BOAS - Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome
What we should know ?
Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome - It is a breathing problem that affects flat-faced dogs like Pugs, French Bulldogs, and English Bulldogs.
Their short skulls crowd their soft throat and nose tissues, which blocks air and makes it hard to breathe and as we know breathing is rather important part of everyone’s life.
Anatomical issues that flat dogs are “facing” :
Narrow nostrils that prevent normal air flow
Crowded ( thick turbinate ) nose and throat , which causes …
…poor air flow
Turbinate can overgrown as far as to nasopharynx and its more difficult to take a breath
Very thick and overgrown tongue …
That OBSTRUCTS air flow
Elongated soft pallet that closes larynx and AGAIN stopes air from passing through
FINALLY larynx can have issues with cartilages and patient can develop laryngeal collapse which causes , You guessed it , air to stop flowing .
Symptoms
Signs of BOAS can show up when a dog is still a little puppy, but most patients comes to clinic with breathing problems when they are 2–4 years old.
You may notice:
Noisy breathing
Snoring, especially when sleeping
Restless or disturbed sleep
Heavy panting, even when resting still
Getting tired quickly
Not wanting to exercise which leads quickly to being overweight
Struggling in hot weather — can lead to heatstroke
Difficulty eating or swallowing
Bringing food back up or vomiting, sometimes because of the effort needed to breathe
Blue or grey gums/tongue, which mean they aren't getting enough oxygen
Fainting or collapsing - and that’s an emergency situation !
Surgical Correction
Gallery
Before
After
Before
After
