Laryngeal Paralysis

[NancyD]

I adopted "Sugar" nearly 14 years ago from ABR when we lived in Missouri. She has been a great dog but now has developed laryngeal paralysis. We are getting close to the time when we will need to make a very sad decision. She went to the kennel while we were out of town and apparently was in the outside run too long and couldn't get up. The kennel owner picked her up and put her in the washtub to cool her down and took her to the vet. She has been diagnosed with laryngeal paralysis and at her advanced age, surgery is not recommended. Yesterday she had a bout where she couldn't breathe and her tongue became a bluish pink. There was nothing I could do for her until it passed. I have read about the condition and it appears there may be a genetic component. It also may be trauma induced but we have had Sugar since 3 months and she has not had any trauma to her neck area. No prong collars were ever used and she never has known abuse or harsh correction. It is my understanding this is not typical to a Brittany and the purpose of my post is to alert folks to the potential this becomes a breed issue. I have had a Brittany with seizures and epilepsy is not uncommon to the breed, but this is a new one. We may have a new medical condition arising and we need to be sure not to breed dogs who show this disease. Enjoy your Brittany in the all to brief time we have together. Sugar is doing better today, but the disease is progressive in nature so we will not have many days to go, I fear. Thanks, ABR, for giving me the opportunity to love this dog when no one else did. You provide a valuable service.

[Cindy]

Sorry to hear about Sugar. My inlaws have a Brittany (Abby) who is now about 13 and has just started having with laryngeal paralysis (or so they suspect). She coughs a bit and it sounds very hoarse, but she has not passed out ... yet. She can still go on walks and her appetite hasn't suffered a bit Fingers crossed both she and Sugar go on for a while longer.

[NYC John]

I haven't posted for a few years but I am going through a similar problem and worse right now. For approximately the past 2 years my Brit (Jiggs, Born 1/15/2003) has been more sensitive to the heat and he panted frequently but not constantly. As it progressed he also occassionally laid down to catch his breath. At first I thought it was a result of his advanced age and then I heard about other dogs having laryngeal paralysis and I looked it up on Google video. Went to my vet who didn't think that my dog had this condition. I asked that my vet do an Xray prior to my taking him to the veterinary hospital in New Jersey. Wound up the Xray revealed a rather large tumor on his right lung. The surgeon at the hospital confirmed that he did indeed have laryngeal paralysis in addition to the tumor on the lung. The surgeon advised that the vast majority of lung tumors were malignant but he could not be sure. He suggested a CT scan which revealed that the cancer had not spread beyond the rather large tumor on the lung. The surgeon further advised that he had never performed a laryngeal paralysis surgery and a lung surgery at the same time. I didn't have the heart to put him down if there was a reasonable chance that he could be treated without further pain or impairment. Two and a half weeks ago he had the throat surgery and he appears to be doing quite well. He went home the next day. Yesterday morning I took him back and he had the tumor removed from his lung. The surgeon advised that the tumor was the size of a lime but he was doing quite well. This morning the surgeon again called and said the dog was up and around and seemed to be doing well. It looks like he'll be coming home on Friday morning. The biopsy won't be completed for another couple of days so I don't know if chemo is in his future. Hope not. It is really lonesome without him around.
If he only had the throat problem I would not hesitate performing the throat surgery if I was confronted with the same problem with another dog. Time will tell if I was correct in going through with the lung surgery. The surgeries are NOT cheap. I'll be eating alot of bologna and tuna fish for the foreseeable future but like I said, if there was a chance for recovery, I didn't have the heart to put him down but I realize I will likely make that decision again before too long. I wish you and your dog well.

[Cindy]

So happy to hear from you NYC John - it has been a while. And SUPER happy to hear the surgeries for Jiggs went well. Fingers crossed he goes home on Friday and continues to improve.

[NYC John]

Thank You! Although I have not posted for a long time, I generally follow the forum on at least a daily basis and I enjoy reading all the posts including your numerous posts over the years. They have been a great source of information for me.

[gagesbarb]

Our Brit mix, Sam, was diagnosed with laryngeal paralysis and mega-esophagus when he was about 12 years old...He had symptoms of the LP and early on, the vet did a test where Sam was sedated and they looked at his larynx, but it didn't show up clearly...we ended up at a specialist and they said they would have done the surgery even at his age, and expected good results, except the mega-esophagus made it too likely he would aspirate...the vets thought both were a function of a neurologically degenerative disease...it progressed and he crossed the bridge a few months later I searched on this forum and there were a number of people who dealt with LP...don't know if it is a Brit thing or what...

[janjan697]

My Britt died at 12 from this. We decided to let him go rather than endure another course of antibiotics for aspiration pneumonia. He reacted terribly to the antibiotics and had such a slew of other issues. I would have most definitely considered the surgery if he did not have chronic hepatitis that we battled for 8 years.
GOLPP - Google it. Lots to read and consider. Lots of dogs do very well for quite a while as there is some effective symptom relief that you can try.
Oh how they break our hearts....take care.

[britlover]

Sorry to hear about Sugar and hoping for comfort for both Sugar and your family.

Interesting, this is the first I've seen Brittanys identified as a breed at risk for this condition:

Who is Most Commonly Affected by GOLPP?

Geriatric dogs, anywhere from 8 to 13 years, average age of 11 years.
Medium to large breed dogs, mostly Labrador Retrievers, but also Newfoundlands, Borzois, Golden Retrievers, Greyhounds, German Shepherd Dogs, Brittany Spaniels, and even mixed breed dogs.

from https://cvm.msu.edu/scs/research-initiatives/golpp/living-with-golpp

Thanks for sharing janjan697

[smugg254]

I am really sorry for what you have going through now, and thank you for the letting us know something we should be looking out for on Brittanys. I just hope that Sugar will overcome this current situation. Keep us updated on her progress.