Miley returned from the vet this morning.
She did not have a blockage– that would have been easily taken care of at the vet’s.
Instead, she has partial laryngeal paralysis. (The technical term is laryngeal paresis.)
The cause is unknown. The vet couldn’t diagnose it with his equipment.
So she’s going to see a specialist.
Lots of things could cause laryngeal paralysis. It’s actually not uncommon in golden retrievers.
But generally, goldens get it when they are much older. Miley is only four.
The worst potential cause of this condition is a tumor– again, not something that would be surprising for a golden retriever.
But right now, she’s happy and right now is sleeping comfortably. She still runs around and acts like a fool.
But we have to find out the cause.
So that’s where things stand now.
Thanks to everyone who contacted me with kind words of support about Miley.
I really appreciate it!
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I hope that Miley gets better and that things arn’t to bad
I have a beagle that was horribley abused to the point you could not touch him when he first came to me now he is loveing life he has seizures and a cancerous growth on his foot that he will go to NC to have removed he is on seizure meds and doing great last year I fostered 38 dogs and I have 10 right now take care Beagle Mama
Our thoughts are with you and Miley, Scottie.
We had a yellow Lab at the shelter who had laryngeal paralysis. She was about eight at the time, and they did a tie-back procedure. She’s now living on a horse farm frolicking with other dogs and generally living the good life. The only restrictions she has is getting overheated on hot, dusty days and swimming in the pond, since she can’t naturally open/close the larynx to keep dirt and water out of her lungs. Ever try to keep a Lab from swimming/running? Anyway, her new mom is doing a great job with her.
We’ll stay tuned to hear about Miley’s progress. In the meantime give her hugs from us.
Laryngeal paralysis, partial (usually) or complete (rarely) is very common in purebred retrievers, especially Labs but is quite common in Goldens and poodles too. In Labs and Poodles, at least, it seems to be associated with thyroid problems.
We always referred, and took our own dogs, to a specialist clinic in Akron OH. You’ll probably need a referral from your vet. The chief of surgery there (I don’t recall his name, or the facility name, at the moment) used to be Chief of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State.
You do have to watch the dog carefully in water, even in a bath, after the tie-back (laryngeal flap) procedure. But it can save a dogs life, especially if that dog is overweight and/or suffers thyroid problems. If the trachea collapses, the dog becomes frantic and tries harder to breathe, causing the throat to close even further. It’s a vicious cycle and I have seen dogs die from it, right on the table, before they could be intubated.
On the plus side, dogs can go on to live for many active, happy years after the surgery.
My Big Guy Mike (http://www.flickr.com/photos/luvlymikimoto/241493045/in/photostream/) had it. He had always coughed and gagged a bit, had occasional cyanosis ( a blue tinge to the tongue) and his bark was strange, but I always thought that was just part of his quirkiness. When the coughing/gagging/panting got worse he was diagnosed with LP at age 11. By that time he also had the polyneuropathy that often accompanies LP – lots of rear end instability that seemed to come on and progress really rapidly. If he hadn’t had that, I would have had him have the tie-back surgery – even at age 11. As it happened, the neuropathy got him in the end – he could not stand without knuckling over – so I never had to watch him struggle for breath. He never had thyroid problems, just the LP.
Here’s hoping for the best for Miss Miley, Scottie.
paws crossed for you
One of our Labs also had what I now believe was polyneuropathy, but at the time it was thought to be a complication of his hip dysplasia rather than the laryngeal paresis. Although he was never trained for work, and was a pet all his life, he was from top working lines, from a kennel name that most Lab people would probably recognize. We were assured that both of his parents had tested OFA-Good . But both Bubba and his litter sister developed hip dysplasia by the time they were two years old, and they both eventually developed laryngeal paresis and hypothyroid disease – he at a much younger age than she. Bubba underwent bilateral hip replacement not once but twice during his 11 years on Earth (that was not my decision; I would not have put him through it twice, not with all his other medical issues. He did not survive long after the second hip replacement). It’s my understanding that the breeder had the sire’s hips Xrayed again after so many dysplastic dogs appeared in that litter, and then had him neutered. But I have no idea how many other dogs he sired before he was neutered.
Changing the subject, but staying with retrievers, I can relate to your frustration with people who think that Goldens are all a pale honey color; lots of people also think that “yellow” Labs are all pale sunshiny yellow. I’ve known Labs that were about as red as an Irish Setter – but they are still officially “Yellow Labs”.
Kittenz, right, they’re officially yellows. However, there seems to be quite a choice of colours in the labrador puppy market in the US: white, ivory, snow white, light cream to fawn shade…
On the other side of the pond there are lots of “golden pedigree labradors”…
Lots of people still think that Labs are black..
fingers crossed for Miley and you and hope to hear good news in the near future