygen levels, heart rate and heart function using an ECG. Our nurses are trained.

Boas Surgery – Soft Palate Surgery, Rhinoplasty, Tonsillectomy, Laryngeal Saccules.

We recommend prophylactic surgery as young as sixteen weeks of age to prevent the debilitating and life threatening consequences of obstructed breathing. If your pet has started to develop serious disease associated with obstructive breathing, we can help too. We can shorten the soft palate, remove the tonsils, open up the nose and operate on the larynx if necessary. We would make an assessment under general anaesthetic and call you to discuss findings and recommendations.

Boas Consequences And Sequelae

Here’s what happens if you don’t have breathing correction for your pet. The soft palate changes from a thin membrane only a few mm thick into a thickened and scarred piece of tissue resembling a piece of steak making it even harder to breathe because of the thickening. The tonsils will enlarge closing off the space on the nasopharynx even more. The larynx will start to collapse closing off the airway. The trachea, bronchi and bronchioles will undergo bronchomalacia and weaken and start to collapse causing chronic cough and severe lung pathology. The soft palate will become so big and thickened that it feels like having fingers down your throat making you gag and vomit. Food and vomit will go up the back of the nose constantly causing chronic rhinitis and nasal disease. You can prevent all of this by having prophylactic surgery at 16 weeks of age.

Caring and compassionate. Well priced. Open on Sunday’s. Facilities are wonderful

Dannii Mckay

What to expect

# 1

Book an appointment with a friendly receptionist to see one of our experienced veterinarians.

What to expect

# 2

Our experienced veterinarian may recommend an assessment under general anaesthetic of the soft palate and larynx to determine whether surgery is necessary.