Laryngeal tie-back surgery - any experiences?

[fargaloo]

Hi everyone,

Our 13 yo border collie has been diagnosed with idiopathic partial laryngeal paralysis (so, essentially he is a roarer). The vet explained the pros and cons of surgery and now we are weighing the options. Anyone have experiences with this type of surgery that they would be willing to share to help us make the decision?

He is still the most cheerful and optimistic soul on the planet (he used to wag his tail when we would yell at him as if to say “hey, I know you are mad at me, but you are still giving me attention and that’s awesome!!!”). Has a great appetite still. However, he has slowed down a lot physically and his breathing often sounds pretty laboured. I wonder about his quality of life if he feels like he is breathing through a straw…

Anyway, any insight would be most gratefully received. As Arrows Endure said, why oh why do dogs have to get old?

TIA

[Curiously]

No personal experience, but it’s not an uncommon procedure. I’ve heard excellent results from it from a number of people. I believe doing the tie-back on one side only is the preferable way to go, but discuss that with your vet.

[SquishTheBunny]

Pretty routine, but not typically done by your GP vet. If your dog is having any difficulties breathing, eating or exercise/heat intolerance the surgery will likely make a huge difference

[In_The_Gate]

It is a surgery done commonly, but it is not without risks. Dogs are at risk for aspiration pneumonia after the surgery, and this has the potential to be life threatening. They also remain at higher risk of pneumonia for the rest of their lives as we are taking away their ability to protect their airway. This is the reason the surgery is generally only done on one side.

However, if he has difficulty breathing he can get into a crisis from that as well. It’s generally a surgery done when animals are having exercise intolerance or difficulty breathing - not just noisy breathing by itself.

[betsyk]

Our Lab had this surgery several years ago and it did definitely improve her quality of life during her last years. Once she healed, I confess we didn’t do anything much differently - maybe at first, but after a while we forgot she’d had the surgery! I remember it was expensive and had to be done at the specialty surgical clinic, but I think the recovery and rehab was easier than the cruciate surgery she had.

[fargaloo]

Thanks guys, I appreciate your input :). I’m leaning towards doing it, but still worry about putting an old dog through surgery. It helps to heard some positive stories, though!

[SquishTheBunny]

Unless she is a sick old dog, anesthesia generally wont cause a problem with her. Putting an old dog through surgery is no different than putting a young one through surgery Anesthesia in animals has come leaps and bounds, and with more and more specialty practices out there, you are getting more educated doctors/technicians monitoring your pets.

Just the other week we did a spleenectomy on a 17 year old dog. Went home the nextday, doing great. Came in for a recheck yesterday and inthe owners words, “she’s acting like a 15 year old dog again!”

[MeghanDACVA]

Only old dogs get this. So only old dogs get the surgery.
Age is not a disease. It is not a contra-indication for anesthesia.
If she is otherwise healthy, it shouldn’t be a problem. (Nothing is 100% but you know what I mean)

Surgery/anesthesia risk is far lower than the risks she faces with Lar Par (Laryngeal Paralysis).

Your surgeon should talk to you about the procedure and any associated risks. The surgeons we work with often times also check for myasthenia gravis before doing surgery. To be sure this isn’t a cause. It is a blood test, goes to a special lab in CA and can take a week or better to get the results. If it were my dog, I would test for that first since you are looking at this being an elective vs emergency surgery (I see a lot of them present as emergencies so we don’t always have that option.)

[fargaloo]

Thanks, guys – this is just what I needed to hear. Really appreciate it and will update