Anyone have experience with laryngeal paralysis in dogs?
11YO lab, symptoms increasing over the last 6 mos. Vet thinks probably LP. Did rads, drew blood and all that jazz. We aren’t going to pursue the further DX stuff because of age and previous issues. (I have more than 30k into this dog in the last 3 years for GI events)
Anyway, just wondering if anyone has dealt with it and found anything that works as far as decreasing symptoms.
Butorphanol helps with the cough, but it’s pricey. Hycodan suspension as well, again costly. The summer months are likely going to be tough.
My dog has it 
One vet said it could reverse itself if we figure out the thyroid… but another issue makes that seem impossible.
She will be getting the surgery to tie back the flaps when the weather heats up as she will be panting more.
I don’t think you can do anything to decrease symptoms. It’s just management now. Dogs with LP are at high risk of asphyxiating, with or without the surgery, so you have to make sure as humanly as possible that they don’t.
She will never be able to eat dry kibble again, bowls have to be elevated, and I have to watch her like a hawk to make sure she doesn’t eat anything she can choke on.
Until she has the surgery, I also have to make sure she doesn’t exert herself too much because the flaps are not letting enough air through.
I am thankful she’s not a high energy dog.
It really sucks. I’m sorry you’re going through it too.
My biggest concern is that we are supposed to move overseas next year about this time. I’m concerned about how the breathing issues might come into play. I’m wondering if I need to think about euthing prior. He’s had a wonderful life and Lord knows I’ve kept him alive through crazy stuff. But I’m not going to do the repair for this. The vet doesn’t feel good about it with his age.
He is a very high energy dog. We still walk about 6 miles a day. Anytime he is excited or exercising though, he gets this hoarse, raspy sounding pant. And he is snoring more. No issues eating or drinking. It’s just when he’s excited or exercising that we notice it.
Love my boy but I just can’t do the SX. Will consider meds if they might help. So humid and hot here in the summer. Won’t be any better in Africa next year.
I guess this is something common to aged labs? I had no idea. All of his siblings died several years ago. He’s the last (I know all of the other owners because we were all barn friends!) So no “family history” to rely upon either.
Keep him out of the heat, that is important. A cool area, and limit exercise.
I had a dog, and at 15 we did surgery on her for laryngeal paralysis. She lived to almost 18, it was the best decision we made. She lived a MUCH better quality life.
Its very common in labs. My current pitty/lab has it, but its minor. She gets raspy after exercise only. If she gets bad (it can be progressive), I will no doubt do surgery on her as its not terribly invasive, very quick and worth the risks in my books. However, I wont do surgery unless the lar par starts affecting her quality of life in a negative way. She is a lazy dog by nature and doesn’t care to go out for long walks.
Sounds like your dog isn’t too bad though. Try to keep him lean (with modified exercise) and if you do take him to Africa hopefully you will have a shady area for him, if not air conditioning. It can be managed, but his lifestyle will need to be altered. Don’t completely stop exercising, just don’t let him get to the point where he gets huffy. Decrease caloric intake. There are some herbal treatments that help “calm” dogs when they get a bit distressed and sedatives can help too. Anti-inflammatories can help as well.
It seems like this has progressed kind of quickly. When my landlady came over yesterday, he got excited and ended up regurgitating his food. Took him awhile to settle down. Didn’t get cyanotic, vitals were good but it was still above and beyond his usual. Last time I had company was for Super Bowl so I have huge gaps in time to compare to.
Then today, a friend brought her dog over for me to pet sit. Again, my dog got very excited. In the course of an hour, he has vomited 4 times–all his breakfast/water. Has a history of eating inappropriate stuff, but his abdomen isn’t tender or bloated and he had a good appetite this morning. But he was panting as if he’d had heavy exercise for a solid hour after the guests and dog arrived. He’s doing better now.
Vet has been emailing with me today. Mentioned myasthenia
gravis and the potential for mega esophagus. We did do rads two weeks ago and the mega esophagus didn’t seem like an issue then. But who knows.
Anyway, that’s the update.
So sorry to hear of these issues with your guy. There is a Yahoo group for dogs with LP who have the surgery, one for alternative treatments for LP, and one for ME. The ME one was quite helpful for me when I had an older IW with it. I belong to all of them as we were seeking a diagnosis, turned out mine was negative for MG and LP (there is also a complex of symptoms called GOLPP), but it can be helpful to figure out what the diagnosis actually is, as there can be some initial confusion and some overlap with these conditions.
The older labs seem prone to ME as well as LP, and they can have both, or rather, all three, including MG.
ME can often be managed with changes in diet, medication, and management. The yahoo lists are great for giving you very detailed info, resources, and support.
I feel for you!! The info I gained allowed me to keep our older hound with a good quality of life for much longer than I would have otherwise, I learned a lot. We lost her recently, almost a year after diagnosis, from unrelated causes, but I am grateful to those vets and nonvets on the lists who offered much practical advice.
I would take it one day at a time, you do not need to immediately decide whether to take this dog with you, just figure out what is best for now, and things will probably clarify themselves in time.
I watched my childhood Golden die of a Lar Par episode. Please, this really is a prime example of better a day too soon than a moment too late. It’s a heartbreaking thing to see and experience. It haunts me still, that I should have known this was worse than his usual episode before we left. That I shoul have been more of a bratty teen and insisted I stayed home. That I should have told my parents I decided a week ago to let him go. That they should have told me they decided to do the surgery. It was over 15 years ago. Seeing him like that still haunts me.
There really is no good way to manage the symptoms. Preventing ANY exertion, ANY increase in temperature are the biggest. The only other thing I could recommend is being comfortable giving IM/IV injections in a dog and a vet willing to let you keep torb/ace on hand for a severe episode. But that’s still no guarantee. It’s a sad sad disease that breaks far too many hearts. And I’m sorry for that for you OP.
Strange mixed symptoms for lar par (but then again, you do have a medical mystery dog!).
If you didn’t mention the regurging/vomiting I would assume megaesophagus over lar par, and with that comes aspiration pneumonia…which would cause times of panting, harsh breathing etc. ME is not always diagnosable on radiographs.
But, on the other hand, Laryngeal Paralysis can also cause the symptoms of breathing difficulties (and aspiration pneumonia) but not usually vomiting.
I would “almost” think aspiration pneumonia over lar par if the symptoms are getting worse by the day.
The best way to diagnose is a sedated oral exam, watch the larynx as the dog breaths. Then take some current chest radiographs to look for signs of megaesophagus/aspiration pneumonia. With ME, it is likely to show up more when the dog is sedated, and aspiration pneumonia often takes a few days after initial signs to show up on radiographs.
MG can definitely cause ME (not as much LP), but you will often see other signs such as hind end weakness, drooling etc.
Jingles for your old man!
Well, I really like my new vet clinic and I guess I’ll just be hanging out w/ them a lot more now, eh? LOL. Just got back from the farm I manage to have vet look at a horse. Been emailing about my dog. And I guess I’ll just go in tomorrow and see what there is to see.
I really really wish I would’ve gone to veterinary school.
Haha, especially with this dog. It may have been worth your money lol!
[QUOTE=SquishTheBunny;7527770]
Haha, especially with this dog. It may have been worth your money lol![/QUOTE]
Totally.
I remember the exact day as a kid when I decided I WAS GOING TO VET SCHOOL. And this was well after I played “worm vet” after a rainy day. This was after another horse emergency. It was the day when my brother came running to me saying that there was a wire sticking out of my horse’s neck. Actually, she had a puncture and the “wire” was a stream of blood shooting out of an artery. I had been sunbathing (was in HS) and was there in my swim suit putting my finger in the hole for the hour it took the vet to get there. Covered in blood by the end of it. I wanted to be a vet so I could take care of that stuff.
I got talked out of vet school and into med school by my then boyfriend’s dad. I got into med school. But took a deferral. Now I wish I’d just done vet school.
I have such a special case here! I kid you not, I have young vets who cared for my dog over the years at Michigan State calling me still to check on him as he was a special case for THEM in vet school. LOL
I give up man. It’s not cool to be special.
I really feel like we need to revisit Cushings with him. I don’t see the LP or the ME here. I mean I do, but I still think it’s Cushings in my gut. The water intake, the urination, the appetite.
My monster is lying at my feet right now. Peacefully. I will miss him so much. Gah.
Im sorry BR> you have gone the absolute extra mile for him. I probably would consider euth before taking him overseas, and maybe even if this worsens. But only you are looking at him, and can tell. I would press for more definitive diagnosis before making any decisions though.
Hopefully you don’t need to think about missing him right now…he is with you and ok at the moment.
What kind of cushings test has he had done? ACTH or Dex Supression?
The thing is with labs, is, as you probably know, there’s a good chance he has a little bit of everything. I actually remember hearing something about cushings not showing up on one of the tests, if the dog is hypothyroid…or some other cancelling endocrine disease. Sorry, Im not much help here.
Take it each day at a time, and go as far as you want to diagnostic wise - but don’t feel bad if you need to say you are tapped out. Its too bad you cant get frequent flyer mils on cushings tests 
Dont feel bad to treat symptomatic, and let him be as happy as he can for as long as he can especially if you are planning on moving overseas.
I can’t remember - but is he still on prednisone?
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